Tecno Mobile’s year 2023 in India was a memorable one for the brand. While the brand mostly operated in the entry-level budget price segment up until this year, it entered the premium segment in 2023 with its flagships, including the Phantom X2 series and its foldables. However, that doesn’t mean the brand entirely shifted its focus from the budget range. It has ended its year with the Tecno Spark Go 2024 launch, which is priced at Rs 7,499 for the base 3GB + 64GB model. We will review the exact same model today and find out whether it’s worth your while or not.
Display & Design
The Tecno Spark Go 2024 shares a similar design language with the Infinix Smart 8 HD which we recently also reviewed. Both of them also share a similar set of specs, but we’ll come to that later. The Spark Go 2024 version we got is in the Mystery White shade and as we said in the case of Smart 8 HD, the design of the phone does resemble that of an iPhone but the brand’s own touch to it makes it shine and doesn’t let it feel like a smartphone that costs sub-Rs 10,000.
The design of entry-level smartphones has progressively improved in the past few years. The Spark Go 2024 is a testament to that. It feels light to hold in the hand and the flat sides help with the grip. The white shade gives you a hint of gold when light shines on it.
The keys on the right have a good feel to them when clicked. One of the features that distinguishes the Spark Go 2024 from Smart 8 HD is the presence of stereo speakers (as Infinix’s device has a mono speaker). These speakers are definitely louder than those on the Smart 8 HD but the quality isn’t really that different. Overall, the design is a strong point for the Tecno Spark Go 2024.
As for the display, it is a 6.56-inch HD+ (720 x 1612 pixels) Dot Notch display with a 90Hz refresh rate. While it looks mostly similar to that of the Smart 8 HD, there was an issue that caught our eye. We are not sure whether it’s an issue only with our unit, but the bottom half of the screen had a yellow tint that didn’t go away even after tinkering with the display settings. The viewing angles, because of the issue, got worse. However, the colours were vivid but the same as the Infinix Smart 8 HD. The brightness levels are too low for outdoor usage.
Software & Performance
The Unisoc T606 SoC powers the Tecno handset. The device has up to 128GB of built-in storage, which is expandable, and up to 8GB of RAM with additional virtual RAM. The model we got had 3GB RAM and 64GB storage. Having the Infinix Smart 8 HD with us for comparison, we can confirm that the software experience and performance of both devices are quite similar, which isn’t really a good sign.
The Spark Go 2024 gets the same Magic Ring feature as the Infinix Smart 8 HD but is dubbed as Dynamic Port. If you aren’t aware, the Dynamic Port feature is a cloned version of Apple’s Dynamic Island feature that shows you various system information in an intuitive way. It can show you the face unlock animation, battery percentage while charging, notifications for calls and more.
Aside from that, the feature set largely remains similar between the two devices, with a few software UI tweaks. For instance, the Quick settings panel on Tecno handsets is slightly different than on Infinix devices with variations in the icon design. As for the performance, the experience was similar but not identical.
For some reason, the Tecno Spark Go 2024 felt slightly smoother initially, but once we pushed it to its limits, we noticed the handset was asking for more breathing space. Other features of the phone, such as 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS worked without any issues.
Battery Backup
The device is backed by a 5000mAh battery that supports 10W charging. The charging speeds are very slow, and remain mostly the same as Infinix Smart 8 HD, which is around 2.5 hours. Even the battery backup was similar, where my usage included checking some emails, browsing through Chrome, chatting on Telegram and some calling as well. The handset can go on for a day or more without breaking a sweat.
Cameras
For photos and videos, the Tecno device has a dual rear camera setup that comprises a 13-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.8 lens, plus an AI sensor and dual LED flash. There is also an 8-megapixel selfie camera sensor at the front with a flash as well.
By now, you would have noticed that apart from the stereo speaker setup, some negligible software UI differences, and the separated volume keys, the Tecno Spark Go 2024 is basically the same phone as the Infinix Smart 8 HD. That’s also applicable on the camera performance, and due to that, we weren’t happy with the performance of the Sensors on the Tecno Spark Go 2024.
The phone captures unsatisfactory photos even in outdoor conditions where it lacks details while the colours look faded. Outdoor shots appear overly soft, resembling an oil-painting effect, and the camera struggles with exposure control, similar to that of the Smart 8 HD.
In low-light or nighttime conditions, the camera faces additional challenges, evident in the photos due to excessive noise and a lack of sharpness. This issue persists when capturing indoor photos under artificial lighting. Selfies aren’t very appealing either, as the background could get blown out if it’s too bright and the lack of sharpness further makes things difficult. Overall, the cameras aren’t Tecno Spark Go 2024’s strong suit.