Review Summary
Expert Rating
The Tecno Camon series is the brand’s lineup of devices that are focused on design and camera performance. There was no new Camon series phone launched in 2025, but the new Tecno Camon 50 Ultra marks the latest entry into the lineup this year. The new Camon 50 Ultra boasts a beautiful design that catches your eye immediately, packs a big 6,500mAh cell and is one of the few phones under Rs 40,000 to offer you a telephoto lens.
In this review, I’ll discuss how the device performs in day-to-day use, its camera output, battery life and other aspects and try to answer if it’s worth its asking price. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Short verdict
The Tecno Camon 50 Ultra is a good choice for users who want a stylish phone with a good camera setup, bright display, and solid battery life under Rs 40,000. It is not the most performance-focused phone, but it feels well balanced and thoughtfully put together. For camera-focused buyers who want a phone that looks good and lasts well through the day, it makes a convincing case.
Design: slim and oh-so-chic
The Tecno Camon 50 Ultra has a really likeable design right out of the box, with a matte finish on the back panel. My Cypress Green colourway has a beautiful algae-green finish that looks quite classy. The dual-tone finish around the camera island also adds a nice touch, and the final design is definitely a head-turner.
The paired case in the box takes things up a notch with a similar dual-tone finish, while the larger section gets a rubberised texture that feels soft to the touch. It is already a noteworthy design, but the case makes it feel even more refined, and I really like that.
| Smartphone | Thickness | Weight | IP Rating |
| Tecno Camon 50 Ultra | 7.75 mm | 178 grams | IP68 +IP69K +IP69 |
| OnePlus Nord CE 6 5G | 8.5 mm | 215 grams | IP68 |
| Nothing Phone 4a | 8.5 mm | 205 grams | IP64 |
| Motorola Edge 70 Pro 5G | 6.99 mm | 183 grams | IP68 +IP69 |
The phone also feels extremely comfortable to hold, thanks to its curved edges, thin 7.75mm profile, and 190g weight. On top of that, it brings serious durability credentials with IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K protection, along with MIL-STD-810H compliance. That makes it feel durable enough to handle quite a bit of abuse, and it is easily one of its strongest aspects.
Cameras: finally a telephoto lens
Next up is the camera, and the Camon 50 Ultra brings a pretty good setup for the price, a telephoto lens, in particular. You get a 50MP front camera, and at the back there is a 50MP 1/1.56-inch main camera with OIS, a 50MP 3x telephoto lens, and an 8MP ultrawide camera. It is nice to see another smartphone under Rs 40,000 with a telephoto lens, which immediately gives it a big advantage in this segment.
In general, the cameras produce likeable results with slightly punchy, vibrant colours that make the shots look social media-ready. The main camera does especially well in daylight, with good detail, accurate white balance, and dynamic range, while the selfies are also a highlight thanks to good detail and natural skin tones.
In low light, the main camera continues to perform well with good detail and dynamic range, while the 2x zoom remains usable, although the detail level is substantially diminished.
The telephoto lens is handy for zoom and portraits, though it does have its quirks with loss of detail at the 3x level. The lens has a mixed output at night, with softer and less consistent results. The ultrawide camera, in my opinion, is the weakest and gets the job done in daylight, but expect softer results in low light.
I compared the phone’s camera against the only other contender under Rs 40,000 to offer a telephoto lens, the Nothing Phone (4a) (review). Check it out below.
Daylight
In daylight scenes, the Camon 50 Ultra’s shots look a little washed out with a low contrast level. The Phone (4a), meanwhile, does a much better job in delivering a cohesive image with more appealing colours. In terms of detail level, Phone (4a) is a step behind its peer, Tecno, which offers a sharper, more detailed picture.
Ultrawide
Turning to the ultra-wide shot, both phones undergo a massive colour shift. The Phone (4a) is the one that struggles with contrast level and washed-out colours, while the Tecno’s image is a lot more vibrant and contrast-heavy. The Camon 50 Ultra maintains its superiority in terms of detail level.
Portrait
Both phones perform quite decently in portrait modes at their individual optical lengths. The Camon 50 Ultra’s shot is more detailed in terms of facial features and textures while keeping the colours more in line with the actual scene. The Phone (4a)’s image is slightly warmer in comparison. The edge detection is quite on par on both devices.
Selfie
The Nothing Phone (4a)’s image shows true-to-life colours, be it skin tone, the background environment or the subject’s clothes. On the other hand, the Camon 50 Ultra’s image is significantly more detailed and sharper.
Low light
With the dedicated night mode enabled on both phones, the actual scene looks closer to the Camon 50 Ultra’s image in terms of colour accuracy. The detail level is also better on the Camon’s image, keeping it in the lead for night shots.
Display: curved panels have their charm
Next up is the display, a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED ProXDR panel with 4500 nits peak brightness, a 144Hz refresh rate and HDR10 support. It has good colours, and while I don’t personally like curved displays, they do have their charm. The content looks quite immersive, and there is a sense of premium-ness to the overall panel.
