As someone who tells stories for a living, I’ve always stood behind the camera.
I know all too well that I’m exceptional at framing people and landscapes, capturing moments that make sense later.
When I flew to Northern Mindanao, I told myself I was going for a change of scenery. I wanted to exist inside my own narrative, too.
Bukidnon became the perfect backdrop for getting to know myself in and behind the frame. In my pocket was the OPPO Reno15 5G in Aurora White.
There were no expectations of the smartphone being part of the story. I just wanted to see if I could trust it to document my adventures.
Surprisingly, it did.
Refinement over noise
I’ve always been drawn to designs that stand out. Covering the Reno series from its earliest iterations up to the Reno15 has been a hallmark of my career in journalism.
I like pieces that catch attention. As a Leo, I’ve always loved it — in how I dress and in the items I carry. In the past, that meant bold finishes and loud statements, much like the Reno lines before this.
As I grew and aged gracefully, my taste evolved. I still want to demand some form of presence. I just don’t want it to feel abrasive.
The Reno15 demands attention without being loud. The Aurora White finish looks clean and polished from afar. Up close, the surface shifts under light and a shimmer reveals itself only when you move it.
The glass back flows seamlessly into the camera module, so the silhouette feels cohesive rather than decorative. It still carries that flat-edge familiarity people love to compare to an iPhone, and I get why.
In hand, the Reno15 5G feels substantial at 197 grams, yet it never became uncomfortable during long days of recording across different adventures.
The 6.59-inch frame sits comfortably when I’m scrolling one-handed or holding it up to film while moving, like when I rode a 4×4 to a ranch, gripping it tightly as rough terrain threatened to jolt everything out of place.
That said, I live actively. I move between environments without babying my devices. My arsenal looks like gear ready for battle, and that sums up what I need from a smartphone.
The Reno15 5G’s IP66, IP68, and IP69 protection means this beauty is tougher than it looks. It resists dust and handles water exposure. Add Splash Touch support, and even slightly damp fingers don’t interrupt what I’m doing.
Light under pressure
For someone who practically lives under the sun, the display became both a companion and a challenge.
When I was filming in open fields, the Reno15 5G’s screen sometimes struggled against harsh midday light. Even at 1200 nits in high brightness mode, the glare could be relentless.
I found myself stepping into pockets of shade, tilting the screen at careful angles, squinting just to confirm whether a shot was framed properly.
On days when there was no escaping the sun, I trusted the camera and my instinct for composition. I mounted the phone on my Ulanzi tripod, positioned myself in the scene, and focused on performing rather than obsessively reviewing every second.
There was a learning curve, but it reminded me that sometimes you have to let the moment unfold and stitch the story together later from whatever you captured.
Now Playing: Undercover Miss Hong
My life as a creative director isn’t all shooting and exporting. I consume as much as I create. Inspiration has always come from film and television.
Lately, I’ve been watching Undercover Miss Hong on Netflix, with Park Shin Hye playing Hong Keum-bo, an elite securities inspector who goes undercover as a rookie employee inside a suspicious investment firm.
Set in 1997 Seoul during the Asian Financial Crisis, the series commits fully to its time period. The palette leans into muted browns and dusty blues that echo economic tension.
Interiors feel dim and textured and office spaces look rigid. The fashion reflects the late ’90s without turning into a costume. Nothing is polished for surface appeal because everything feels rooted in its world.
On the Reno15 5G’s 6.59-inch AMOLED display, those tonal differences came through clearly. Dark scenes retained shadow detail instead of collapsing into flat black, while warm tungsten lighting looked rich without veering orange.
Beyond inspiration, I trim clips and scrub through footage I captured during my trip. The 120Hz refresh rate makes swiping and scrubbing feel fluid.
Where nothing lags
As someone fond of flagship devices like my OPPO Find X9 and iPhone 16 Pro, I know immediately when a smartphone feels like a compromise. The OPPO Reno15 5G is technically midrange, yet it never felt like one.
From setup to day-to-day use, everything felt smooth. Apps opened quickly so I switched between shooting, editing, messaging, and uploading without hiccups.
My neurodivergent brain appreciated that it could keep up with the constant mental tabs I have open.
The 6500mAh battery lasted about a day and a half after shooting across cities and mountains. Charging took around 45-50 minutes from zero to 100% with 80W SUPERVOOC.
What I appreciated most was O+ Connect. I’ve used it before on the Find X9 and previous Reno devices, and it continues to make my workflow seamless.
It’s no secret that I exist deep within Apple’s ecosystem. My MacBook Air, iPad Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro are cross-functional tools for my work. I even switched to Apple’s Creator Studio.
