Tecno Camon 16 Premier review

Versatile quad-camera setup

Comparing the Tecno Camon 16 Premier to the Infinix Zero 8 is a reoccurring theme in this review, to say the least. The quad-camera setup is just one more thing that is shared between the two. However, credit where credit is due, Tecno has clearly done a much better job at describing its cameras in detail.

Tecno's PR department has even gone one step beyond by giving marketing-friendly names for each of the four cameras on the Camon 16 Premier. First up, we have the main 64MP "Ultra Clear Lens", which, granted, might be a case of poor translation. This uses a Quad Bayer Sony IMX686 sensor, with 0.8µm pixels and an f/1.89, 79.8-degree lens in front of it. Technically, a 6-piece lens design.

Then we have an 8MP ultrawide camera, called "Anti-distortion Super Wide Angle/Macro Shot Lens". That uses a bit of an obscure GalaxyCore GC8034 sensor, with 1.12µm pixels and a 5-piece, 119-degree FOV, f/2.25 lens. It has autofocus, which is kind of a rarity, especially on a budget device.

Finally, the Camon 16 Premier has two additional 2MP cameras. One is called a "Depth Control Lens" - a GalaxyCore GC02M1B, 1.75µm, f/2.4, 3-piece, 88.9-degree lens. It is a monochromatic unit meant for depth information, as the name suggests.

The final 2MP camera is probably the most mysterious out of the bunch. Its "1080p Ultra Night Video-shoot Lens" title is quite descriptive. Apparently, it is a dedicated camera for capturing low-light video. Makes sense, considering its GalaxyCore GC20A3 RGB sensor has big 2.8µm pixels and is paired with a fairly-bright f/1.8, 5-piece, 73.9-degree lens.

In terms of additional camera features, the Camon 16 Premier boasts a five-LED-flash design. These are not dual-tone or anything too fancy, so we can't say that they make too much of a difference to actual photo quality, with any confidence.

Before we get to actual quality analysis, though, we need to take a look at the camera app. It is straightforward and fairly well-organized. The "AI" part of the software comes down to scene recognition, as signified by the small icon on the viewfinder. It's far from the most sophisticated system we have encountered, but it seems to do a fairly good job identifying the contents of the shot.

Camera UI

It should hardly come as a surprise that the UI here is quite similar to the one on the Infinix Zero 8 and its XOS7. That being said, during the course of writing this review, our Camon 16 Premier unit actually got an update that tweaked some of the iconography and animations within the app, making it a bit more distinct. Nothing major, but worth noting.

Updated camera UI

We appreciate that things like the 64MP mode toggle and the HDR mode selector are front stage and center as quick toggles, instead of being buried in settings. Naturally, some of the toggles change according to the currently active camera. The ultrawide, for example, does not have 64MP mode. The same is true for the equally well-organized settings menu, which changed depending on which mode you launch it from.

Camera app settings

Camera performance on the Camon 16 Premier is somewhat of a disappointment overall. The main issue is that it fails to perform quite on the same level as its Infinix Zero 8 sibling. A real odd situation, given the hardware similarities between the two, including camera setup.

To be fair, the difference between the two is not massive in most cases. Honestly, if this review didn't come hot on the heels of the Infinix Zero 8 one, we might have even been a bit more lenient towards the Camon 16 Premier, mostly on the grounds of its budget price tag. However, there is no excuse for some comparative downgrades in quality, especially on the main 64MP, Quad Bayer Sony IMX686 camera, which has already proven its salt time and time again.

Looking at shots taken in the camera's default 16MP mode, in auto AI camera mode, we are left quite unimpressed.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier main 16MP camera samples

Shots are soft and very grainy. And it's not just uniform areas, like the sky or grass that are suffering. The issue is visible all throughout the frame. The detail in finer patterns is frequently lost. At the same time, the algorithm sometimes makes up some non-existent geometrical shapes of its own. Dynamic range is a bit narrow, too. Colors are a bit more desaturated than what we would have liked to see.

All of these are issues also present on the Infinix Zero 8. However, the Camon 16 Premier seems to be experiencing them even more.

