The under Ksh. 30,000 phone category has been competitive of late as phone companies try to make their phones affordable for the masses.
In this category we have the Tecno Phantom 9 which was launched in July 2019 and Huawei P30 Lite which was launched in March 2019. We have put the two phones head to head in a bid to determine which phone gives the most value for money.
Here are the Phone Specifications;
| Tecno Phantom 9 | Huawei P30 Lite | ||||
| Display | Type | AMOLED touchscreen | LTPS IPS touchscreen | ||
| Size | 6.39 inches, 100.2 cm2 (~84.0% screen-to-body ratio) | 6.15 inches, 93.6 cm2 (~84.2% screen-to-body ratio) | |||
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels, (~403 ppi density) | 1080 x 2312 pixels (~415 ppi density) | |||
| Protection
|
Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | ||||
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Platform |
Operating System | Android 9.0 (Pie) | Android 9.0 (Pie), EMUI 9.1 | ||
| Chipset | Mediatek MT6765 Helio P35 (12nm) | Hisilicon Kirin 710 (12 nm) | |||
| CPU | Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53) | Octa-core (4×2.2 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53) | |||
| GPU | PowerVR GE8320 | Mali-G51 MP4
|
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Memory |
RAM | 6GB | 6GB | ||
|
|
Internal |
128GB
|
128GB | ||
| External |
MicroSD up to 512GB
|
MicroSD up to 512GB | |||
| Network | Technology | 4G LTE |
4G LTE
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|
|
SIM | Dual SIM | Dual SIM | ||
| Camera | Main Camera |
16 MP, f/1.8, PDAF
|
24 MP, f/1.8, (wide), PDAF 8 MP, 13mm (ultrawide) 2 MP, f/2.4, depth sensor |
||
| Selfie Camera | 32 MP, f/2.0 | 32 MP, f/2.0 | |||
| Battery | Size | Non-removable Li-Ion 3500 mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Po 3340 mAh battery | ||
| Charging | Micro USB Port | Type C | |||
| Colors | Lapland Aurora |
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Price |
Ksh. 24,9999 | Ksh. 29,999 |
Appearance
Both phones have smooth rounded edges and have a premium look about them. They have a glass front and a plastic frame which can make it a magnet for fingerprint smudges.
The Huawei P30 is slimmer and weighs less which makes it much more easier to handle than the Tecno Phantom. The Phantom on the other hand comes with an in display finger print scanner which can take some getting used to if you are used to having one at the back of the phone.
The Phantom 9 comes with a 6.4 inch HD (2340 x 1080) AMOLED display while the Huawei P30 Lite comes with a 6.15 inches HD (1080 x 2312 pixels) LCD display. On this front you will get a better view on the Phantom due to the bigger screen size.
Both screens delivered when it came to consumption of multimedia content such as movies, Youtube and social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook. So much so that it was difficult to choose which one came out on top here.
Camera
The Tecno Phantom 9 comes with a triple camera setup at the back which features a f/1.8 16 MP primary sensor, 8 MP ultrawide sensor and a 2 MP depth sensor. On the other hand, Huawei P30 Lite rocks a f/1.8 24 MP, 8 MP ultrawide sensor and 2 MP depth sensor. When it comes to the camera, the P30 which has a higher MegaPixel has an advantage, however, the AI powered camera of the Phantom is not too shabby either.
Both phones rock a 32MP front camera housed in a notch at the front. They also incorporate AI technology to make your selfies more vivid and flawless.
Performance
The Tecno Phantom 9 comes packed with HiOS v5.0 on top of Android 9.0 (Pie) OS whereas Huawei P30 Lite comes with Android 9.0 (Pie), EMUI 9.1. On the Phantom you find, MediaTek MT6765 Helio P35 processor, 6GB of RAM and 128GB while in the Huawei P30 Lite you find Hisilicon Kirin 710 processor, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
Both phones held their own when it came to performance but the Tecno lagged a bit behind in light, moderate and heavy usage. This could be explained by the fact that, the Tecno Phantom uses a slightly older processor than the one found on the Huawei P30 Lite.
Other than while gaming, both phones were able to handle day to day tasks with ease due to the 6 GB RAM without any annoying lag. However, if you are a heavy user the P30 Lite will serve you better.
Battery
The Tecno Phantom 9 comes with a 3500 mAh battery while the Huawei P30 comes packed with a 3,340 mAh battery. Both phones can be able to give you a full day usage while on moderate usage.
The Huawei P30 Lite comes with a fast charging option (Type C) while the Tecno Phantom comes with a micro-USB port which can make charging the phone a tedious affair if you are used to a Type C. That being said, I would pick the Huawei P30 Lite over the Tecno Phantom 9.
Conclusion
Both phones give good value for money, but in this instance given the features on both phones I have to go with the Huawei P30 Lite. However, if your budget does not allow, the Tecno Phantom 9 is a good option.