Tecno Spark 30 Pro: Transformers Edition Smartphone Review

Since 2006, Tecno is well-known around the world for mobile technology and is especially popular in certain markets. As they continue their expansion into North America, they have launched a special collaboration to celebrate the iconic brand’s 40th anniversary. transformers Tecno Spark 30 Series Manga, Toys, and Movie Series. This includes the Tecno Spark 30 and the subject of this review, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro. It’s not a flagship by any means, but it has a lot of heart.

The unboxing experience was impressive and there was a lot inside the box. The Tecno Spark 30 Pro is designed to honor Autobot leader Optimus Prime. Opening the box, featuring Optimus’ iconic red and blue colors and the Autobot symbol front and center, reveals the Tecno Spark 30 Pro phone case (note: our review unit did not include case not included). It includes a pattern that complements the phone’s design and blue edges, 18W charging block, USB-A to USB-C cable, and wired earbuds.

All accessories (charging block, USB cable, earphones) are white and have no Transformers branding. When you unfold the outer box, it becomes a small poster with an Autobot-shaped cutout. It would have been nice if the inner box looked more like Prime’s trailer, but the packaging was still well done.

“Tecno Spark 30 Pro: Transformers Edition is a budget-friendly, hearty phone with amazing features for its price range.”

Tecno Spark 30 Pro comes pre-installed with a screen protector and an under-display fingerprint scanner. It supports dual SIM and includes a microSD slot for expanded storage. This is useful since the phone only comes in 128 GB and 256 GB versions (both with 8 GB of RAM, plus up to 8 GB of virtual RAM). Spark 30 Pro runs on Mediatek Helio G100 chipset with octa-core CPU and Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. The phone connects to a 4.5G LTE network and comes with several AI features, including AI wallpaper design and Ella, a customizable voice assistant that’s fun to use.

The display is a 6.78-inch, 1080×2436 Full HD AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1700 nits brightness. Tecno says it supports 1 billion colors and provides great color accuracy when streaming games and videos. Tecno Spark 30 Pro also features dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, providing beautiful sound for your mobile device.

There’s a single camera on the back, a 108MP f/1.9 wide-angle lens with 3x zoom, capable of up to 2K/30fps video (or up to 60 frames per second at 1080p). The front camera is a 13MP wide-angle lens with the same maximum video capabilities. Shots from the Tecno Spark 30 Pro have decent colors but lack detail unless the 108MP mode is enabled.

If you want higher quality images, you should accept larger file sizes. One interesting feature of the gallery is that it provides shooting details such as lens length, shutter speed, and ISO. This is useful for advanced users who want to reproduce specific settings. Even low-light photos turned out pretty well because of the wide aperture.

Video is fully serviceable, but not fully serviceable for content creators. For those looking to capture moments to share with friends, it should perform well enough. However, low-light conditions weren’t as favorable for video, with poor color reproduction and contrast, and more grain than desired.

“Battery life on the Tecno Spark 30 Pro is excellent, with a 5000mAh battery that lasts comfortably through a full day of intense use, even in performance mode.”

Tecno Spark 30 Pro features AI photography worth exploring, including AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content) portraits that take multiple photos and place you in different scenarios such as lifestyle, love, graduation, childhood, etc. It also provides functionality. After multiple tests, the results were disappointing, often producing photos that looked like my relatives rather than me. It’s still not good enough, but with improvements it could be even more fun.

Tecno Spark 30 Pro: Transformers Edition has a smooth UI. The phone includes several Transformers-themed elements, including wallpaper that matches the back design and app icons framed in a technical style. The ringtone is set to a Transformers “hymn” and the power-up animation includes Transformers references. Animations for swiping options and scrolling through apps are smooth, and while the charging animation isn’t Transformers-themed, it’s still clear and fluid.

Gaming on the Tecno Spark 30 Pro: Transformers Edition is a surprisingly smooth experience considering its specs. This phone is well optimized for demanding gaming. tested real racing 3 and Genshinboth worked without any glitches or lags during gameplay. Most importantly, my phone stayed cool. Additionally, if you want to game for long periods of time near a power source, the Spark 30 Pro can bypass the battery and play directly from the cable, preventing overheating and extending battery life.

What really struck me while gaming is that it can do all the things I mentioned above and handle high graphics settings while gaming. When you first start testing GenshinAt first I wasn’t impressed at all with the game’s lack of detail, as it defaults to the lowest graphics settings, but I wasn’t surprised. I thought this was how the game would run at an acceptable level even with low RAM and non-flagship chipsets. However, when I cranked up the graphics to their highest settings, performance was surprisingly good. While you won’t get a 60fps frame rate on the highest settings (I limited myself to around 38fps), it still ran very smoothly.

The battery life of the Tecno Spark 30 Pro: Transformers Edition is impressive. Powered by a 5000mAh battery, it boasts great battery life even when idle and lasts even when running multiple apps. It holds up well even when gaming in performance mode, which tends to drain the battery quickly. After leaving the phone idle for a few days, downloading all the games I wanted to test, and playing it thoroughly in performance mode, I was able to get through an entire day without having to charge it.

“Offering 8GB RAM with dual SIM support, microSD slot, and up to 8GB of virtual RAM, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro offers solid versatility for its price.”

I ran the Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu benchmarks and frankly the performance wasn’t great. On AnTuTu, it has a score of 432,943, which is higher than only 3% of the phones in our database. Its closest competitors among Android smartphones are Motorola Moto G54 and Infinix Note 40 Pro, which beat them in CPU and UX, but Tecno beats them in GPU and MEM. Below are their overall scores. To help you understand the leap to flagship, let’s compare these results to my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

In Geekbench 6, the Tecno’s single-core score was slightly higher than the Realme 6 Pro, and its multi-core score was slightly higher than the Oneplus Nord N20. The scores are shown below. I also include the flagship S24 Ultra for comparison

The official price is not yet known, but it is expected to be around $200. So, this is not a flagship, and the price proves that. When you look at what you get for that expected price, you’re getting quite a lot. For those who don’t feel the need for flagship quality or don’t want to pay flagship prices, the Tecno Spark 30 Pro: Transformers Edition is the way to go. However, if you are not a fan of Transformers, you can also ignore Optimus Prime and go for the regular Tecno Spark 30 Pro. But honestly, who doesn’t love Optimus Prime?