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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom the Tech Chap, and this is the new Tecno Spark 20 Pro Plus.
00:07It's the top of the range of the new Spark 20 series, and I think given the specs, this
00:12design, the performance, the camera, pretty much everything really, I can't quite understand
00:17how they've made it so affordable.
00:18I'm just going to spoil it for you now.
00:20This will cost you roughly $180.
00:24But I have to say, this is shaping up to be one of the most incredible value for money
00:28phones I've ever tested.
00:30So let me give you a tour of this new Spark 20 Pro Plus, and a big thank you to Tecno
00:34for sending this out for me to test, and also sponsoring this video.
00:37And there's three models in this new Spark 20 series, the 20, the 20 Pro, and this guy,
00:42the 20 Pro Plus.
00:43And compared to the 20 Pro, which was unveiled in December, this Pro Plus gets an AMOLED
00:48rather than LCD screen, a slightly faster version of the Helio G99 chip, more camera
00:53and video features, a very tasty curved and super slim design.
00:58We also get Android 14, 256GB of storage, 8GB of RAM that can be extended, and round
01:03the back we have this Quadrant Star Array camera design, as they call it at the top,
01:07with that main 108MP ultra-sensing camera at the heart of it.
01:12Also in the box we get their 33W fast charger, USB-C cable, and a pair of USB-C earphones,
01:18which is always a welcome extra, but note we don't get a headphone jack, which is why
01:22they're USB-C.
01:23And if I pop out the SIM card tray, this supports dual 4G SIMs, so no 5G or microSD storage
01:29I'm afraid.
01:30But I do appreciate Tecno bundle a protective case, and something you don't see very often,
01:34a screen protector, with cleaning and anti-dust wipes as well.
01:37Now Tecno very kindly sent me a second phone as well, and this one is the Temporal Orbit
01:42colour, with this very snazzy metallic finish, and I really like the glistening effect you
01:47get when the light hits it.
01:48There is also Lunar Frost and Radiant Star Stream colour options, but there is something
01:52special about this green one.
01:55If you are a regular on the channel, you may have seen last summer that I showed you the
01:58Spark 10 Pro Magic Skin Edition, which had this durable eco-leather material, and will
02:03scratch and sweat and even UV resistant, and you can easily wipe it clean.
02:07Well fast forward to 2024, happy new year by the way, and we have this Magic Skin 2.0
02:13in this green colour, and this basically takes that and, well, makes it even better.
02:17And they tell me it's 5 times more durable, offers 25% more UV protection, it's made
02:23from eco-friendly materials, and uses a more sustainable silicon leather, so it is actually
02:27100% recyclable and also 100% antibacterial, or so I'm told.
02:32I also appreciate it does not pick up any of my grubby fingerprints or smudges, and
02:37unlike most phones today, it is not going to slip out of your hand.
02:41This is a very durable phone, and that's before you even put the case or the screen
02:44protector on it.
02:45Whichever colour you go for, the Pro Plus is just 7.55mm thick, it weighs just 190g,
02:52and we still get this big 6.78 inch 120Hz curved AMOLED screen, with Gorilla Glass 5
02:59for the first time, which offers double the scratch protection versus previous models,
03:03and in fact Tecno said I should drop this, I should also do a proper JerryRigEverything
03:07style bend test to demonstrate just how tough this is.
03:10One more for luck.
03:16No it's fine, of course it's fine.
03:23But going back to the size just for a second, if I bring in the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which
03:27has a similarly sized screen, this is actually 44g lighter and 1.3mm thinner.
03:34You can't deny this looks like a proper flagship phone.
03:37We have an optical fingerprint reader, and also perhaps taking a few cues from a fruit
03:42based rival, we have our own little dynamic cutout here which expands around the selfie
03:46camera.
03:47And it looks great on this AMOLED screen.
03:48I am also very pleased to see we have stereo speakers, with this tuned by DTS, they are
03:53Hi-Res certified and they really do sound good, plus they've added dual mics which
03:57give you better noise cancelling for phone calls.
03:59And it's this kind of stuff we usually miss out on with more affordable phones, so it
04:03is nice to see here.
04:05Now if I go into the settings, and then go to my phone, you will see a spec sheet, which
04:10is very helpful.
04:11And powering this guy we have MediaTek's Helio G99 Ultimate, which is a specific custom
04:16version for this phone, and it comes with their Aurora Engine 2.0, so apps and games
04:21can launch up to twice as fast, and also gives us higher frame rates while maintaining temperatures
04:26so you don't lose performance.
