Battery life has always been an issue for most smartphone users especially in Nigeria where power supply is not available every time of the day. On the other hand, phone manufactures are constantly trying to build thinner devices, taking down space for a proper battery. The bigger the battery capacity, the more space it consumes and the heavier the smartphone becomes.
How well does the Tecno L8 come in terms of design and development? Frankly, the smartphone is totally fine with its thickness which is not conspicuous because of the impressive design we will talk about.
For now, here is a quick unboxing of the Tecno L8.
The pack is a standard box, showing the 5050mAh battery capacity in full glory. Then you have got the 5.5-inch smartphone, a charger, microUSB cable, an OTG cable, a pair of earpiece, an extra case and of course, the manual and warranty card.
Here is what the OTG cable reverse charger looks like
Tecno L8 Specifications
- 5.5-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen
- Quad-core 1.3 GHz
- 1GB RAM and 16GB internal
- 5000 mAh Li-Polymer non-removable battery
- 8.0MP primary camera, 2.0 front facing camera
- Dual-SIM, 3G Data
- Android OS, v5.1 (Lollipop), HiOS
- OTG cable
Tecno L8 Review
Design & Display
Tecno L8 features a rare design language for emerging markets, baked with full aluminum unibidy, familiar angles and curves; the back of the device features a deep chamfer circling, make up a modern interpretation of a classic smartphone design. Aside from the prominent branding on the back, the Tecno L8 brings a new design DNA into the Tecno family.
Veterans of the brand will quickly notice a major leap in terms of design of recent Tecno smartphones. In the past, Tecno smartphone were made with characteristic cheap plastic making other users easily poke fun at them for being totally down-market. The ridicule changed when the Chinese firm made its first ever all metal unibody Tecno Phantom 5 – a pan-high-end smartphone that has been the base for recent modifications to Tecno devices.
Tecno L8 isn’t very thick despite the huge battery, but it does feel slight heavy when you handle it for the first time. The rear 8MP camera accompanied with LED flash doesn’t have a bump which is super cool. The speakers are also located at the back of the device.
The right frame of the smartphone comes with the traditional volume rocker and power button and at the left frame of the phone, you have an Ultra power button which comes in very handy for extending your battery life. Up top and down below, the extravagant metal design is broken up by two engineering necessities – a 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB port.
You slide down the back cover to reveal the 5050mAh non-removable battery. Just above the batter you have SIM tray, microSIM tray and microSD tray.
Tecno L8 is a 5.5 inch smartphone that comes with the thinnest bezel I have seen on any Tecno smartphone. The display also come with Gorilla Glass protection, the overall display looks pretty decent. Colors, contrast, brightness, pixel density, touch panel – it’s all top notch for a mid range smartphone, especially because it uses an LCD panel rather than LED or OLED. It’s not a full HD device, but still does good job with its HD capability.
Software And Performance
Tecno L8 is running on MediaTek Quad-core processor clocked at 1.3Ghz, there are a couple of similarities with other recent Tecno devices reason being the HiOS that works like a charm. An army of pre-loaded apps, including in-house Hi-Manager, Hi-Font, Hi-Theme, and Boom Player gives you an over-the-top role in customizing your smartphone to suit your preferences.
The drawback however is the 1GB RAM. I am not sure why we still have 1GB RAM smartphones in 2016, especially when it’s obvious that Android is technically bloated. Despite this flaw, the Tecno L8 still manages to perform fast. How Tecno does this is fantastic which really points down to the optimization of the HiOS that ensure performance is greatly affected positively.
Camera
In the Tecno L8 review, we’d didn’t dwell much on the camera at our test lab, but we took a couple of images that shows the camera isn’t a write off. Yes, it is an 8.0MP shooter, but the images still looks okay for a mid-range smartphone. We’d give it a pass mark.
Here are some images we took with full light, low light and dark conditions.
