Tecno is quickly becoming a company to worry about, as it’s been expanding its tech portfolio over the past couple of years. It was considered just another B-tier company pumping out cheap phones. However, its stellar Camon 30 Premier (Review) proved that notion to be false. Now, I’ve been given the opportunity to review the Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G. Does this phone have what it takes to spark your interests, or is it a burnout? Well, that’s what we’re going to find out.

Right now, we’re in an age when premium smartphones are becoming less worthwhile. Each year, the top tech companies charge more and more for the “best” experience. The fact of the matter is that most of what people are paying for, they don’t need. Companies like Samsung and Apple try to make you think that you’re paying $1,299 for their hardware. Rather, you’re paying $800 for the hardware. The rest of the money goes toward paying for the inflated vision; the illusion that what you’re getting is so much better than anything else on the market.

They, and other companies, try to convince you that you NEED all of the extra bells and whistles. The fact of the matter is that most people DON’T. I’ve used and reviewed phones that create a truly flagship-level experience for a fraction of the cost of what the top dogs are charging.

This brings to mind this question: What makes a phone good enough? What are the basics that create a generally reliable experience? Companies like Tecno often have the answer.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Design

Damn it, Tecno, you never cease to impress me with your designs! Tecno is one of the companies that earns my respect for bringing fresh designs with its phones. Some phones keep a similar design across a year, but other phones receive a complete design overhaul. Also, Tecno is not shy about experimenting with different materials and aesthetics.

When I took the wraps off of this phone, I didn’t expect what I saw. I have the green colorway of this phone, and it looks absolutely stunning. The back panel has a soft-touch material that feels like a cross between felt and leather. It’s an elegant money-green color that has a cloudy texture. It plays with the light in a very interesting way that’s hard to explain (you kinda need it in your hand).

The back panel is juxtaposed with the gold-colored frame and camera package liner. This color aesthetic makes the phone look luxurious. The materials and colors were chosen to give the Spark 20 Pro the appearance that it came from a boutique store. This is a beautiful phone. It’s not what I’d call elegant, but it’s definitely exciting. The image of the iPhone has been bashed into our heads over the years and Samsung’s modern Galaxy phones are no different. However, the Spark 20 Pro’s design is one that will turn heads.

My only complaint is how significant the camera package is; it’s rather large. I see that there are large rings around the camera lenses. They look like a waste of space. I’m wondering if Tecno could have foregone using the rings to save space to make the camera package just a bit smaller. I know that the company needs space for the camera hardware, but the package is just this big black mass in the middle of the back panel. It clashes with the overall look of the phone.

However, it’s a great-looking phone overall. Tecno has done it again; it delivered an amazing-looking phone to the market. It defies the notion that a phone is automatically doomed to look cheap if it’s affordable.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Build quality

Ah, the classic downfall of affordable phones. This is something that I have to give props to Samsung and Apple for; build quality. As overrated as these phones can be, you will never pick up a modern Galaxy phone or iPhone and think “This feels like a cheap phone.” They feel so heavy, you could bench press them, and they feel so premium you want to put them in a museum.

Meanwhile, I’ve yet to use a Tecno phone that compares to the feeling of a Galaxy phone or iPhone. The Camon 30 comes the closest, but it still falls short. Well, the Spark 20 Pro is not changing this in any capacity.

This phone’s beautiful design is, sadly, dampened by the cheaper and plasticy feeling in the hand. The pretty golden rail and camera package liner are both made from plastic, and it’s easy to tell. This lends to the overall light feeling in the hand. The glass camera package does add a little bit of weight to the phone, however.

I don’t think that this makes the phone feel bad. It’s just a bit jarring looking at such a premium-looking phone and picking it up. This feeling of lightness gives the user the impression that they’re holding a cheaply-made device.

Bend test

However, that doesn’t mean that it’s cheaply made. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I did a light bend test on the phone and listened for any sort of creaks or pops. I didn’t hear any, so I can tell that everything was put together properly. Phones made with plastic parts tend to make some sort of noise when stress is applied.

Also, I wasn’t able to get it to flex. In all honesty, I didn’t put a ton of muscle into it, I’ll leave the hardcore bending to Zack Nelson. I applied a bit of force to see how easy it was to get it to flex. It took a bit of force. If you really wanted to, you could snap it, but you won’t need to worry too much about the durability.

