Huawei’s Honor under attack from Tecno’s Phantom

It is Huawei’s Honor 3C versus Tecno’s Phantom Z Mini 2 this time, and our focus remains on African smartphone market, particularly Kenya, where we have gone for the price match. The winner is somewhat clear but for little extra price that also brings in lot more. 

Design: Huawei Honor 3C is a simple but elegant device with dimensions reading 139.5x71.4x9.2mm. On the other hand, Tecno Phantom Z Mini 2 is a longer and slimmer handset with 145x70x6.6mm dimensions. 

Display: Both the devices come with 5inch display and resolution of 720x1280 pixels, however, main differentiator is the screen technology. While Huawei Honor 3C uses an IPS-LCD capacitive screen, Tecno Phantom Z Mini 2 uses an AMOLED IPS HD display, which offers better visual experience while viewing at angles and is more efficient in terms of energy consumption, contributing towards longer battery life.

Operating System (OS): Both devices run on an Android operating system v4.4.2, however, Tecno Phantom runs on customized Android user interface (UI) referred as Aliyun OS, which looks neat with icons well spaced, all on a black background. Therefore, on both the accounts i.e. operating system and processor, Tecno’s Phantom has a sure edge over Huawei’s Honor.

Processor: Both the devices run on a MediaTek chipset, however Huawei’s Honor 3C is powered by a Quad-Core, 1.3 GHz processor with 2GB RAM, where as Tecno’s Phantom Z Mini 2 is powered by Octa-Core 1.4 GHz processor with 2GB RAM. Although both devices are neck to neck in processing speed, they differ in the number of processor cores. In Quad-Core chips, each core can be put to work simultaneously on any given task, thus making it fast with fluid motions and camera performance, whereas Octa-Core chips have two sets of Quad-Core processors which split tasks between them according to the level of tasks (basic/advanced).

Internal memory: Huawei Honor 3C has 8GB of internal memory that is expandable externally to 32GB using microSD, however, Tecno Phantom Z Mini 2 provides 16GB memory capacity but without the option of any external storage. Therefore, the choice is between ready availability, where Tecno’s Phantom has an edge and possibility where Huawei’s got an advantage.  

Camera: Huawei’s Honor 3C comes with an 8MP primary camera and 5MP secondary camera, whereas Tecno’s Phantom Z Mini 2 has 13MP primary camera and 8MP secondary camera, which once again provides Tecno’s Phantom a sure leg up over Huawei’s Honor.

Battery capacity: Tecno Phantom Z Mini 2 comes with a Li-Ion 2420 mAh battery, where as Huawei Honor 3C closely follows with Li-Po 2300 mAh battery. The difference is small, but it once again provides Tecno’s Phantom a slight edge over Huawei’s Honor.  

Additional features: To the advantage of music lovers, Tecno has featured Dolby Digital Sound to its device that sets it apart from Huawei’s Honor. They have also provided another interesting feature called the “Inadvertently Mode” whereby the device automatically locks itself once it enters user’s pocket. Furthermore, the “Clear Motion” is said to enhance video playback. Moreover, Tecno comes with a free flip cover in the box.

Price: To get an indication, we looked at various e-commerce websites catering to Kenya market, where Huawei Honor 3C is available at around KSh19,000 whereas Tecno Phantom Z Mini 2 is priced at around 21,000. Considering the advantages Tecno’s Phantom comes with as compared to Huawei’s Honor on almost all the aforementioned counts, the price difference of about KSh2,000 may not necessarily be the deciding factor while making a choice.

Our recommendation is, if you are struggling to decide between these two devices, i.e. Tecno Phantom Z Mini 2 and Huawei Honor 3C, you may wish to consider paying little extra to get not only a better device but a device that comes with lot more too.