Using the Reno15 5G as my primary content device during testing could have felt disruptive. Instead, O+ Connect allowed me to move files across devices easily.
I treated the Reno15 5G like a mirrorless camera, then refined everything on a bigger screen.
A playground for precision
Artificial Intelligence has ingrained itself into our devices in ways that don’t always feel natural.
I’ve seen AI productivity tools work well for people in high-pressure professions. For me, efficiency doesn’t mean teaching a system how to think before it works for me.
What stood out in the Reno15 series was AI Mind Space. It allowed my scattered brain to consolidate screenshots, schedules, references, and fragments of information into one hub that actually mirrors how I operate.
As someone who saves everything for later, it felt less like automation and more like organization that understands me.
Then there’s AI Motion Photo Popout. As a creative director, I don’t like posting stories the way everyone else does. I have a desire, deep in my bones, to stand out.
Popout lets me lift subjects out of the frame and turn them into layered visuals. I used it for Instagram Stories and thumbnails instead of settling for a random still from a Reel.
Being able to refine directly in the Gallery — erasing distractions or turning motion into cinematic snippets — meant I could act on impulse without sacrificing my love for curation.
Learning to be seen
During my time in Northern Mindanao, I stopped pretending I didn’t want to be in the photos.
For the longest time, I’ve been more comfortable orchestrating the frame than occupying it. I knew where to stand and how to direct, or where the light should hit… but for everyone else.
This past year, I’ve been learning to own the space I’m in and not dimming my light simply because I’m afraid of how bright it might be.
The OPPO Reno15 5G’s 50-megapixel ultra-wide front camera made that easier than I expected.
I told OPPO’s Creative Manager in passing that I genuinely liked the new hardware when he asked how the experience had been so far, and I meant it.
The wider field of view meant I didn’t have to overthink whether everyone fit into the frame. I didn’t have to do that subtle, Gen-Z arm stretch or step back awkwardly just to make room for the scenery.
I could capture more of the background without looking hideous in the process. The frame felt immersive, yet balanced: Faces looked natural and proportions didn’t warp.
There’s something powerful about not having to choose between yourself and the scenery. You can be the subject, or you can be part of the story. With this smartphone, you’re allowed to coexist with both.
I even asked my photographer friend, Neil Jimenez, to take my portraits using the 50-megapixel telephoto portrait camera.
Holding still in front of the lens felt unfamiliar. I tried to remain statuesque, composed, trusting him to see what I usually see in others.
The portraits came out vivid without distortion. The backgrounds softened, but never stretched or exaggerated.
It was strange to watch myself in those frames. To notice how the light rested on my cheeks, and see how my smile shifted when something genuinely amused me. To observe expressions I never see because I’m usually the one observing.
There’s another side of you that only appears when you let yourself be seen.
Behind the lens where I’m most comfortable
If being in the frame felt vulnerable, being behind it felt like home.
Bukidnon still feels like a dream when I replay it in my head: Horses moving across open fields, mountains layered into one another like watercolor washes.
I shot wide and then cropped in. The main camera gave me enough details to experiment. Whether I stayed at 1x or zoomed into 2x or 5x, I shaped the narrative the way I wanted people to experience it.
I framed lines and symmetry, and leaned into negative space. I played with contrast, like the way Alpine Village’s architecture stands against the surrounding greenery in Dahilayan.
There was room to explore. Room to make mistakes. It felt like the device in my hand wasn’t just a tool, but a collaborator responding to the way I see the world.
Filmed and directed by yours truly
After leaving the love of my life last year, I began documenting my trips. Maybe it was for content or healing. But I started treating my life like a film I had to direct and star in.
Acting in your own story while directing it at the same time is harder than it sounds. It requires vulnerability and believing that your perspective is worth documenting.
Bukidnon became my practice. I recorded clips using the OPPO Reno15 5G in 4K HDR because I wanted the footage to be stable and detailed even when I was moving.
I remember stressing over file sizes, wondering if I had overcommitted to quality. But when you care about storytelling, you’d rather have too much detail than not enough.
There were pine-lined roads. Snippets of conversations. Landscapes that felt cinematic without trying. And of course, me being a dramatic, slightly unhinged main character like I was starring in a Taylor Swift music video.
Getting out of my comfort zone meant taking the Reno15 5G — mounted securely on a tripod — to a 350-meter zipline ride. For a brief moment, I imagined I was Elphaba flying away from the Emerald City.
