Tecno Spark Go 3 review: plays it safe

The Tecno Spark series is synonymous with catering to the budget and entry-level segment. In an attempt to expand its growing portfolio, the brand recently unveiled the Spark Go 3 in India – its first smartphone release of 2026. As the successor to the Spark Go 2, the device brings a refreshed design, a slew of poppy colour shades, and places high emphasis on durability and AI capabilities.

With a price tag of Rs 8,999, the Tecno Spark Go 3 competes directly with last year’s popular releases like the Lava Bold N1 5G and AI+ Nova 5G. So, does it have what it takes to be an ideal entry-level smartphone for the masses? Find out in this in-depth review.

Short verdict

The Tecno Spark Go 3 is a suitable pick for those who want decent selfie outputs, a multi-language AI assistant and a battery life that lasts a day or more, encompassed within a strong build. However, the phone falls short in performance compared to others and doesn’t support 5G.

Places high emphasis on a strong build

Much like other smartphones in its segment, the Tecno Spark Go 3 sports a unified polycarbonate build with a boxy structure. While we received the phone in the Ink Blade shade, the Spark Go 3 is also available in Aurora Purple, Galaxy Blue, and Titanium Grey. To impose a distinct design touch, the left-aligned pill-shaped camera housing sits within a rectangular cutout featuring a different shade from the rest of the body.

The reflective rear panel with a matte finish is not the grippiest out there, making it less convenient to use one-handed. Tecno places heavy emphasis on durability, with an IP64 rating for shielding against dust and water exposure and drop resistance up to 1.2 metres. The phone’s box also features a ridged, patterned case for better comfort. That said, the Spark Go 3 isn’t exactly compact, but neither are most phones in this price range.

A tall display for your entertainment needs

The Tecno Spark Go 3 rocks a 6.74-inch IPS LCD display with an HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels) resolution and up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The display also carries a dew-drop notch cutout for housing the 8MP selfie shooter. Much like the Infinix Smart 10 (review), the display’s detail levels are not extraordinary but are on par with others in the segment. Surprisingly, YouTube videos max out at 720p on the Tecno Spark Go 3, while the Smart 10 could output 1080p quality despite having a similar 720p panel.

As for the colour output, while there isn’t a setting to tweak the display’s colour tuning, the visuals appear sufficiently colourful by default. Similarly, the maximum brightness is good enough for indoor scenarios, while outdoors, you may have some difficulty viewing the on-screen content.

Since the phone comes with a single top-firing speaker, you don’t get an immersive audio experience, but what you do get is loud sound output, even though the quality tends to get muffled at higher volume levels.

Performance may leave you wanting more

Running inside the Tecno Spark Go 3 is the Unisoc T7250, which is paired with 4GB LPDDR4X and 64GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage. The handset comes only in a single storage variant. This is a non-5G supported processor, which is a bummer, considering there are lesser-priced offerings, Lava Bold N1 5G and AI+ Nova 5G – both of which come with 5G support.

Even though many apps are capped at 90Hz, one can expect a decent level of performance out of the Spark Go 3 for everyday use, unless you push the phone hard by opening multiple apps. Launching or closing apps, pulling down the notification shade, or summoning the recents app page, the handset gets the job done for casual users.

We also tried playing a couple of games on the Tecno Spark Go 3, such as Call of Duty: Mobile and BGMI for 30 minutes each. In ‘Medium + High’ graphical settings in CODM, the game was playable with a few stutters, while in BGMI’s ‘Balanced + Medium’ settings, the phone delivered around 35FPS. After the 30-minute duration, both games resulted in a 7 percent battery drop.

Coming to benchmarks, the Unisoc T7250 processor may not offer the best raw performance out there compared to its close counterparts, like the Lava Bold N1 5G and AI+ Nova 5G.

Feature-filled software with subtle emphasis on AI

The software side of things is taken care of by Tecno’s custom skin, HiOS 15.1, which is based on Android 15. Since the handset is slated to receive just one OS upgrade, I wish the Spark Go 3 booted on Android 16 right out of the box. While you do get tons of pre-installed apps, most of them are removable for a clutter-free experience.

As part of Tecno AI, the major highlight of the software revolves around Ella AI. This is Tecno’s in-house AI assistant, which you can converse with in several regional languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Bengali. Apart from that, there’s a Writing Assistant to help you generate or summarise text in any text input area, which is much appreciated for a sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone.

