Tecno officially launched the Spark 30 range with two phonesvanilla and Pro, join A splash of 30C from early September. The Spark 30 has black and yellow Bumblebee variants we now present Spark 30 Pro to you in Optimus Prime colors – Red, Blue, and Silver.
The phone comes with an adapter, charging cable, and wired earphones, which is a decent retail package, but here are our impressions of its performance out of the box.
The Spark 30 series is for users on a budget who still want excitement, even spark, from their phone. The Pro version packs a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. We love that it comes with an under-display fingerprint scanner, which works quickly and reliably.
The Transformers theme brings custom wallpaper and icon designs to your Spark 30 Proand that’s definitely something. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but if you buy a phone with a back that looks like Optimus Prime, you’ll definitely appreciate that the front also looks like a Transformer.
Tecno has indeed installed a 13 MP selfie camera in the punch hole, but the circle also functions as a notification hub. This is called Dynamic Port and is enabled in the Special Functions menu via Settings. Just like Dynamic Island on iOS, it displays notifications for incoming calls and alerts, charging status, media player, and even some tips.
The company has made a lot of progress in perfecting its custom interface, and despite its many additional features, it no longer feels cluttered. There are Floating Windows, which enable a multi-window experience; Smart Panel brings shortcuts to the desktop with a swipe from the side, and there’s also Game Mode and Kids Mode for a variety of usage scenarios.
Tecno is so proud of its AI development that it announced it twice in 2024 – once in 2024 Barcelona during MWC and log in again Berlin during IFA. The Spark 30 Pro is one of the first phones with HiOS to have Tecno AI, including a Gemini-powered voice assistant called Ella.
We tested the AI assistant, and its performance was fine – nothing out of the ordinary. It can answer questions and keep the conversation going. It’s important not to expect any miracles from the Spark 30 Pro, especially offline, as the Helio G100 chipset is somewhat limited in terms of processing power to handle the seven billion customizable parameters built into the Gemini.
The Tecno Spark 30 Pro has a camera island on the back with no less than four separate circles, but only one for the 108 MP camera, which is the only usable camera.
Example of the Tecno Spark 30 Pro camera
There is a quad-LED flash on the back, and we should appreciate that Tecno has implemented a dual-LED flash on the front, embedded in the top bezel. The Tecno Spark 30 Pro has an IR blaster positioned on the camera island.
Tecno Spark 30 Pro Portraits: 1x • 3x
Tecno Spark 30 Pro Selfie: With LED flash • Without LED flash
We said there were wired earphones in the box, so obviously there’s a 3.5mm audio jack. The Spark 30 Pro also has FM radio, NFC, dual nano-SIM + microSD card trays, and a USB-C port for up to 33W wired charging.
All the features in the same phone make the Spark 30 Pro a very attractive device, and that’s without counting the 5,000 mAh battery inside the 7.4 mm body.
The Spark 30 Pro is designed for markets where 5G connectivity is not yet widespread; This phone has 4.5G, which is LTE Advanced. It does have AI features pre-installed, which is a big selling point for Tecno and why some people might choose this phone over the Poco M6 Pro or Galaxy A15, even if these phones have more cameras or better raw performance.
We must remember that Tecno is a strong player in Africa and Southeast Asia, and this is where we expect the Spark 30 Pro to perform well. This month the phone will reach markets like Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, where it is expected to cost around $200 for the 8/128 GB version, and around $220 for the 8/256 GB option.