Rounding out this section, the buttons are nice and clicky. I feel that the power button is slightly less clicky than the other buttons, but it’s not bad.

Overall

The Spark 20 Pro won’t fool you into thinking that you’re holding a phone that’s more than $400. The lightness and the plastic materials let you know that you’re saving money while buying it (and that Tecno saved money building it).

Is it bad? No. But, I’ve used other phones that felt a bit more premium but cost around the same price. The build quality just isn’t a stand-out feature.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Display

If you’ve seen my other reviews, you’d know that I have a special place in my heart for Tecno’s displays. The company calibrates its displays beautifully, and I hold them as some of the best displays on the market for color production and overall quality. This also goes for the brightness, which has been increasing over time.

However, this goes for the company’s OLED panels. When it comes to its LCD panels, it sits in the middle of the road. This is how I felt about the display on the Tecno Pova 5. That phone has a nice display, but it didn’t impress me like some of the other phones I’ve reviewed with LCD panels. Its OLED panels, on the other hand, can trade blows with the likes of Samsung.

When it comes to the Spark 20 Pro’s display, I’m not really going to change my tune about Tecno’s LCD displays.

Brightness

Reviewing this phone’s display, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. I had flashbacks of using phones years ago with displays you could barely see in the sun. Tecno has increased the peak brightness of some of its phones over the years, but the Spark 20 Pro is not evidence of that.

The moment the sun hit the display, the visibility took a substantial blow. It was difficult to see the text, images, videos, games, etc. on the screen. It’s not the kind of phone you’d want to use outside. You’ll be seeing your reflection more than the screen. I feel like it’s similar to the brightness of the Pova 5’s display.

Also, there’s no high-brightness mode. This is the mode that further increases the screen’s brightness when in a bright environment. So, if you plan to use this phone when outside, then you’ll need to keep an eye out for shade.

Colors

Devices like the Galaxy Tab S9 FE, OnePlus Pad, OnePlus Nord N3, and TCL Stylus have some spectacular LCD panels. They’re packed with so much color and calibrated to make those colors look great. So, I’ve definitely used some great LCD displays.

For the Tecno Spark 20 Pro, I don’t have any complaints about the colors. They’re above average for an LCD panel, and they’re nipping at the heels of OLED screens. The colors are pretty saturated across the spectrum with both warm and cool colors. So, you’ll enjoy seeing lush green forests, icy-blue ice caps, and warm sunsets.

I think that the overall color calibration is similar to what I see with Tecno’s OLED panels. The colors are well-balanced, and they have that specific Tecno look. I’d say that the colors are a strong point of the display.

Contrast

The colors are above average, but I don’t think that the contrast is all that great. Looking at high-contrast content, nothing about it really stood out. Black areas are pretty gray. This display is not winning any awards for its contrast.

Adjustments/features

Tecno’s phones usually have a few settings to make the display experience a little better. However, I find that its LCD phones lack in that department. In the display settings, you’re only able to adjust the color temperature. There’s a slider that lets you adjust with some nice precision. You’ll see the color temperature change smoothly as you move.

In terms of features, there’s the Eye Care mode that eliminates blue light. Lastly, this screen caps out at a refresh rate of 120Hz. You’re able to choose between 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz.

Overall

This display isn’t as impressive as the displays in Tecno’s OLED phones, but I won’t say that it subtracts from the overall experience. In fact, this is a generally nice display. It has some nice colors, and it runs at a fluid 120Hz. The only gripe that I have with it is the brightness. Using it outdoors is pretty bad, and it reminds me of phones that are at least six years old.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Speakers

Oh boy, it’s time to talk about the speakers. The thing is that Tecno phones have great qualities; good speakers aren’t on that list. I haven’t reviewed a single Tecno phone with a pair of speakers that impressed me. They get the job done, and that’s all that I can say.

