This Flagship Phone From Tecno Has A Retractable Rear-Camera

Tecno, a relatively obscure smartphone brand, has just launched a phone packing a cool retracting camera lens at the back, somewhat like pocket cameras back in the day. Called the Tecno Phantom X2 Pro, the phone offers a 50-megapixel portrait camera with a rather large f/1.49 aperture, a 65mm lens, and a 1/1.3-inch camera sensor underneath.

Even though Tecno calls it a portrait camera, it delivers a 2.5x hybrid zoom capability, but there is no optical image stabilization array underneath. However, Tecno claims that the larger sensor size, wider aperture, and high pixel density allow the whole system to collect more light and deliver a more polished bokeh effect in photos. Tecno isn't the first brand to fiddle with the retracting camera tech.

Oppo gave a glimpse of a functional retracting camera module just over a year ago but never launched it commercially on a mass-market phone. Tecno has pipped Oppo to the market, and with a rather novel approach. The only concern is that, just like pop-up selfie cameras on phones such as the OnePlus 8 Pro, the retractable camera on the Tecno Phantom X2 Pro is going to be a repairability nightmare with all the fragile moving parts underneath. SlashGear has reached out to Tecno for more clarity regarding the durability aspect of its retracting camera tech.

Interestingly, the Tecno Phantom X2 Pro isn't a one-trick vehicle. The 50-megapixel retracting portrait camera is assisted by a 50-megapixel main camera and a 13-megapixel snapper for ultrawide photography. For selfie duties, Tecno has armed its flagship with a 32-megapixel front camera. Over at the front is a curved 6.8-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a circular hole-punch cutout at the top.

Tecno has equipped its latest offering with MediaTek's Dimensity 9000, an octa-core SoC based on the 4nm fabrication process. It has a tri-cluster architecture that includes a single Arm Cortex-X2 core for demanding tasks, a trio of Arm Cortex-A710 cores, and four Arm Cortex-A510 cores for lightweight operations. The MediaTek chip is paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage.

Keeping the lights on is a rather beefy 5,160mAh battery that allows 45W fast charging. However, there is no word on wireless charging support. Tecno is offering the Phantom X2 Pro in Stardust Grey and a special edition Mars Orange trim, which appears to have a faux leather texture. The Tecno Phantom X2 Pro is priced at SAR 3,499, which comes to around $930 based on the current currency conversion rates. However, given the company's focus on Asia, Africa, and Europe, this fancy phone isn't making it to the stateside retail shelves anytime soon.