In terms of features, you get Dynamic Port, HiOS’ version of Dynamic Island, which displays real-time information in a notch-like interface within the status bar, such as timer or stopwatch status, music playback, and more. You also get an Outdoor volume booster that maximises the sound output’s pitch. Then there’s also Always on Display, which stays on for several seconds when tapping the display.

Workable rear camera, but selfies shine

The Tecno Spark Go 3 gets a single 13MP primary rear camera, while the front camera is an 8MP shooter. For video recordings, both cameras are capable of shooting in up to 2K 30FPS resolution. Since these are entry-level camera sensors, you can expect some usable results when capturing daylight shots, unless you zoom into the images looking for details.

While the main camera realistically depicts the actual scene, most shots taken in good lighting have noticeable grain, likely due to the small sensor size. The dynamic range is also a hit or a miss, but the overall outputs are feasible for a phone retailing under Rs 9,000. In night shots, the exposure control isn’t the best, while most details and edges are rendered soft. Surprisingly, the Spark Go 3 is an above-average performer in selfies, at least in good outdoor lighting.

Now, let’s compare the Tecno Spark Go 3’s camera with that of the iQOO Z10 Lite:

Daylight

In the daylight comparison above, while both handsets fail to deliver a neutral output, the Tecno Spark Go 3’s shot appears to have washed out colours and tons of noise artefacts. The iQOO Z10 Lite has produced an ideal output by better maintaining the contrast tones and dynamic range.

Portrait

In portraits, the iQOO Z10 Lite has gone for a whitish look on the face, which also renders the colours of the coat unrealistic. However, when zooming in, the Tecno Spark Go 3 doesn’t output details and edge detection on the same level as the iQOO Z10 Lite.

Selfie

The Tecno Spark Go 3 delivers a vibrant and warm selfie output, resulting in a better representation of the actual scene. The iQOO Z10 Lite, on the other hand, falls short of details, and the dynamic range isn’t as good as the Spark Go 3.

Night mode

While both handsets struggle in the night, the iQOO Z10 Lite slightly pulls ahead by offering better exposure control over the light sources. The Tecno Spark Go 3’s shot contains lots of noise and delivers soft details.

Great battery endurance

With an efficient processor and a display that doesn’t have to push a high resolution, the Tecno Spark Go 3’s 5,000mAh battery is capable of delivering decent endurance. In our PCMark battery drain test, the phone clocked over 14 hours and 30 minutes of runtime from 100 to 20 percent. This particular test mimics the real-world smartphone use by running tasks like opening and viewing documents and spreadsheets, playing videos, web browsing, and more.

When it comes to recharging the 5,000mAh battery, the in-box 10W charger juiced up the device from 20 percent to full in 2 hours and 26 minutes in one of our charging tests.

Final Verdict: Should you consider the Tecno Spark Go 3 at Rs 8,999?

At Rs 8,999, the Tecno Spark Go 3 has the potential to be one of the top picks for those coming from a feature or an old-generation smartphone. Its large display, combined with a strong battery life, should fulfil the entertainment needs for most, while the IP64-certified design and drop protection ensure that accidental damage is minimised in everyday use.

While the rear camera leaves a lot to be desired, the selfie camera was a decent performer during our usage, with vibrant results. On the flip side, the omission of 5G support restricts users from experiencing high-speed internet, which is something its rivals like the Lava Bold N1 5G and AI+ Nova 5G were able to provide. Similarly, both these handsets also have the advantage of offering better performance numbers over the Spark Go 3.

Thankfully, in daily usage, the Spark Go 3 is a swift performer, making the device worth considering.

Editor’s rating: 7.7/10

Reasons to buy Tecno Spark Go 3

• Features a durable IP64-certified design with drop protection.
• Produces vibrant selfies in good outdoor lighting.
• Comes with a couple of system-level AI features, like Ella AI, a voice assistant and AI writing tools.
• Delivers good battery output.

Reasons to skip Tecno Spark Go 3

• Lacks 5G support, meaning you can’t get access to high-speed internet on mobile data.
• Performance takes a back seat compared to its rivals.
• Doesn’t ship with the latest Android 16 out of the box.