Tecno Spark 10 Pro Review: Budgetary Restrictions
While it might not that be well-known in North America, Tecno’s reach into multiple markets worldwide has brought the brand under the spotlight, especially for buyers in developing markets. With that in mind, the manufacturer has wasted no time tapping into a market once dominated by the likes of Xiaomi, thanks to a wide selection of wallet-friendly Android handsets.
Launched earlier this year, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro attempts to give consumers a taste of what Android is about, all at an affordable price. It comes with some pretty capable hardware, but does its affordable nature hamper the entire user experience? Let’s find out.
Display and Design
Starting off with its design, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro does manage to look nice thanks to a glass rear panel that integrates with a matte finish. Given the choice, I think that matte-reared devices exude a more premium look of sorts, which is great to see here. The rest of the phone is made from plastic, so there’s no aluminum or stainless steel on here, unfortunately. Nevertheless, it feels sturdy in-hand, which is always a welcome quality.
This polycarbonate and glass wraps around a 6.8-inch IPS LCD display, which features a 1080 x 2460 pixel resolution, and a 90Hz refresh rate. Despite the lack of OLED technology on here, it’s a panel that gets the basics right, although it does struggle a bit under direct sunlight. On the other hand we have to keep an eye on its price, which does put things into perspective.
Other hardware details include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, a bottom-firing speaker, as well as surprises such as a 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro SD card slot for expandable storage. The last two are certainly rare these days, and are great additions to the phone’s hardware set.
Performance and Software
The phone runs on a MediaTek Helio G88 chipset, a common sight on Android handsets within this price point. This comes alongside 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for the base model, although buyers with a bit more cash to burn can opt for a slightly higher-end spec’d variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
We’d recommend getting the 8GB RAM variant (the same one as our review unit), as it allows for a bit more breathing room for multitasking and everyday use. For a lot of “casual” users, the Spark 10 Pro will be enough for moderate app usage such as web browsing, social media, and maybe some light gaming apps.
Speaking of gaming, it’s clear that the Spark 10 Pro is not marketed towards gamers – there’s only so much load that the G88 can handle, and while that’s not to say that it won’t be able to run any graphically-intensive games, it won’t be an ideal experience. Running XCOM 2 for example clearly showed signs of occasional slowdowns, so it’s best to stick to lighter apps and games in general.
The phone runs on Android 13, although this is combined with HIOS, a proprietary Android skin that Tecno uses in its smartphones. It does come with some added customizability including support for themes and such, although you do get some pre-installed third party apps. To be honest, custom Android skins will be a very subjective matter for each user, but HIOS ends up looking a bit crowded at times.
Powering this entire setup is a 5,000 mAh battery, a standard capacity found in most phones at this price point. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t come with particularly fast charging speeds, as the phone is limited to 18W charging. Battery endurance is acceptable, especially given the budget chipset inside the phone – most users will be able to get a day’s worth of use out of the battery on the Spark 10 Pro.
Camera Hardware
Budget smartphones have come a long way in terms of camera performance, and the Spark 10 Pro is a good example of this. For hardware, the phone comes with a double camera setup on the rear, which consists of a 50MP f/1.6 dual lens. Meanwhile, selfies and video calls are handled by a 32MP sensor in front.
As far as mobile photography goes, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro can get you good-looking shots, provided that you have enough good lighting around you – this can be said for both the main and selfie cameras. Low-light shots tend to suffer (we’d recommend using the built-in night mode feature to mitigate this), but the phone can hold its own in general day-to-day photography, with decent colors and just enough detail.
There are times when dynamic range comes out less than ideal, and it’s in moments like these where we’re reminded that the Spark 10 Pro is first and foremost a budget phone, and as such it will have its limitations.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro isn’t a terrible phone for the price, which comes in at around $240-250 when converted. It’s got good build quality, a large enough display for content consumption, decent camera performance, and a reliable battery to name a few – for a lot of casual users, these will most likely be enough.
There are some caveats however, such as the less-than-impressive performance of the Helio G88, the bloated software interface, as well as poor low-light camera performance for example. These are definitely factors to consider, and discerning buyers will definitely want to take these into consideration. If you can live with these though, then the Tecno Spark 10 Pro might be something that’s right up your alley.