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I also brought it to the Razorback ride, using Dual-View Video to record the mountains stretching in front of me while capturing my own reaction at the same time.
I’ve done something similar during an ATV ride in Bohol, but this felt different. Higher stakes (and chances of falling if I abruptly stop). Faster wind (and a cold one, because we’re high up in the mountains). More nerves (because I’m not in control).
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I was terrified. The accelerator felt awkward under my control and the seatbelt didn’t feel secure. I’m short, so even sitting comfortably required adjustment.
There was a moment where I questioned whether I had overestimated my courage. But I survived. This story is published. The video is up.
Sometimes, being able to capture how a place made you feel — not just how it looked — is priceless. Vulnerability and honesty matters.
The courage to step into your own frame matters. It just helps when the device in your hand is capable enough to keep up with the story you’re brave enough to tell.
Is the OPPO Reno15 5G your GadgetMatch?
The OPPO Reno15 5G isn’t perfect. Priced at PhP 36,990, it sits a few thousand pesos higher than its predecessor, so the jump asks you to think twice.
What you’re really paying for is refinement. It has smarter AI integrations and a more cohesive overall experience.
But here’s the thing: this is the first Reno in a while that feels grown up. It makes storytelling easier for people who live half their lives online, with a camera system and performance that feel steady enough to rival devices in higher tiers.
So if you’re wondering whether it’s your GadgetMatch, consider a Swipe Right if you’re a content creator who values camera versatility, especially a strong front camera. If you move between Android and Apple ecosystems and need something that lets you shoot, edit, and publish on the go, this fits that workflow.
Swipe Left if you’re extremely price-sensitive or if you rarely go beyond basic point-and-shoot and don’t see yourself using the AI tools built into the system.
The OPPO Reno15 5G won’t transform your life. But if you’re already in the middle of writing your own story, it’s a dependable co-director and co-producer.
And sometimes, that’s all you need.
A year away from Ghost of Yōtei was enough to make me rusty. It wasn’t enough to make me forget why I loved it.
What immediately jumped out to me is how beautifully connected this game’s open-world mechanics are. Moving about and exploring felt like picking up where I left off after roughly a year of not really touching the game.
The Guiding Wind, the birds that point you toward locations of interest, and the encounters scattered throughout Ezo all work together to keep you busy without the tasks ever feeling like a chore. There is always something worth looking toward, whether it is a quest, a hidden location, or simply another reason to stop and appreciate the scenery.
And of course, the new area is just as beautiful as everything else we’ve seen in the base game.
That is probably the biggest compliment I can give Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition. It does not feel like an expansion bolted onto an existing game. It feels like another excuse to step back into a world that already knew how to pull me in.
Picking up where I left off
I started my playthrough of the Complete Edition with Echoes of Sekigahara. I thought it was going to be a quick romp, but it’s proving to be a longer experience than I initially thought it would be.
I’ve spent roughly five to six hours playing through it, and I don’t think I’m anywhere near completing the story.
That said, I did get sidetracked quite a bit.
Which tends to happen with these Ghost games.
Not to their detriment, though. Every other quest and encounter in the open world feels like a contained story on its own that is well worth your time. The game has a way of presenting distractions that never really feel like distractions. You can set out with one objective in mind, stumble into something else, and suddenly realize an hour has passed.
That familiarity came back surprisingly quickly.
The new region introduced in Echoes of Sekigahara brings unfamiliar enemies, new weapons, and memories tied to Atsu’s past, giving the expansion its own identity while still operating within the systems that made the base game so easy to lose yourself in.
The Wolf quest line in particular was the first one I tackled, and it was quite a ride.
I’m deliberately leaving the details there.
This is the kind of story that is better experienced without knowing too much going in, and the review guidelines themselves ask reviewers to avoid major narrative developments and surprises.
Finding my footing again
While movement and exploration felt natural, it took me a while to get reacquainted with the combat.
My Atsu had many skills mastered, but being a year removed from the game meant I was rusty. I was dying against what I would consider fodder enemies.
There is something humbling about returning to a game where you once felt completely in control, only to discover that your muscle memory has apparently packed its bags and moved somewhere else.
Even now as I write this review, I don’t think I’ve gotten to the level I was when I first completed the game.
But I’m getting by just fine.
And that is partly because Yōtei gives you another toy to play with.
Massive weapons make a massive difference
Massive Weapons
The new wrinkle in combat is the Massive Weapons you get to pick up and swing around.
They are an absolute joy to use.
More importantly, they bailed me out of a few encounters already.
