By Tanko Mohammed
The competition in the mobile phone industry has gotten much fiercer in recent years – users are no longer satisfied with just a sleek appearance.
The combination of forms, with functions that phone provides, have now become the deciding factors.
Hence, the “imaging power” of mobile phone photography has now become a frequently used vocabulary in the industry.
Many mobile phone companies are actively exploring and racing against each other to be a pioneer in turning imaging power into influence.
Recently, many brands have launched their new mobile phone products, such as OPPO, TECNO, Samsung, Huawei, Vivo, Realme, Xiaomi and others, giving the youth of today more choices.
This time we selected the four latest Android phones to make a comparison and find out which stands out more. They are TECNO CAMON 16 Premier, Samsung A51, Huawei Y9, and OPPO A9.
Camera function – front and rear cameras
Photography is fast becoming the main differentiator between mobile phones. The best models in the market offer quality that can rival professional-grade cameras.
With the four models on review, it comes down to the multi-shot and AI camera modes. TECNO CAMON 16 Premier boasts a massive 64MP rear ultra quad camera, while the Samsung A51 and OPPO A9 maxes out at 48MP, and Huawei Y9 with 24MP. TECNO CAMON 16 Premier is equipped with a 48MP dual front camera, while Samsung A51 with 32MP, OPPO A9 and Huawei Y9 with 16MP. This gives a crisp and noticeable sharpness to the photos taken by the CAMON 16 Premier over the other models.
If you’re an avid photographer or are particular about your photos, TECNO’s model will not disappoint, regardless whether it’s the 48MP front cameras or the 64MP rear cameras.
Its front camera has both a clear selfie lens as well as an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens to capture group shots with ease. The AI modes such as the TAIVOS 2.0 are designed from the ground-up by TECNO, who recently also set the industry standards for mobile photography technology.
Such advances in mobile photography are only made possible by the massive R&D efforts in processor chips, who shoulder much of the burden that affects image quality.
Hence having the best chips will have a direct impact on the pictures we take every day. Compared with the older Mirin and Snapdragon processors in the A51, Y9 and A9, the CAMON 16 uses MediaTek’s latest MTK G90T.
With CPU processing speeds of up to 2.05GHz and 64MP camera support, the G90 is more than capable of bringing your visual ideas into reality.
Camera function – real night scene shooting
In addition to the main front and rear cameras, the conversion of bright night scenes into ultra-clear night scene photos is also a major feature of each product.
OPPO A9 introduced the ultra-clear night scene mode 2.0, using HDR and multi-frame technology to provide users with night portraits that surpass the brightness and details that the naked eye perceives. In contrast, Samsung A51 and Huawei Y9 are slightly inferior.
The Samsung A51 does not have optical image stabilization, so even though the EIS and algorithm are used for shooting at night, the pictures taken are of slightly flawed in resolution. Additionally, there are still dark details in the background and the deterioration in the quality of its wide-angled images is also disappointing.
Similarly, the night scene mode of Huawei Y9 has a long exposure time of up to 8 seconds, requiring manual operation to shorten the time and lower the ISO to take good photos.
The TECNO CAMON 16 Premier, however, can compete with the OPPO A9. The CAMON 16 Premier reduces the shooting time in bright environments to within 1 second and is more professional in subdividing super night scenes and dark environment portraits.
It uses the AI RAW domain multi-frame super night portrait. Through the AI portrait segmentation and portrait protection, the portrait will not be overexposed while the night scene remains bright and clear.
What is more fascinating is that the TECNO CAMON 16 Premier produces a stable output of 1080P quality even in a dark environment. At the same time, the 2.9μm super-large pixels makes the camera more sensitive to light. Therefore, other mobile phones can’t bring users a brighter experience in such dark environment videos.
Video Experience – anti-shake function
Regardless day or night, clear photos are always a top priority. TECNO CAMON 16 Premier uses the Super Hybrid Video Anti-Shake (Super HIS) to stabilize and has produced fantastic photography results.
This is a notable upgrade from the Samsung A51 and Huawei Y9 as they did not incorporate the technology at all. OPPO’s A9 only has made an effort through its built-in Gyro and EIS anti-share technology.
TECNO CAMON 16 Premier supports high-definition picture quality and high frame rate video shooting with Super HIS and EIS+AIS. At the same time, with HIS hybrid intelligent anti-shake technology, you can easily shoot high-definition and smooth videos.
Another advantage is that it supports 960 frames of super slow-motion shooting, thus expanding the joy of video shooting exponentially. The CAMON 16 Premier’s 8Gb of RAM helps a lot to accelerate the video processing time.
TECNO CAMON 16 Premier has a 48MP front camera, a 64MP rear camera, plus a variety of functions such as a 119° self-timer wide viewing angle, AI recognition and many more – all allowing users to maintain the best photo quality even in dark places. Such an advanced lens configuration makes the other phones appear inferior in comparison.
Battery life
How can a mobile phone be incredibly powerful without an outstanding battery? Battery life has always been a big concern for users. While OPPO A9 has the largest battery of 5000mAh, TECNO CAMON 16 Premier does not lag far behind with 4500mAh and a quick charge of up to 70% in just 30 minutes.
This is an upgrade compared to the smaller 4000mAh capacity of Huawei Y9 and Samsung A51. The highlight is that the CAMON 16 Premier’s battery is not just strong and fast, it is also safer. The CAMON 16 Premier has managed to even add a Type-C fast charging capability inside its thin frame.
With two types of charging options, TECNO has engineered the CAMON 16 to reduce overheating during fast-charge and lowered the surface temperature by two degrees.
Coupled with the fact that the charging process will automatically shut down before the battery is fully charged, this is a breakthrough in the industry integrated into the CAMON 16 to better protect the mobile phone and the user.
Mobile phone screen design
The TECNO CAMON 16 Premier takes the crown when it comes to screen size, with over 6.85” of real estate for users to play their favourite games or watch the latest TV shows.
The bigger screen is also more comfortable to watch for longer periods, as compared to the other major brands such as Samsung and OPPO. The CAMON 16 truly shines when viewing high-resolution videos, as the widescreen works in perfect sync with the 90Hz ultra-clear resolution to provide an unparalleled mobile viewing experience.
Because of this, TECNO has shifted its fingerprint scanner to the side so that it will be easier to gain access into the phone. This was a concern when we tested Samsung’s A51 who had it just under the screen.
After comparing so many mobile phones and their functions, what would be your favourite choice?
