TECNO PHANTOM PAD (N9)
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
The Phantom Pad is a 1.2Gz Quadcore, Android 4.2 powered,
8-inch, budget tablet recently released by Tecno, which gives other tablet
makers a run for their money. This is Tecno’s first foray into tablet
territory, and frankly, it is an impressive first effort! So how does this
tablet fare, from a user point of view? Lets roll.
DIMENSION
The Phantom Pad measures 204x154x99mm and is sleek and slim.
The review model is white and the build quality is simply superb; no squeaky
edges or creaky plastic. It’s firm and sturdy to the hand and doesn’t seem
fragile.
The front of the tablet is home to the earpiece, a front
facing 2.0Mp camera, and of course, the 8-inch screen. No fancy Tecno logos or
sexy lettering here, unless you should choose to carve your name and initials
there. On the left side of the tablet you find…nothing, no physical buttons
whatsoever. Should you choose to look to the right side you will be delighted
to find your volume rocker button and the enclosed slots for your sim card and
memory card. A microphone Hole is also located just above the volume rocker.
On the back, you discover the 5Mp camera right at the very top; a
little hole which is the reset button; the
speaker grill; and finally, the Tecno branding. At the very top is the all too
familiar 3.5mm earphone hole, the mini-usb port, and the power/lock button.
It’s a minimalistic design, one that removes the hassle of searching for your
buttons and ports, because there are so few of them, hahaha.
DISPLAY
The phantom Pad is graced by an impressive 8-inch screen
with a resolution of 1024x768, which we are told is HD.
Personally I don’t
fault the display. It’s got detail and images appear really sharp and colours
look natural but it takes a back seat to the Phantom A’s HD screen. Colours are
not as punchy and vibrant and legibility under sunlight could be an issue. Perhaps
this could be due to the much larger screen, but to be frank, I have seen much
poorer HD screens. The Screen is very responsive to the lightest of touches and
is multitouch compatible; I know because my wife uses all five fingers to play
Fruit Ninja and beats me all the time. Be informed that though the screen
doesn’t scratch easily, it will be wise to invest in a screen protector, or
carry it around in the included pouch, which Tecno was considerate enough to provide, as this is not protected by a Gorilla
Glass.
PERFORMANCE
The Phantom Pad is really fast and responsive, thanks to the
Quadcore chip stewing under the hood. It is not laggy and thus far I have never
experienced any forced shutdown issues; bottom line it is a very stable device.
Even when heavily multitasking it rolls along nicely despite the ONLY 1GB ram.
The android 4.2 interface is pleasing to the eye and really smooth
.
One
important fact: this device seems to run the stock android OS which is good
news for people who detest manufacturers’ bloat ware that occupy valuable
space on our menus. So it’s yours to tweak and customise as you choose…..at
your risk. Application load times are impressive and you hardly
experience app compatibility issues. Thanks to Google play, there is so much
you can do and enjoy here and space isn’t going be much of an issue as it comes
with 16GB storage space with the option to expand with a memory card, up to 32
GB. The tablet can make and receive calls, and that includes video calls,
though you are advised to get a Bluetooth headset if you intend to receive
calls on this 8-inch device. You shouldn’t be lifting this big device to your
ears unless you desire some public attention. Browsing on this device
is a pleasure with 3G enabled and with the variety of browsers available at
Google Play you won’t be disappointed. Games are a joy to play on the massive
screen and are well rendered and you could easily lose hours in your favourite
games here. Impressively, you do not need to shut down your this device to swap sims. It instantly recognises and registers your sim to the network.
CAMERA
Top quality photos have never really been the forte of
tablets –leave that to the smartphones and dedicated digital cameras- and the
Phantom pad is not an exception. Photos are OK in excellent shooting
conditions with the 5MP primary camera. It doesn't do so well in low light conditions, though.
There is no flash, so forget about shooting
at night, except you have a torchlight to assist. In any case, people don’t
usually buy 8-inch tablets because they want to turn professional
photographers. You can have that portrait of you hugging the neighbour’s cat
(for animal lovers) with the 2.0MP front camera quite easily and there’s a
plethora of camera and photo editing apps available at Google Play Store for
your photographic delight.
MEDIA
If you are an audiophile, I bet you won’t be disappointed.
The Phantom Pad does an excellent job of reinventing your enjoyment of music
courtesy of the stock android music player that is complete with graphical
equalisers and bass booster, and it comes packaged with a really good pair of
‘thumping’ headsets.
Excellent job Tecno! Of course, there are options in the
Google play store for your listening bliss. Watching movies with the Phantom
Pad is a joy with the 8-inch screen especially if you have been watching your
movies on your nokia torch phone (Lol) or black and white TV.
The HD screen
really shines when you engage it with movies. This device has got radio as
well, if you want to listen to your favourite program on the road, and you can
record as well for later listening or archiving. The least said about games the
better. Bottom-line, it’s a very capable device for playing those
console-quality games.
BATTERY
The 4500mAh capacity, non-removable battery is decent,
lasting as long as a full day for light usage, like checking mails, light
browsing etc.; even with 3G constantly on. For heavy users, expect at least 6
hours of use, which isn’t really bad. IMPORTANT NOTE: This device is a SLOW
charger, which might be frustrating if you are want to top up your juice fast
in little time. You preferably charge overnight. You might want to download
some power management apps on Google Play to aid maximal enjoyment.
VERDICT
For the price, this is a very decent offering. I suggest you
go for it if you want a tablet and you have kids’ school fees to consider. Or
you want to gift someone a tablet, like me. It doesn’t have the bells and
whistles of higher end, pricier tablet offerings, but it more than gets the job
done. It certainly holds its own. I recommend this in good faith. It’s got a quad
core chip, runs a very current android OS, got Wifi hotspot, mobile internet on
3G, dual cameras, 8-inch (HD) screen, radio plus a 12+1 months warrant from
Tecno. It’s a good deal.
Thanks for taking your time to visit and read this review,
and I thank me for staying up at night to write this. I stand to be corrected on anything, so please feel free
to poke me in the ribs. God bless us all.
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