Phone manufacturer, Tecno, released four new devices in the Spark Series into the Kenyan market on March 21 this year. The series includes the Tecno Spark 10C, the budget edition of the series, the Tecno Spark 10 5G, the Tecno Spark 10 and the Tecno Spark 10 Pro.
For our review unit, we got the Tecno Spark 10 and here are our thoughts;
Out of the box
On opening the box the phone is wrapped in a plastic sleeve that has some technical specifications printed on it.
That is placed on a recessed cardboard paper underneath which is storage for a warranty card, a silicone clear case, a SIM tray ejector, a pair of earphones, a USB to Type-C charging cable, and an 18-watt fast-charging brick.
Dimensions and exterior
The Tecno Spark 10 measures 163.89mm in height by 75.39mm in width. It is 8.4mm wide. It weighs about 190 grams making it a light device in hand.
The display is a 6.6” monolithic screen with an 8MP front camera placed underneath the screen at the top edge of the display. It sits beneath the earpiece that is minimalist to limit disruption of the screen.
The top edge of the phone is plain which is a departure from other previous Tecno models that either have a secondary speaker or ambient sound microphone or both at the top of the phone.
The right edge of the phone has the volume button and the power button doubles up as the side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
The bottom edge of the Tecno Spark 10 has the loudspeaker, the Type-C 2.0 charging port which is also one of its media transfer ports, a microphone for phone calls and the 3.5mm jack for connecting the earphones the phone is supplied with.
The left edge of the device has the SIM tray which supports dual Nano SIM cards and a microSDXC card with its dedicated slot.
Screen and Cameras
The 6.6” display is high definition with a resolution of 720 x 1612. It has a refresh rate of 90Hertz which gives a fairly decent user experience when browsing or gaming on the device.
It comes with a factory-installed screen cover which is more aesthetic than functional. It would be prudent to get an after-market screen protector to secure the screen.
The front-facing camera is an 8MP shooter with a glowing selfie dual flash. The lens is also wide-angled so does not need to be held far from the face to take an effective selfie.
The primary camera at the rear is a dual 50MP camera with its own dual flash for illuminating settings when taking photos in low light.
It has various camera modes which include Slow Motion, Time Lapse, Video, AI CAM, Beauty, Portrait and Augmented Reality Shots.
There are further settings that allow a user to set up the phone to preference such as a grid to improve the composition of photos, or aspect ratio depending on the composition of the photo or video being taken.
Both cameras have a high dynamic range for shooting in different lighting situations. The front camera, the same as the back, shoot videos in 1080p up to 30 frames per second.
Here are some pictures we took with the phone.
Performance and connectivity
The device has an internal storage of 128GB and can be expanded by way of a microSDXC card. It also has a standard RAM of 16GB. This too can be expanded by a further 8GB to support more complex functions such as heavy gaming.
The Tecno Spark 10 runs an octa-core processor which is something on an industry standard for ease of use. It also runs a Mediatek Helio G37 central processing unit.
These are paired well to support the Android 13 and HIOS 12.6 platforms that the Tecno Spark 10 comes preinstalled with.
On the GSM front, the Tecno Spark 10 is capped at 4G but can be downgraded to 3G and 2G depending on network coverage. It however has a dual Wi-Fi network that supports the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands for internet access.
Other connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.0, FM Radio, Near Field Communications and Type-C 2.0 for data transfer.
Sensors and battery
The Tecno Spark 10 has a host of sensors for a variety of functions. It has the G-Sensor and E-compass which when paired with mapping applications enable users to get pinpoint locations when travelling. Health and productivity applications also use these to keep track of user movements in line with fitness goals.
The ambient light sensor on the device adjusts the screen’s brightness so a user can still interact with content on the screen even in bright surroundings where visibility is typically compromised.
The proximity sensor works, especially when on phone calls, where the screen is turned off to prevent other functions from being activated while the phone is held to the ear.
The side-mounted fingerprint sensor on the power button is important for securing the phone and other functions such as making payments online.
The Tecno Spark 10 comes with a non-removable Li-Po 5000mAh battery paired with an 18-watt fast-charging brick. One charge cycle takes about 24 hours of standby time. This is however dependent on the frequency and complexity of use which would shorten the periods between charge cycles.
Colour, price and verdict
The device comes in a bright Meta Blue colour which would be a shame to hide behind any other solid colour case. Thankfully, because the provided case is a clear silicone, the radiant colour is still visible.
The Tecno Spark 10 retails at Ksh19,299 and is available countrywide at all Tecno-branded shops as well as from partner stores such as Masoko by Safaricom, Jumia and Kilimall.
For the price of the phone, our verdict is that it is a worthwhile buy and even a steal considering the features it packs. The only letdown is that it does not run on 5G, but that means cheaper data which is not a bad trade-off considering 4G isn’t all that slow.