TECNO Phantom V Fold Review Philippines verdict: It was only a matter of time before foldables started going down in price, and the TECNO Phantom V Fold is leading the charge. Despite being almost half the price of competing devices, the TECNO Phantom V Fold delivers a similar experience without a ton of compromise, making it a safe bet for anyone who wants to join the fold without emptying their bank account.

Pros

• Solid construction
• Good-looking screen
• The case has an integrated kickstand
• Almost no crease in the display

Cons

• Very heavy
• Thick
• Hinge is so-so

After years of foldable being expensive, and almost impossible to buy devices, we’re finally seeing more affordable options pop up in the market. Granted that paying almost Php 60K is out of the question for a lot of people, the TECNO Phantom V Fold is still considerably cheaper than the competition and represents the beginning of the affordable foldable era.

TECNO Phantom V Fold Review Philippines: Design

TECNO went for an unconventional design for the back panel of the Phantom V Fold, settling for a textured fiber finish that’s made from recycled materials.

While the design choice might have been more to do with keeping costs down rather than being fully eco-friendly, I still like how it turned out. At the very least it’s a different take on how back panels on premium phones should be.

The camera module on the rear is also as unique as the back panel material, with the TECNO Phantom V Fold using a two-circle design to house the three cameras on the back.

The frame of the phone is made out of aluminum and finished in matte gray, which makes it look a little like plastic at first glance. Like most foldables, the TECNO Phantom V Fold has the volume rocker and power button on the right side, with the latter pulling double duty as the fingerprint scanner.
The biggest difference between this foldable and its competitors is how thick and heavy it is. At 14.5mm thick folded and close to 300 grams, it’s a very hefty phone, which some people may not appreciate.

Just like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and the Huawei Mate X3, the TECNO Phantom V Fold uses a book-type form factor, meaning it has an external screen and a bigger, folding, internal screen.

Opening the hinge takes a bit more effort than say the Mate X3 or the Galaxy Z Fold5, thanks to several magnets spread on the body to keep the entire thing together.

One thing that we liked about the phone is that its included case comes with an integrated kickstand, allowing you to prop it up when you’re using it. We’re still amazed that other companies haven’t picked up on this ingenious design yet, as it makes consuming content on the big screen easier when you’re not holding it.

One thing we did notice with the phone is that it doesn’t have a mid-way point like the Galaxy Z Fold5 for example when opening to use it in a mode similar to Flex Mode because of how the hinge is designed. The included kickstand allows you to facilitate some sort of flex mode, though it’ll only work on flat surfaces.

TECNO Phantom V Fold Review Philippines: Display

As we mentioned earlier, the TECNO Phantom V Fold uses a book-style layout, which means it uses two displays – a cover display, and a bigger, internal folding display.

The cover screen is a 6.42-inch AMOLED panel that has a 120hz refresh rate, 1100 nit brightness, and a resolution of 1080 x 2550.

The cover display is large enough that you can do a majority of the things you usually do on a non-foldable smartphone on it. There’s also Corning Gorilla Glass Victus on the front display so it’s as durable as the displays on more expensive foldables.

Once you one the hinge, you’ll see the 7.85-inch foldable AMOLED panel, which also has a 120Hz refresh rate and 1100 nits of peak brightness.

People’s main concern when it comes to foldables like the TECNO Phantom V Fold is the crease in the middle, and it’s surprising to see that the one on our review unit doesn’t look too bad. In truth, the crease is less pronounced than the HONOR Magic V, which was a surprise. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still there, and you can still see it, but it’s not a huge distraction.

As for display quality, it’s really good. The display quality of the panel is on par with other foldables in the market and is a pleasure to watch content on.

Probably the only thing that interrupts the big-screen experience for the phone is the positioning of the selfie camera, but since it’s the same deal for a majority of foldable phones in the market today, I’m not going to fault TECNO for that.

TECNO Phantom V Fold Review Philippines: Camera

Time to dive into the triple-camera setup: the TECNO Phantom V Fold uses 50-megapixel camera sensors for the main and telephoto snappers and a 13-megapixel unit for the ultra-wide camera.

The main camera employs an f/1.9 aperture and a Samsung GNV sensor. Outdoor shots are quite good, with excellent detail without a hint of overprocessing.

Probably the main complaint that eagle-eyed photographers would have with the main shooter is that brighter shots outdoors are a bit over-exposed in some situations. There’s also the matter of the main camera not having OIS, which is a disadvantage when you’re shooting in low-light or light-starved situations.

The telephoto sensor is a Samsung JN1, paired with a f/2.0 aperture and a focal length of 44mm. It’s not the ideal telephoto lens combo, but it gets the job done.

The last sensor on the list is a 13-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera. Image quality from this camera is good, though some photos weren’t fully in sync with images shot by the main camera white-balance-wise.

There are also two selfie cameras on the phone (one on the cover screen and one on the folding screen) but interestingly, one is higher resolution than the other. The cover camera is 32 32-megapixels, while the inner camera is a bit lower resolution, at only 16-megapixels.

TECNO Phantom V Fold Review Philippines: Performance, software, battery life

One of the biggest disadvantages of the TECNO Phantom V Fold VS the competition is its hardware, as the phone has a Dimensity 9000+ processor. Now don’t get me wrong, the Dimensity 9000+ is a very capable processor, but it’s not at the same level as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ or Gen 2 that’s usually on similar foldables.

Judged on its own merits though, the Dimensity 9000+ does a good job keeping the TECNO Phantom V Fold running smoothly. We didn’t run into major slowdowns or any other issues navigating through the phone’s OS and switching from the cover to the inner display, which is the most important part of a foldable like this. There’s also 12GB of RAM on tap, as well as a generous 512GB of storage.

The phone runs Android 13 with TECNO’s HiOS layered on top. This version of HiOS though has been tweaked for the foldable form factor and has a few enhancements over the regular HiOS that’s in their phones.

Most notably you get the choice to do split-screen multi-tasking, which is handy when the inner display is fully open, though you can’t resize the windows – either it’s 50/50 or an app takes up the full display. There’s no middle ground.

There’s also a handy feature called Smart Relay, which uses the cover screen’s selfie camera to detect if you’re looking at it when you close the foldable panel, and keeps it active instead of going to stand-by. If it doesn’t detect a face, the screen turns off after a few seconds. Pretty cool if you ask me.

One reason why the Tecno Phantom V Fold is so heavy and thick is because of the battery. The phone has a 5000mAh battery, which is larger than what the competition offers.

There’s also 45W fast charging, and no wireless charging, which is disappointing.

As far as battery life goes, the phone managed to go through a full day with a little bit left on the tank with moderate use – which is good news for anyone who is looking for a foldable phone that can last a whole day without dying.

TECNO Phantom V Fold Review Philippines: Wrap-up and verdict

For a company that’s mainly known for its affordable, bang-for-the-buck smartphones, TECNO has done a good job with the Phantom V Fold. We were not prepared at the level of quality and polish that their first foldable showed us, and we’re genuinely impressed at the phone’s overall performance.

That being said, it’s still priced quite a bit more than your normal flagship, and the company still has a lot of improvements left to do with their HiOS to improve overall usability. But all-in-all, the phone is a solid choice for anyone wanting to experience the foldable life without spending six digits for one.

TECNO Phantom V Fold Review Philippines Price:

The TECNO Phantom V Fold is priced at Php 59,999 for the 12GB/512GB variant, which makes it the most affordable foldable phone in the Philippines for its type.