English
We put the Tecno Camon 40 Pro 5G through our rigorous DXOMARK Camera test suite to measure its performance in photo, video, and zoom quality from an end-user perspective. This article breaks down how the device fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases and is intended to highlight the most important results of our testing with an extract of the captured data.
Overview
Key camera specifications:
- Primary:50MP 1/1.56″ sensor, OIS
- Ultra-wide: 8MP
Scoring
Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.
Tecno Camon 40 Pro 5G
Use cases & Conditions
Use case scores indicate the product performance in specific situations. They are not included in the overall score calculations.
Outdoor
Photos & videos shot in bright light conditions (≥1000 lux)
Indoor
Photos & videos shot in good lighting conditions (≥100lux)
Lowlight
Photos & videos shot in low lighting conditions (<100 lux)
Friends & Family
Portrait and group photo & videos
42nd 1stPros
- Well-exposed photos and extended dynamic range
- Pleasant exposure in video
- Well-rendered skin tones for all skin types in photo
- Well-preserved details in photo and video
- Good segmentation and blur effect on bokeh mode
- High detail preservation when zooming in for zoom ratio up to 3x
Cons
- Visible noise in photo, especially in low-light conditions
- Device can be a bit slow to capture the moment
- Some fusion artifacts or ghosting in photo
- Visible noise in videos taken in indoor and low-light conditions
- Sharpness inconsistencies in challenging moving scenes in video
- Slight focus and exposure instabilities in video
The Tecno Camon 40 Pro stands out as the best camera phone in its price category, particularly excelling in photography. In bright lighting conditions, it surpasses competitors like the Samsung Galaxy A55 with its extended dynamic range and superior texture-to-noise balance, producing stunning portraits and landscapes. Its low-light performance is also impressive, outperforming rivals in key attributes such as exposure, color, dynamic range, and texture. Even in other challenging conditions, it preserves highlights effectively while maintaining detail and minimizing noise.
Tecno has also made significant efforts to deliver natural colors across various lighting conditions and skin tones. While its video performance is competitive within its price range, there is room for improvement, particularly in reducing noise in low-light environments and on image stabilization. The device has been tested in 4K at 30fps, where these aspects impact the user experience. Although this version does not include a dedicated telephoto lens, its digital zoom performance remains satisfactory, comparable to alternatives like the Samsung Galaxy A55 or even the Google Pixel 8a.
The Tecno Camon 40 Pro 5G is the first smartphone to earn DXOMARK’s Smart Choice label, which highlights the device’s exceptional camera performance for its price range.
Test summary
About DXOMARK Camera tests: DXOMARK’s Camera evaluations take place in laboratories and in real-world situations using a wide variety of subjects. The scores rely on objective tests for which the results are calculated directly by measurement software on our laboratory setups, and on perceptual tests in which a sophisticated set of metrics allow a panel of image experts to compare aspects of image quality that require human judgment. Testing a smartphone involves a team of engineers and technicians for about a week. Photo, Zoom, and Video quality are scored separately and then combined into an Overall score for comparison among the cameras in different devices. For more information about the DXOMARK Camera protocol, click here. More details on smartphone camera scores are available here. The following section gathers key elements of DXOMARK’s exhaustive tests and analyses. Full performance evaluations are available upon request. Please contact us on how to receive a full report.
Photo
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For scoring and analysis, DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2,600 test images both in controlled lab environments and in outdoor, indoor and low-light natural scenes, using the camera’s default settings. The photo protocol is designed to take into account the main use cases and is based on typical shooting scenarios, such as portraits, family, and landscape photography. The evaluation is performed by visually inspecting images against a reference of natural scenes, and by running objective measurements on images of charts captured in the lab under different lighting conditions from 1 to 1,000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.
In photo, the Tecno Camon 40 Pro outperformed competitors, thanks to its advanced software optimizations. It delivers a well-balanced exposure strategy, accurately targeting various lighting scenarios while ensuring efficient HDR processing. Colors appear vivid yet natural, with pleasant skin-tone rendering across different conditions. A notable advantage over similarly priced or even slightly higher-end competitors is the Tecno Camon 40 Pro’s superior detail recovery, allowing for sharp images, even though image noise was sometimes higher than its best rivals in low light. The only other minor drawback observed in certain challenging scenes was the presence of HDR processing artifacts, such as ghosting and halo effects, but these issues were infrequent and did not significantly impact overall image quality.
Exposure
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130
Color
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130
Exposure and color are the key attributes for technically good pictures. For exposure, the main attribute evaluated is the brightness of the main subject through various use cases such as landscape, portrait, or still life. Other factors evaluated are the contrast and the dynamic range, eg. the ability to render visible details in both bright and dark areas of the image. Repeatability is also important because it demonstrates the camera's ability to provide the same rendering when shooting several images of the same scene.
For color, the image quality attributes analyzed are skin-tone rendering, white balance, color shading, and repeatability. For color and skin tone rendering, we penalize unnatural colors but we respect a manufacturer's choice of color signature.
Autofocus
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125
Autofocus tests concentrate on focus accuracy, focus repeatability, shooting time delay, and depth of field. Shooting delay is the difference between the time the user presses the capture button and the time the image is actually taken. It includes focusing speed and the capability of the device to capture images at the right time, what is called 'zero shutter lag' capability. Even if a shallow depth of field can be pleasant for a single subject portrait or close-up shot, it can also be a problem in some specific conditions such as group portraits; Both situations are tested. Focus accuracy is also evaluated in all the real-life images taken, from infinity to close-up objects and in low light to outdoor conditions.
