Tecno Camon 40 (CM5) Price, Review, And Specifications.

 

Tecno Camon 40 (CM5) Quick Specs:

Display: 6.78" Full-HD+ (2436×1080) 120hz Flat AMOLED Display.

Software: Android 15 OS, HiOS custom UI.

CPU: MediaTek Helio G100 Ultimate (6nm).

RAM: 8GB/12GB (And up to 8GB of Virtual RAM).

Storage: 128GB/256GB (expandable up to 2TB).

Rear Camera: Triple-lens (50MP+8MP+Undisclosed sensor).

Front Camera: Single-lens (32MP).

Security: Optical under-display fingerprint reader, Face Unlock.

Port: USB Type-C.

Network: 4G.

Speaker: Dual.

Battery: 5,200mAh.

Charging Speed: 45W.

Starting Price:

₦280,000, KSh 24,199, GHC 3,554, UGX 815,500.

Note: The Tecno Camon 40 (CM5) shares almost everything in common with the Tecno Camon 40 Pro 4G (CM6). And aside from the regular model's flat display, slightly lower build quality, and lower-megapixel front-facing camera, there are no other noticeable differences between the two phones.

Even, while the Pro 4G lacks a microSD card slot, it is present on the regular Camon 40.

Meanwhile, because the Tecno Camon 40 is equipped with same (or similar) CPU as few others in this segment. it has similar performance. Unlike most of them, however, the phone features the latest Android OS and is available in a higher RAM option. It also stands out in camera department and has better design. The Camon 40 also supports faster charging and includes essential features like an IR blaster and a noise-canceling microphone.

In a nutshell, the Tecno Camon 40 offers better value for money compared to other similarly priced phones in this segments.

However, there are a few things about this phone that i'm not too fond of. Firstly, i'm not a fan of the phone's rear panel design, especially the Galaxy Black colour option. Although the rear panel design is inspired by that of the Tecno Camon 30, it looks less appealing or less premium.

Apart from its less attractive rear panel, the Camon 40 also features a lower-megapixel selfie lens and lacks the 3.5mm audio jack found on its predecessor. The 3-in-1 SIM tray on the earlier phone has also been replaced with a hybrid (2-in-1) SIM tray.

Still, the latest phone offers better features and has better build quality than the Camon 30. Unlike the earlier model, for instance, the Camon 40 has a higher IP (Ingress Protection) rating and features a glass protection on its front. Also, while the latest phone's front camera is downgraded, its rear cameras are equipped with better sensors. The phone is also equipped with a slightly bigger battery.

Furthermore, the Camon 40 is running the latest Android OS on top of the latest Tecno custom UI. And together, the custom UI and Android OS offer an array of AI features.

The Camon 40 is also powered by a recently unveiled CPU. However, its processing power is the same as that of the Camon 30, resulting in similar performance. The RAM and internal storage configurations also remain unchanged. Although, it seems the latest phone is available in a lower storage option.

Design Colour And Price:
The Tecno Camon 40 is available various colour options of Emerald Lake Green, Emerald Glow Green, Glacier White, and Galaxy Black. Currently, the starting price of the phone is about 280,000 Naira.

Premium Design And Impressive Build Quality:

Although the Camon 40 preserves the 6.78-inch hole-punch display of the Tecno Camon 30, the bezels around the latest phone's display is remarkably thinner. Even thinner than most of others in this segment. As result of its thinner bezel, the front of the phone looks more premium and more appealing than that of its predecessor. However, as i said, the back of the latest phone looks less appealing. Though the rear panel design is still based on that of the earlier model. And it quickly reminds me of the phone (Camon 30) at a glance.
But there are few cosmetic updates. Firstly, the pretty circular ring or bump is missing on the latest phone. The vertical stripe (which Tecno now calls Swan neck) has also been moved from the right side to the left. And it has also been raised (above the flat surface) a little. The vertical stripe also now serves as a camera module for the three vertically arranged rear cameras of the Camon 40.
Furthermore, compared to the flat sides of the Camon 30, the Camon 40 has curved sides or frame (and this shouldn't be mistaken for the curved or edge-to-edge display of the Camon 40 Pro).
 

