tecno phantom V flip

While book-style folding phones remain prohibitively expensive, modern flip phones are slowly making their way into the budget phone market. This couldn’t be more true for Tecno’s new flip-style phone, a roughly $600 inexpensive flip foldable that wants to take the best foldables of 2023 head-on. However, the Tecno Phantom V Flip isn’t the only affordable foldable in town anymore, and that paints a very different picture of what to expect from one of these devices. Let’s dive into how Tecno wants to set its Phantom V Flip apart from the competition like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

The Tecno Phantom V Flip wants to undercut the competition in price, all while being a fashionable and competitive flip-style folding phone in its own right. The circular front display may not be the most useful compared to the bigger screens other foldables have, but it's a design option no one else matches.

SoC

Mediatek Dimensity 8050

RAM

8GB LPDDR4X

Storage

256GB UFS3.1

Battery

4,000mAh

Ports

USB-C

Operating System

Android 13 / HiOS 13.5

Front camera

32MP f/2.45

Rear camera

64MP f/1.7 main, 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide

Dimensions

Unfolded: 171.72 x 74.05 x 6.95mm; Folded: 88.77 x 74.05 x 14.95mm

Colors

Mystic Dawn (purple), Iconic Black

Weight

194g

Charge speed

45W

IP Rating

none

Cover screen

1.32” AMOLED, 466x466, 60Hz, 800 nits

Main screen

6.9” AMOLED, 1080x2640, 22:9, 10-120Hz, 1000 nits

Pros

Unique outer screen

Good battery life

Cons

Top heavy

Creaking hinge

No IP rating

No wireless charging

The Phantom V Flip supports some of the relevant 5G bands you need in the US, but overall, it may not work great in the country. This is particularly true when you consider that some carriers block devices that haven’t been certified with them beforehand.

Tecno's Phantom V Flip puts its own spin on the flip form factor with a smart pocket watch style. When closed, the Flip's circular 1.32-inch front display takes the stage, embedded in a considerably elevated section. That's because two cameras and a flash surround the sizable bezels of the display, which likely need that extra vertical space to work with. The rest of the phone’s front and back is clad in a faux leather that does a good job of hiding fingerprints. It also feels a lot more premium than the faux leather material Tecno opted for with the Phantom V Fold.

Open up the Phantom V Flip. and you’re presented with a 6.9-inch 1080x2640 OLED with a slightly elongated 22:9 form factor. It can go up to 120Hz and 1,000 nits, which doesn’t make it the brightest and best display out there, but it definitely nothing to sneeze at, either. In the middle, you can definitely see and feel the crease. It’s more pronounced than on the Oppo Find N2 Flip, but thanks to its teardrop folding design, the crease is smoother and less noticeable to the touch than on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. I’m also happy to report that the V Flip supports half-folded positions. The book-style Phantom V Fold is dearly missing this option.

My biggest point of contention with the V Flip is its top-heavy design thanks to that protruding outer display. This routinely gets in the way of using the phone confidently, always afraid that it might slip out of my hand. It also doesn’t help that I naturally want to rest my index finger on the outer display when the phone is unfolded, with years of muscle memory telling me not to touch protruding pieces on the back of a phone as to not smudge the lenses. Since the cameras themselves are further at the top on the Phantom V Flip, this isn’t an issue, but it still feels weird to hold the phone like that.

Another problem that deserves attention is the creaking hinge. When you fold the V Flip and move its two parts independently, you’ll feel and hear an ugly grinding sensation, something I haven’t been able to reproduce on any other foldable in my possession.

The rest of the phone is fairly mid-range. Its centerpiece is the MediaTek Dimensity 8050, a 2023 processor that’s essentially a rehashed Dimensity 1300 or 1200 from 2022. It’s accompanied by 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS3.1 storage. There are no ports other than USB-C on the bottom, and the device doesn’t have any IP certification for water or dust resistance.

In the box, you’ll find a 45W fast charger, a USB-C cable, and a case with a loop ring along with the usual suspects like the SIM card removal tool, the warranty card, and some stickers.