Tecno seems to be putting up a good fight when it comes to playing in the smartphone league; that’s if the release of Tecno P3 is anything to go by. This dual SIM entry level smartphone that runs on Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) OS has the basic features you need in a smartphone – multi-tasking, communication, connectivity – with some social features and productivity apps thrown in for good measure.
I got to use the Tecno P3 for a few days and for a phone in its price range, it definitely delivers. Here is my quick review.
The Unboxing
The Tecno P3 comes with earphones, a detachable charger that doubles as a USB cord, 13 month warranty, battery and of course the phone itself.
Look and Feel
My first thought when I saw the Tecno P3 was, ‘hey, this looks like a cute makeup mirror.’ (That’s probably because mine came in pink) But the Tecno P3 does more than reflect things (which it actually does when the screen display is turned off). With its responsive 3.5inch capaitive touch screen display, this sleek bodied device is easy to navigate through and fits right in your palm.
Communication
When it comes to messaging and social media, the Tecno P3 gives many options. You can call or SMS (as is expected of any mobile phone), and you can set up your emails, either on the email app or using the Gmail app. Instant messaging is easy with Hi Gtalk and Yahoo Messenger and for this social media era, you have Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Instagram. There is also MMS for anyone who still uses that.
Apps
The phone comes preloaded with a couple of apps like Whatsapp, Fruit Ninja, Gmail, Facebook, Instragram, Bible, Quran, and more you can install from the ‘Assistant’ app. Being an android device, the Tecno P3 has access to the Google Play Store where you can download and install more apps that suit you. As a bonus, you also get the Afmobi market, Tecno’s own app store with more apps to choose from.
Battery
Battery life is good on the Tecno P3. The 1400 mAh Li-Ion battery took me through 18 hours of browsing, messaging, calls and gaming without me having to charge it.
Memory and Media
The device comes with a 512 MB internal memory and an 8GB micro SD card. WIth that memory size, one can optimize the media functions – you can save a large amount of music, videos, photos.
Camera
The Tecno P3 has a 3 megapixel back facing camera and a 0.3 megapixel front facing camera with LED flash. It does a decent job of capturing images, although the nearer the better. While it has the option to zoom up to 4x, the quality of a pictures reduce as the zoom increases. You can also switch between camera and video mode.
Connectivity
It has 2G, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and USB …and you can share your internet via the WiFi hotspot!
In a nutshell
For anyone wanting to get a device with basic smart phone functionalities on a budget, the Tecno P3 is just right for you. It won’t win smartphone of the year but it definitely works as advertised. You can buy the Tecno P3 in any Tecno retailer outlet near you. It costs between N13,000 – N15,000.
P.S. Apparently, the Tecno P3 also comes pre-bundled with a 12-month special promotion from Etisalat Nigeria that offers 100MB free data bundle on purchase You can choose to either buy the Etisalat-customized version available at Etisalat Experience Centres and its partner retailers, or the uncustomized version from Tecno’s partner retailers nationwide which also comes with the same data bundle offer as the customized version.