In spite of those cosmetics changes, as i said, the back of the Camon 40 still looks less appealing than that of the Camon 30. Though in its own unique way, the Tecno Camon 40 looks premium and classy. Especially the Emerald Green and Glacier White colour options. The Galaxy Black option looks unassuming.
Still, as i mentioned, the Camon 40 has thinner screen bezels and better build quality than the Camon 30. Unlike the earlier phone that has no IP (Ingress Protection) rating, the Camon 40 is IP66 (Dust tight and water resistant) certified. And the phone is the only one at that price point that offers such a better IP rating, most of others are IP54 certified. The display of the new phone is also protected with Panda King Glass.

In addition to its better build quality, the Camon 40 also has a flatter frame (7.3mm) and weigh a little lesser (177g) than the earlier Camon 30.

The arrangements of buttons and ports on the Camon 40 are slightly different too. For instance, the SIM tray has been moved to the bottom side of the latest phone. And what you have now on the left side is an orange coloured button that Tecno calls One-Tap button. And its functionality is similar to that of the traditional Google Assistant button.

At default, One Tap button is assigned to the Tecno Voice Assistance otherwise known as Ella, and a recently introduced AI camera feature called FlashSnap. Double pressing the One Tap button launches the FlashSnap. The FlashSnap lets you take multiple shots of a fast moving object. It then quickly process the whole shots and reproduce the best looking one. On the other hand, long pressing the One-Tap button summons Ella. Yet, the One-Tap button can be remapped for other functions.

Meanwhile, as i mentioned, the 3.5mm audio jack is missing on this phone, and what you have on its bottom side is a USB Type-C port, a microphone, a speaker, and a SIM stray slot. And the phone's SIM tray, as i also mentioned, is an Hybrid one. Meaning it can either take 1 nanoSIM card+1 microSD card or 2 nano-SIM cards.

Nonetheless, the power button and volume keys, like those of the earlier model, are still on the left side. The top side also houses a Infrared Remote controller or IR Blaster, a noise-canceling mic, and second speaker.

Same Big, Nice-looking, 120Hz Display:

Like the one on the Camon 30, the 6.78-inch display of the Camon 40 also has an AMOLED panel and features the same 1080p resolution of 2436-by-1080 pixels. The high screen refresh rates (for smoother gaming, page swiping, and scrolling) also peaked at 120Hz. The Under-Display fingerprint reader is also swift and responsive. Virtually all other display attributes including Always On Display (AOD) also remain the same.

The display also preserves the impressive picture quality of the earlier one. It is noticeably clear and sharp. Colours are vibrant and they are moderately saturated. The display is noticeably bright too. With manual slider, the peak brightness is about 600nits. And it can go up to 1300nits in Auto mode. As a result, the display is viewable under direct sunlight. By the way, if you prioritize display above other features, then you should know that both of the less expensive Infinix Hot 50 Pro+ and Redmi Note 14 4G offer the same nice looking display. Even, in Auto mode, the display of the Redmi phone is a little more brighter than the ones on the Camon 40 and Hot 50 Pro+.

Meanwhile, like the one on its predecessor, the AMOLED display of the Camon 40 lacks support for and is unable to display HDR contents. Notwithstanding, the display fully supports Widevine L1 DRM certification. Meaning, you can watch videos in "1080p or High Definitions" (and in improved colour reproduction) on streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.

 

 Camera: Life-Like Colour Rendition.

Although the Camon 40 has a triple rear camera like its predecessor, and its main camera also features a 50-megapixel sensor. But the camera is different. The latest phone has a better one. A Sony LYT-700C camera; which was found on the more expensive Tecno Camon 30s last year. This sensor has a larger aperture. In other words, the sensor lets in more light. And in turn, enables the camera to take more brighter and clearer photos; in both daylight and low-light conditions, than its predecessor and most of other budget phones.

