Tecno has recently been very active with launching phones in the lower mid-range segment. Camon 12 Air is its most attractive phone to date that comes with a punch-hole display and triple rear camera setup for PKR 20,000/-
This phone has got pretty much nice specs to list starting with a 6.55-inch display, 720p though. A 2.0GHz Octa-core processor which is a MediaTek chipset, Helio P22. It has got 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. On the back, there is a 16MP triple rear camera while on the front, there is an 8MP front camera. The phone runs the Android 9 Pie operating system and is backed by a 4000 mAh battery. Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock support is also present.
We did an unboxing session of the device a couple of days ago. Since then, I had been using that phone with nice impressions. I’ll try to publish the full review soon but its precious usage made me think to test it for durability. When these cheap devices are coming to inspire the mass market with its appealing features, why not test its durability?
Want to know what happened? watch the video or continue reading.
This phone took everything, that we put it through, as a piece of cake. Any possible thing from real life that can physically impact a mobile phone; it resisted. Easily or with a struggle, that’s not important, but it indeed impressed me with its resistance at this price.
In fact, it made me angry some times with unexpected physical resistance. And that fact actually led me to put it through every possible, beyond real life, torture so it could fail at.
Basic and Strong Scratch Tests
I started with the basic scratch test where I used a coin and a screwdriver. The coin did nothing special, but the screwdriver was able to scratch the back panel when used with pressure. The scratches, however, weren’t that bad as they were only slight lines, though it’s a plastic material. The front screen remained intact with no scratch.
Then I used a sharp knife which also couldn’t scratch the front screen believing it to have a tough glass. Officially unconfirmed, it’s said to have a Gorilla Glass 3. With this test, I can believe it. Impressively the plastic back also resisted it until a force was applied. The knife could also impact the body when used it to cut the frames.
Basic Drop Test
This is another real-life factor that usually can occur on any mobile phone. Whereas the scratching part is something a mobile phone usually goes through all the time, the dropping situation is less likely to occur. However, it can drop any time of the day for no definite reason.
So testing a mobile phone for its shock resistance is always a required element in a torture session. You will be surprised that this phone actually impressed me with this part too. I tried dropping it from 5 to 7 feet height, sideways, front side down and then the backside down. There were mere scratches on the impact points while the front glass was still clean from any kind of scratch or other visible damage.
I was not actually expecting that to happen so I tried another way by dropping it on the staircase. Tell you what? It still survived after hitting each step of the five steps. However, there were more spots of scratches and some frame damage. But it literally shocked me considering its price segment and thinking that these phones are also manufactured with good care.
Water Test
Well, this phone is not officially rated to resist any kind of water level. But a little bit of resistance can also impress if this price could offer. On the other hand, it’s less likely that you will drop your phone in a water tub but still, there is a chance in real life that you may drop it.
I put the phone in a 3-inch tray filled with water for 1 minute. It was left turned on and brought back after a minute with only a malfunction of audio jack. It seemed to be thinking as the earphones were connected, while they weren’t.
With all these possible real-life cases, I was impressed by the resistance this 20k phone has to offer. But something in me didn’t want to fail with this phone’s resistance. So I put it up for two more tests which were most likely to kill it. The major problem was to choose which one should I try first so that I could try the other one too. Freezing it or dropping it from afar height.
I chose to freeze it first so that if this phone dies, it won’t be damaged physically. That way I’ll have the option to try another test that may break the phone.
Inside the Frozen Ice
For this, I hanged the phone inside a bucket filled with water (watch the video above), put it inside the freezer and left it there for the whole night to die.
I knew it will die eventually as it’s not rated for any kind of water resistance. Still, I wanted to test it; maybe I wanted it to fail? Well, it did fail and didn’t boot up ever again. I also gave it a chance for two days by drying it under the bright sun and with an air drier. I also opened the phone for better air drying.
Mega Drop Test
Then came the mega drop test, from the height of around 17 to 20 feet.
I also had plans to try dropping it even higher with the help of a drone but this test turned out to be the final one.
After dropping it sideways, I thought I should have tried the front side down or backside down first. Because sideways always impacts more on the frame ending up with the force transferring to front glass and shatter it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t think it before trying it sideways and having a completely shattered front screen.
So it was all gone and I actually blamed myself for it. I tried those things with this phone which the company has not rated it for. This phone could have reached to some needy pocket which I just wasted for nothing?
