Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Review – Pros and cons, Verdict | 91Mobiles

The Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition is not all about the design. In fact, the handset’s performance is solid too. Key specifications of the Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian include MediaTek Helio G96 SoC, a 120Hz refresh rate screen, a 5,000mAh battery, a 33W fast charging solution, and a 64MP primary camera with RGBW+(G+P) lens. I have been using the device for a hot minute and here’s what I make of it.

Verdict

The Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition does not support 5G or have the processing capabilities of a sub-Rs 18,000 smartphone, but it is still an enticing option. Apart from its funky design, the handset offers decent performance, all-day battery life, a fluid display, and cameras that hold well, at least in daylight.

Read on for the full review.

The lowdown

• The Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition is the latest to hop on the colour-changing design bandwagon. However, unlike its counterparts, the Tecno smartphone’s colour-changing design is anything but subtle. In fact, the handset’s design is inspired by the paintings of Pier Mondrian, one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. The handset’s back is segregated into different rectangles, which exhibit different hues of blue and purple when exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet (UV) light for that matter. The same can be accredited to the phone’s Polychromatic Photoisomer technology, which allows the monochrome back cover of the smartphone to show multiple colours under illumination. That’s not all, as the thick lines that separate one rectangle, from the other (and even encapsulate the camera module) further add to the overall appeal of the phone.

• Besides that, the phone also offers a good in-hand feel, which can be attributed to the matte finish around the back, along with the phone’s soft flat edges. The handset does not attract fingerprints or smudges either, which is great. That said, I did find the Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition slightly bulky. In fact, despite its plastic build, the handset tips the scale at 204 grams, which isn’t much but could give your wrist a workout if you are into watching movies or TV shows on the smartphone. The smartphone’s circular camera modules also jut out of the frame and make the phone wobble when laid on a flat surface. Coming to the I/O, the Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition sports a USB Type-C port along with a 3.5mm headphone jack and speaker grille at the bottom edge. The fingerprint scanner is on the right fascia of the phone, embedded in the power button.

• The Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition sports a 6.8-inch display, with FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The display boasts TUV Rheinland low blue light certification as well. Be that as it may, the panel is of the LCD variety and correspondingly, lacks the high contrast ratio and deep blacks reciprocated by competing AMOLED panels. But, otherwise, the display is quite bright and offers pleasant viewing angles as well. I had no issues using the phone under direct sunlight. I also enjoyed watching movies and TV shows on the handset as it is Widevine L1 certified and supports content in 1080p resolution from Netflix and other streaming platforms. Furthermore, the display sports slim bezels, which paves the way for an immersive viewing experience, and a centered punch-hole for the selfie camera that is not very distracting.

• The Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian is powered by the MediaTek Helio G96 SoC, which has been paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB user-expandable storage. The latter can be used to add up to 5GB of virtual RAM to store some temporary files, in case you run out of physical RAM. Coming to the performance, the Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition did not stutter whilst juggling a handful of Chrome tabs, alongside my email app of choice, Slack, Netflix, and WhatsApp. Apart from that, the handset is no slouch for some light gaming and can comfortably run titles like Asphalt 9 and PUBG New State at the lowest frame rate and graphics settings with ease. The phone put out decent scores in benchmark tests as well. To wit, the device returned with a score of 1,752 points in Geekbench’s multi-core test, while on AnTuTu, it netted 3,49,999 points. Be that as it may, the G96 SoC feels a bit dated now and the chipset has been succeeded by the G99 SoC. In all fairness, the two chipsets offer similar performance, however, the Helio G99 SoC has an edge over the Helio G96 SoC in benchmark tests. 

• As for optics, the Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition sports triple rear cameras comprising a 64MP RGBW+(G+P) primary sensor, which uses a white sensor instead of green to capture more light. The primary sensor is accompanied by a 50MP portrait/telephoto lens with 30x zoom (2x optical) and a 2MP sensor. Up front, the handset sports a 32MP snapper for selfies and video calling. The sensors offered detailed shots, with decent highlights, in sunny as well as overcast conditions. That said, the colours looked over-saturated and made a gloomy shot extra bright. The 64MP primary sensor comes with OIS (optical image stabilisation), which helps you get a stable shot while shooting a video in up to 2k resolution and uses pixel-binning technology for 16MP stills by default. However, there is an option to shoot 64MP images, and it is worth trying out. The sensor is also quick to focus, thanks to the accompanying laser autofocus module, and offers eye detection for subject tracking as well.

• Moving on, the 50MP portrait/ telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom works well in ideal lighting conditions. While the lens can zoom up to 30x digitally, I won’t recommend going beyond 5x as the shots will appear grainy and less vibrant. The portrait shots have good edge detection and background blurring. The portrait mode works on videos as well. The 32MP selfie camera offers nice skin tones and facial detailing when the sun is out. That said, the portrait mode’s edge detection could do with some tweaks. In low light, the front, as well as the rear camera smoothens out the details to mitigate the noise level with SuperNight mode, which kicks in automatically when needed but has a separate entry in the camera layout too. Other than that, the cameras latched on the subject quickly and the photos did not take a lot of time to process either. The phone also offers a Film mode, which has preset themes for short videos.
• The Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition houses a 5,000mAh battery, which has a long-lasting backup and should see you through at least a day off a single charge. The phone netted 15 hours and 28 minutes score on the PC mark battery test. I was consistently getting a full day of battery life, with 15-20 percent juice still left in the tank, on regular smartphone usage. Moving on, the handset comes with a 33W fast charging solution, which can refuel the phone from 0-100 percent in an hour and a half. 

• Software-wise, the Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition runs HiOS V8.6 atop Android 12 out of the box. The UI has all the features, including dark mode and call recording, but the experience is nowhere close to stock Android. In fact, the skin comes with a ton of bloatware and sends unnecessary notifications which clutter the user’s notification tray too. On the bright side, the Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition’s side-mounted fingerprint scanner is among the fastest sensors I have tested to date. The phone’s 4G LTE and dual-band Wi-Fi also works just fine too, while the single bottom-firing speaker offers decent sound quality.

Final verdict

The Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition comes in just one configuration: 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, which is priced in India at Rs 17,999. This isn’t bad pricing, to be honest, but it fails to undercut some of its competitors including the Redmi Note 11 Pro. The latter rocks the same chipset as the Tecno smartphone but offers a 120Hz refresh rate AMOLED screen, 108MP primary camera, IP53 rating, and 67W fast charging solution. The Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition also faces heat from the Moto G62 5G (review) which costs Rs 17,999 for the 8GB RAM variant and brings a 120Hz IPS LCD screen, a near-stock version of Android, and a Snapdragon 695 SoC to the mix too.

That said, the Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition comes with an eye-catching design and colour-changing scheme, which is sure to attract some attention. The Tecno smartphone also offers a telephoto lens, which is a rarity in the price range, along with a dependable primary sensor, a stunning screen, and a snappy fingerprint scanner. All said and done, while not the quickest in its segment, Tecno’s latest deserves a second look.

Editor’s rating: 3.5/5

Pros

• Funky design
• Lovely screen
• Snappy fingerprint scanner
• Good cameras

Cons

• Ridden with bloatware
• Doesn’t support 5G
• No ultrawide camera