Texture
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125
Texture tests analyze the level of details and the texture of subjects in the images taken in the lab as well as in real-life scenarios. For natural shots, particular attention is paid to the level of details in the bright and dark areas of the image. Objective measurements are performed on chart images taken in various lighting conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and different kinds of dynamic range conditions. The charts used are the proprietary DXOMARK chart (DMC) and the Dead Leaves chart.
Noise
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Noise tests analyze various attributes of noise such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, structure on real-life images as well as images of charts taken in the lab. For natural images, particular attention is paid to the noise on faces, landscapes, but also on dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Noise on moving objects is also evaluated on natural images. Objective measurements are performed on images of charts taken in various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and different kinds of dynamic range conditions. The chart used is the Dead Leaves chart and the standardized measurement such as Visual Noise derived from ISO 15739.
Artifacts
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The artifacts evaluation looks at lens shading, chromatic aberrations, geometrical distortion, edges ringing, halos, ghosting, quantization, unexpected color hue shifts, among others type of possible unnatural effects on photos. The more severe and the more frequent the artifact, the higher the point deduction on the score. The main artifacts observed and corresponding point loss are listed below.
Bokeh
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85
Bokeh is tested in one dedicated mode, usually portrait or aperture mode, and analyzed by visually inspecting all the images captured in the lab and in natural conditions. The goal is to reproduce portrait photography comparable to one taken with a DLSR and a wide aperture. The main image quality attributes paid attention to are depth estimation, artifacts, blur gradient, and the shape of the bokeh blur spotlights. Portrait image quality attributes (exposure, color, texture) are also taken into account.
Zoom
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169
DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate over 400 test images in controlled lab environments and in outdoor, indoor, and low-light natural scenes, using the camera’s default settings and pinch zoom at various zoom factors from ultra wide to very long-range zoom. The evaluation is performed by visually inspecting the images against a reference of natural scenes, and by running objective measurements of chart mages captured in the lab under different conditions from 20 to 1000 lux and color temperatures from 2300K to 6500K.
Despite the absence of a dedicated telephoto module, the Tecno Camon 40 Pro delivered a commendable zoom performance. Images captured using the ultra-wide module offered satisfying results in terms of exposure and color rendering, though detail retention remained somewhat limited, which was expected given the hardware specifications.
When zooming in digitally, the device maintained decent rendering up to 3x, with well-managed exposure and color balance. While the level of detail was not on par with devices featuring dedicated zoom lenses, it remained acceptable, allowing users to capture memorable shots with clarity and natural tones.
Wide
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These tests analyze the performance of the ultra-wide camera at several focal lengths from 12 mm to 20 mm. All image quality attributes are evaluated, with particular attention paid to such artifacts as chromatic aberrations, lens softness, and distortion. Pictures below are an extract of tested scenes.
Tele
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All image quality attributes are evaluated at focal lengths from approximately 40 mm to 300 mm, with particular attention paid to texture and detail. The score is derived from a number of objective measurements in the lab and perceptual analysis of real-life images.
Video
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DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2.5 hours of video in controlled lab environments and in natural low-light, indoor and outdoor scenes, using the camera’s default settings. The evaluation consists of visually inspecting natural videos taken in various conditions and running objective measurements on videos of charts recorded in the lab under different conditions from 1 to 1000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.
The Tecno Camon 40 Pro was tested in 4K at 30fps, with only SDR format available, meaning users must choose between HDR capture and SDR recording. In terms of performance, it aligned well with competitors in the same price segment, allowing users to capture key dynamic moments. However, it still fell short of top performers in the DXOMARK database, which offer professional-level video quality.
In all lighting conditions, exposure and color management were well handled, ensuring visually pleasing footage. However, noticeable noise in low-light conditions remained a challenge, particularly in darker scenes. Additionally, some slight instabilities in focus and exposure adaptation were observed, impacting the overall experience. Lastly, while the device does include stabilization, it struggled to deliver perfectly smooth video, which could be a drawback for users looking for consistently steady footage.
Exposure
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116
Color
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120
Exposure tests evaluate the brightness of the main subject and the dynamic range, eg. the ability to render visible details in both bright and dark areas of the image. Stability and temporal adaption of the exposure are also analyzed.
Image-quality color analysis looks at color rendering, skin-tone rendering, white balance, color shading, stability of the white balance and its adaption when light is changing.
Texture
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118
Texture tests analyze the level of details and texture of the real-life videos as well as the videos of charts recorded in the lab. Natural videos recordings are visually evaluated, with particular attention paid to the level of details in the bright and areas as well as in the dark. Objective measurements are performed of images of charts taken in various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux. The charts used are the DXOMARK chart (DMC) and Dead Leaves chart.
Noise
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120
Noise tests analyze various attributes of noise such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, structure, temporal aspects on real-life video recording as well as videos of charts taken in the lab. Natural videos are visually evaluated, with particular attention paid to the noise in the dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Objective measurements are performed on the videos of charts recorded in various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux. The chart used is the DXOMARK visual noise chart.
Stabilization
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119
Stabilization evaluation tests the ability of the device to stabilize footage thanks to software or hardware technologies such as OIS, EIS, or any others means. The evaluation looks at residual motion, smoothness, jellow artifacts and residual motion blur on walk and run use cases in various lighting conditions. The video below is an extract from one of the tested scenes.
Artifacts
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Artifacts are evaluated with MTF and ringing measurements on the SFR chart in the lab as well as frame-rate measurements using the LED Universal Timer. Natural videos are visually evaluated by paying particular attention to artifacts such as aliasing, quantization, blocking, and hue shift, among others. The more severe and the more frequent the artifact, the higher the point deduction from the score. The main artifacts and corresponding point loss are listed below.