There is a satisfying weight to picking up one of these weapons and simply going to town on enemies. It changes the rhythm of a fight without asking you to relearn the entire combat system. After spending several hours trying to remember how I used to fight as Atsu, having the option to grab something enormous and start swinging was a welcome change of pace.
This was a definite win.
It also highlights one of the strengths of Yōtei’s combat. The foundation is already strong enough that adding another layer does not need to completely reinvent it. Sometimes, giving Atsu something massive to hit people with is enough.
Most Wanted keeps the blade moving
If you want to dive deeper into combat, Most Wanted is where it’s at.
PlayStation first-party games have had a habit of adding these roguelike-inspired modes to some of their games. There’s Valhalla for God of War Ragnarök and No Return for The Last of Us Part II.
Most Wanted takes that idea and puts Yōtei’s combat front and center.
The mode is a single-player combat survival experience built around escalating bounties, different playable characters, and experimenting with the game’s combat system. Unlike Echoes of Sekigahara, you can jump into it immediately without existing save data or base-game progression.
I’ve only had a couple of runs so far, but I can say I thoroughly enjoy the mode.
Mostly because I love the game’s combat mechanics.
That is what you engage with for much of Most Wanted, and it gives you a reason to keep testing yourself. You start a run, make your choices, fight your way through increasingly demanding encounters, and inevitably reach a point where things stop going according to plan.
Then you try again.
And again.
There is a particular satisfaction to a mode like this when the underlying combat is already enjoyable. Losing doesn’t necessarily feel like wasted time because every run gives you another opportunity to get better at the thing you were already having fun doing.
It can also be frustrating.
That is part of the appeal.
More Yōtei is still more Yōtei
The biggest strength of Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition is also the simplest.
It gives me more Ghost of Yōtei.
Echoes of Sekigahara gives Atsu another story to tell. Most Wanted gives the combat another place to shine. The Complete Edition also adds cosmetics, Trophies, Photo Mode content, and other extras. Meanwhile, the October 1 update brings additional Watanabe Mode tracks, Beauty of Yōtei mode, quality-of-life improvements, and a new high-contrast accessibility option to all Ghost of Yōtei players.
After roughly a year away, I was surprised by how quickly I settled back into the rhythm.
The wind blew, birds flew, a quest turned into another quest, and a random encounter became a story.
Then I picked up a massive weapon and started remembering why I enjoyed this game so much in the first place.
That cohesion remains Yōtei’s greatest strength. Its world constantly gives you reasons to move forward without making the journey feel like work. The Complete Edition simply gives you more reasons to keep going.
Is Ghost of Yotei Complete Edition your Play Match?
Ghost of Yōtei was already one of the best experiences on PlayStation 5.
The Complete Edition gives you more of it.
Echoes of Sekigahara is shaping up to be a substantial addition rather than a short side adventure, while Most Wanted offers a compelling excuse to keep coming back to Atsu’s combat long after you’ve finished the main story.
I still have plenty more of both to see. But even after only a handful of hours with the new content, I know exactly how I feel about returning to Yōtei.
It feels familiar, fresh, and Most Wanted will both frustrate and hook you.
It’s absolutely thrilling.
Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition is an easy Swipe Up.
After a year away, I came back rusty.
I’m still swinging. And I’m still having a damn good time.
There is nothing particularly wrong with the HONOR 600S.
It works. It looks decent. The display is nice enough. The cameras can capture perfectly usable photos. Battery life is excellent. It even has a collection of AI features that can keep you entertained for a while.
The problem is that “perfectly fine” becomes a harder sell when the 8GB + 256GB version carries a PHP 22,999 SRP and launches at a PHP 19,999 promo price.
The HONOR 600S feels like a phone that sits comfortably in the lower mid-tier. It has enough going for it to be perfectly serviceable as an everyday smartphone, but it doesn’t quite deliver the kind of experience that makes you want to recommend it over the alternatives.
That becomes particularly apparent when HONOR puts so much emphasis on its AI capabilities.
It feels every bit like a lower mid-tier phone
The HONOR 600S feels well-built, but nothing about it feels particularly premium.
At 216.5 grams and 8.3mm thick, it isn’t exactly a featherweight phone. It comes in Velvet Black, Desert Gold, and Misty Purple, with the latter being the finish we spent time with.
There is a reassuring heft to the phone, and the build doesn’t give off the impression that HONOR cut corners just to hit a price point. It also carries IP68, IP69, and IP69K ratings for water and dust resistance, along with SGS five-star drop resistance according to HONOR’s materials.
Those are meaningful practical advantages.