The overall quality has improved since I reviewed my first Tecno phone, 2023’s Tecno Camon 20 Pro. Since then, I’ve reviewed the Pova 5 Pro, Pova 6 Pro, Phantom V Flip (Review), and Camon 30 Premier. I’ve also reviewed phones from its sister company Infinix (the Infinix Note 30 Pro and Note 40 Pro). The quality has improved since the Camon 20 Pro, I have to admit. However, it hasn’t improved to the point where I’d say they’re particularly good.

Let’s see how the speakers in the Spark 20 Pro perform. Part of the speaker test involved playing six test pieces. Each piece was designed to accentuate a particular aspect of a phone’s speakers. These are the Volume, Distortion, Bass, Treble, Balance, Vocals, and Immersion.

Volume

These speakers are pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to the volume. They aren’t what I’d call particularly loud, but they’re not too quiet. The speakers are more than loud enough for personal use. I put the phone 1 foot away from an audio meter, and the speakers capped out at 83dB. That’s a little bit quieter than some other phones I’ve reviewed, but it’s not too bad.

Distortion

The distortion was also pretty middle-of-the-road. I felt that the audio starts to distort at the top two or three volume levels. The level of distortion is also pretty average. You’re not going to want to listen to these speakers at full volume if you’re just casually watching a video or listening to music. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. It’s average.

Bass

I feel that Tecno’s speakers typically lack in the bass department. Many of the phones that I used just sound flat. There’s no immersion with the bass. I’m sad to say that Tecno didn’t really do anything to change that this time around.

The test piece that I listened to is a short orchestral piece with plenty of emphasis on the bass. It uses instruments like Double Bass, Bassoons, Contra Bassoons, and Bass Clarinets along with other instruments to fill out the sound.

Just like with other Tecno phones, the lower tones just don’t have any body to them. I can hear the tone of the lower instruments, but it just sounds flat and lifeless. It’s like watching a concert on TV rather than being in the actual concert hall.

I do think that the speakers have just a bit more bass than some of the other Tecno phones I’ve reviewed, but it’s still generally lacking.

Treble

This is another thing that remains constant with Tecno phones. These phones tend to have pretty good treble. Honestly, I think that the higher tones are pretty crisp and clear with these speakers.

The test piece that I used is a short piece with Piano, Celeste, Flutes, Pizzicato Strings, and Violins along with other instruments to fill out the piece. The high-pitched notes really projected nicely. They weren’t the clearest that I’ve heard, but they’re pretty high up there.

Honestly, I think these would be great speakers to have if you are into ASMR. They’re pretty satisfying to listen to if you like the higher and clickier sounds.

Balance

It’s important that the treble and bass mix well when you’re listening to music. The test piece I used to test the balance was a chill-hop piece with an equal focus on treble and bass.

Overall, I think that the speakers are pretty balanced. However, I think that the weak performance in the bass department has an effect. I don’t hear the low end as much as I’d want to. It gets swallowed up by the treble just a bit. So, while the balance is good, it would have been better with a bit more bass.

Vocals

Just like with balance, the vocal performance is important if you want to listen to music on this phone. I listened to a test piece along with several other songs, and I think that these speakers do a nice job with voices.

It gets annoying when you’re listening to a song, and the voices get swallowed up by the rest of the music. With the Spark 20 Pro, the voices all projected nicely in the songs. It’s not quite the best I’ve heard, but it’s still notably good.

Immersion

This is where everything comes together to create a sound that draws you in. There are some phones out there with audio that wraps around the ears. The Tecno Spark 20 is not one of them.

I listened to some lush and encompassing music, and these speakers just fell flat. The bass is lacking and it sounds overall very narrow.

Overall

The speakers in the Spark 20 Pro are just what they are. They’re a set of speakers to get you through the day, and that’s it. I didn’t expect any miracles with this phone, and I didn’t get any. Just like with other Tecno phones, the speakers were very flat. If you’re an avid Tecno user, then you shouldn’t count on these speakers being anything special.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Performance

Tecno’s phones use the company’s Android skin called HiOS, and this software is typically well-optimized. I haven’t used a phone from the company that performed particularly poorly when it comes to day-to-day use. The Pova 5 Pro stuttered a bit more than I would have wanted, but it was a pretty good performer.

