I’ve been using the Tecno C9 since we un-boxed it last month and my favourite feature on the phone, and indeed the phone’s selling point is the camera and especially the front one. I was never one to take a million selfies but maybe that’s because they never quite came out right. The Tecno Camon C9 which runs on Tecno’s HiOs has made some deliberate efforts to up the selfie game with some key features specific to it.
What makes the phone stand out in terms of selfies and photography as a whole? The Tecno Camon C9 goes for Kshs.18,000/-. So, all the awesomeness we’re looking at in this article is all for a very affordable price.
Centred camera:
Let’s face it. The average camera phone user is an amateur photographer. This person may not know how to position the phone to take advantage of angles and lighting to take the best photos. This is made worse by the fact that in most phones, the camera is usually on the side of the phone and selfies often come out with the face looking lopsided. With the Camon C9, the camera is right in the middle of the phone, so it takes photos at a very natural angle because you actually just look straight into the camera.
Full make up kit
Everyone wants to have the better version of themselves and we all know that this is not always the outcome of a selfie or photo. A little touch up here and there will usually enhance your features and towards this, the Camon C9 comes with an inbuilt full make up kit that will take care of those blemishes and imperfections. One can do their foundation, eyeliner, eyebrows, eyelashes and even slap on some contact lenses. There’s even a feature to lift your boobies though I haven’t tried that yet. It comes with upto 8 make up styles and depending on the theme you want for your make up, the app will enable you to either look demure or look full party mode.
The app uses face detection and the only problem I found with this is that it will only perfectly detects a perfectly set face. Tilt a little bit and smile and it loses a bit of bearing. For example, when I take a smiling selfie and try to put on some lipstick via the app, it loses the outline of the lips. This is not so for when I’m serious, in which case it captures the lips perfectly. Also, for those of us who wear glasses, I found that if I take a picture with glasses on, sometimes the app is unable to detect my pupils, which are the mother of the whole face detection thing in this case. These minor hitches are expected and understandable. Furthermore, there is an option for manually outlining your face and doing the make up.
Manual adjust is actually quite thorough and if you have the time, it can give very accurate results.
Thanks Beverly of Kuhustle for allowing us to play around with your face while testing the camera and make up app.
13 MP front camera with flash
For a phone costing Kshs.18,000/- I feel the cameras are a real good deal. A lot of phones even about this price range come with a good back camera and paltry 2 to 5mp front. Ask those who snapchat and they’ll tell you that this kind of camera does not do any good to your snap life. The Camon C9 comes with 13MP back and 13MP front and a lighting system which we’ll easier call flash. Why I’m calling it a lighting system is that it is not your usual flash that works with the click of the camera, rather a flash that shines a continuous light when you’re taking a photo. Not a worry for me though. Si all I want is light.
The back camera has the normal flash.
Wide angle selfies
You know how you’re a group and the people at the ends get cut out of focus? Especially so if you’re holding the camera with your hands and you can only stretch so much. With a selfie stick its different but who always has a selfie stick at hand? With the Camon C9, the front camera has an 830C and this can be expanded to 1200C panorama selfie mode. Gone are the days when a selfie could only accommodate two or three people max.
Clear night photos
Sometimes night photos can look like there are ‘ghosts’ in the background. I could swear I’ve seen a hyena in one of mine – never mind that I took it in the house :-D. Anyway, sometimes there are too many shadows going on and the real focus of the photo does not really stand out. This is mostly due to poor lighting. The night photos taken with the Camon C9 are noticeably clear with the ability to take 50% brighter photos through Visidon Algorithm. This same algorithm clears upto 75% of ‘noise’ in the dark.
High speed camera
We all know the feeling of freezing in smile/pose while the camera struggles to focus and click. Rush the camera and you get blurry photos. Camon C9 has sorted this with a high speed focus camera that enables you to take decent photos even on the move. Say on a road trip or you can take photos of your child in the field during a game. Still on the speed of the camera, Camon C9 has an external button at the bottom right to launch the camera so that you don’t lose precious moments going to search for it among your other apps.
Having said all that, the Camon C9 is not just about selfies. It also packs other features that make it a mobile phone to reckon with.
It comes with a free flip cover and this is what is particularly good about it. It features a circular cut out in the middle and when you flip it shut, it displays a beautiful Tecno clock. Swipe to the right and you get a shortcut to a flashlight. Swipe to the left and there’s a shortcut to music. I’m usually not a fan of cases but this one is a different case because it actually has some work other than just being a case.
The phone also has a rough sandstone back cover which I do not like to particularly like. It is said that is it good for grip but I don’t get how a phone can just slip out of someone’s hands no matter how non-sandstone it is. But there are lifestyles in which this will work so it’s a plus for them.
Storage
The phone which runs on Tecno’s HiOs has 2GB RAM and 16 GM internal memory expandable to 32GB by micro SD.
Battery life
With a 3000 mAh battery, I’m able to use the phone for most of the day. I’m on phone throughout though and especially online and I find that by evening the battery is running out and I need to have a power bank with me at all times.
One small problem is that once the phone gives you a 15% warning for low battery, it does now actually give you 15% worth of time. It goes downhill very fast from there.
Here are some photos I took around and about with the phone.