Still, pick it up and you immediately get that lower mid-tier feeling.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Phones in this segment have gotten remarkably good at feeling solid without costing a fortune. But the HONOR 600S doesn’t really give you that extra bit of refinement that makes it feel more expensive than it is.
The display is a pleasant surprise
The display is probably one of the better parts of the HONOR 600S.
It uses a 6.872-inch TFT LCD with a 1592 x 720 resolution. HONOR lists typical brightness at 860 nits, with up to 1,020 nits in HBM, and it also includes Eye Comfort and Dynamic Dimming technologies.
Those specifications don’t exactly scream “media powerhouse,” but actual use tells a more favorable story.
Reacher and Lila
I spent time watching episodes of Reacher Season 4 on the phone, and the experience was pretty good. It’s not the sort of display that makes you forget you’re looking at an LCD, but it gets the job done well enough for movies and shows.
Certified Isa-holic
The same applies to watching fancams of STAYC Isa, who currently occupies a frankly unreasonable amount of rent-free real estate in this Managing Editor’s mind.
The HONOR 600S is a perfectly competent little entertainment machine.
It also has stereo speakers, with HONOR Sound 7.3 listed in the specifications. That helps round out the media experience.
The cameras are serviceable
The HONOR 600S has a 50-megapixel f/1.8 main camera paired with an auxiliary lens. Around the front is a 5-megapixel f/2.2 camera. Rear video tops out at 1080p, while the phone offers up to 8x digital zoom.
And “serviceable” is probably the best word for the cameras.
They’re not necessarily something you’d use to show off your mobile photography chops. You won’t be reaching for the HONOR 600S when you want to make a serious photographic statement.
But that’s not necessarily what this phone needs to do.
For capturing moments with friends, taking photos of food, documenting whatever happens during the day, and throwing the results onto social media, the cameras are mostly okay.
That’s enough for the intended audience.
There are also several shooting modes available, including Portrait, Night, High-Res, Panorama, Pro, Slow-Mo, and the usual Photo and Video modes.
The problem is that the cameras don’t give the HONOR 600S much of an identity. They’re there, they work, and they do what you expect.
Nothing more.
The Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 keeps things moving
The HONOR 600S runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 613 GPU. Depending on the configuration, you get either 6GB of RAM with 128GB of storage or 8GB of RAM with 256GB. It runs MagicOS 10 based on Android 16.
That combination tells you pretty much what to expect.
The phone should be perfectly capable of handling everyday tasks, social media, messaging, streaming, and other non-demanding workloads. You shouldn’t expect it to suddenly become a gaming powerhouse, though.
The Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 suggests that less demanding mobile games should run without much trouble. Games that ask for more horsepower will probably require some tweaking to the graphics settings to get things running properly.
Had our best run while taking photos for this review
On our end, we mostly ran the app version of the web game 82-0. It’s addicting.
And, frankly, that’s about as much gaming as the HONOR 600S really needed to handle during our time with it.
AI is entertaining, but that’s about it
Every HONOR 600 phone and up has this feature
HONOR really wants you to know about the AI.
The HONOR 600S supports AI Image-to-Video 2.0, Moving Photo Editing, AI Photos Agent, Magic Color, and Magic Pose. The Image-to-Video feature can work from multiple images, two images representing a first and last frame, or automatically through a no-prompt option.
And, yes, you can have some fun with it.
The problem is that there’s a fairly significant gap between “this is a neat toy” and “this is a feature that makes the phone worth buying.”
In the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing, AI Image-to-Video can produce something interesting. The more specific prompt templates give users a little more control over the result, too.
In the hands of the unskilled, however, it mostly results in a bunch of AI slop.
We typically don’t look at generative AI particularly positively. There is still something undeniably entertaining about watching your photos turn into weird little videos, though.
That’s ultimately where I land with the HONOR 600S’s AI features.
They’re fun. They’re occasionally useful. But I wouldn’t buy this phone for them.
And if the cost of putting all these AI features into the phone is contributing to a price that doesn’t otherwise match the hardware and experience, that’s a bigger problem.
The battery is the highlight
26% left but last charge when this was taken was a day and a half ago. Light to medium usage.
Now we get to the HONOR 600S’s strongest argument.
The battery is huge.
The phone packs an 8,100mAh battery, with HONOR listing 7,900mAh as the rated capacity. It supports 45W wired HONOR SuperCharge, although there is no wireless charging.
And you can feel that capacity in everyday use.
The HONOR 600S is hard to drain.
If you leave home early in the day and put the phone through medium to heavy usage, you can expect to still have some juice left after a typical nine-to-12-hour day outside your home.
