Tecno Camon 30S: Who says budget phones must have awful cameras?

People usually associate great camera smartphones with high price tags. And for the most part, that’s true. Manufacturers can only spend as much as the budget they’re given to develop a smartphone, and that only becomes more apparent with budget-friendly models.

So, typically speaking, the more you spend on a smartphone, the better hardware you get, including the camera. Right? Let’s test this theory out with the Tecno Camon 30S, a smartphone that costs less than RM800.

Tecno Camon 30S has a camera that punches above its weight class

When I first got our hands on the Tecno Camon 30S, I did not expect it to have a good camera in any measure. And even if that turned out to be true, I wouldn’t blame it either, considering its asking price.

That’s despite Tecno’s marketing reminding me that the Camon 30S comes with a 50MP Sony IMX896 sensor that’s equipped with OIS. Those specs are not only printed on the phone’s retail box but also around its rear camera island.

By the way, the Camon 30S made its launch in Malaysia in late October 2024, with an introductory retail price of RM749. But in conjunction with the upcoming 12.12 sale, you can get this smartphone at discounted prices. More on that later.

Upon launching the camera app, what I saw through the camera viewfinder was nothing impressive, which again, considering the Camon 30S’ asking price, isn’t a dealbreaker whatsoever. Its similarly priced competitors aren’t any much different in this regard.

But it was when we snapped a photo, clicked on the gallery, waited for its less-than-a-second of processing to kick in, and boom, what I saw blew my mind, literally. The level of detail, contrast, and sharpness this sub-RM800 phone is able to deliver is easily worth at least two times its asking price.

When invited to check out Tecno’s Future Lens 2024 event in Chongqing recently, I also got to snap lots of photos during low light situations using the Camon 30S, and those proved to be no issue for the phone either. The inclusion of OIS in the main sensor certainly did help with the situation.

Yes, it’s obvious that Tecno did dial up the sharpness and saturation of the Camon 30S’ software tuning to make the photo look more “expensive”, but even when I zoomed into the photos, the photos still looked rather natural without looking soft or noisy.

I was also surprised by how quickly the Tecno Camon 30S processed its pictures, despite sporting a budget-oriented Mediatek Helio G100 chip. In fact, during our Chongqing trip, the Camon 30S’ photo processing speed consistently outpaced the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL which is a phone that costs at least six times more than the Tecno.

On the hardware side of things, the Tecno Camon 30S sports a main 50MP f/1.9 shooter with a 1/1.56” Sony IMX896 sensor and OIS. There’s also a 2MP depth camera, as well as an auxiliary lens.

The Tecno Camon 30S is premium in design too

Aside from its stellar photo-snapping capabilities, the Tecno Camon 30S isn’t a slouch in other aspects either. For starters, it sports a body that’s solidly built, with a design that looks like it’s worth at least RM1,500. Basically speaking, it does not look or feel cheap at all.

Another aspect that gave me an impression immediately is its front glass panel that’s curved on both sides. This reminds me of the Edge Screen of past Samsung flagships.

This might help make the Camon 30S look rather premium, but it can be an ergonomic nightmare. For instance, picking up the phone by holding it on its sides resulted in a lot of mistouches, causing me to have to make sure that the screen was off before I could reach my hands for it.

I wouldn’t dare to imagine what would happen if I were to drop the Camon 30S, especially on its side. So the Camon 30S is certainly a phone you would only want to carry around with a case, which the phone does fortunately come with.

An impressively gorgeous AMOLED display for the money

The display behind the curved glass is a beauty. This 6.78-inch 120Hz Full HD+ (2436 x 1080 pixels) AMOLED panel is not only vibrant but is also crisp and contrasty.

Battery-wise, the Tecno Camon 30S is fitted with a 5,000mAh cell, which thus far has served me well for a full day of use. Charging can be done at 33W using a USB-C cable.

The great performing battery is most probably thanks to the power efficiency of the Mediatek Helio G100 chipset that powers the Camon 30S. It might not be the most powerful SoC in the world, but it’s natural for smartphone makers to cut corners on certain parts of the phone to make their reasonable price possible. Remember that you are already getting a decently performing camera here.

How much does the Tecno Camon 30S cost in Malaysia?

Now, regarding how much you need to pay for the Tecno Camon 30S. In Malaysia, the smartphone is offered in two configurations, the 8GB+128GB and the 8GB+256GB model, and sports a starting price of RM749 upon launch.

But with the 12.12 sale, the phone can be had at just RM594 and RM643, exclusively on Tecno Malaysia’s TikTok Shop.

Overall, I’m glad to see that phones like the Tecno Camon 30S exist in the tech space, giving consumers a decent product with a price that doesn’t break the bank.