The sharpening algorithm is noticeably more heavy-handed, in comparison, and even more details tend to get lost in the shadows. Apparently, despite their common parent company and extremely similar hardware and software, Tecno and Infinix have decided not to share came algorithms outright. A decision that seems to be ironically detrimental to the Camon line, rather than the other way around. Or perhaps company engineers decided to try and give the Camon 16 Premier a bit of "extra-pop", for lack of a better term and unfortunately ended-up exasperating some issues and imperfections.

HDR does have some positive effects on the main camera, recovering crushed details in the shadows. However, Auto HDR is not consistent enough and doesn't always kick-in when needed. Here are some shots from the main camera, with HDR forced to OFF.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier main 16MP camera samples, NO HDR

Moving on to the 8MP Ultrawide camera, we find yet another unfortunate similarity between the Camon 16 Premier and the Infinix Zero 8 - both are plagued by major inconsistency. And we're not talking about things like resolved detail, dynamic range, or sharpness, which are always going to be worse on an ultrawide snapper. Colors reproduction is vastly different. Honestly, we kind of like the colors on the ultrawide cam better, since the main one tends to make things a bit too warm, almost applying a yellow tint. The main point, however, is that there is room for improvement, and a more unified look and feel is one thing that could use work.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier ultrawide 8MP camera samples

Aside from these consistency issues, the ultrawide camera suffers from the usual issues plaguing ultrawide snappers - dynamic range is even more limited, noise is abundant, and there is noticeable softness around the edges.

HDR helps noticeably more here than it did for the main camera. Here are some shots with no HDR.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier ultrawide 8MP camera samples, no HDR

While having autofocus on the ultrawide is a rarity we appreciate and one that gives it an extra layer of versatility, as a macro-shooter, it can often misbehave on the Camon 16 Premier. Focus-hinting is a bit too frequent for our taste, and the algorithm doesn't always get the focus right. The problem is not that severe in good light but get really, really bad in low-light conditions. To the point of making the ultrawide nearly unusable. But, more on that in the low-light section.

By default, ultrawide shots go through an algorithm that crops away some of the frame and does its best to straighten-out the objects. The one on the Camon 16 Premier does a fairly competent job, which we can appreciate from these ultrawide samples, taken with the correction toggled off.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier ultrawide 8MP camera samples, no distortion correction

Although there is no dedicated telephoto camera on the Camon 16 Premier, it still offers a 2x toggle, alongside the regular digital zoom. That's not to say that the 2x isn't digital. It is, entirely so. There is some upscaling involved, as well, since the shots still come out in 16MP.

The automatically-applied amount of sharpening is a bit more heavy-handed in zoom mode, though, which might not be to everybody's taste. Even so, the results don't look too bad. As long as you don't pixel-peep, they are perfectly usable.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 2x zoom 16MP camera samples

You can go as high as 10x digital zoom in the default camera app. While not advisable for any actual photography, the results are still nor entirely throwaway and potentially good for reading a far-away sign or something of the sort.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 10x zoom 16MP camera sample

You can capture shots in the native 64MP resolution with the main camera of the Camon 16 Premier. Many Quad-Bayer camera implementations tend to offer that feature, and in most cases, the small gains in detail are not worth dealing with the hassle of bigger files, slower capture times. Not to mention that Quad-Bayer sensors are not meant to be used in this manner, without pixel binning.

However, on the Camon 16 Premier, in particular, there could be some solid justification for using this mode, over the standard, in some cases. Particularly when you want a sharper-looking photo overall, with better defined finer details. In regular mode, the phone muddies a lot of the finer details with its soft reproduction; toggling 64MP mode On is actually a viable approach to addressing that issue.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier main 64MP camera samples

However, noise tends to get worse in 64MP mode, which is expected. You have to deal with bigger files. On the plus side, the Camon 16 Premier tends to capture 64MP stills rather quickly. There is very little delay, compared to what we have seen on other Quad-Bayer phones.