That’s genuinely useful.
Battery anxiety is one of those things that disappears into the background when you have this much capacity. You can watch some videos, scroll through social media, take photos, play games, and use your phone throughout the day without constantly wondering where the nearest charger is.
The 45W charging isn’t particularly exciting, but the combination of a big battery and reasonably fast wired charging makes the HONOR 600S dependable.
And sometimes dependable is exactly what you want from a phone.
There’s nothing wrong with the HONOR 600S. That’s the problem.
The HONOR 600S is alright. Its display is good. The battery is excellent. The cameras are serviceable. Performance is appropriate for the hardware. The build is solid. The AI features can be entertaining.
Put everything together and you get a phone that does most things it needs to do without making too many mistakes.
But that’s also why the pricing is difficult to swallow.
Is the HONOR 600S your GadgetMatch?
The 8GB + 256GB HONOR 600S has an SRP of PHP 22,999, although it will be available at a PHP 19,999 promo price. There is also a 6GB + 128GB version priced at PHP 18,999 during its first month of sales, exclusively online.
At those prices, the HONOR 600S needs to offer more than “mostly okay.” The hardware itself doesn’t feel particularly premium, the cameras don’t stand out, and the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 is firmly positioned toward the entry-level end of Qualcomm’s smartphone lineup.
Then there’s AI.
HONOR is clearly positioning AI Image-to-Video 2.0 and the rest of its AI toolkit as major selling points for the HONOR 600S. The company’s own brief calls out AI as one of the phone’s primary product strengths alongside its battery and 50-megapixel camera.
But after spending time with the phone, I don’t think the AI features provide enough value to bridge the gap between what the phone offers and what it costs.
And that’s just the reality we’re going through at the moment.
You might be better off setting your sights on the other models in the HONOR 600 family.
The HONOR 600S isn’t a bad phone.
It’s just a difficult one to recommend at these prices.
Swipe Left.
Despite the resurgence of WIDE-bodied slabs and folds trying to dominate the smartphone space again, slender smartphones aren’t done just yet.
From last year’s SPARK Slim and POVA Slim, TECNO brings in the CAMON Slim to the table.
As we transition into an era where smartphones rock beyond the 5000mAh battery mark, the Chinese brand aims to hit two birds with one stone in the latest TECNO CAMON Slim 5G.
Slim and clean that isn’t mean
At just 6.39mm, there’s no denying that the TECNO CAMON Slim 5G is a true skinny legend.
For the record, it’s not the slimmest phone around nor is it the most striking smartphone design to ever exist.
Last year’s SPARK Slim still holds the slimmest phone title — at least when it comes to TECNO’s product portfolio alongside other smartphones with curved displays.
Honestly, the existence of SPARK Slim still bedazzles me. It’s one of the best-looking smartphones out there that also happened to nail its slimness from within. That added razor-sharp illusion from the side still amazes me.
While the CAMON Slim 5G isn’t as iconic as the “Baymax phone,” its clean look is commendable, nonetheless.
Its understated back design with CAMON’s signature “swan-neck” curve give it some sophistication — and distinctly CAMON in nature.
More so, its CMF (color, materials, finish) don’t immediately scream “cheap” despite the category it belongs to.
Now, if you’ve read some of my reviews, you’d know that even though I love wearing anything black, I (still) despise rocking black phones.
Somehow, the Matisse Black I hold is an exception. Surprisingly, it doesn’t show off much of my fingerprint smears all over its vast black back.
Moreover, those subdued green accents found on its oval camera rim alongside a stylish new “CAMON” wordmark truly adds an elegant touch.
If this isn’t your cup of tea, there are also the hero Burgundy Red shade alongside Gossamer White, Rebel Pink, and an even flashier Neo-Mondrian colorway.
Even if it has flat edges, the phone is still easy to hold for longer periods. That slimness and a weight of only 171 grams contribute to that overall handfeel.
Being thin doesn’t mean being overly fragile either. TECNO gives the CAMON Slim 5G triple IP68, IP69, and IP69K ratings for that much-needed water and dust resistance.
So while its looks aren’t necessarily groundbreaking, its clean design, slim profile, and solid build quality all made the cut.
Bright sight with a sound delight
Easily another favorite part of the TECNO CAMON Slim 5G is none other than its audiovisual supremacy.
Up front is a large 6.78-inch 1.5K flat AMOLED display.
When I watched IU’s latest Dear my crazy soulmate live clip (dedicated to her long-time celebrity best friend Yoo In-na), I was immediately mesmerized by both her vocals and charm.
