Weekly poll: is the Tecno Phantom V Flip the foldable you’ve been looking for?

Earlier this year, Tecno’s premium sub-brand launched its first foldable phone, the Phantom V Fold. The company has now revealed its first foldable flip, the Phantom V Flip. Despite targeting the high-end market, Phantom still offers attractive pricing – the V Fold was the most affordable entry in its segment, as was the V Flip.

Can the brand also democratize foldables? Let’s take a look at the specifications first. The phone measures 88.77 x 74.05 x 14.95mm when folded and 171.72 x 74.05 x 6.95mm unfolded. The hinge can hold the screen and cameras at any angle between 30° and 150°.

The display is a 6.9-inch panel with FHD+ (22:9) resolution. It is an LTPO AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 10-120 Hz and a touch sampling rate of 360 Hz. With flips, the external display is almost as important and here the Tecno designers have made an interesting choice.

The Phantom V Flip has a 1.32-inch circular display, similar to a smartwatch. It’s called “The Planet” and is an AMOLED panel with a pixel density of 352 ppi and fun features like Tmojis, 3D interactive virtual animals, etc. But most importantly, the odd shape limits what can run on this screen – certainly not full-fledged Android apps.

The Phantom V Flip is available in Mystic Dawn and Iconic Black

Around The Planet is the “asteroid belt” camera setup. Tecno is quite proud of this one as it has a 64 MP RGBW sensor in the main module with 0.8 µm pixels, compared to the 0.7 µm pixels of the 64 MP RGB sensor in the Motorola Razr 40. Also on the back is the 13 MP ultra-wide. camera, which can work in conjunction with the main camera thanks to Dual-Camera Fusion technology. You can of course use the main camera for selfies, but the phone also has a 32 MP camera inside with the first dual-LED flashlight in a flip phone.

The Tecno Phantom V Flip features 64+13MP rear cameras and 32MP selfie cameras

The V Flip is powered by the Dimensity 8050, essentially a relaunch of the 1300 and 1200. It’s paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The phone has a 4,000mAh battery with 45W flash charging (0-50% in 15 minutes, 100% charge in 45 minutes).

Tecno Phantom V Flip Retail Packaging

Tecno will sell the Phantom V Flip in India at ₹50,000. Our sources tell us that in Europe the phone will cost 700 euros, in other markets it should cost around 650 dollars. For more details, check out our full review.

It’s the Tecno Phantom V Flip, let’s look at the competition. The Motorola Razr 40 has the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip, which lags behind the Dimensity, and a 4,200 mAh battery with 30W wired charging and 5W wireless charging. The camera setup is very similar with 64+13MP modules on the back and a 32MP selfie camera. The inner screen is a 6.9-inch LTPO panel at 144 Hz (again FHD+), on the outside there is a 1.5-inch linear screen. The Razr 40 sells for €900/₹60,000 for an 8/256 GB model, which is still significantly higher than the €700/₹50,000 for the Tecno.

Motorola Razr 40 • Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5

Then there’s the elephant in the room – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, which is the most widely available foldable foldable and will likely become the best-selling foldable of 2023. This one flexes the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 muscles with a small 3,700 mAh battery (25 W wired and 15 W wireless charging, 50% in 30 minutes). The inner screen is a 6.7″ 120Hz (FHD+) panel, the outer screen is the much more functional 3.4″ panel which supports all Android apps. In terms of cameras, there is a dual 12 MP setup on the outside and a 10 MP selfie camera on the inside. The Z Flip5 costs €1,200/₹100,000, although it can often be found for much less. The Samsung is definitely a better phone, but even with a decent deal it will cost you a lot more.