The Tecno Camon CX Camera Review: What Does it Offer?

A couple of week ago, I wrote the review of the latest smartphone from Tecno, the Camon CX. Out of all devices from Tecno, those under the Camon series usually come with superior cameras and the CX was not any different. As I mentioned in the review, both the front and back cameras of the Tecno Camon CX can take very good shots.

In the review, I did not dive deep into the camera and explain what it has to offer so this is why I came up with this post. For those who are interested the Tecno Camon CX is available in Kenya for Ksh 16,700.

Main Camera

16MP with quad LED Flash

To get started, I will look at the main camera of the Tecno Camon CX. This is a 16MP unit that I was impressed with. It has a simple interface with all the basic controls within easy reach as you can see below.

From the main camera interface, you can switch between HDR and non HDR modes. By default, the HDR mode is disabled and this is important as it saves you memory space and given that not everyone wants to shoot with this mode, those who want to do so have the option of switching that on by themselves.

With the camera of the Tecno Camon CX, you can choose to spice up your photos and videos using the three modes that include ‘Night Scene Mode’, ‘Slow Motion Mode’ and the ‘Watermark mode’. All these modes are pretty explanatory, the night mode ensures the photos you take better shots in the dark. The slow motion mode allows you to shoot videos in slow motion, it allows you to record the videos and then edit it to a slow motion clip. The Watermark mode lets you add stickers to your photos when taking them. You can choose to add the date, or any of the 9 premade stickers to your photos. You can edit some of the texts on some of the stickers and this allows you to communicate exactly what you want to.

Photos taken with the Camon CX are very decent for a smartphone within this price range, they are very clear and I did not see any distortion or over processing of the images. The images are clear and even in low lighting, there is the quad LED flash ring that produces enough lighting to ensure your object is illuminated the way you want. If you have missed that, the Tecno Camon CX comes with a quad LED flash ring, that means you get 4 LEDs that produce enough light for night time shooting.

Additional features on this phone include a panorama and beauty modes. For a camera phone, the Camon CX does not come with much in terms of controls. To start with, the camera does not have manual controls, this is quite disappointing and to be honest makes no sense. I have seen cheaper smartphones with manual camera controls and that is the kind of stuff that attracts amateur and professional photographers. As for video recording, the Camon CX can record Full HD (1080p) videos at 30 frames per second.

Selfie Camera

16MP with Dual LED Flash

The selfie camera on the Tecno Camon CX is also a 16MP unit. This camera produces some nice shots that really impressed me. If you are a fan of selfies, you will not be disappointed, the quality of the images produced is great even in low light.

The interface of the front facing camera is similar to the one on the back camera, very simple with the main controls easily accessible. There are two main modes available here, the Watermark Mode and the Wide-angle selfie mode. The Watermark mode works exactly the same as the one on the back camera, the wide-angle selfie on the other hand is just complicated and did not work as I expected. What it does is that it allows you to fit more people or include more objects in your selfies. Well, this is what it is supposed to do on paper and it works by allowing you to turn the camera to the left and right when you press that shutter button to capture more information. This is sort of like the panorama mode but unfortunately for my case it did not work at all.

The photos that you take with the selfie camera of the Camon CX are quite good, worth sharing with your friends. They have enough detail when the lighting is good and this is enough for most people. The selfie camera is supported with dual led flash that makes this camera usable in low light areas. As for video recording, you can only shoot at 720p (HD).

Conclusion

The Tecno Camon CX lives up to expectation but is disappointing to some extent. Starting with the good news, It takes some good photos overall for its price. Even when the lighting is not so good, both cameras can take photos that you will not shy away from sharing on social media. The biggest disappointment I have with these cameras is the luck of manual  controls. The Camon series is made for photography enthusiasts and the luck of manual controls does not make sense. If I am buying a camera centric smartphone, having manual controls is just one of the things I will be looking for and this is why the CX is somehow disappointing even though it has amazing cameras.

Read Now: The Tecno Camon CX Review