Tecno Phantom X2 Pro integrates retractable portrait camera

Chinese company Tecno is emerging from time to time in the online space, even though it’s not currently present in very many markets. Recently, the company seems to be investing a lot of resources in developing advanced smartphone photography technologies, and its latest high-end model integrates a retractable portrait camera on the back of the device.

The camera system on the Phantom X2 Pro is an unusual one

In recent years, retractable cameras have been used by manufacturers to avoid the cutout in the screen for the front camera. These have proven too complicated to implement in many models, and fragile mechanical components have led to the abandonment of this type of design. They also proved impractical.

However, Tecno says the new Phantom X2 Pro integrates a retractable camera that should help capture better photos. The portrait camera on this model, which offers a 2.5x optical zoom uses the ability to move the lens to allow more light to be captured. As a result, it can deliver better photos in dimmer light (helped by the f/1.49 aperture), but also a natural bokeh effect to blur the background and better highlight the subject in the shot.

The camera doesn’t pop out until you select portrait mode from the camera app menu. At the heart of this mode is a 50-megapixel 1/2.7″ sensor. Otherwise, when the other cameras are used, the portrait camera is also recessed inside the phone.

The hardware configuration is a high-end one

The Tecno Phantom X2 Pro’s main camera uses a 1/1.3″ Samsung GNV ISOCELL 3.0 sensor with f/1.85 aperture, and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera is also integrated into the super-sized camera module. Incidentally, the whole device is large, featuring a 6.8″ OLED display at 120 Hz. The phone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset, 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage and a huge 5,160 mAh battery with 45W charging.

Tecno says the Phantom X2 Pro isn’t certified for water resistance, but the retractable camera is well-sealed to keep out water and dust.

Unfortunately, we don’t know if we’ll see such a phone in Western markets. The device goes on sale in countries such as India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Turkey and the Philippines before the end of December, priced at the equivalent of US$930. The non-Pro model, with no retractable camera and just 8GB RAM will enter the market at $715.