As extra phonemakers launch their very own foldable telephones, it turns into more durable to face out from the pack, however the Phantom V Fold 2 boasts its personal signature characteristic: what stands out as the largest battery on a foldable that opens and closes like a e-book. Inside its chassis lies a 5,750 mAh battery, and its maker Tecno promising a full cost in 49 minutes. That capability is considerably bigger than the 4,400-mAh battery contained in the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the 4,600-mAh battery powering the Pixel Fold 9 Professional and even the Honor Magic V3’s 5,150-mAh battery.
Nevertheless, battery capability alone does not decide how lengthy a telephone will final on a single cost. The processor, display screen and software program additionally play an essential function on this equation. Tecno made an uncommon alternative for the V Fold 2’s chipset, choosing the now two-year outdated Mediatek Dimensity 9000+, the identical one which powered final 12 months’s Phantom V Fold.
Other than that headline characteristic, the V Fold 2 has 4 cameras in whole, three on its rear and one on the interior show. Most book-style foldables include 5 cameras: three on the rear and two front-facing ones, which means you will not have the ability to take a selfie when the V Fold 2 is closed. It additionally lacks an IP score for water and mud resistance and presents simply three years of Android OS upgrades, in comparison with 4 years for the Magic V3 and 7 years on the Z Fold 6 and the Pixel Fold 9 Professional. However Tecno made positive to stuff this telephone with AI-enabled options, most (if not all) of that are underpinned by Google’s Cloud AI. It additionally included stylus help.
Tecno hasn’t revealed the value of the V Fold 2 as of this writing, nevertheless it appears the Chinese language firm is searching for to create a extra wallet-friendly breed of foldable telephones. The V Fold was in all probability probably the most inexpensive available on the market for a book-style folding telephone. The V Fold value 69,999 – 79,999 Indian rupees which is round a $1,000, making it far cheaper than rivals such because the Galaxy Fold 6 (from which it presumably took inspiration from for its identify). I anticipate comparable pricing given Tecno’s monitor file and contemplating some lacking flagship-level specs.
Does not this seem like an everyday telephone from the entrance?
Tecno will not be a family identify like Apple, Samsung and even Huawei, however the Chinese language firm has damaged by to the highest ten to be among the many world’s largest telephone makers. Lately, Tecno has been constructing a model round innovation. Working example: This month Tecno unveiled an idea trifoldable telephone that matches a ten.2-inch display screen in your pocket,
Tecno despatched me the Phantom V Fold 2 forward of its worldwide launch on Friday on the IFA. Listed below are my preliminary ideas after utilizing the Phantom V Fold 2.
Design
Instantly I observed the refreshed design of the digital camera bump. Tecno switched away from a round digital camera module to an oblong one, maybe on account of its design collaboration with Spanish luxurious model Loewe. Moreover, Tecno managed to shave off 50 grams to deliver the V Fold 2’s weight all the way down to 249 grams, which is barely heavier than the Z Fold 6’s 239 grams, and in addition lighter than the Pixel 9 Professional Fold, which weighs 258 grams. Regardless of its light-weight design, the V Fold feels giant in hand, particularly in comparison with the Z Fold 6, which has a narrower cowl display screen. However utilizing simply the quilt display screen when the V Fold 2 is closed presents an expertise that’s extra much like holding and navigating an everyday candybar telephone, an method that I favor on book-style telephones over narrower foldables.
Shut up of mentioned digital camera bump, which homes three cameras.
Digicam
Among the many trio of rear cameras, the Phantom V Fold 2 has a 50-megapixel primary digital camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide digital camera and a 12-megapixel telephoto digital camera able to 2x optical zoom. In my time thus far, the primary digital camera takes largely colour correct and crisp photographs in quite a lot of lighting situations, though it did wrestle with element and shadows at occasions in decrease mild environments.