The second camera on the phone is an 8MP Ultra-wide sensor. Which is also a notable upgrade from a 2MP Ultra-wide sensor on the earlier Camon 30. However, the third camera is fitted with an undisclosed sensor. Probably a QVGA or AI sensor. Which often assist the main camera for better output.

On the front of the Camon 40 is a 32MP selfie lens. Which as i said, is a downgrade from a 50-megapixel selfie lens on the Camon 30.

Generally, photos captured by the Camon 40's main sensor are impressively clear and detailed. While a few other phones in this segment produce similarly detailed images, the shots from the Tecno device tend to be slightly brighter and better exposed—thanks to the camera’s larger aperture.

But where this phone's camera truly stands out is in its colour rendition. For a budget phone at this price point, the color rendition of the Camon 40’s photos is impressive. Colors appear natural, clean, and well-balanced. Skin tones of human subjects also look pleasing.

In fact, when it comes to photography, the only budget phone that rivals the Camon 40 Pro 4G is the more affordable Samsung Galaxy A16 4G. Yet, despite that the shots captured by the Samsung phone seem a little more vivid or have better contrast, colours are slightly on the pop side or a little more exciting.

The dynamic range of the Tecno phone photos is noticeably wider too, compared to the ones from the Samsung phone. However both of the phones low-light shots and portrait shots look quite good and similar.

Photos taken with the phone's 8MP ultra-wide camera also maintain the impressive color rendition of those from the main camera, but they lack the same level of detail and clarity.

And turning to the front. Selfies taken with the Camon 40 are a little less detailed compared to the ones from the Camon 30. This is as a result of the latest phone's downgraded selfie lens, Still, the difference is not that visible. Besides the selfies preserve the impressive colour rendition of the earlier ones. Colours are life-like and skin tone looks on point. Dynamic range and  portrait selfies are also on point.

In short, selfies from the Camon 40 are more close to life than those of other budget phones at this price point. But again, selfies from the Galaxy A16 4G compete with the ones from the Tecno phone. Yet, I'll lean on the side of the Tecno phone.

By the way, with both of its front and rear cameras, the Tecno Camon 40 can shoot video up to 2K at 30fps. Both of the front and rear cameras also feature video stabilization. But while the video stabilization of the rear camera is Optical (OIS), the one of the front is Electronic (EIS). Also with video the Stabilization On, the Camon 40 can only shoot videos up to 1080p.

Latest Software, Recent CPU, But Same Processing Power And Storage:

Out of the box, the Tecno Camon 40 Pro 4G boots the latest HiOS 15.0.1 custom UI on top of the latest Android 15 OS. And Tecno assures buyers up to 3 years of OS updates and 5 years of security patches for the Camon 40.

We're in the season of AI features, and the phone comes pre-installed with a whole lot of them. Apart from the Google Gemini, the phone also comes pre-installed with Google Circle To Search.

The Tecno phone also includes AI Wallpaper Generator, AI Magic Eraser, and Real-time Call Translator, to mention a few. And while the AI Magic Eraser erases unwanted object (or subject) in your photo, the Real-time Call Translator is useful when you want to speak to someone that you don't understand his or her language.

On its hardware features, the Tecno Camon 40 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G100 Ultimate CPU. Although it's a recently unveiled processor, but it is nearly identical to the Helio G99 Ultimate that's inside the Camon 30. In short, the only noticeable difference between the Helio G99 Ultimate and the Helio G100 Ultra is that the latter supports higher-megapixel cameras.

In other words, the Helio G100 Ultra CPU is also a 6nm octa-core processor with the same clock speeds of up to 2.2 GHz like the Helio G99 Ultimate. And it also features Mali-G57 MC2 as its GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).
Since the CPU processing power is no different from that of the Camon 30, and those of the likes of the Infinix Hot 50 Pro+ and Galaxy A16 4G (that feature the same or similar CPU), the Camon 40 performance is not different from those of the listed devices and its predecessor.