When it comes to the Tecno Spark 20 Pro, I’d say that the performance is pretty par for the course. It uses the MediaTek Dimensity 6080 SoC. This is a pretty mid-range processor that isn’t bad, but it’s not exactly a speed demon. It’s capable of some smooth performance, but it can be pretty easy to push it to its limits.

Running on Tecno’s Android skin, I didn’t run into any instance of serious lag or dropped frames. Navigating the software is super smooth, and that goes for using apps. You think that this isn’t a high bar to clear, but there are some devices out there that have trouble just running the software that comes loaded into them. I’m still in shock from reviewing the TCL Tab 8 LE…

Digging deeper, jumping through apps does seem generally sluggish, and it may be hard for some people to figure out why. While there aren’t any dropped frames or stutters in the software, the thing is that this phone shows its sluggishness in a different area.

When you tap to open an app, takes just a second for it to get to the splash screen. It can be hard to see if you’re not comparing it side-by-side with another phone. After the splash screen, we see that it takes the actual app just a second to load. So, the phone doesn’t slow down during the animations, which would lead to dropped frames, but it takes a second before and after the animations.

The same thing goes for exiting apps. I’d tap on the home button, and it’d be about half a second before I see the actual animation start. It would sometimes be a full second.

Taken alone, these instances aren’t really all that bad. However, if you’re in the middle of using your phone, and it involves jumping between apps, you’ll see the sluggish performance start to slow down your workflow. I didn’t see any dropped frames, but the hesitation between tasks can take a toll.

Benchmarks numbers

I know that benchmark numbers aren’t really a proper measure of a phone’s performance chops, but it’s still interesting to see how the phone stacks up on paper. For this part, I ran the phone through Geekbench 6 and 3D Mark. As I said, this chip isn’t pulling any miracles, and that remains true on paper.

Starting off with the Geekbench scores, the numbers are rather low. We’re talking about how flagship phones used to do almost a decade ago. This phone got a single-core score of 766. To put that into perspective, that’s more than 200 points lower than the Galaxy A54.

Moving onto the multi-core score, it scored 2063. Again, that’s pretty far behind most of the other phones that you can get nowadays. Again, it scores much lower than the Galaxy A54.

As for 3D Mark, the numbers aren’t looking much better. This app runs the phone through an extremely taxing real-time rendered animation, and it monitors how the phone performs. I used the Wildlife extreme test. It got a Best Loop Score of 373 with an average frame rate of 3fps.

Overall

This is not the phone to get if you’re looking for a powerhouse. If you’re trying to get serious work done quickly, then you’ll need to look elsewhere. While the Spark 20 Pro’s performance isn’t problematic, it shows its weakness in certain places. It only makes me wonder how it’s going to perform, a year from now. It’s possible that you’ll start seeing the performance slow down at some point pretty soon.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Gaming

We often assume that general performance and gaming go hand in hand. The fact of the matter is that some games perform better when it comes to gaming than when it comes to general use. This was the case with the Pova 6 Pro. That phone had the occasional dropped frame when navigating the interface, but it ran Genshin Impact smoothly at its highest graphical settings.

When I saw that the Spark 20 Pro was running the same chip as that phone, I expected a similar performance. This phone also has an enhanced gaming mode that pushes more system resources to the gaming performance. That’s only available for certain games.

2D game

Starting off with a 2D game, I went to the tried and true Survivor.io. While it’s a 2D title, it often has a ton happening on the screen. There are sometimes hundreds of sprites on the screen at the same time, and it can slow down less powerful phones. While playing it on the Spark 20 Pro, there were a handful of instances when I saw dropped frames. The performance wasn’t laggy or stuttery. There were just the occasional dropped frames. This means that more intensive 2D games are sure to slow this phone down.

3D game

Next, I went into 3D gaming and started up Asphalt 9. This is still a pretty intense game nowadays. I turned the graphics all the way to their highest setting. While the Spark 20 tripped a bit on the 2D game, Asphalt ran smoothly. There weren’t any instances of stutters or dropped frames even in the heat of racing.

At this point, games like that, Dragon Ball Legends, and Sky: Children of The Light are middle-of-the-road when it comes to graphical intensity, and I think that this phone handles them nicely. If you’re looking to do some gaming like that, then you won’t have an issue with this phone.