Nevertheless, the larger concern was the selfie digital camera, even within the brief time I spent testing it. The 32-megapixel front-facing digital camera was unable to take correct or sharp sufficient photos of my pores and skin even in well-lit environments. The digital camera tended to whiten my pores and skin and lacked element such because the high quality traces on my forehand (not that I essentially need to see it). I tended to look paler than I truly am and the picture merely wasn’t true to life. Check out the cameras in motion.
Extremely-wide instance
Taken on default settings
2x zoom
That is fairly a colour correct illustration of my canine Rocky’s coat.
Nevertheless, on this photograph, taken seconds after, his coat seems washed out.
Portrait mode instance.
Macro shot instance.
Foldable telephones aren’t recognized for his or her digital camera prowess as a result of there’s much less house to accommodate bigger picture sensors and lenses within the thinner halves than the physique of a traditional smartphone. In comparison with different accessible book-style telephones such because the Magic V3 and the Galaxy Z Fold 6, this machine additionally has noticeably fewer cameras in whole (4 vs. the everyday 5) and extra restricted zoom capabilities. Tecno lacks a second selfie digital camera, which rival telephones have, however which may be a sensible tradeoff to deliver the value down. Nevertheless, I would like to see Tecno enhance the picture high quality of the V Fold 2’s selfie digital camera given it has only one. Its primary digital camera additionally is not on par with the efficiency from flagship bar-style telephones such because the Google Pixel 9 Professional or the iPhone 15 Professional Max – nevertheless that is widespread throughout foldable ones, even the luxurious ones just like the Z Fold 6 and the Magic V3.
Battery & efficiency
The Phantom V Fold 2 runs on a 5,750 mAh battery, simply barely one-upping the capability of the 5,700 mAh battery on Xiaomi’s Combine Fold 4. This battery isn’t solely one of many largest present in a folding telephone however one of many largest present in any telephone. I ran a 45-minute battery drain check throughout which I watched YouTube movies, learn emails on a break up display screen, and downloaded some graphic-intensive video games. Throughout that point, the battery drained from 18% to three%, or a drop of 15%. When this check was carried out on Honor’s Magic V3 that telephone misplaced 8%. I am going to have extra conclusive insights on battery life as soon as I spend extra time utilizing this machine.
Other than that, the V Fold 2 runs on Mediatek’s Dimensity 9000+ chipset from 2022. It is a flagship-level cell chipset designed to rival Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Plus 1 processor from 2022, and is identical processor used within the previous Phantom V Fold. It additionally has 12GB RAM, in comparison with the 12GB of RAM within the Z Fold 6 and 16GB of RAM within the Pixel 9 Professional Fold. In two benchmark efficiency checks I ran, the Phantom V Fold 2 underperformed in comparison with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Pixel Fold 9 Professional, displaying that the two-year outdated chipset seemingly can not sustain with the newer silicon powering the foldable’s rivals.
The Phantom V Fold 2 incorporates a revamped digital camera bump design to a rectangle from a circle.
Early ideas
Tecno hasn’t revealed the value of the Phantom V Fold 2, which makes it tough to supply an total evaluation of the machine. However the headline characteristic is that enormous battery, which units a file for its capability however is not backed up by a top-end processor.
Modifications apart, the Phantom V Fold strikes me extra like a mid-range foldable given its lack of ending touches corresponding to an IP score and the selection of an outdated processor. Maybe Tecno is working to seize extra world market share with the Phantom V Fold 2, and it believed selecting a now two-year outdated processor and solely together with one selfie digital camera had been mandatory trade-offs to maintain a lid on costs — and tempt consumers who simply cannot abdomen paying the sky-high costs of at this time’s premium foldables.