Interestingly enough, 64MP mode is available in 2x zoom mode, as well. That means that there is even more upscaling involved to get the final shots. The more heavy-handed sharpening algorithm does tend to mask a lot of the upscaling issues, though. Again, depending on what you end-goal is, there is a point in using the 64MP mode even for zoom shots.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 2x zoom 64MP camera samples

The Camon 16 Premier naturally has portrait mode, called simply Bokeh. The more generic name matches the relatively-sparse nature of the feature well. Unlike the Infinix Zero 8, which at least has a slider for adjusting the background blur intensity, the Camon 16 Premier lacks any options for its Bokeh mode. Yet another proof that the two phones diverge, somewhat in the camera department.

Bokeh mode is very basic

On the plus side, thanks to the dedicated depth sensor, portraits look very nice. Subject detection and separation are above average, with just the occasional mistake here and mostly with tough areas, like hair. Non-human subjects work surprisingly well too. Though it's not adjustable, the background blur effect looks rather pleasing, as well.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier Bokeh mode shots

Macro mode is one the camera highlights on the Camon 16 Premier. Just like it is on the Infinix Zero 8, mainly because these shots are taken using the autofocus capabilities of the ultrawide camera. Hence, the resulting shots are 8MP big. Already better than what a 2MP or 8MP dedicated fixed-focus camera would have delivered. These look great, with plenty of depth and the benefit of the more vibrant color science of the ultrawide.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier macro mode samples

Beauty mode on the Camon 16 Premier goes above and beyond your typical affair with a couple of toggles. There is an automatic AI mode, with an intensity slider, to kick things off. Beyond that, there are also odd toggles, like "sexy" and "slender" that can be selected as, presumably, a mode for the AI.

Beauty mode basic settings

If none of that is enough to tickle your fancy, there is yet another layer of more-granular enhancements controls. You can modify various slimming, enlarging, and curving effects, all with their intensity sliders.

Beauty mode advanced settings

Honestly, there is just way too much here to conceivably even test. We got a few shots at increasing Beauty mode intensity levels. Plus, it is worth noting that Tecno specifically advertises its extensive suite of beauty features as being specifically tailored to people with a darker complexion. Yet another example of regionalization and specific tailoring from the company's target markets.

Beauty mode samples

Before we move on to other tests, we have below the main 64MP camera of the Camon 16 Premier in our extensive photo compare database. We include entries in both 16MP mode and 64MP mode for your pixel-peeping pleasure.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier against the Infinix Zero 8 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro in our Photo compare tool

64MP: Tecno Camon 16 Premier against the Infinix Zero 8 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro in our Photo compare tool

Video camera quality

The Camon 16 Premier can record videos at up to 4K@30fps on its main 64MP camera. That's true for both 1x as well as 2x zoom mode. You also get 1080p@30 and 1080p@60fps. The 8MP ultrawide is limited to FullHD and can't go beyond 30fps, as is usually the case.

Video capture UI

All of these get saved in h.264 format - AVC video, with 48kHZ AAC audio. Audio gets recorded on only one mono channel, which is far from ideal. The Infinix Zero 8 has the exact same issue.

Once again, despite the massive similarities between the two phones, the videos they capture are not carbon copies of each other. Don't get your hopes up, though, since the Camon 16 Premier still produces underwhelming 4K videos, just like its sibling. But, it a slightly different manner. Both are rather lacking in the details department and have quite limited dynamic range. Shadows tend to get especially crushed on both. Colors, however, are vastly different. While the Infinix Zero 8 simply has a slightly duller pallet, the Camon 16 Premier keeps producing yellow-tinted content with its main camera. An unfortunate situation that becomes even more apparent in video than it was in stills. Honestly, it's very off-putting. On the plus side, the Camon 16 Premier seems to have fewer issues with shakiness, due to wind.

Since the Camon 16 Premier lacks a dedicated telephoto camera, it has to crop from the main one for its 2x zoom videos. Naturally, these exhibit the same overall qualities, with a bit more noise added on top by the digital zooming process.

To Tecno's credit, though, 2x zoom videos remain perfectly usable.

