Tecno Spark 30 Pro: A Comprehensive Review
The Tecno Spark 30 Pro is part of the popular Tecno Spark series, known for its budget-friendly smartphones that deliver solid performance and appealing features. The Spark 30 Pro continues this legacy with notable upgrades, positioning itself as a strong contender in the affordable smartphone market. With a modern design, enhanced camera capabilities, a large battery, and powerful processing performance, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro is set to attract budget-conscious consumers who seek value for money. Let’s dive into a detailed review of what the Tecno Spark 30 Pro has to offer.
Design and Build Quality
The Tecno Spark 30 Pro sports a sleek, contemporary design that feels premium for its price range. It comes with a glossy polycarbonate back that mimics glass, giving it a classy appearance. The curved edges provide a comfortable grip, while the overall form factor ensures ease of use with one hand. The rear features a dual-camera module and a fingerprint scanner positioned centrally for easy access.
The smartphone is available in several eye-catching colors, including Ice Silver, Midnight Black, and Emerald Green, appealing to a wide audience. Despite being primarily made of plastic, the device feels durable and is well-constructed for everyday use. The Tecno Spark 30 Pro is lightweight, making it portable and perfect for long hours of usage without feeling cumbersome.
Display
One of the major highlights of the Tecno Spark 30 Pro is its large 6.8-inch IPS LCD display, which delivers vibrant colors and decent viewing angles. With a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, the display is bright and sharp, making it ideal for watching videos, browsing social media, and playing light games. The screen also features a punch-hole cutout for the front camera, offering an immersive viewing experience with minimal bezels.
While the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz, it performs well for casual users. Whether indoors or outdoors, the brightness levels are sufficient, though it may struggle slightly under direct sunlight. For its price, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro provides a good display quality, making multimedia consumption a pleasant experience.
Performance and Hardware
Under the hood, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 chipset, a processor that strikes a balance between power efficiency and performance. It is paired with 6GB of RAM, ensuring smooth multitasking and app management. For an affordable smartphone, the Helio G85 is capable of handling day-to-day tasks such as browsing, streaming, and using social media apps without much lag.
For gamers, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro can handle casual gaming quite well. Titles like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile can be played on medium settings with minimal frame drops. The Mali-G52 MC2 GPU provides adequate support for rendering graphics in these games, though high-end gaming may cause the device to heat up slightly over prolonged sessions.
The device comes with 128GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via a microSD card. This is sufficient for storing photos, videos, apps, and files without worrying about running out of space too quickly.
Software
The Tecno Spark 30 Pro runs on Tecno’s HiOS 12, based on Android 13, which offers a clean and intuitive interface. HiOS provides a variety of customization options, including themes, wallpapers, and UI tweaks, allowing users to personalize their experience. While HiOS is known for having a few pre-installed apps (bloatware), these can be disabled or removed if they aren’t needed.
HiOS 12 also includes useful features like App Twin, which allows users to run two instances of social media apps, and a Game Mode, designed to enhance gaming performance by allocating resources more efficiently. The system runs smoothly, and Tecno has worked to optimize the software to reduce unnecessary background activities, leading to improved performance and battery life.
Camera
Tecno smartphones are well-regarded for their camera setups, and the Tecno Spark 30 Pro is no exception. It features a dual-camera system on the rear, with a 50MP primary sensor and an AI lens, which improves photography in various lighting conditions. The primary camera captures vibrant images with good detail and color accuracy, particularly in well-lit environments.
For low-light photography, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro is equipped with Super Night Mode, which enhances photos taken in dim conditions by reducing noise and improving exposure. The images may not be as sharp as those captured with flagship devices, but they are impressive for the price.
On the front, there’s a 16MP selfie camera housed in the punch-hole cutout. It delivers clear selfies with good skin tone reproduction and enough detail. Beauty mode, portrait mode, and several AI enhancements ensure that selfies look polished for social media sharing.
Both front and rear cameras can record video at 1080p resolution, though the absence of optical image stabilization means handheld videos can be a bit shaky. However, for casual video recording, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro gets the job done.
Battery Life
Battery life is a key strength of the Tecno Spark 30 Pro. It is powered by a massive 5000mAh battery, which ensures the phone lasts throughout the day with moderate to heavy usage. With a power-efficient chipset and software optimizations, users can expect a full day of usage that includes streaming, gaming, and browsing without needing to recharge.
The phone supports 18W fast charging, which is decent for its segment. It can take around two hours to charge the device from 0 to 100%, but the large battery size means you won’t need to reach for the charger frequently. Power users who spend a lot of time on their phones will appreciate the long-lasting battery.
Connectivity and Other Features
The Tecno Spark 30 Pro offers a comprehensive suite of connectivity options. It supports dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, and has a USB-C port for charging and data transfer. There's also a 3.5mm headphone jack, a feature that is becoming rare in modern smartphones, but still appreciated by many users.
The rear-mounted fingerprint scanner is fast and reliable, unlocking the device in an instant. Additionally, the phone supports face unlock as an alternative biometric option, though it is less secure than the fingerprint scanner.
Conclusion
The Tecno Spark 30 Pro is a solid choice for anyone looking for a budget-friendly smartphone with a large display, decent camera capabilities, and excellent battery life. While it may not compete with flagship devices in terms of raw power, it provides great value for money, especially for users who prioritize affordability without sacrificing key features.
For casual users, students, or those on a tight budget, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro delivers a balanced smartphone experience that can handle day-to-day tasks with ease. Its modern design, large battery, and capable camera make it a strong contender in the budget smartphone market.
Pros:
- Large, vibrant display
- Strong battery life
- Affordable price
- 50MP primary camera for sharp photos
- Clean and customizable HiOS interface
Cons:
- Limited gaming performance for high-end titles
- No 5G support
- No OIS for video stabilization