Genshin Impact and Star Rail

Now, it’s time to bring the big dog. Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail are two of the most graphically intensive games on the Google Play Store, and they’re some of the best games to test a phone’s gaming chops.

Starting off with Genshin, I turned all of the graphical settings to their highest settings. Several Tecno phones have impressed me with how well they can handle this game, but the Spark 20 Pro’s performance leaves a bit to be desired. The game is playable, but it’s not what I’d call smooth. The frame rate struggles to get above 25fps, it often dips below 20. The sluggish behavior is obvious, but this time all of the graphics turned to their maximum settings.

When I set the graphics to their lowest settings, the gameplay smoothed out. It wasn’t a drastic improvement, but it was noticeable. If you’re a fan of this game, it’s still possible to play it on the Spark 20 Pro. Just know that you’ll need to lower the graphics or deal with substantial stutters.

Star Rail is a game that’s also graphically intensive, and I’m sad to say that the story is worse for this game. The frame rate struggles to get above 10fps with the graphics turned all the way up. On average, Geshin Impact seems to be better optimized than Star Rail, so I tend to get better performance with the former.

With its graphical settings all the way up, I wasn’t able to get more than 10fps. It didn’t matter if I was running through a closed environment or in battle, the game just lagged. Turning the setting to Very low smoothed out the gameplay and gave me about 29fps. The gameplay was smooth with the occasional dropped frame.

Overall

I didn’t expect to get stellar gaming power from the Tecno Spark 20 Pro, and I’ve used phones with the Dimensity 6080 before. While some companies can surprise you, there were no cards up Tecno’s sleeve this time around.

The overall gaming capabilities of this phone aren’t bad. I wasn’t able to run Genshin or Star Rail at their highest settings, but if you’re shelling out for this phone. Let’s be honest, you’re not getting it with the goal of running those games at their full graphical settings. If you want to play these games, you’re more than able to turn the graphics down. Start Rail runs smoothly on Very low and Genshin Impact runs smoothly on High. It’s an average phone for gaming.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Camera

My history with the cameras in Tecno’s phones is a little complicated. I had very little hope for the brand’s cameras after the abysmal camera from the Camon 20 Pro. That was probably the worst camera I’ve reviewed in a smartphone. However, every phone I’ve reviewed after that was much better the Tecno Phantom V Flip having my favorite performance.

Since the Spark series is on the lower end than the Camon series and the company’s foldables, I didn’t really know what to expect.

Exposure/contrast

When it comes to exposure, I think that the Spark 20 Pro did a really good job at matching the scene. In fact, I’d say it does one of the best jobs out of the phones’ I’ve reviewed. Some of the images, like the one of the rocks, seemed a little dark, but that might have been because of the intense contrast. Even the brightly lit part of the image seemed a little bit dim.

Moving on to the contrast, I was also impressed with this phone’s performance. Some of the images that the phone produced had great contrast. For example, this image of the pile of rocks came out perfectly, and I love the image of the leaves on the ground.

Next. This image of the wall came out amazing as well. There was some nice detail on the wall’s texture. While the wall was the start of this show, the trees and shadows in the background were a little too dark.

I also felt this with the picture of the Stop sign.

It’s not too bad, but I think that you’ll notice it in the images.

Colors

Color reproduction is important to any camera, even though it’s a pretty subjective topic. Looking at the images, I think that Tecno strove for balance over pretty colors.

Oftentimes, cameras tend to boost the greens and reds, but I felt that Tecno kept them pretty well in line. The bright pink pipes would usually be nuclear in the bright sun. The Spark 20 kept them subdued along with the green leaves. The camera gets points for color accuracy, but I would have liked to see just a little more color coming from them.

Moving on to warmer colors, this yellow flower was nicely represented. The color was nicely saturated, and there was a nice boost to the greens.

I think that when it comes to the colors, Tecno played it safe, and that led to some very respectable photos.

Lens flares

One issue I had with this phone that I didn’t have with others was the lens flares. This didn’t happen too often in the images, but I saw them in two. I noticed that they happened with images pointed toward the sky. I see the flares cut across the screen. That’s something that you’ll need to keep in mind. They could ruin a shot.