It just so happened that next in my YouTube’s autoplay list is fromis_9’s Jiwon in her WORKDOL era.
Just like the slimness of both idols I truly and dearly admire, the same can be said with TECNO’s CAMON Slim 5G.
Despite their form, they actually provide power-range vocals and irresistible visuals altogether.
Colors are vibrant, text and images look crisp, and the buttery smooth 144Hz refresh rate makes scrolling through apps and navigating HiOS feel incredibly fluid.
Pair that with its sound output and the CAMON Slim 5G becomes an enjoyable device for banging loudspeaker sessions.
Personally, it’s my first time to see the Infinity Volume Plus feature which boosts the audio output by up to 300% more.
Ryu Sujeong’s latest redemption arc release against her bubbly and innocent visuals during her prime with Lovelyz is the best sample I can think of to enjoy CAMON Slim 5G’s audio fidelity.
Needless to say, its Dolby Atmos stereo speakers already sound loud when out and about.
Whether I was watching long-form videos, scrolling through my Instagram Reels algorithm full of pets, idols, dank and even dark memes. Or simply just streaming my latest K-Pop music faves, TECNO’s focus on these two made a lot of sense for a slim smartphone ready to be someone’s content companion.
New chip with an efficiency dip
Powering the TECNO CAMON Slim 5G is MediaTek’s latest Dimensity 7300e chip announced as early as April 2026.
While I firmly believe that the “e” stands for “efficiency,” my experience proves otherwise.
Firing up HoYoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero gave some false hopes with its “Medium” graphic settings by default.
The only way to play the game without stutters is by lowering rendering and graphics to low, frame rate at 30fps. Also, by enabling Performance Mode hidden in the High Boost sidebar.
Racing Master? It’s playable with its out of the box graphics but I still recommend doing the same thing just to avoid that unwanted stutter.
Those being said, the CAMON Slim 5G don’t necessarily mean it’s awfully slow.
In a surprising turn of events, Neverness to Everness performs smoother and better even under Balanced graphics.
Call of Duty: Mobile and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, like most phones in the league, run without frills.
However, that slim form factor meant getting toasty hot when used for gaming and other intensive tasks in the long run — or at least by the time you hit the 15- to 30-minute mark.
Not that this phone is totally meant for gaming. Still, the huge trade-off of its utmost slimness is simply the lack of space for a better cooling chamber.
This leads to ineffective heat dissipation resulting to performance bottleneck. A huge reason why the “e”fficiency is barely felt in this 5-month old processor.
Now when it comes to doomscrolling, streaming, split-screen multitasking and other everyday tasks, they all run without a hitch.
In the grand scheme of things, a 5G-enabled chip is still better right now when internet speeds matter a lot.
Thus, this is still a better option than the CAMON Slim 4G with a slower chip inside it.
Big cell that lasts (almost) well
We’ve seen manufacturers shave millimeters off their devices before. But doing so usually means making compromises somewhere else — most commonly in battery capacity.
While the CAMON’s chipset isn’t quite the midrange chip champ I was expecting, thankfully, TECNO compensates for some of that inefficiency with sheer battery capacity.
Inside its oh-so-thin chassis is a large 6000mAh battery. For some context, its 4G variant has a slight smaller 5600mAh tank. Last year’s POVA Slim 5G? Only at 5160mAh.
Even if the Dimensity 7300e had some performance reservations, the battery is still enough to get me throughout the day — as long as I don’t fully exhaust it.
That said, I made this phone as my one-stop hotspot for a day. From 5AM, it only lasted me around 7PM until it ultimately died down.
Standby time further proves how power-hungry it is. The CAMON Slim 5G still consumes battery even when resting on a desk for hours.
The POVA 8 Pro with a slightly better chip and 500mAh more battery was able to last more than 12 hours the next day without being touched after I placed it on my desk with only 11% remaining in it.
Considering the many TECNO phones I’ve used with big batteries in the recent months, I honestly expected better optimization for a slimmer device equipped with an “e” chip.
Now, when the juice completely runs out, the phone supports TECNO’s not-so-fast yet still reliable 45W wired charging.
Two attempts in the GadgetMatch Charge Test prove that it can be filled at least below 1.5 hours.
Attempt #1 |
Attempt #2 |
|
START TIME (from 0%) |
3:25AM |
10:37PM |
3 minutes |
2% |
4% |
5 minutes |
8% |
7% |
10 minutes |
11% |
12% |
15 minutes |
22% |
17% |
30 minutes |
40% |
38% |
45 minutes |
59% |
56% |
1 hour |
79% |
77% |
1 hour 15 minutes |
94% |
93% |
END TIME (100%) |
4:47AM
|
12:00AM
|
For better measure, I have to insert this part as well.
