A few weeks ago, I shared my review of the Camon 16 Premier, one of the devices Tecno Mobile made its debut in the Peruvian market. Now it’s time to share my experience with another of your locally available smartphones: the Spark 6.
As always, we go with the summary for those who do not have much time. Is it worth it? The Tecno Spark 6 is an interesting smartphone with quite a few good features for its range and price range. Be careful, it also has several aspects to improve, but it is a very good option from my perspective.
How does it look?
The Tecno Spark 6 does not surprise much in design. On the front, we find nothing new: rounded corners, front camera inside a hole in the upper left part of the screen. The edges are not very thin. There is a speaker in the central and upper part, which will serve for telephone calls and as a loudspeaker. Also, the front flash is hidden there.
The Misty Violet color of the Tecno Spark 6 that I had to test is very striking. Although the housing is made of plastic, its pattern allows the light to give it different shades.
In this front part, the main material is glass. On this comes a protection sheet that, added to the silicone casing, will help you protect your equipment from the moment you take it out of the box.
On the inside, the Tecno Spark 6 has only a microphone, a micro USB connector, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
On the right edge is the power button, and above it is the volume controls. At the top edge, there is nothing. The tray for the SIM (it is dual SIM) and for the microSD card on the left side. Finally, at the bottom, there is a microphone, a micro USB input, and the 3.5 mm input for the headphones.
At the back, you will notice what predominates is plastic. However, I got the Misty Violet color (lilac), and it looks really good. It even has a ‘glossy’ or shiny finish that, thanks to its weft, makes it change its tone according to how the light hits it.
The circular module with the four lenses and the LED flash stands out, especially because it is black. However, beyond that, it is not very flashy.
How does it work?
At this point in review is where the Tecno Mobile device can start to surprise those who are considering opting for the brand. Next, I will tell you its highlights and those that it can still improve.
Its screen is quite large, LCD, and with IPS technology, ideal for consuming multimedia material. It displays very bright colors. However, it does suffer under natural light.
On the subject of cameras, in general, the results are good for its range. Although there are four main cameras on paper, I could not find the function of the QVGA lens. In photography, the results are quite good, although light to interpret the targets is still a task to be refined. The camera’s automatic mode offers scene detection by artificial intelligence, has a night mode, and many other functions.
While things are going well in photography, there is still a ceiling to be reached in the video. Although the Tecno Spark 6 allows recording up to 2K resolution, it has the big problem of not having stabilization (neither optical nor electronic) nor 1080p and 720p resolutions. There he loses a lot.
In the case of the front camera, it does a very good job, trying to take advantage of the highest quality of light. However, I noticed the images with little contrast. Hidden in the speaker’s area, an LED will serve as a flash or as a headlamp in case additional lighting is needed.
One of the recurring questions when I have tested the Tecno Spark 6 is whether it runs with demanding games. I downloaded games of all kinds: Call of Duty; Score! Hero; Asphalt 9; Among Us; PES 2021; Brawl Stars; among others. Overall performance in this sense was good. The most demanding games ran at a good quality, without lag, and with good reaction speed. I think it is going very well without being an expert in video games, nor being a mega-fan.
The only speaker on the front of the Tecno Spark 6 is the one on the top edge. This is used for telephone calls and as a loudspeaker for the reproduction of multimedia material.
The Tecno Spark 6 uses the HiOS 7.0 customization layer based on Android 10. Yes, the same one used by the Camon 16 Premier and looks a lot like the one on the Infinix Note 7 Lite. In this sense, I have two feelings: a positive one, regarding the number of options it has to improve the experience (Game Mode, the Blue Light option, and several other proprietary functions); and another negative, which has to do with excessive notifications advertising precisely these services or functions. It’s as if they were non-stop self-advertising batches. The good thing is that you can change the settings to stop it. Of course, the navigation logic can be a bit complicated at the beginning for those who have just faced this brand.
Another interesting feature of this computer is its fingerprint reader, which works very fast and fails very few times. Mind you, and facial recognition takes a little longer. Although its response is quite acceptable for its range, it suffers a lot from the lack of lighting.
Long-lasting batteries are becoming a nice feature that we see in more and more computers, such as the Tecno Spark 6. In this case, we have a 5,000 mAh battery, very good performance, which can give you up to autonomy of two days of use. The technology of the screen and the optimization on the part of the processor make it possible to get the most out of the battery.
Although this is compatible with 18W fast charging technology, unfortunately, the wall adapter included in the box is only 10W. Charging it from 0% to 100% takes about three hours.
Another negative point has to do with the audio. It only has one speaker and is located on the front and top of the equipment (yes, it is the same one used to answer calls). But not only that, because to have a better sound when playing multimedia, you have to raise the volume quite a bit and, in the end, the audio feels very metallic and insufficient.