Expanding its smartphone lineup in India, Tecno Mobiles, the sub-brand of Transsion Holdings today announced the Tecno Camon 12 Air. The Camon 12 Air is the first smartphone under Rs 10,000 to ship with a punch-hole display, but the specifications of the handset are not impressive. The phone is powered by the MediaTek Helio P22 chipset and it has a 4000mAh battery as well. Tecno is not known for launching smartphones with impressive hardware and it continues with the Camon 12 Air as well. As for the price, the phone comes in a single variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, priced at Rs 9,999. Other hardware features of the Camon 12 Air include a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, triple rear cameras and quad-LED flash.
Tecno Camon 12 Air: Features and Specifications
The Camon 12 Air flaunts a 6.5-inch HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 20:9 and a screen-to-body ratio of 90.3%. The Camon 12 Air has the punch-hole display, something which we did not see it coming. Underneath, the phone has the MediaTek Helio P22 chipset which is an octa-core chipset, clubbed with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Helio P22 chipset is the same one we got to see on the likes of Redmi 6, Realme C2 and other phones under Rs 7,000. However, the Camon 12 Air is priced at Rs 9,999 which is surely on the higher side. The phone also has a dedicated microSD card slot for storage expansion up to 256GB
Another USP of the Tecno Camon 12 Air is the triple rear camera setup. The phone has a primary rear camera of 12MP, paired with a 5MP secondary camera and a 2MP third sensor is also present. Similar to several other Tecno phones launched till date, the Tecno Camon 12 Air also features a quad-LED flash.
As for the connectivity options, the phone offers Dual 4G, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS and a Micro USB port is located on the bottom side. The phone runs on Android 9 Pie-based HiOS 5.5 and the fingerprint scanner is placed on the rear side. Lastly, the device comes backed by a 4000mAh battery, but the company did not mention any fast charging support, which is disappointing.
Tecno Camon 12 Air: Pricing and Availability in India
Tecno is not known for launching smartphones at aggressive prices. The Camon 12 Air, despite featuring a mediocre chipset, is priced at Rs 9,999, but on the brighter side, the phone has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Also, the phone comes in a single variant and in two colours- Bay Blue and Stellar Purple. Tecno has brought the punch-hole display technology to under Rs 10,000, which is something unique and at the same, we may soon see other brands adopting the same technology in the coming months.
Right now, the cheapest punch-hole display phone is the Vivo Z1 Pro which is priced at Rs 14,999 (currently available for Rs 12,999 during the sale). In 2019, brands went with the pop-up selfie camera design to offer full-screen experience, but in 2020, it seems like the punch-hole design will make its way back replacing the good-old notch design.
The Tecno Camon 12 Air takes on the likes of Redmi Note 7S, Realme 5, Motorola One Macro and other phones in a similar price range. But the Redmi Note 7S and Realme 5 are way better smartphones in the processor department and the Camon 12 Air loses the battle.