Moving on to the ultrawide camera - the yellow tint from the main snapper is gone, but only to be replaced by a washed-out image, and dull colors. The ultrawide has definitely overexposed this shot. A decision it insisted on despite multiple takes and on that does not mix particularly well with its limited dynamic range.

The focusing issue, we mentioned earlier, is pretty apparent as well. This is the most "in-focus" video out of the bunch we captured. You can even see the camera trying to periodically re-focus only to get it wrong. That's an issue that plagues both still and video and is noticeably worse on the latter. Things get really ugly in low-light, though, showing the real extent of the issue. We can only hope that we got a defective unit, since otherwise, the ultrawide camera on the Camon 16 Premier has limited usability and requires an extremely cautious approach in general.

The Camon 16 Premier has EIS working across the board. That includes the main camera in regular and 2x zoom modes, the ultrawide, and even the main selfie camera. Stabilization work surprisingly well. So much so, that we think it's one of the standout features on the camera experience. Of course, footage from each of the individual cameras still exhibits the same characteristics and issues as before, and you do lose quite a bit of the frame in the stabilization process. Even so, we have little to no complaints here. You can go through EIS on the different cameras in the following playlist.

Finally, here is the Tecno Camon 16 Premier in our video compare database.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier against the Infinix Zero 8 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro in our Video compare tool

Selfie camera quality

Speaking of standout experiences, the selfie camera setup on the Camon 16 Premier is impressively potent. Especially for a phone in the budget price segment. The main 48MP camera here is also a Quad-Bayer unit and produces 12MP shots. It is joined by a less impressive, but still appreciated 8MP ultrawide camera. Again, plenty of similarities here with the Infinix Zero 8. But, in this particular case, we can't complain.

Selfies taken with the main camera look great, with a lot of detail, great colors, and sharpness. Honestly, they leave little to be desired, outside, perhaps, flagship-grade features, like autofocus.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 12MP selfies

Auto HDR detection for the selfie cameras on the Camon 16 Premier is also spotty at times. When it does kick in, it typically has a very noticeable, positive effect on shots. Especially those involving bright backdrops and shadows on facial features. Here are some HDR OFF shots for comparison.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 12MP selfies, NO HDR

The main selfie cam on the Camon 16 Premier can be used at its full 48MP resolution. Again, just like on the main camera of the phone, there are certain potential advantages to be had it terms of overall sharpness. Plus, 48MP are a bit less of a hassle to work with than 64MP ones. We appreciate the addition.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 48MP selfies

In comparison, the 8MP ultrawide secondary selfie snapper, once again, falls a bit short, especially in the dynamic range department. It still has enough resolution to throw-around, though, and as long as the ambient light is abundant, it can produce decent results.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier ultrawide 8MP selfies

Portrait shots are a thing on the selfie side, as well. You get the same lack of options here s you do on the main camera - just frame things right until the algorithm picks up your face properly and shoot. Of course, results aren't as good as with the main camera but do manage to look rather convincing.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier selfie portraits

Selfie videos taken on the Camon 16 Premier look surprisingly great. Especially on the 48MP camera, which can shoot at up to 4K@30fps. The level of detail is top-notch and leaves little to be desired. Of course, you still need to be mindful of certain limitations, like the limited dynamic range and the lack of autofocus. Even so, we have to admit that these clips took us by surprise in a pleasant way.

Even the 8MP ultrawide selfie camera manages to deliver very competent footage in good light. It is limited to FullHD@30fps, though.

Like we already mentioned, EIS is available for both selfie cameras, as well, and works just as great as it does on the main cameras of the Camon 16 Premier. We've combined footage from both selfie cameras, at FullHD, both with and without EIS in a single video for more convenient comparison.

All of this combined, frankly makes the Camon 16 Premier a surprisingly solid, budget vlogging device. We realize that's a rather niche use case, but still might be just right for certain buyers out there.

