Tecno Spark 4 review: large screen and 4000 mAh

Meet by clothes

The design of Tecno Spark 4 matches the trends of 2019: a small drop-shaped cutout on the screen, a glossy back panel with gradient overflow. The triple camera is integrated into a vertical unit, under which there is an LED flash. The inscriptions on the cover are made in relief, and all the keys are moved to the right side. The device is lightweight for its dimensions, this adds convenience in use.

The presence of a separate slot for two SIMs and a microSD card is good – you do not need to choose between the second number and the ability to expand the amount of memory. Well, something, but a separate card doesn’t hurt – there is only 32 GB of permanent memory in the smartphone.

A fingerprint scanner is deeply recessed into the lid, a finger easily finds this recess. Unfortunately, misfires occur during fingerprint recognition, but you can use the face unlock function, it works correctly.

Large display

The smartphone is equipped with a large 6.52-inch screen based on IPS-matrix. The resolution for such a diagonal is not high – 1600×720 pixels; upon closer inspection, individual pixels are visible. But the viewing angles are good: the image is readable from any angle, and the colors are practically not distorted. The display is covered with Asahi Glass, which is scratch-resistant. There are nice bonuses in the settings, like programmatically hiding a cutout in the screen and reading mode to protect the eyes. The factory calibration of the display is also good, without a strong departure in warm or cold tones – a rarity for inexpensive devices.

Interface and Performance

The smartphone runs on Android 9 with a preinstalled proprietary HiOS 5.5 shell. The interface has been greatly redesigned in comparison with the stock one: icons have changed, colorful themes and additional options have appeared. Among other things, you can turn on the smart panel with frequently used actions and call it at any time with a swipe from the edge of the display. You can assign various tasks to the fingerprint scanner, from recording calls to taking photos. The driving function rejects all incoming calls and automatically sends SMS notifications to subscribers while the owner of the phone is driving. There is a “WhatsApp mode” that controls the transfer of data in the background. For complete happiness, the device lacks only the NFC chip. However, some features of the translation may be puzzling. For example, the “Cool” icon in the widget ribbon is a utility that controls the heating of the processor.

Performance is average, which is not surprising – the device runs a MediaTek Helio A22 chip, coupled with 2 GB of RAM. Jamming is periodically visible in animations, and minimized games are quickly unloaded from memory. However, it will still be possible to play in comfort: at minimum graphics settings World of Tanks shows confident 55-60 fps, online battles take place without difficulty. The main thing is not to set the value to the maximum. But the mobile Call of Duty pleased with the optimization. The game by default puts poor quality, but with the gameplay the order is – you can run and shoot as much as you like.

How does it hold a charge?

The gadget has a 4000 mAh battery – not a record figure, but decent. The lack of powerful iron and a high-resolution screen benefits autonomy, and the smartphone is doing great in everyday use. Even after a whole day of active use — communicating in instant messengers, YouTube videos, web browsing, watching episodes of the recently released “Mandalorets” and listening to music for a short time — by the end of the day the device left about 40% of the charge. If you do not load it actively, then two days without recharging are provided. When playing Full HD video in airplane mode, the gadget worked for 16 hours, the display brightness was fixed at 50%. Good result.

Camera with AI … and compromises

Tecno Spark 4 equipped with a triple camera module – 13, 2 and 0.08 megapixels. There is support for AI-algorithms for scene recognition, while intelligent functions are always enabled in the main shooting mode. The device knows how to blur the background in portrait mode, but that’s why the third module is needed – it’s a mystery, because the camera does not switch to the “super macro” mode, and the interface of the application does not give hints.

In general, the quality of photography on the Tecno Spark 4 is satisfactory subject to good lighting, but in the dark, the smartphone is already hard.

The front camera has received a resolution of 8 megapixels and also knows how to shoot portraits with blur. There is an option for customization with customization. The quality is suitable both for video communication and for creating selfies for memory.

1/13

The gadget records video in maximum resolution Full HD with a frequency of 30 frames per second, stabilization is not provided.

Specifications

DISPLAY

6.52 ”, IPS, 1600×720 (HD)

CHIPSET

MediaTek Helio A22, 2.0 GHz

RAM
AND STORAGE

2 GB
32 GB

BATTERY

4000 mAh

CAMERAS

main – triple, 13 + 2 + 0.8 megapixels, front – 8 megapixels (f / 2.0)

FEATURES

HiOS 5.5 shell, triple slot for SIM and memory card, face unlock, case and protective film included

Test results

ANTUTU

70 555

3Dmark

Sling Shot Extreme: 263

AUTONOMY

up to 16 hours of video playback

Summary

Tecno Spark 4 is a budget smartphone with a large screen, a durable battery and decent equipment. Small things like a separate slot for two SIMs and a memory card are encouraging, minor shoals in the localization of the firmware, the lack of NFC, and the camera, weak in difficult lighting conditions, upset. The gadget is primarily intended for those who want to always be in touch and not think about recharging during the day.

Learn more about Tecno Spark 4