If you are looking for a budget-friendly phone, you might want to check out the new TECNO SPARK 10C.
TECNO SPARK 10C is the latest addition of TECNO Mobile in its SPARK 10 series line-up, the most affordable in the series. It became available in the market recently with a price of PHP 5,499, but you can now buy this phone for only PHP 4,699. Buying this phone also gives you a free DITO SIM card with 4GB of data.
This phone is made to provide the essential features and capabilities of a smartphone without breaking the bank. In this review, I will go over the unboxing experience, design, multimedia experience, performance, and the pros and cons of SPARK 10C, and help you decide if it is worth buying.
Unboxing Experience
The TECNO SPARK 10C comes in a box with a combination of white, blue, and orange with a large SPARK 10C branding. As usual, there are key specifications written on the back of the box.
Inside the box, the first thing you will see is the phone itself which comes with a pre-installed paper screen cover that shows its highlights.
The next thing you will see is its documentation, warranty card, and free jelly case. After that, of course, the 10w power brick, USB-A to USB-C data/charging cable, and the wired earphones with mic. I just want to commend TECNO Mobile for still including earphones.
Display and Multimedia Experience
One of the generous features of this SPARK 10C is the 90Hz screen refresh rate. Although it only comes with a 6.6-inch display with HD+ resolution, you can still enjoy using it, especially with apps that support a high refresh rate. We cannot demand an FHD+ resolution since HD+ resolution is still commonly used in this price range.
Watching videos here is also enjoyable since it produces good colors and is not over-saturated. Using this phone outdoors will not be difficult for you because its display is very bright
Howbeit, listening to music with its built-in speaker is one of the drawbacks. For me, it sounds a little cheap where it lacks bass, and treble is pretty high. Therefore, I encourage you to use the included earphones.Â
Design
TECNO SPARK 10C uses glossy plastic at the back and frame, since it has a glossy design, expect that it is a smudge magnet, so we suggest using its jelly case. Meanwhile, there are also three colorways this phone offers, META Green, META Blue, and META Black.
For its price, you wouldn’t think that this phone is cheap, especially the Meta Black colorway. The design of its camera island is quite similar to other models in the Spark 10 series but with a dark background.Â
At the bottom of the phone, there is the 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, USB Type-C port, and speaker. While the volume buttons as well as the power button/fingerprint scanner are on the right side. The top is empty, then the SIM tray is on the left side alone.
Speaking of the SIM tray, it is a dedicated SIM slot, which means you can insert two SIM cards and a microSD card simultaneously.Â
Camera
TECNO SPARK 10C features a 16MP main shooter along with a 0.08MP depth sensor and flash. It also has an 8MP wide lens and dual flash at the front for selfies.Â
The stock camera app comes with the following modes: AI Cam, Video, Slow Motion, Portrait, Beauty, Super Night, AR Shot, Panorama, Documents, Time-lapse, and Pro. You can also shoot a video up to 1080p@30fps resolution on its rear and front cameras.
Since this is just a budget smartphone, we cannot expect very high-quality photos from this device. Just see our sample photos and videos below:Â
Performance
The TECNO SPARK 10C also has a 12nm UNISOC T606 octa-core processor partnered with 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage and also supports up to 4GB Extended RAM. Out of the box, it runs HiOS 8.6 based on Android 12.
Using this phone to do my day-to-day task gave me a decent experience. And I am happy to report that its performance is not crappy compared to other phones with the same pricing that I already tested.
I am only suggesting you tweak some settings to maximize its performance like enabling the RAM expansion feature. Enabling that will allow you to smoothly switch between apps like when you are browsing, texting, or taking photos.Â
I also tried playing games on this phone and it does not disappoint me. Playing Mobile Legends Bang Bang and League of Legends Wild Rift on this phone also gives me a decent experience. Even Call of Duty Mobile and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile are heavy games, I am surprised that it runs them smoothly. But I will still recommend lowering the graphics settings to gain more fps.Â
Moreover, it already has a large 5,000mAh battery capacity. It took me a day before charging this phone again when using it casually, but straight playing games is another thing. Doing heavy tasks like gaming roughly lasts me 6-7 hours of juice.
Just do take note that even though it supports 18W fast charging, it only comes with a 10W charging adapter. The included charger can fully charge the phone for about 3 hours. But if you already have an 18W charger, you can use that to improve charging time.
Another feature I am glad SPARK 10C has is the 5GHz WiFi, having this will allow you to have faster internet speed and better connection. Its mobile data is also good although it only supports 4G LTE.Â
Benchmarks scores:
Pros and cons of TECNO SPARK 10C
Pros
- Bang for the buck
- Features 90Hz refresh rate
- Decent performance
- Large battery capacity and fast charging support
- Fingerprint scanner
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- MicroSD card slot
Cons
- Only comes with a 10W charging adapter
- Camera quality
- Smudge magnet body
- Cheap speaker quality
Conclusion
TECNO SPARK 10C is a great affordable smartphone that includes all the necessary features you need in a smartphone plus bonus midrange features like the 90hz screen refresh rate. It already has a decent performance and is even more powerful compared to other budget smartphones. However, you should also lower your expectations on its other features given that it is just worth PHP 4-5K.Â
If you need a smartphone and your budget is limited, we can recommend buying this new TECNO SPARK 10C. But if you can and you don’t need to buy a smartphone, you might consider buying higher models in the SPARK 10 series like the SPARK 10 for camera improvement, or SPARK 10 Pro for overall improvement.
TECNO SPARK 10C Specifications
- Display: 6.6-inch HD+ IPS LCD screen w/ 90Hz refresh rate, 267 ppi
- CPU: 1.6GHz 12nm UNISOC T606 octa-core processor
- GPU: Mali-G57 MP1
- RAM: 4GB
- ROM: 128GB expandable storage via microSD card slot
- Back Camera: 16MP + 0.08MP + Flash
- Selfie Camera: 8MP + Dual Flash
- Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 18W fast charging
- OS: HiOS 8.6 based on Android 12
- Connectivity: WiFi (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G LTE, Bluetooth, FM Radio, NFC, GPS, dual SIM
- Sensors: Accelerometer, light, proximity, magnetic
- Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock, 3.5mm headphone jack
- Colors: META Black, META Blue, META Green
Pricing and availability
You can now buy the affordable TECNO SPARK 10C on Shopee for only PHP 4,699. However, the original price of this phone is PHP 5,499, we don’t know if TECNO will keep the PHP 800 discount.
1 Comment
Good eve, DITO Kindly ask…How much the starter Kit
Home WIFI?