Battery
We already know the three major Tecno smartphone range of smartphones that’s designed with a specific mission in mind. The Boom range of Tecno phones appeals to music lovers, while the Camon phones are for distinct camera lovers. The Phantom series are for the luxury guys who want everything in one swoop. How about the Tecno L8? Where does the phone with a monster battery falls into?
It would be safe to say the L series is the battery smartphone of Tecno. We expect the Tecno L9 to come with an even bigger battery capacity to challenge the Gionee M5. Ouch!
Tecno L8 battery is rated 5050mAh, it comes with quick charging technology and technically it can last 3-days. However, after heavy usage we got almost 2-days which is not bad. The device also has the reverse charging functionality. This means you can use the device as a “power-bank” utilizing the OTG cable to charge your other smartphone. Here is a list of top Tecno smartphones that really make sense, they have been defining the market so far.
Buy Tecno L8 | Compare Prices
Jumia.com.ng | Buy Now!
Konga.com | Buy Now!
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52 Comments
Uwa
Now much is the phone ?
ADAEZEPATRICIA
less than 30k
ManUfan
please be specific. less than 30k could be two thousand
teefeh
29500
ManUfan
be specific pls
Smith
That is affordable o
ManUfan
Actually 29 thousand
Adenikejeff
Do you sell?
Mark
Can we get Antutu benchmark scores?
ADAEZEPATRICIA
What is that pls?
ManUfan
no idea
Michael
Overtime, I am not really hyped by metal design phones because they then to go hotter more. Metal tend to produce mere heat and MediaTek doesn’t help matters
ADAEZEPATRICIA
This L8 is one of the best innovation from Tecno
ManUfan
Adaeze I was told so many good things about the phone
JonMoveek
You really think so?
Kelvin
The phone looks good. Its something i could have as a “Side Chick” , but to be honest , nothing from TECNO excites me.
I’ld rather get Gionee M5 Mini.
ADAEZEPATRICIA
You cant compare L8 with Gionee
ManUfan
I have both phones and I had to sell the M5 Mini
Amazinggrace
I dont think comparism is necessary
Adenikejeff
Have you tried Phantom 5
JonMoveek
LOL, Side Chick You Sedd??
Fjunny u
ty
I don’t see the big difference between the gionee m5 and tecno l8. i even prefer the l8 cos it’s more affordable and they have almost the same functions if not better
Gabriel
I just saw the Tecno L8 Plus.. I prefer the 2GB RAM variant
Strawberrycustard
It’s basically the same specs except they took up the RAM there. I wish they’d hv put the speakers on the bottom like the j8 instead of behind.
ManUfan
It is better the way the speaker is
dave
nah….the camera is perfect where it is
ADAEZEPATRICIA
Is tecno L8 plus now in the market?
ManUfan
Last time i checked they said very soon
Amazinggrace
I wonder what L9 will look like
Adenikejeff
Do L8 first
dave
LOL…how far na?….we never enjoy l8 and l8+ finish na
ADAEZEPATRICIA
I love this
ManUfan
Who no like better thing?
Amazinggrace
ok
ManUfan
The battery life trip me most
Adenikejeff
That is the USP
Amazinggrace
byebye TO power banks
Amazinggrace
thats why I bid farewell to power bank
ty
I think i still encourage power banks though. all those 20000mah or 30000mah power banks. you can never predict this stupid Nigerian light
Amazinggrace
Please who have any idea where I can buy Tecno boom J8 in Kaduna
Adenikejeff
jumia
Adenikejeff
I see people are excited on this thread
Adenikejeff
Seriously, I love this phone
BenKafor
Yeah, it is a really neat phone.
dave
it’s sleek
peter
i am fascinated by the beastly battery, and the phone looks really good
marinza
lol beastly battery. yes the phone looks lovely.
DonP
The battery go last tire
teefeh
lol i remember clerly last week where someone needed my help with his low phone so i could have used mine to charge his but i wasnt with my OTG cable
Anastasia
Very Nice review. I got this phone last month and I love it.
ty
I must say….i didn’t expect the camera to be this cool
kelly
Comment:does the tecno L8 come wit front flash