Tecno Camon 19 Pro review

GSMArena Team, 30 July 2022.

HiOS 8.6 on top of Android 12

The Camon 19 Pro runs on the latest Android 12 with Tecno's in-house HiOS 8.6 on top. Tecno has been running and refining its own skin for some time now, which we've generally found to be quite good in the past, with a few on and off caveats here and there. These mostly come down to pre-installed bloat and ads. But, credit, where credit is due, the situation on both fronts appears to have gotten a lot better. The Camon 19 didn't annoy us with pesky notifications and pushy offers nearly as much as some of its predecessors. The experience is actually pretty clean.

Tecno Camon 19 Pro review

That's not to say there isn't a whole bunch of pre-installed apps and utilities. Tecno is still sticking to its traditions of developing and deploying its own set of apps to cover the basic features. You get an in-house gallery and video player and an app store, even two depending on how you count them. These can still get annoying at times, but we can understand the angle Tecno is coming from.

Hi Browser - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review AI Gallery - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review AI Gallery - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Phone Master - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review AHA Games - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Palm Store - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review
Hi Browser • AI Gallery • AI Gallery • Phone Master • AHA Games • Palm Store

If some of the third-party apps are bothering you with various notifications - you can disable those - either from within the annoying app or from the Notification settings.

Tecno Camon 19 Pro review

Getting into the Camon 19 Pro is business as usual, with both fingerprint and face recognition available. You can have the fingerprint reader unlock with just a tap or require a press as well, and you can do that for face recognition as well.

Biometrics and security - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Biometrics and security - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Biometrics and security - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Biometrics and security - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Biometrics and security - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Biometrics and security - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review
Biometrics and security

Since the Camon 19 Pro has an LCD instead of an OLED, the always-on display feature and its customization options are absent.

The lockscreen has a single shortcut in the bottom right to access the camera. Once you're past that, you arrive at a standard homescreen interface. The leftmost pane, called the Zero screen, holds cards with suggested news, weather and quotes widgets and an app usage widget. You can disable the Zero screen in the 'Desktop settings'. There's an app drawer by default which you can access from the old-school A-Z orange icon at the bottom or with an upward swipe from the bottom.

Lockscreen - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Homescreen - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Zero screen - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Folder view - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review App drawer - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Task switcher - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review
Lockscreen • Homescreen • Zero screen • Folder view • App drawer • Task switcher

Themes are available as part of HiOS, and there is a dedicated Theme store for this purpose.

Hi Theme - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Hi Theme - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Hi Theme - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Hi Theme - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review
Hi Theme

Tecno has a long-standing selection of advanced features that generally get carried forward from older models. All of the custom bits from the Camon 16, 17 and 18 families are still present here. That includes the Game mode with all the settings, statistics and parental controls. There is also a Smart panel with slide-from-the-side shortcuts.

Tecno Camon 19 Pro review

Social Turbo toolset is rather interesting (a WhatsApp enhancer of sorts) - it can change your voice, enhance your face during video calls, record your WhatsApp calls, and allow you to read messages without marking them as Read.

MemFusion is a new addition to the features list. It's just Tecno's came for virtual RAM. The Camon 19 Pro has 8GB of physical RAM chips on board and can extend that up to a total of 13GB with another 5GB of virtual memory.

The CarIcare aftersales assistance utility is also onboard, and you can fire it anytime if you encounter problems with your phone.

If you want even more details about the HiOS, you can learn more in the software section of the Camon 16 Premier review. All the extra features outlined there are still present and relevant.

Special function menu - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Game mode - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Social Turbo - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review CarIcare - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Smart Panel - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review Smart Panel - Tecno Camon 19 Pro review
Special function menu • Game mode • Social Turbo • CarIcare • Smart Panel

Performance and benchmarks

The Camon 19 uses the MediaTek Helio G96 chipset just like the Camon 18 Premier. It is fabricated on the 12nm FinFET manufacturing process from TSMC, just like the previous G9x chips.

The Helio G96 has the same octa-core CPU as the Helio G90, G90T (Camon 16 Premier) and G95 (Camon 17 Pro) - it packs two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores ticking at 2.05GHz and six energy-efficient Corext-A55 cores working at 2.0GHz.

Tecno Camon 19 Pro review

The G96 has a GPU from the Valhalla generation by ARM - the Mali-G57. Unlike the previous G9x chips, here we have a dual-core configuration instead of a quad-core, so a drop in GPU numbers is expected compared to some of those older chips. The new GPU does, however, bring about support for 120Hz refresh rate, which the Camon 19 makes great use of with high refresh rate gaming, so we can't complain too much about the core count downgrade.

