Initial verdict: The Camon 30 Premier is the most solid mid-range phone TECNO has to offer in recent years. The periscope camera and upgraded selfie camera are solid upgrades, though we want to see TECNO polish up the software so that the Camon 30 Premier can maximize its otherwise great hardware. 

Pros

-Solid camera setup on paper

-Great processor of choice

Cons

-AI portrait software needs polishing

TECNO revealed a bunch of interesting things at MWC 2024: Aside from the POVA 6 Pro, Dynamic 1 robot dog and their Pocket Go Windows AR Gaming Set, TECNO also previewed at MWC 2024 the Camon 30 series, with the Camon 30 Premier being the most stacked model we’ve seen from the line in recent years.

TECNO Camon 30 Premier Hands-on: Design

Unlike the Camon 20 series that have a full vegan leather back panel, the Camon 30 Premier has a dual-texture design, with a curved portion showing a glass panel. The colorway we saw at MWC 2024 is in black, and the tonal finish on both the glass and vegan leather parts.

Unlike the Camon 20 series’ asymmetrical module, the Camon 30 Premier went for a large, circular module that houses three cameras. The biggest change in this camera setup is the presence of a periscope module.

Another big change on the Camon 30 Premier is the frame, where the antenna lines simply tell you that it has an aluminum frame. This upgrade means that TECNO is serious about upgrading the overall build of its phones.

TECNO Camon 30 Premier Hands-on: Display

While the Camon 30 Premier still uses a 120hz AMOLED display, it is slightly bigger at 6.77 inches and boasts a higher 1.5k resolution. The Camon 30 Premier is using a more premium LTPO panel, which means you get a variable refresh rate for better battery life. Considering that the Camon series is TECNO’s mid-range offering, it’s nice to see LTPO panels make their way to more affordable phones.

You still get stereo speakers on the Camon 30 Premier, but they support Dolby Atmos this time so overall audio quality should be better compared to their predecessor.

TECNO Camon 30 Premier Hands-on: Cameras

The Camon 30 Premier has a total of four 50-megapixel cameras: the selfie camera has autofocus to keep your selfies in focus, while the rear setup has an ultra-wide, a 3x periscope camera, and a main camera that uses a 1/1.56-inch IMX890 sensor. While the ultra-wide camera has a lower resolution compared to the Camon 20 Premier, we’re delighted to see a periscope camera on the Camon 30 Premier.

Aside from a solid hardware setup on paper, the Camon 30 Premier’s camera software gets a bunch of features like AI portrait, which takes a photo of your face and transforms it into a presentable portrait shot.

We tried AI Portrait on the Camon 30 Premier, and the results are far off from what are face is supposed to be. Do note that the units we saw at MWC 2024 are most likely running beta software, so expect TECNO to make the necessary tweaks before making them available to consumers,

TECNO Camon 30 Premier Hands-on: Internals and Battery

The Camon 30 Premier is powered by a Dimensity 8200 Ultimate processor, which is more powerful (not to mention more efficient) than the Dimensity 8050 used on the Camon 20 Premier. TECNO did not disclose the RAM/storage configuration, but we expect to see at least a 12GB/512GB variant on the Camon 20 Premier.

Like the POVA 6 Pro, the Camon 30 Premier comes with Android 14 out of the box  TECNO has yet to disclose its software update commitments. You get the same 5000mAh battery as its predecessor, but the Camon 30 Premier supports a faster 70w charging solution–similar to the one we saw on the POVA 6 Pro.

TECNO Camon 30 Premier Hands-on: Wrap-up and initial conclusions

TECNO surprised us with the Camon 30 series at MWC 2024, and the Premier variant shows that the brand is stepping up in giving its mid-range offerings a better overall build and a better set of hardware. We’re excited about the Camon 30 Premier for what it offers right now, and the brand confirmed that it will launch the Camon 30 Premier globally in Q2 of 2024.