TECNO Camon Series: Evolution of the Camera

Apr 28, 2023

The recently launched TECNO Camon 20 series is arguably the company's best lineup. The camera-centric series has seen iterative upgrades and improvements over the years since its first inception in 2015. We zoom out to the past and see how far the Camon series has evolved.

These two were the earliest of the series launched in 2015. They shipped with Android 5 Lollipop. The C5 was a 4G phone powered by a 1.3GHz quad core processor and had a 5-inch 720p LCD screen.

It had a 2500mAh battery and sold for Ksh 13,000.

For cameras, the C5 had an 8MP main and a 2MP selfie camera.

On the other hand, the C8 was a 3G phone going for Ksh 16,000. It packed a MediaTek6735 chipset paired with 1GB RAM and 16GB storage with support for expandable storage (32GB microSD card).

It had a 5.5-inch 720p display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It also had a 3000mAh battery.

For cameras, we got a 13MP primary and a 5MP selfie camera.

In 2016, TECNO launched the C9. It was competing with the Boom J8. The C9 came with a dedicated camera button. It had a 5.5-inch 1080p screen.

It came with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and a 3000mAh battery. It ran on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

For cameras, it had a 13MP primary and a 13MP selfie camera.

It was going for Ksh 18,000.

TECNO upped their game in 2017 with the launch of the CX and the CX Air which sold really well in the country.

The CX had a 16MP selfie camera and 16MP primary lens. It had a full HD 5.5 inch screen. Powering the phone was MediaTek 6750T chipset and Android 7 Nougat.

It had a bright screen and metal design and had a 3200mAh battery.

It was selling for Ksh 17,000.

The CX Air had 13MP cameras both for the te rear and front facing. It had a 720p 5.5 inch screen and was powered by MTK6750T chipset paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage.

It was a 4G phone with a 3200mAh battery and went for Ksh 14,000.

A few months later, TECNO launched a Manchester City limited edition of the CX. It went for Ksh 31,000 and packed 4G RAM and 32GB storage.

It shared the same specs as the CX but with a twist to the usee interface that featured a Manchester City theme. The phone came in what TECNO called City Blue color.

TECNO launched the CM in January 2018 and it was their first phone sporting the trendy 18:9 aspect ratio.

Like tradition, it shipped with 13MP main and front facing cameras. It had a 720p 5.7 inch screen. This was a 4G VoLTE phone with support for Faiba 4G as well.

It had a fingerprint reader and was powered by a 3000mAh battery.

It shipped with Android 7 with HiOS 3.2 on top. This was paired with MT6737 chipset and 2GB RAM and 16GB storage.

It was selling for Ksh 17,000.

In April 2018, TECNO updated it's lineup with the launch of the Camon X Series.

The Camon X Pro had a 6 inch 1080p screen powered by a Helio P23 chipset.

It had a 24MP selfie camera and a 16MP primary lens. It had 4GB RAM and 32GB storage. It came with Android 8.1 and HiOS 3.3.

Under the hood was a 3750mAh battery.

It was going for Ksh 25,000.

Camon X had a 6 inch screen and was powered by Helio P23 chipset paired with 3GB RAM and 16GB storage. It also came with Android 8.1 Oreo staring out of the box.

It had a 20MP front facing camera for selfies and a 16MP main.

It had a 3750mAh battery and biometrics that included face unlock and a rear fingerprint reader.

It went for Ksh 20,000.

Before 2018 closed off, TECNO released the Camon 11 series to end the year.

The Camon 11 series was the company's first phones with a notch that housed its selfie cameras.

The Pro version had a 24MP selfie camera and a dual 16MP and 2MP (bokeh) rear cameras. It had a 3750mAh battery and was powered by a Helio P22 processor with 6GB RAM.

It sold for Ksh 25,000.

The regular Camon 11 had a 16MP selfie camera and a dual 13MP and 5MP rear caneras. It was powered by Helio A22 chipset paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage.

It sold for Ksh 15,000.

In late 2019, TECNO launched the Camon 12 series.

The 12 Pro had a 6.4″ AMOLED screen with and underdisplay fingerprint reader.

It came with a 32MP selfie camera housed in the tear drop notch. It had a 16MP main, 8MP wide and 2MP depth sensor.

It had a 4000mAh battery and shipped with 6GB RAM.

It sold for Ksh 19,499.

The regular Camon 12 shared some features including the battery and rear cameras with the Pro sibling.

It came with 4GB RAM and a 16MP selfie camera housed in the tear drop notch.

It however had a 6.52 inch 720p screen.

It sold for Ksh 14,499.

The 12 Air had a punchhole cutout for its 8MP selfie camera. It had a 6.55 inch 720p selfie camera.

It shipped with Android 9 Pie and HiOS 5.5.2 powered by Helio P22 chipset, 3GB RAM and 32GB storage.

For the rear cameras, we had a 16MP main with a 5MP and a 2MP lens.

It sold for Ksh 13,499.

Camon 15 series was launched in 2020 – the year the COVID-19 pandemic started.

The regular 15 had a 48MP main cameras plus. Two 2MP cameras and a QVGA lens. It could record 1080p 30fps video. For the front we had a 16MP punch hole selfie camera.

It came in a beautiful Shoal Gold colour with a 6.6 inch 720p screen.

It was powered by a Helio P22 chipset with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. It has a 5000mAh battery and 10W charging.

It sold for Ksh 17,999.

The Premier version shipped with a 6.5 inch 1080p screen powered by Helio P35 processor, Android 10 and HiOS 6 together with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage.

It came with a 64MP quad setup with a 5MP wide, 2MP depth and a QVGA lens. It came with a popup 32MP selfie camera.