POVA 8 Pro
|
CAMON Slim 5G
|
|
START TIME (from 0%) |
5:00AM |
3:25AM |
3 minutes |
5% |
2% |
5 minutes |
8% |
8% |
10 minutes |
19% |
11% |
15 minutes |
27% |
22% |
30 minutes |
53% |
40% |
45 minutes |
78% |
59% |
1 hour |
97% |
79% |
1 hour 15 minutes |
– |
94% |
END TIME (100%) |
6:04AM
|
4:47AM
|
The POVA 8 Pro Tonino Lamborghini I handled clearly has the same charging speed and bigger battery. Yet, it was still able to finish first. A smartphone’s chipset choice clearly has an effect.
Are the cameras CAMON-like?
The CAMON line has always put a fair amount of emphasis on photography. Hardware-wise, their Slim model isn’t any different.
Don’t be fooled by that triple camera lens setup though as it only features two rear shooters: a 50MP Sony LYTIA-700C main sensor accompanied by the widely conventional 8MP UWA camera.
I’ll keep this part simple. The cameras are just right. Photos from the main camera are enough for everyday shooting.
Honestly, most photos seem like they were captured by a SPARK, not a CAMON. While there were hits, there were quite misses as well.
In certain occasions, color reproduction somehow looked less punchy and flat. AWB (Auto White Balance) sometimes get confused too — especially indoors.
You also have to be very still when taking photos of moving subjects. Otherwise, they will all just be blurry.
Again, putting the POVA 8 Pro I recently reviewed into perspective, that one snapped faster and produced overall better photos. That’s despite the fact that the CAMON Slim 5G features FlashSnap and that one doesn’t.
Also, ICYMI, both of them rock the same LYT-700C sensor as their main shooter. Both of them also lacked long-range telephoto modules which meant heavy reliance in sensor cropping.
For 2x shots, its main sensor simply gets the job done.
However, the CAMON Slim 5G instantly loses when going beyond the digital 2x zoom.
For the type of phone the CAMON Slim 5G is, its cameras get the job done. Just don’t expect a CAMON 50 series-like output.
Cute badge to match
Alongside the new phone comes with TECNO’s MagBadge, an all-new accessory that attaches to the CAMON Slim 5G through its bundled magnetic clear case.
It’s basically a tiny circular display that doubles as a rear-camera monitor. While its front houses a 32MP selfie shooter, this add-on makes Gen Z selfies a lot less hassle to frame and take.
It can also act as a remote shutter, making it useful when shooting yourself from farther away or recording videos alone.
You can even put your own image or add custom texts on the MagBadge and use it as your unique phone accessory.
Unfortunately, the software still needs some polishing.
For instance, even though focal length switches appear in the interface, it was stuck at the regular 1x mode during my testing.
That’s frustrating because the hardware itself is clever.
If you plan on purchasing this accessory alone, it currently only works for the CAMON Slim 5G.
It’s not compatible with other smartphones — both Android and iPhones. The MagBadge app is only available in TECNO’s proprietary Palm Store (or App Center).
With that in mind, I tried installing it in my CAMON 50 Ultra to take advantage of the better camera system.
While I was able to download the MagBadge app, connect it, and even run a firmware update, it wasn’t able to do its job. Whether opening the camera app via MagBadge or manually opening the camera app in the phone, none of them worked.
Hopefully, TECNO makes the MagBadge compatible to most if not all of their smartphones.
Beyond the novelty, I see a potential that this can become a hit — as long as they fix their software quirks.
Is the TECNO CAMON Slim 5G your GadgetMatch?
If it wasn’t emphasized enough, its slim body meant lack better cooling. That resulted to a less than ideal heat management plus a loss in overall chip and battery efficiency.
If those concern you, you might want to look elsewhere.
However, those shortcomings don’t completely ruin the experience. It’s still a Swipe Right for a handful of reasons.
The combination of an impressive slim build alongside a clean design, superb display and speakers, plus a large battery and cute MagBadge accessory all make up for some of its performance-heavy drawbacks.
The TECNO CAMON Slim 5G is easy enough to appreciate for what it is.
While most don’t get the hype around slim smartphones, I still see this as an engineering breakthrough. Something brands and people behind all of these were able to achieve through years of research and hard work, all packed in an ultra-thin, consumer-ready product.
The TECNO CAMON Slim 5G is clearly thin. While not perfect, there’s still plenty to like within.
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