Phantom V Fold 2 vs. competing foldables
| Phantom V Fold 2 | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 | Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold | OnePlus Open | |
| Cowl show measurement, tech, decision, refresh fee | 6.42-inch OLED, FHD+ decision | 6.3-inch AMOLED; 2,376×968 pixels; 1-120Hz variable refresh fee | 6.3-inch OLED; 2,424 x 1,080 pixels; 60-120 Hz variable refresh fee | 6.31-inch OLED; 2,484×1,116 pixels; 10-120Hz variable refresh fee |
| Inside show measurement, tech, decision, refresh fee | 7.85-inch OLED, 2K+, helps stylus | 7.6-inch AMOLED; 2,160×1,856 pixels;1-120Hz variable refresh fee | 8-inch OLED; 2,152 x 2,076 pixels, 1-120 Hz variable refresh fee (LTPO) | 7.82-inch OLED; 2,440 x 2,268 pixels; 1-120Hz variable refresh fee |
| Pixel density | N/A | Cowl: 410 ppi; Inside: 374 ppi | Cowl: 422 ppi; Inside: 373 ppi | Cowl: 431 ppi; Inside: 426 ppi |
| Dimensions (inches) | Open: 6.04×5.21 x0.22 in; Closed: 6.04×2.68×0.48 in | Open: 6.1 x 5.9 x 0.2 in; Closed: 6.1 x 3 x 0.4 in | Open: 6.04 x 5.63 x 0.23 in; Closed: 6.04 x 2.89 x 0.47 in | |
| Dimensions (millimeters) | Open: 140.35 x 159 x 5.52mm Closed: 72.16 x 159 x 11.78 mm | Open: 153.5×132.5×5.6mm; Closed: 153.5×68.1×12.1mm | Open: 155 x 150 x 5.1 mm; Closed: 155 x 76.2 x 10.16 mm | Open: 153.4 x 143.1 x 5.9 mm ; Closed 153.4 x 73.3 x 11.9 mm |
| Weight (grams, ounces) | 249g | 239g (8.43 oz) | 257g (9.1 oz) | Voyager black: 239g (8.43 oz ); emerald inexperienced: 245g (8.64 oz) |
| Cellular software program | Android 14 | Android 14 | Android 14 | Android 13 |
| Digicam | 50-megapixel (primary), 50-megapixel (ultra-wide) 12-megapixel (telephoto) | 50-megapixel (huge), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto) | 48-megapixel (huge), 10.5-megapixel (ultrawide), 10.8-megapixel (5x telephoto) | 48-megapixel (huge), 48-megapixel (ultrawide), 64-megapixel (3x telephoto) |
| Entrance-facing digital camera | 32-megapixel | 4-megapixel (interior display screen under-display); 10-megapixel (cowl display screen) | 10-megapixel (interior display screen); 10-megapixel (cowl display screen) | 20-megapixel (interior display screen); 32-megapixel (cowl display screen) |
| Video seize | 8K | 4K | 4K | |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Tensor G4 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| RAM/storage | 12GB + 256GB | 12GB + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 16GB + 256GB, 512GB | 16GB + 512GB |
| Expandable storage | None | None | None | None |
| Battery | 5,750 mAh | 4,400 mAh | 4,650 mAh | 4,805 mAh |
| Fingerprint sensor | Aspect | Aspect | Aspect | Aspect |
| Connector | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
| Headphone jack | None | None | None | None |
| Particular options | 70W wired charging, 15W wi-fi, Wi-Fi 6, stylus help | IP48 score, 25W wired charging, wi-fi charging + powershare, 3x optical zoom (as much as 10x digital and 30x House Zoom with AI Tremendous Decision tech) | IPX8 score, 7 years of OS, safety and Pixel Drop updates, Satellite tv for pc SOS, Wi-Fi 7, extremely wideband chip, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cowl and again glass, cowl display screen peek brightness 2,700 nits, inside display screen peek brightness 2,700 nits, 45W wired quick charging (Charger not included), Qi-certified, free Google VPN, Tremendous Res Zoom, Add Me, Face Unblur, Made You Look, Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, Finest Take, Video Increase, | 5G (sub-6 solely), alert slider, IPX4 score, IR blaster, 67W quick wired charging with charger included within the field |
| US value begins at | N/A | $1,900 (256GB) | $1,799 (256GB) | $1,700 (512GB) |
