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It was easy to fall in love with the TECNO SPARK 40 Pro+. Too easy. Out of the box, it is super light in the hand. And it is super slim too. And once we powered it on and experienced how smooth it runs, it was game over. But that isn’t all there is about this budget phone.
Inside the impressively thin profile is a large 5200mAh battery. In addition, it supports 45W fast charging (and the adapter/charger is supplied; Apple and Samsung take note). In use, we got a full battery from 9% charge in less than one hour. That’s better than what we got from some other phones with 45W fast charging.
There is also support for 30W magnetic wireless charging and it worked with a 3rd party magnetic wireless charger that we have lying around here at MobilityArena. If you understand Magsafe by Apple, that is magnetic wireless charging at work. The wireless charging puck is attached to the back of the phone through magnets built into both the phone and the wireless charger.
TECNO SPARK 40 Pro+ also supports 10W reverse wired charging, so the phone can serve as a power bank. If you think that is all, you’re wrong. Because there is also 5W reverse wired charging. This phone can be charged in every possible way and can charge other devices in every possible way.
All of these features for less than ₦300,000 in Nigeria and less than €200 in European Union countries. You will be hard pressed to find competing devices that offer all of these features at this price. And we haven’t even gotten started on the build, the display, the cameras, and AI.
Build-wise, TECNO SPARK 40 Pro+ has IP64 dust and splash protection. The display is a smooth AMOLED panel with 144Hz refresh rate and it is protected by a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i. On this display, blacks are black, not grey, and not blackish. Contrast is good too. And best of all, using it is a delight. The specs didn’t lie.
As for cameras, there is a 13MP snapper in a punch hole at the top of the display. And there is a dual-LED Flash embedded beside it to light up your selfies. Flip the phone over and there is a 50MP main camera there, also supported by dual-LED Flash.
There is also an infrared blaster located at the back. It is an odd location for sure; we would prefer it at the top of the device where it would feel more natural for pointing at the TV or AC. But it is where it is. Not many phones have an IR blaster at all, so its presence is a plus.
TECNO SPARK 40 Pro+ is a 4G LTE smartphone, so if you want access to 5G networks, this is not the device for you. But it is an excellent device that maxes out 4G speeds thanks to advanced LTE technology.
A surprising inclusion is a feature that allows you make telephone calls even when there is no network coverage. TECNO calls it FreeLink FreeCall. To use it, you have to open the FreeLink app and connect to another device with the same feature. Without a companion device, we weren’t able to test this feature, but the idea of being able to make calls and exchange text without an Internet connection is certainly cool.
We are in the age of Artificial Intelligence and the Spark 40 Pro+ does not skip that. It is equipped with TECNO AI to make your life easier in different ways. The different AI tools include: AI PROBLEM SOLVING, AI IMAGE-TO-DOC, AI RECORD SUMMARY, ONE-TAP AI QUERY, and AI WRITING.
In the first paragraph of this review, we mentioned how smoothly this phone runs. No matter what else a phone has and what else it does, everyone wants smooth performance. TECNO SPARK 40 Pro+ is a smooth performer, thanks to the MediaTek Helio G200 chipset on the inside.
Helio G200 is new, but it is built on a tried, tested, and proven chipset, the Helio G99. Which is why it is no surprise that it runs smoothly. As a matter of fact, it runs smoother than some budget 5G devices we have tested here at MobilityArena. Apps launch quickly, and switching between them is devoid of lag and pauses. We have nothing but praise for this mid-range smartphone’s performance.
This review unit has 8GB of RAM and it shines though in the phone’s multitasking fluidity. But there’s also extended RAM available – up to 8GB, if you want. It was set to 5GB extended RAM all through this review and the phone ran smoothly all through our time of using it.
Our Verdict
If you have a maximum budget of ₦300,000, there are extremely few phones that deliver the value that TECNO Spark 40 Pro+ does. The supplied accessories include a 45W wall adapter/charger, a USB-C cable, screen protector, protective case with magnetic wireless charging support, cleaning items, and more.
We wish TECNO included a magnetic wireless charger, though that could be asking for too much at this price point.
TECNO SPARK 40 Pro+ sells for ₦275,000 or €180 in the market at the moment. In our opinion, that price is a steal. It is difficult to find anything better for the price.