Low light

When it comes to the low light performance, the results I got were pretty par for the course for an affordable phone. Mid-range phones are at a point where they’re about as good as flagship phones from about half a decade ago in terms of low-light performance. While inside, the Spark 20 Pro was able to pull in some nice details. This is in the evening with diminished sunlight peeking through the blinds.

That first image was pretty good, and it didn’t even suggest that I use the night mode. However, when I brought the lights down even more, it automatically enabled the mode.

The image above was still pretty good in terms of exposure. I can make out details on the floor and the phone’s front cameras. As you can expect, the lower light softens the details just a bit. I didn’t see the details drop that much. With the drop in details came a rise in digital noise. Also, I saw the color saturation drop.

Turning down the lights even more, I definitely ran into some issues with focusing. I saw the phone struggle to focus. This is understandable, but I wouldn’t have had as much trouble with a more expensive handset. Also, the longer exposure didn’t really help out the image. It was still pretty dark.

Overall, I think that the low-light performance isn’t all that bad. It’s pretty average for a modern mid-range phone.

Video

Let’s not kid ourselves, trusting video to be good on a mid-range Android phone is pretty optimistic. The details are pretty bad and the contrast took a major hit. Also, there was no stabilization to be seen. Overall, you’re not going to want this to be your main content creation phone.

Overall

I think that, for the price of this phone, the Tecno Spark 20 has a really good camera. It’s not going to wow you, but I was able to get some generally nice shots. It has its shortcomings, but it’s still a quality camera.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Battery

So far, my review’s been pretty positive, but this is going to be a bump in the road. This is odd for a few reasons. Firstly, Tecno phones tend to have some pretty good battery life. Second, the Spark 20 Pro has a large 5,000mAh battery.

So, it’s odd that this phone’s battery life is so bad. To test the battery, I charged the phone and played a looping video until it died. Phones with the best battery life last more than 20 hours with the Galaxy S24 Ultra lasting more than 25 hours. Other phones with good battery life last between 15 and 20 hours like the Tecno Camon 30 and the Poco F6 Pro. Some of the worst offenders I’ve reviewed lasted a whopping 10-11 hours like the Moto G 2024 and Moto G 5G 2024.

The Tecno Spark 20 Pro…. lasted 8 hours and 57 minutes. That’s the worst battery life of any phone I’ve used this test on, and I’m wondering what the heck happened. Like I said, it has a 5,000mAh battery, and it’s a Tecno phone. I started the video in the mid-afternoon, and I didn’t expect it to die until early in the morning. However, it was dead before midnight.

If you’re going to use this phone, then you’re going to need to keep it near a charger. Thankfully, the Spark 20 Pro comes with a 33W charger out of the box. Charging technology is just like most others; it’s so easy to be fooled by bigger numbers. Sure, there are phones out there with 68W, 80W, 100W, and 120W chargers. Those numbers are big, but you start seeing diminishing returns the higher you go. In all honesty, jumping from 80W to 120W actually only knocks a few minutes from the overall charging time.

You’re more than fine with the 33W charging. It’s able to charge the phone from 10% to 100% in just over an hour.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro 5G Review: Final verdict

This brings me to the question: what is good enough? You’re obviously not paying $1,000 for good enough; you’re paying that much money for over the top. But, what kind of phone is just enough to cover the bases and give you a generally good smartphone experience? Well, the answer is the Tecno Spark 20 Pro.

It’s very possible for phones with a ton of bell and whistles to fail in certain respects. And, phones like those tend to distract from phones like the Spark 20, phones that do a good job of just prodiving a solid smartphone experience to get you through the day. There aren’t any fancy camera tricks, no on-device AI, no super saturated OLED display, or premium design. It’s just a solid, meat and potatoes, phone. While I’m rocking the Galaxy S24+ (a phone with enough bells and whistles to play in an orchestra), I rather enjoyed my time with this phone.

The battery needs improvements and the speakers aren’t much to write home about, but this phone makes up for them with a nice display, quality camera, relatively smooth software experience, decent gaming chops, and beautiful design.

Honestly, if you could spare the extra coin, I’d recommend getting a Poco F6 or Tecno Camon 30 over this phone. However, I don’t have any reservations about recommending the Tecno Spark 20 Pro.