Phantom V Fold 2 Has a Giant Battery but Also a 2-Year-Old Processor

With more phone-makers entering the foldable market, standing out is increasingly difficult. However, the Phantom V Fold 2 sets itself apart with a standout feature: possibly the largest battery on any book-style foldable.

Inside the Phantom V Fold 2 is a 5,750-mAh battery, with Tecno claiming it can fully charge in just 49 minutes. This capacity far exceeds the 4,400-mAh battery in the Galaxy Z Fold 6, the 4,600-mAh battery in the Pixel Fold 9 Pro, and even the Honor Magic V3's 5,150-mAh battery.

But battery capacity alone doesn't dictate how long a phone will last on a single charge. The processor, screen and software all play a crucial role in determining battery life. And here Tecno made an unusual choice for the V Fold 2's chipset, opting for the 2-year-old Mediatek Dimensity 9000 Plus, the same chipset that powered last year's Phantom V Fold.

Apart from its large battery, the V Fold 2 has four cameras, one less than most book-style foldables. The three on its rear and one on the inner display mean you won't be able to take a selfie when it is closed, unlike its rivals.. And it offers just three years of Android OS upgrades, compared to four for the Magic V3 and seven for the Z Fold 6 and Pixel Fold 9 Pro.

But Tecno made sure to pack this phone with AI-enabled features, most (if not all) of which are underpinned by Google's Cloud AI. It also includes stylus support. It also has an IP54 rating for water and dust resistance.

Tecno hasn't revealed the price of the V Fold 2 yet, but it seems the Chinese company is looking to create a more wallet-friendly breed of foldable phones. The V Fold was probably the most affordable book-style folding phone on the market and it costs 69,999 to 79,999 Indian rupees (around a $1,000; £760; AU$1,490) making it far cheaper than rivals such as the Galaxy Fold 6. I expect similar pricing for the V Fold 2 given Tecno's track record and considering some missing flagship-level specs. 

Tecno may not be a household name like Apple, Samsung or even Huawei, but the Chinese company has cracked the top 10, ranking among the world's largest phone manufacturers. In recent years, Tecno has been building a brand around innovation. Case in point: This month Tecno unveiled a concept trifoldable phone that fits a 10.2-inch screen into your pocket.

Tecno sent me the Phantom V Fold 2 ahead of its international launch on Friday at the IFA 2024 trade show in Berlin. Here are my initial thoughts after using the Phantom V Fold 2.

Design

I immediately noticed the refreshed design of the camera bump. Tecno switched away from a circular camera module to a rectangular one, perhaps as a result of its design collaboration with Spanish luxury brand Loewe. Tecno also managed to shave off 50 grams, bringing the V Fold 2's weight down to 249 grams, which is slightly heavier than the Z Fold 6's 239 grams, but lighter than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which weighs 258 grams. 

Despite its lightweight design, the V Fold feels large in hand, especially compared to the Z Fold 6, which has a narrower cover screen. But using only the cover screen on the V Fold 2 when it's closed feels more like holding and navigating a regular candybar phone. I prefer this experience on book-style foldables compared to narrower ones.

Camera

Among the trio of rear cameras, the Phantom V Fold 2 has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera capable of 2x optical zoom. Since I started testing it, the main camera has taken mostly color-accurate and crisp photos in a variety of lighting conditions, but it has struggled with detail and shadows in low-light environments.

However, the bigger concern was the selfie camera. The 32-megapixel front-facing camera was unable to take accurate or sharp images of my skin even in well-lit environments. The camera tended to whiten my skin and missed details like the fine lines on my forehead (though I'm not sure I really want to see those). I appeared paler than I really am, and the image just didn't look true to life. Take a look at the cameras in action.

Foldable phones aren't known for their camera prowess. That's because there's less space to house larger image sensors and lenses in the thinner halves than the body of a conventional smartphone. Compared to other available book-style phones such as the Magic V3 and the Galaxy Z Fold 6, this device also has noticeably fewer cameras (four versus the typical five) and more limited zoom capabilities. It lacks a second selfie camera, which rival phones have, but that may be a smart tradeoff to bring the price down. 

However, I'd love to see Tecno improve the image quality of the V Fold 2's selfie camera given it has just one. Its main camera also isn't on par with the performance from flagship bar-style phones such as the Google Pixel 9 Pro or the iPhone 15 Pro Max -- however this is common across foldables, even premium models like the Z Fold 6 and the Magic V3.    

Battery and performance

The Phantom V Fold 2 runs on a 5,750-mAh battery, just barely one-upping the capacity of the 5,700-mAh battery on Xiaomi's Mix Fold 4. This battery is not only one of the largest found in a folding phone but one of the largest found in any phone. I ran a 45-minute battery drain test during which I watched YouTube videos, read emails on a split screen and downloaded several graphic-intensive games. The battery drained from 18% to 3%, or a 15% drop. When this test was conducted on Honor's Magic V3, that phone lost 8%. I'll have more conclusive insights on battery life once I spend more time using this device.

Apart from that, the V Fold 2 runs on Mediatek's Dimensity 9000 Plus chipset from 2022. It's a flagship-level mobile chipset designed to rival Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Plus 1 processor from 2022, and is the same processor used in the preceding Phantom V Fold. It also has 12GB RAM, compared to the 12GB of RAM in the Z Fold 6 and 16GB of RAM in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. In two benchmark performance tests I ran, the Phantom V Fold 2 underperformed compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Pixel Fold 9 Pro, showing that the 2-year-old chipset seemingly cannot keep up with the newer silicon powering the foldable's rivals.

Early thoughts

Tecno hasn't revealed the price of the Phantom V Fold 2, which makes it tricky to offer an overall assessment of the device. But the headline feature is the large battery, which sets a record for its capacity. Overall, the Phantom V Fold 2 feels more like a midrange foldable given its lack of finishing touches, particularly an outdated processor on it. Perhaps Tecno is working to capture more global market share with the Phantom V Fold 2, and it believed choosing a 2-year-old processor and only including one selfie camera were necessary trade-offs to keep a lid on prices -- and tempt buyers who just can't stomach paying the sky-high prices of today's premium foldables.