The Camon 19 Pro is available in two memory configurations - 8GB RAM plus 128GB storage and 8GB RAM plus 256GB storage. We have the smaller of the two for this review.

Let's kick things off with some CPU testing and GeekBench. The Camon 19 Pro and its Helio G96 chipset find themselves nicely in line with what we've come to expect from the G96 chip. No surprises there, which means Techo has done a good job in software.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    2796
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    2063
  • Realme 9 Pro
    2020
  • Realme 8i
    1886
  • Poco M4 Pro
    1836
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    1800
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    1797
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
    1780
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    1758
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    1734
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    1729
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    1719
  • Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
    1673
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    1672
  • Tecno Phantom X
    1670
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    1668
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    1662
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    1632
  • Realme 9
    1601
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    1599
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    1277
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    889
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    588

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

  • Realme 9 Pro
    694
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    688
  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    603
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    597
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
    569
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    560
  • Realme 8i
    539
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    534
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    532
  • Poco M4 Pro
    523
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    520
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    514
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    512
  • Tecno Phantom X
    512
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    511
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    511
  • Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
    505
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    380
  • Realme 9
    380
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    376
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    361
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    179
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    153

Generally speaking, the Helio G96 does better in an all-core multi-threaded scenario coming within a stone's throw to chips like the MediaTek Dimensity 810 and the Snapdragon 732G and even beating the Dimensity 7xx line.

Its single-core capabilities are less impressive, but it still finds itself smack in the middle of the pack of competing devices, which is good to see.

AnTuTu and its much more compound benchmarking set is even more favorable towards the Camon 19 Pro as a whole. Mind you, AnTuTu takes into account things like storage and its performance as well for a much broader UX picture.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    504424
  • Realme 9 Pro
    401894
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    382902
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    353663
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    348546
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    346389
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    343527
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    319093
  • Poco M4 Pro
    318444
  • Realme 8i
    308544
  • Realme 9
    290097
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    273554
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    244526
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    223188
  • Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
    222125
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    136286
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    101299

The Camon 19 Pro still gets beat out by Snapdragon 695-equipped devices like the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G or the Realme 9 Pro. That's an ongoing trend in these rankings, so perhaps one of those would be a better fit if you are after the best possible performance for your buck. Better still, why not the Samsung Galaxy M52 5G and its Snapdragon 778G, which tends to be a league above the competition in raw power.

The Camon 19 Pro retains its overall poll position in GFXBench graphic tests as well. That is to say that it's not a pack leader, but its Mali-G57 dual-core GPU still manages decent overall performance. About what we would expect from it.

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    18
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    12
  • Tecno Phantom X
    12
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    12
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    11
  • Realme 9 Pro
    11
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    8.4
  • Poco M4 Pro
    8.3
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    8.1
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    7.9
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    5.6
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    5
  • Realme 9
    5
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    4.7
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    4.6
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    3.3

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    13
  • Tecno Phantom X
    7.8
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    7.8
  • Realme 9 Pro
    7.8
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    7.7
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    5.7
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    5.6
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    5.5
  • Poco M4 Pro
    5.5
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    3.7
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    3.3
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    3.2
  • Realme 9
    3.2
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    3.1
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    2.2

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    19
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    12
  • Realme 9 Pro
    12
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    11
  • Tecno Phantom X
    11
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    10
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    7.8
  • Poco M4 Pro
    7.7
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    7.5
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    7.3
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    5.3
  • Realme 9
    4.9
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    4.8
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    4.6
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    4.4
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    3.4

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    14
  • Realme 9 Pro
    8.2
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    8
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    7.5
  • Tecno Phantom X
    7.4
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    5.3
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    5.1
  • Poco M4 Pro
    5.1
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    5.1
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    3.5
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    3.2
  • Realme 9
    3.2
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    3.1
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    2.9
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    2.3

Naturally, going down the test stack to lower the difficulty scenario, we get higher FPS numbers. Nothing even remotely in the "playable" realm in real life, but that's kind of the point of synthetic loads - they are unrealistically tough. In practice, the Camon 19 Pro handles most modern titles apart from the most demanding AAA ones with grace. Any modern mobile game engine worth its salt tends to be very accommodating to the levels of mid-range performance the Camon 19 Pro can put out.

