Review on Tecno R7, Specification and Features

ew specs and features we observed with the R7, we would give a quick brief of the specs after stating the things we didn’t mention earlier. 

Observations

First of all, it would be great to state that the Tecno R7 is slimmer than the A+, taller and of course with a wider and sharper screen (5.5”). It has a shiny, well polished plastic casing.

Upon purchase of the Tecno R7, you get a power bank and a smart cover. The smart cover is much like the Samsung galaxy S4 cover that has a transparent film at the top for viewing notifications without opening the cover. The smart cover comes in both black and white colours.

The packaging is like the Tecno A+; a bigger pack housing a smaller pack where the phone is located and other accessories like the earpiece, charger, operational manual and power bank.

Like the Tecno Phantom A+, the Tecno R7 comes with a Power Bank with a power rating of 3200mAh which is 22% more than the A+ power bank rating.

There is no doubt that the Tecno R7 is a great improvement over other Tecno devices and its predecessor A+. 

Currently, the Tecno R7 is selling for N42,000 at Divine Anyi Communications Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos. This means that the R7 is cheaper than the Tecno AIII and with a great specs too. You can call  Adom on 08060791362 if you want one. We currently don’t think Slot or Micro Station have the product yet. 

We would keep updating this page as we discover new features. Also drop your comments below. See below for a run down of the specifications

Specifications Run Down

Tecno R7 is a dual mini SIM smartphone with dual standby operating on the 2G, 3G and 3.75G network. It doesn’t have a 4G network capability yet perhaps due to the fact that most if not all countries Tecno devices are sold in don’t have such network capabilities.

The R7 still, like its predecessor A+, runs the Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 with a slight change in interface compared to the A+. Although it would have been great if Tecno Mobile had bumped the OS to 4.3 Jelly Bean at the least knowing that this device may not have a successor in the next 1 year. 

Internal memory of the Tecno R7 is 16GB which is a massive upgrade to its predecessor. You would agree with me that the Tecno A+ only has 4GB internal memory. The R7 comes with 16GB internal memory of which 13GB is available for use.

The new and laudable spec about the Tecno R7 is that it was given a RAM of 2GB! That is a very good thing. It is long overdue and fans are extremely happy to have opportunity to have a 2GB Tecno device. This means that applications are expected to run very smooth.

Another reason the Tecno R7 would run much faster than any Tecno device we know is because it comes with a hexa core processor clocked at 1.5GHz; the highest core and processor speed we’ve seen so far.

I have had the TECNO R7 for almost three weeks now and used it as my daily driver. I know that you have been itching to have me publish my review. Well, here it is. For the non-techies who need a summary, here are the pros and cons of the TECNO R7:
What’s Good

• Good display with Gorilla Glass protection
• Fast and smooth in use
• Dual SIM, Dual Standby
• Sales pack comes with a 5200mAh power bank and Smart View Cover
• Good audio reproduction with headphones
• Good loudspeaker volume

What’s Ugly

• A limited number of apps freeze occasionally

In all, if you are thinking of getting the R7, it is a very good device for anyone looking for a moderately-sized phablet.

In the camera department, the Tecno R7 bags a powerful 13 mega pixel rear camera with a strong led flash light and a 5 mega pixel front camera. 

All other specifications still remain as we listed in the previous post.

The Tecno R7 is surely a great phone which may bring back some Tecno fans that have defected to other brands while also bringing new fans.

Further Review

The R7 is a real joy to use. Performance-wise, it doesn’t let down in any way. The 1.5 GHZ hecta-core (that’s 6 cores) processor and 2GB of RAM mean that it is a difficult device to stress.
However, I did encounter occasions in which some apps freeze and I get a pop-up asking whether to wait or close the app in question. This phenomenon has happened only with Gmail, BBM and Facebook. Not once in any other app. It isn’t due to low RAM, because I check, and the R7 has never run out of RAM once. It must be due to something else.

Battery Life

The R7 charges up pretty fast. Battery life is good – good enough for me not to worry about it, but not spectacular. You will need to charge it during a busy day if you use it intensively. Otherwise, it should get you through a fair day on a full charge. Sometimes, it drains fast too – I have two SIMs active and one pegged to 3G with both network data and WiFi active.

Special Features

TECNO implemented some mild customisation of the Android the user interface. I like the idea, but I also think that they need people with a better sense of colour. The lemon green touch used in the SMS and Settings menus is not exactly the best colour they could have used. Have a look:


Besides that awkward colour choice, the customisation is quite nice. The drop-down menu got customised too. In addition to providing event notifications, it also has located at the top section, five fixed shortcuts to the following apps: Torch, Calculator, Camera, Recorder and Timer. Have a look:

But there is more. TECNO implemented a “Switch” on the dropdown menu, giving you access to various toggles:

The R7 supports proximity gestures. This means that you can navigate through the standby and apps menu by waving your hand across the display. You can also answer an incoming call by waving your hand too. Note that these features use the sensor at the top of the display, so make sure you wave up there. These proximity gestures can be activated in the settings under “Action”.

The R7 also lets you minimise a playing video into a smaller box, leaving it visible while you can attend to other things. You can move it around the screen while you tweet, compose an SMS or do some other activity. In the image above, you can see a video playing while I tweet.

Multimedia

The 13 megapixel rear camera on the R7 is good without being spectacular. The flash is good for close-up low-light scenarios. Video recording is good too. Video playback is lovely as well. The front-facing 5 megapixel camera is good for selfies and video calls. It is not a very good 5 megapixel snapper though, and the quality can be improved. The music player works quite well and audio reproduction is good.

Conclusions

The R7 runs Android 4.2, two steps behind 4.4 Kitkat. As already reported, the R7 supports OTA software updates. I have received and updated the smartphone twice since its arrival. Can one hope for an update to Kitkat? Despite that, the TECNO R7 is a lovely smartphone that I keep picking up again and again. Costing about N45,000, it is a good buy.

What are your thoughts regarding the new Tecno R7? 

Drop your comments below and let us know.