Low-light camera quality

The Camon 16 Premier struggles a fair bit with low-light photography. Shots generally come out a bit noisier and softer than we would have liked to see. Even so, if you refrain from pixel-peeping, the main Quad-Bayer snapper produces perfectly usable results.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier main 16MP low-light camera samples

Things to be mindful of is the tendency of the camera to blow-out lights. This can generally be counteracted with some careful manual spot exposure. Also, even the main camera is prone to focus hunting in low-light.

Once again, 2x zoom shots, taken from the main camera, exhibit pretty much the same qualities as their regular, 1x counterparts. The more heavy-handed approach to sharpening here almost works in their favor.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 2x zoom 16MP low-light camera samples

Of course, the 64MP main camera retains the ability to shoot in full resolution in low-light conditions. This includes regular mode and 2x zoom. Once again, there are some potential gains to be had in terms of sharpness, though, not nearly as pronounced due to increased general softness, among other deficiencies.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 64MP low-light camera samples

Tecno Camon 16 Premier 2x zoom 64MP low-light camera samples

The 8MP ultrawide camera on the Camon 16 premier struggles hard in low-light conditions. The Infinix Zero 8 is no stranger to these issues, either, but they are a lot worse on its Camon sibling. So much so, that most of the ultrawide low-light shots we got were outright out of focus and nearly unusable. And that's despite our best efforts to get the camera to focus properly.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier ultrawide 8MP low-light camera samples

Hopefully, this is something that Tecno can address in software and at least manage to bring the overall ultrawide camera experience on the Camon 16 Premier at least a bit closer to that on its sibling Infinix Zero 8. As things currently stand, the ultrawide is severely crippling the overall camera score of the Camon 16 Premier. A shame, really, given its otherwise versatile hardware setup.

There is a dedicated Super Night node on the Tecno Camon 16 Premier. Unfortunately, it is only limited to the main camera. Not that it would have managed to fix the focusing issues on the ultrawide, but it might have still helped with its current poor performance in some way.

On the plus side, Night mode is relatively snappy and features a cool loading animation on the screen. Unlike most night mode implementations we have encountered, it doesn't freeze the last frame in the viewfinder, but rather continues to poll previews from it. This can be a bit disorienting at first but does provide a nice feedback loop as to how steady you are holding the phone. Unfortunately, there is no real progress indication, and you are left in the dark as to exactly how long the HDR capture will take each time.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier main 16MP Super Night mode samples

We have to say that night mode makes a noticeable difference. It produces consistently better results than simply using the main camera.

Low-light selfies are not something to phone home about. Most of the texture and fine details are generally lost here. Even so, the Quad-Byer main snapper holds its own. It's more than adequate for a budget phone.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier low-light selfie samples

Ultrawide selfies look vastly different, and you can see the algorithms struggling hard to combat noise and the limited dynamic range and leaving a lot of softness behind in the process. We would shy away from this camera in low-light.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier low-light ultrawide selfie samples

Night mode is available for selfie shots as well. Unfortunately, once again, it only works on the main camera and not the ultrawide. Too bad since it does an impressive job. Well, skin texture and finer details still get lost more often than not, but it is worth waiting through the night mode shot for the better and more balanced exposure alone.

Tecno Camon 16 Premier Super Night mode selfie samples

Finally, we have low-light video performance to evaluate. There is a caveat here. Circling back to the beginning of the camera section, you might remember that one of the two 2MP cameras on the Camon 16 Premier is marketed as - "1080p Ultra Night Video-shoot Lens". Despite our best efforts, we found no way of invoking said camera directly. However, once the camera app determines that the ambient light around the Camon 16 Premier is low enough, 4K gets mysteriously stripped-away from the list of available video capture resolutions. And, indeed, videos captured at FullHD once this state has been triggered, do look different and arguably, a bit superior to ones captured in 4K mode, at the same conditions.

You can judge for yourself how much of a difference the dedicated 2MP makes and whether or not its inclusion is worth it. You can play through all of the low-light videos we captured in the above playlist, these include 4K clips from the main camera at 1x and 2x zoom, an extremely unremarkable FullHD clip from the ultrawide camera, and the aforementioned FullHD video from the dedicated 2MP low-light shooter.