I remember tweeting about an upcoming TECNO phone. I also wasn’t sure as much of the name. I mean it is called TECNO Phantom 5. The last big Phantoms were the Z and the Z mini. Where did the 5 come from?

Anyway it is now official.

First of all here are a couple of things that stand out with the new Phantom:

Fingerprint sensor on the back
3GB RAM
5.5 inch AMOLED Screen
64 bit, 1.5 GHz Octa Core Processor

I should dive in on the specs but let me embed the tweet I sent earlier on so that my talk can be validated.

TECNO planning on releasing a new Phantom. This week I hear. TECNO Phantom 5
— Tech-ish.com (@TechishKenya) September 13, 2015

I hope to be invited to the official launch in Kenya. The Nigeria launch was so big. And it is well deserved. This is TECNO’s next flagship. Okay now.

Fingerprint Sensor

Pictures had leaked earlier on of an upcoming TECNO phone with a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone. Then MKBHD shared a leaked photo of the upcoming Nexus with a fingerprint sensor on the back.

I know such odds can’t stack up. I mean TECNO can’t possibly make a Nexus phone. Yet. But it was amazing how it tickled my mind of the possibility of a shocker from Google.

Anyway, it will be amazing to see an affordable phone, for many people, finally rocking a fingerprint sensor. Yeah, soon everyone will have a fingerprint sensor on their phone. This is just the first.

How will this sensor perform? Will it be accurate? Will it be quick? TECNO says the sensor can unlock your phone in 700 milliseconds! That’s 0.7 seconds.

Remember Android Pay is official. I think having Android Pay plus a fingerprint sensor on a phone that runs almost close to stock Android 5.1 Lollipop is heavenly.

I really hope the sensor is good. I also hope I can get to use it. If I do, prepare yourself for a post(s) that will detail all you can do with the sensor. And there’s a couple!

RAM and Processor

3GB RAM plus a 64 bit 1.5 GHz Octa Core Processor. You crunch that. What do you think? Flagship quality? Yep.

The Screen

With 400 pixels per inch on a 5.5 inch AMOLED display, I can say this is very good in that: is not overdone to the extent of draining the battery, and neither is it mediocre.

Cameras

There’s a 13MP camera on the back.

There’s a feature TECNO said during the Nigeria launch that this camera has: dual tone flash light. Whatever that means.

They could have done 16MP but I think there’s a couple of tweaks here and there or perhaps a new sensor all-together that might perform better than the camera on the Phantom Z. I am waiting to see how good (or bad) this camera will be.

If you can remember the Phantom Z adverts really focused on the phone’s camera. This time round TECNO will be focusing on either the Fingerprint sensor or the Camera or both. Let’s wait for the ads.But then again a camera-centred ad is something we probably won’t see since TECNO recently launched a new line of phones called CAMON which focus on cameras. I think they are pegging the uptake of this phone solely on its design language, affordability and the fingerprint sensor. Oh that fingerprint sensor will make people go mad.

The front camera is 8MP and (for narcissists) has LED flash. “So that you can see your skin glow in the dark”. Pssht!

Other stuff:

The new flagship supports 4G networks.
The UI looks almost like the UI on TECNO Boom J7.
It comes in two colours: Luxury Champagne and Elegant space grey. Big names for copper and grey.
It supports HiFi 2.0 and Dolby surround effect
Internal storage is 32GB
Battery is 3000mAh
*Supports Quick Charging. I only believe in fast charging since seeing how fast the INFINIX Hot Note charges.

Let’s wait for the official launch in Kenya. As for now, I think it will launch at about Ksh. 37,000. I might be wrong though because of very many things with the shilling. But I doubt it will cost more than Ksh. 42000. I will update the price here when it lauches. And might do a full review if and when I get to use it. I will also try so hard and do a post on the fingerprint scanner.

As for now, leave your comments and thoughts on this new phone. Do you love the design? What are your thoughts on it?