The higher 144Hz refresh rate kicks in only for a few apps, as I’ll show below, and some games will likely get support down the line. As for the multimedia experience itself, it is pretty decent, with likeable, vibrant colours and good visibility even under direct sunlight.
| Smartphone | Display | Peak Brightness |
| Tecno Camon 50 Ultra | 6.78 inches - AMOLED (Curved Display) | 4500 nits |
| OnePlus Nord CE 6 5G | 6.78 inches - Sunburst AMOLED | 3600 nits |
| Nothing Phone 4a | 6.78 inches - Flexible AMOLED | 4500 nits |
| Motorola Edge 70 Pro 5G | 6.8 inches - Extreme AMOLED | 5200 nits |
The speakers are Dolby Atmos-supported, but they are not my favourite. They are decently loud, but there is a shrillness to the sound signature that shows up when you play audio at higher volume levels, which I found a little unpleasant personally. All in all, it is mostly a decent multimedia device that works well across the board.
Performance: good enough for everyday use
Next up is performance, and the Tecno Camon 50 Ultra is specced just enough to deliver a decent everyday experience. It uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Ultimate, paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage, and that setup handles app switching, general use, and even gaming to a decent level.
I did not run into too many stutters, although the OS can get a little laggy at times. The phone also has a little trouble dissipating heat, particularly when shooting outdoors. The device can get rather hot and stutter even more.
It is competing against phones like the Nothing Phone (4a) and the OnePlus Nord CE6, with the latter being the more performance-focused option, while the 4a offers a similar level of output.
There is nothing really bad to complain about here since Tecno has kept the specs modest to keep costs low, and that has paid off. In my opinion, it is a smartly planned device given the current market conditions.
Battery: decent longevity and charging time
A 6,500mAh battery inside a phone this thin is pretty decent, and it lasted over 13 hours in our PCMark battery benchmark, which is a solid result for the segment. It also holds up well in everyday use, with around a 6 per cent drop after 1 hour of YouTube and about 13 per cent after more than 1 hour of gaming.
You can expect around 7 to 8 hours of SOT if you keep brightness high and game often, but for most users, it should comfortably last well beyond a day before needing a charge. The 45W charger in the box also tops it up from 20 to 100 per cent in just a little over an hour, which is great for the price. While the phone may not dominate the segment in power efficiency, it is more than capable of meeting the needs of most users.
| Smartphone | Battery Capacity | Charging Support | Charging time (20% to 100% ) |
| Tecno Camon 50 Ultra | 6500 mAh | 45W Super Charging | 1h 8m |
| OnePlus Nord CE 6 5G | 8000 mAh | NA | 1h 8m |
| Nothing Phone 4a | 5400 mAh | 50W Quick Charging v4.0 | 1h 11m |
| Motorola Edge 70 Pro 5G | 6500 mAh | 90W Turbo Charging | 44m |
Software: relatively clean and snappy
The Camon 50 Ultra ships with Android 16 with Tecno’s HiOS 16 skin on top, and the brand is promising 3 OS upgrades and 5 years of security patches. HiOS 16 brings a good amount of customisation, including improved Always-on Display options, depth-effect lock and home screens, plus AI-based themes and wallpaper generation.
| Smartphone | Pre-Installed Apps | Software Support |
| Tecno Camon 50 Ultra | 52 | 3 Years OS Updates + 5 Years Security Updates |
| OnePlus Nord CE 6 5G | 54 | 2 Year OS Updates + 4 Year Security Updates |
| Nothing Phone 4a | 30 | 3 Year OS Updates + 6 Year Security Updates |
| Motorola Edge 70 Pro 5G | 47 | 3 Year OS Updates + 5 Year Security Updates |
The AI features are where the software tries to be useful for both power users and regular users. Tecno’s Ella assistant can help with voice commands, settings, and everyday tasks, while features like FlashMemo, translation, writing help, and image editing add more practical value if you use AI often.
At the same time, most of these tools are easy enough to ignore if you only want a simple phone experience, so the software does not feel too overwhelming.
Final verdict
The Tecno Camon 50 Ultra is priced at Rs 39,999 for the single 8GB + 256GB configuration on Amazon. For the price, it brings a lot to the table, especially for users who want a stylish phone with a great camera setup, a bright display, and good battery life. Its main weakness is that performance is not quite as ambitious as some rivals, and the 144Hz rate is limited in its implementation. Still, it feels like a smartly put-together device that focuses on the right things for its price.
Against the Nothing Phone (4a) (review), Tecno feels more balanced with its bigger battery. The OnePlus Nord CE6 (review) is the better pick if performance and speed matter more to you, but it gives up camera performance in the process. The Motorola Edge 70 Pro (review) is a better all-rounder, although it does not offer a telephoto lens, which makes the Camon 50 Ultra more appealing for users who care about zoom shots and portraits.
The Tecno Camon 50 Ultra is a good fit for users who prioritise cameras, want a device that turns heads, and need something they can carry around without worrying too much about running out of charge. For anyone looking under Rs 40,000, it presents itself as a capable camera-first option with a good balance of design and battery.
Editor’s Rating: 8.2/10
Reasons to buy:
- Impressive eye-catching design that feels comfortable in hand
- The display feels bright, vibrant, and enjoyable for media
- Impressive cameras with a telephoto lens
- Battery life makes it easy to rely on through a full day and beyond
Reasons not to buy:
- Performance isn’t the strongest in the segment
- Limited 144Hz support.