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    28
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    17
  • Tecno Phantom X
    17
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    17
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
    16
  • Realme 9 Pro
    16
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    15
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    13
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    12
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    12
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    12
  • Poco M4 Pro
    12
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    11
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    11
  • Realme 8i
    11
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    8.1
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    7.9
  • Realme 9
    7.3
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    6.8
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    6.7
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    5.5
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    5.2

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    33
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    20
  • Tecno Phantom X
    20
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    19
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
    19
  • Realme 9 Pro
    19
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    18
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    16
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    15
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    14
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    14
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    14
  • Poco M4 Pro
    14
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    14
  • Realme 8i
    14
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    9.3
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    9.3
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    8.3
  • Realme 9
    8.2
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    8
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    6.2
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    3.5

We also remind you that fps comparisons across different devices in GFXBench are only really valid in off-screen rendering, where the native display resolution of the device does not affect the render resolution. The Camon 19 has a higher than FullHD native resolution, which is not really helping the numbers.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    47
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    30
  • Realme 9 Pro
    29
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    28
  • Tecno Phantom X
    28
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    26
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    23
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    22
  • Realme 8i
    22
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    21
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    21
  • Poco M4 Pro
    21
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    20
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    20
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    15
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    14
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    13
  • Realme 9
    13
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    12
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    12
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    8.3

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    56
  • Realme 9 Pro
    35
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    34
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    33
  • Tecno Phantom X
    33
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    30
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    26
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    25
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    24
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    24
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    24
  • Poco M4 Pro
    24
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    24
  • Realme 8i
    24
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    17
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    15
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    15
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    15
  • Realme 9
    15
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    9.4
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    7.9

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    77
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    54
  • Tecno Phantom X
    54
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    49
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    47
  • Realme 9 Pro
    47
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    40
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    39
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    37
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    37
  • Poco M4 Pro
    37
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    37
  • Realme 8i
    37
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    32
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    24
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    24
  • Realme 9
    22
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    21
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    20
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    16
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    11

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    64
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    47
  • Tecno Phantom X
    47
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    42
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    41
  • Realme 9 Pro
    41
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    37
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    34
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    33
  • Poco M4 Pro
    33
  • Realme 8i
    33
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    32
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    31
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    31
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    21
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    21
  • Realme 9
    20
  • Samsung Galaxy A03s
    19
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    18
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    18
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    14

3DMark usually offers a more streamlined and clear-to-read performance delta, and we once again find the Camon 19 Pro smack in the middle of the pack. One observation would be that it does well for the G96 chipset that it carries. However, expectedly, that chip gets outperformed by the likes of the older Helio G95 with its four GPU cores as well as the Snapdragon 695 and 778G. No surprises there either.

3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    5015
  • Realme 9 Pro
    2946
  • Tecno Phantom X
    2733
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    2719
  • Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
    2638
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    2531
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    2444
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    2431
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    2391
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    1471
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    1323
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    1320
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    1316
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    886

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    4274
  • Realme 9 Pro
    2773
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    2593
  • Tecno Phantom X
    2587
  • TECNO Camon 16 Premier
    2577
  • Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
    2509
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    2399
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    2257
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    2256
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    1372
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    1371
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    1267
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    1261
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    931

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy M52 5G
    2470
  • Tecno Phantom X
    1501
  • Tecno Camon 17 Pro
    1498
  • Poco M4 Pro 5G
    1232
  • Realme 9 Pro
    1211
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
    1204
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro
    1187
  • Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
    1185
  • Tecno Camon 18 Premier
    1105
  • Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
    1104
  • Realme 8i
    1102
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
    1101
  • Infinix Note 11 Pro
    1100
  • Poco M4 Pro
    1099
  • Samsung Galaxy A32
    686
  • Samsung Galaxy A13
    510
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
    482
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
    439
  • Samsung Galaxy A23
    429

The Camon 19 Pro makes the most out of its Helio G96 chipset. It might not be the fastest chip around, nor is it particularly current, given that we already saw it in last year's Camon 18 Premier, among many other phones, but it is still a solid and modern part that delivers plenty of performance for daily tasks and a nice set of additional features. In practice, the Camon 19 Pro feels responsive and has plenty of "oomph". The thing that is actually holding back and spoiling the fluidity of its experience is the relatively sluggish display pixel response time rather than any shortage in computing power.

Reader comments

  • Anonymous
  • 20 Jun 2024
  • A57

What charging protocols does it support? Quick Charge is definitely there, but what about Power Delivery? Tecno Infinix, according to information, has its own fast charging protocol. Has anyone tested the charging unit with USB testers?

  • RyuMikail
  • 17 Apr 2024
  • tA$

It's a good phone, i am honestly okay woth the camera quality and the photo, battery so much last longer (even not actually) but still better than my last phone, well it's 50:50 from my Realme 3, telephoto camera really help me in so much ...

  • Anonymous
  • 20 Jul 2023
  • 3NE

That's not how it works. Only the maximum charge level matters. Discharging to 0% does not harm the battery. Just don't leave it completely drained for months.