It had a 4000mAh battery and sold for Ksh 26,999.

15 Air shipped with an 8MP punch hole selfie camera and a 5000mAh battery. It also had 3GB RAM and 64GB storage and sold for Ksh 15,999.

To close the year with it dual launches, TECNO announced the Camon 16 series in late 2020.

The Camon 16 Premier had a 6.9″ 90Hz 1080p screen. It shipped with Android 10 powered by Helio G90T processor ad 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.

It had a 64MP quad setup that could shoot 4K video. The other three included an 8MP and two 2MP cameras.

It came with a dual selfie setup that included a 48MP main with an 8MP wide.

We finally got type-c charging with the 16 Premier that supported 33W fast charging to juice up the 4500mAh battery.

It sold for Ksh 28,500.

The regular Camon 16 had a 6.8 inch screen. It was powered by Helio G70 chipset paired with 4GB RAM. It had a 16MP selfie camera and a 64MP quad setup which features three 2MP complementary lenses.

It could support 2K(1440p) video recording for both rear and selfie videos.

It had a 5000mAh battery and 18W micro USB charging.

16S shipped with a 6.6″ 720p screen. It had an 8MP selfie camera. For the back, we had a 48MP quad setup with two 2MP lenses and a AI lens.

It was powered by Helio P35 processor paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. It had Android 10 and HiOS 6.1.

It came with 5000mAh battery and 10W charging. It sold for Ksh 17,699.

TECNO brought the new Camon 17 in May 2021.

The Pro version came with a 6.8 inch 1080p screen with 90Hz and 500 nits brightness.

It came powered by Helio G95 processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. It had a 5000mAh battery with support for 25W type-C charging.

It had a 64MP quad main setup with 8MP wide, two 2MP cameras. It could shoot 4K video. It also had a 48MP selfie camera.

It sold for Ksh 30,999.

Regular Camon 17 had a Helio G85 chipset and came running on Android 11 and HiOS 7.6. It had an 8MP selfie camera and a 48MP triple rear camera setup.

It came with a 5000mAh battery and 10W microUSB charging. It sold for Ksh 19,799.

Camon 18 series closed off 2021 with its October launch.

Camon 18 Premier came with a 6.7 inch AMOLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate and 550 nits brightness. It was powered by Helio G96 processor paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.

It ran on Android 11 and HiOS 8.

It had a 4750mAh battery with support for 33W fast Type-C charging.

It came with a 64MP triple setup that also includes a 12MP OIS gimbal ultrawide lens plus an 8MP periscope telephoto lens that has 5X optical zoom and up to 60X digital zoom.

There's a 32MP selfie camera.

It went for Ksh 39,999.

Regular Camon 18 had a 6.8 inch 1080p LCD screen with 90Hz refresh rate and 550 nits brightness.

It shipped with Android 11 and HiOS 8 paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. Helio G88 powered the phone.

It had a 5000mAh battery with support for 33W fast Type-C charging.

For cameras, we had a 16MP selfie camera and a 48MP triple rear setup.

It went for Ksh 27,699.

Camon 19 series was launched a year ago in June.

The lineup was the biggest update to the series with high end features across the various devices in the lineup such as 1080p high gamut 6.8 inch screens, Android 12 and HiOS 8.6, 64MP primary lenses with OIS, 32MP selfie cameras and 2K video recording for both primary and selfie cameras.

All of them had MediaTek's processors with the 5G having Dimensity 810, the regular and Pro(4G) sporting Helio G85 and G99 chipsets.

This is the first time HiOS adds virtual RAM to the series that ship with 8GB onboard RAM for the Pro, the Pro 5G and the regular. They had 256GB storage except the regular one that had 128GB storage. They get 5GB virtual RAM and 3GB RAM for the regular one.

The regular one had a 5000mAh battery and 18W Type-C charging. The rest had 33W Type-C charging.

The regular one had a 16MP selfie camera while the rest have 32MP. The Pro had an additional 50MP portrait camera with 2X optical zoom and upto 60X digital zoom and a 2MP bokeh camera.

The regular one had two additional 2MP sensors.

In September that year, we got the Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition. It shares all features as the Pro version except for the design.

The Camon 19 Pro Art Edition pay tribute to Dutch painter Piet Mondrian and his form of abstract art which features a grid-pattern composition of horizontal and vertical lines in the form of squares and rectangles.

The back of this special edition Camon 19 Pro uses photoisomer technology which uses the breakage and recovery effect of the chain of photosensitive molecular bonds under UV light, making colourless molecular groups become chromogenic and then go back to colourless.

The Mondrian Edition went for Ksh 35,000.

The Camon 20 packs heavy when it comes to specs, and it's pretty impressive that the midrange lineup can go toe-to-toe with fellow rivals.

They new Magic Skin for their rear panels for the Camon 20 series. We get lychee-pattern leather for the back and nano-crystalline ceramic for the camera island. The back design implements 20 irregular ribs for the back pattern.

Camon 20 Premier leads the lineup with a 6.67″ AMOLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate.

It comes with 8GB onboard RAM and 8GB virtual RAM paired with 256GB storage. This configuration is shared across the lineup. We also get HiOS 13 and Android 13 straight out of the box.The whole series shares the same 32MP selfie camera.

Camon 20 Premier has a triple camera setup with a leading 50MP RGBW Pro primary lens with sensor-shift OIS and support for ultra-Steady video, a 108MP ultrawide with autofocus and macro capabilities, and a 2MP depth sensor.

It also sports new Dimensity 8050 5G processor(It's a rebadged Dimensity 1300) that also powers the Camon 20 Pro 5G.

The Camon 20 Premier comes in Serenity Blue and Dark Welkin.

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