04:27And altogether it's a big step up over last year's Helio G88 in the Spark 10 Pro, not
04:32least that was a 12nm chip, this is 6nm, so it's a big upgrade in both speed and efficiency.
04:39Now to set expectations, that is still a sort of lower-ish mid-range chip, and it was launched
04:43last year, but with that dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, and their software with Android 14,
04:49it really does feel nice and responsive.
04:51You're not going to max out Genshin Impact, but it comfortably plays most games, including
04:55Call of Duty, and jumping between apps, and using the camera, creating AI wallpapers,
05:00you can definitely give that a go, you can generate completely unique backgrounds with
05:03your own prompts, it's all very nice to use.
05:06And TECNO do promise 2 years of OS updates.
05:10And I guess the other advantage of not being a super-duper power-hungry flagship chip is
05:14that paired with the good-sized 5,000mAh battery that we have in here, battery life is actually
05:20really good, and a day and a half is easily possible.
05:22I have only had this less than a week, but at the end of a normal day I still have about
05:2628-30% of my battery remaining, and you can top it up pretty quickly with their 33W supercharger.
05:32We do also get 8GB of RAM, although you can see here that it's got 8GB plus 5GB, because
05:36you can actually expand the RAM by up to 8GB of virtual RAM, if you will, it takes from
05:41the storage.
05:42So, TECNO do like to say it's got 16GB of RAM, with a little asterisk next to it.
05:47In my experience, it doesn't really make that much difference to performance, because storage
05:51speeds are slower than RAM speeds, but even 8GB of RAM is plenty, and we do get 256GB
05:56of storage as standard, which is fantastic, although of course you can't expand it.
06:01However, arguably the biggest upgrade this year is the camera.
06:04We have this new 108MP ultra-sensing main camera lens, giving us a 3x in-sensor zoom
06:11and up to a 10x digital zoom.
06:13So we don't have an ultrawide or a dedicated telephoto lens, but because of that high resolution,
06:18and also helped by the bigger 1 over 1.67-inch sensor, the Spark 20 Pro Plus can crop in
06:24and still get a high-quality 12MP shot at 3x zoom.
06:28It also uses a new HDR multi-frame fusion algorithm, try saying that three times after
06:33a few drinks.
06:34Basically, it captures your shot at different exposure levels, combines it, gives you a
06:38better, more well-exposed photo.
06:40I just wish it wasn't so bloody miserable here in the UK at the moment, so I could show
06:44you some nicer photos outdoors.
06:46The dual-focusing tech also helps ensure that everything stays sharp and in focus even
06:50when you're moving around, and I'm also very happy to see they've made some big
06:53improvements to low-light.
06:55Tecno is using that high resolution and using 9-in-1 adaptive pixel technology, essentially
07:00pixel binning, which improves light sensitivity, so shots taken in their super low-light mode
07:04are much better.
07:06We are still at the mercy of the sensor size, although the wide f1.75 aperture is very helpful
07:11in tricky lighting.
07:13As for video, you can either shoot at 1080p60, but there is also a slightly higher resolution
07:172K30 option, although no 4K unfortunately.
07:21But there are lots of modes to play with, with ultra-steady video for those action shots,
07:25bokeh video to give you a more cinematic feel, and swipe over to the film tab where you can
07:29pick a template and create quick, kind of social-ready videos.
07:32There's slow motion options, and also a dual video mode which is handy for vlogging
07:36where you can record from both the front and the back cameras.
07:39And finally up front we have a 32 megapixel selfie camera, so here's a few snaps of
07:43my ugly mug to give you an idea of the quality.
07:46You're welcome.
07:48So altogether, this is a pretty huge upgrade over last year's Spark 10 Pro, and while
07:52of course there are some compromises to get the price down to what it is, you know, there's
07:56no 5G, we have the one main camera lens, although it's very well utilised because of the high
08:00resolution, no headphone jack or microSD, but for under $200, $180 thereabouts, although
08:07again depending on where you live, it's pretty astonishing value for money.
08:11So if you're after a nice big screen phone that's super slim and light and, well, does
08:15everything pretty well, it's a great all-rounder phone and does not break the bank by any stretch,
08:20then yeah, the new Tecno Spark 20 Pro Plus is definitely worth considering, and if you
08:25do fancy checking this out, I will leave a link in the description below.
08:27If you enjoyed the video, a little like and subscribe would be fantastic, and I'll see
08:30you next time right here on The Tech Chat.
08:32Thanks for watching.
08:37www.techchat.co.uk