 

When it comes to day to day usage and averagely demanding tasks, the Camon 40 is smooth and responsive. It navigates through various apps quickly and plays online high definition videos without lagging.

The phone also played most of the regular or less demanding games without lagging. But, like the rest in this segment, the Camon 40 had to play the graphics demanding games at either low frame or low graphics setting, to ensure consistent smoothness.

Meanwhile, as i said earlier, the RAM and storage configurations of the Camon 40 remain as those of the earlier model. In details, the Camon 40 is available in 8GB and 12GB of RAM. Also, irrespective of your choice of internal storage space, the internal storage capacity of the phone can be expanded, via microSD card, up to 2TB (two terabyte).

It should be known that off all the 4G phones at this price point, it's only the Tecno Camon 40 that offers 12GB of RAM variant.

Bigger Battery And Faster Charging:

While its predecessor and most of other similarly priced 4G phones have regular 5,000mAh batteries, the Camon 40 packs a slightly bigger 5,200mAh battery. And, if you prefer a bigger one, the Redmi Note 14 is equipped with a 5,500mAh. But the Redmi phone's fast charging is lower than that of the Camon 40. While the Redmi Note 14 4G features 33W fast charging, the Camon 40 retain the 45W fast charging of its predecessor. And it's the only one in this segment that features such a higher fast charging.

By the way, with the phone's complementary 45W charger, included in its box of the phone, it'll take about 1 hour 14 minutes to fully charged the Tecno Camon 40 battery from zero percent.

 

Tecno Camon 40 (CM5) Full Specs:

GENERAL

Maker: Tecno Mobile.

Name: Camon 40 (CM5).

Year Announced: March, 2025.

Dimensions: 164.1x74.6x7.3mm.

Build Resistance: IP66 (Water & Dust tight resistance) Certified.

Weight: 177.2g.   

Colour: Glacier White, Galaxy Black, Emerald Lake Green & Emerald Glow Green.

DISPLAY
Screen Type:  AMOLED Capacitive Touchscreen.

Size and Resolution: 6.78-inch, Full-HD+, 2436-by-1080 pixels, 120Hz high refresh rate.

Aspect ratio & Pixel Densities: 20:9, 393PPI.

Protection: Panda King Glass.

PORTS:

3.5mm Audio Jack: No.

USB Type-C Port: Yes.

PERFORMANCE

Chipset: MediaTek Helio G100 Ultimate, (6nm) Octa-core Processor, 2.2GHz.

GPU: Mali-G57 MC2.

RAM: 8GB/12GB (up to 8GB Extra through RAM extension).

Operating System: Android 15, HiOS 15.0.1.

STORAGE

Internal Storage: 128GB/256GB.

Micro-SD card slot: Yes, up to 2TB (Two Terabyte).

SIM AND NETWORK

SIM: Nano, Dual SIM slots.

Network:  GSM, WCDMA, HSPA+, LTE.

CAMERA

Rear camera: Triple-lens; 50MP (f/1.56)+8MP (f/2.4)+AI, LED-Flash.

Front camera: Single-lens, 32MP (f/2.2) Single Front Flash.

VIDEO RECORDING:

Rear Cameras: 720p, 1080p, 2K @30fps.

Front Camera: 720p, 1080p, 2K @ 30fps.

Video Stabilization: Yes, OIS (Back), EIS (Front).

CONNECTIVITY:

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.4, HotSpots, USB-OTG, NFC.

BIOMETRIC, SENSORS & LOCATION: 

Security: Face Unlock, Under-display fingerprint reader.

Sensors: Ambient light sensor, G-sensor, Accelerometer, Electronic compass And IR blaster.

Others: GPS, Location (Geo, Glonass), Beidou, Galileo, Compass.

BATTERY

Battery Capacity: 5,200mAh.

Wired Fast Charging: Yes (45W).

Reverse (Wired) Charging: No.

Wireless-Charging: N/a.