Tecno Phantom V Fold vs Galaxy Z Fold 4: Affordable vs Expensive: Full Specifications Compared

Tecno recently launched its first foldable smartphone in India. However, the Tecno Phantom V Fold 5G doesn’t just hold the title of ‘Tecno’s first foldable’ but is also the most affordable foldable smartphone in India. And lastly, it is pretty much the only non-Samsung foldable smartphone in India.

So we’ve decided to do a little comparison between the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Phantom V Fold how and if Tecno’s first foldable smartphone can keep pace with the best Samsung has to offer. We’ll start by comparing the Tecno Phantom V Fold price with the pricing of the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Tecno Phantom V Fold vs Galaxy Fold 4

The Phantom V Fold 5G price in India starts from Rs 89,999. However, the phone will be available at a special early bird price of Rs 77,777 starting April 12, 2023. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 price in India starts from Rs 1,54,999. But what does this massive difference in price get you:

Build

For one, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is marginally lighter and slimmer than the Phantom V Fold. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 also features a tougher build with Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection on the back as opposed to the textured recycled plastic back on the Phantom V Fold. Moreover, we found that the Phantom V Fold has virtually no gap when folded, while Samsung’s gap when folded was quite noticeable.

Moving on to colours and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 comes in Graygreen, Phantom Black, Beige, and Burgundy options, while the Phantom V Fold is offered in Black and White colour options. Lastly, the biggest advantage here in Samsung’s favour is the IPX8 rating for water resistance.

Display

When it comes to the displays on both phones, it’s pretty much even-stevens. When unfolded, the Tecno Phantom V Fold has a larger 7.85-inch AMOLED display with a 2296 x 2000-pixel resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a 7.6-inch AMOLED panel with a 1812 x 2176-pixel resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Both screens feature LTPO technology for an adaptive refresh rate. Both displays also have a nearly identical peak brightness, although Samsung’s screen maxes out at 100 nits more.

When folded, the outer display of the Phantom V Fold measures 6.42 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2550 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. The Galaxy Z Fold 4, on the other hand, features a 6.2-inch outer AMOLED screen with a with a resolution of 904 x 2316 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. Both outer displays use LTPO technology for an adaptive refresh rate.

Samsung’s cover display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+, while the Phantom V Fold has a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus protection on the outer display. When it comes to use cases, the Phantom V Fold has noticeable less crease than the Galaxy Z Fold 4, while the gap. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has two major advantages here; one being its ability to be used in multiple different orientations, including like a mini laptop. And secondly, the selfie camera positioned under the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s screen offers in uninterrupted experience.

Performance & Software

For performance, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 opts for a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, while the Phantom V Fold uses the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ SoC. Both handsets are equipped with 12GB of RAM as standard, although the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is offered with up to 1TB of UFS 3.1 storage as opposed to 512GB on the Phantom V Fold. It is worth noting that Tecno uses the latest LPDDR5X RAM as opposed to LPDDR5 RAM on the Z Fold 4. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 runs on Android 13 out of the box with the One UI 5.1 skin on top.

Tecno’s latest foldable smartphone also runs Android 13 based on the HiOS 13 Fold skin. Since we haven’t put the Tecno Phantom V Fold through its paces, we’ll have to give Samsung the advantage here, particularly because of the brand’s experience with the foldable form factor as well as the convenience, customizability, and reliability, of One UI. Another big advantage for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is that it offers stylus support through the S Pen.

Cameras

For optics, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a triple-camera setup on the back with a 50 MP primary sensor with OIS at the helm. The other two camera sensors include a 10 MP telephoto unit with OIS and 3x optical zoom and a 12 MP ultra-wide shooter. The Galaxy Z Fold 4’s cover screen features a 10 MP selfie camera, while the under-display front camera on the internal display boasts a 4 MP resolution, although this sensor’s primary use case is meant to be video calling.

Switching over to the Phantom V Fold and you’re also left with a triple rear camera setup. The Phantom V Fold’s setup includes a 50 MP primary sensor, a 50 MP telephoto unit with 2x optical zoom, and a 13 MP ultrawide shooter. The internal display on the Phantom V Fold gets a 16 MP camera sensor, while the cover screen opts for a 32 MP selfie shooter.

In terms of video capability, the Galaxy Z Fold can record 8K video at 24fps or 4K video at up to 60fps, while the Phantom V Fold is limited to 4K video recording at 30fps. Additionally, video recording on the 32 MP selfie camera is limited to 1080p at 60fps, while the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s camera on the cover display maxes out at 4K 60fps. While we haven’t tested out the camera performance on the Phantom V Fold, the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s cameras border on flagship-grade, making it the clear winner here.

Battery

We are yet to test the battery life on the Phantom V Fold but the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s 4,400 mAh battery was always sufficient to get through an entire day of usage on a single charge. Tecno does have an advantage here with a considerably bigger 5,000 mAh battery capacity.

Additionally, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 maxes out at 25W wired charging support as opposed to 45W on the Phantom V Fold, while the latter also comes with a charging adapter in the box. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 does bring 15W wireless charging support, which isn’t present on Tecno’s foldable smartphone.

Final Thoughts

Going by specifications alone, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the clear winner in this foldable smartphone battle, although Samsung’s victory comes at a premium price. The Tecno Phantom V Fold is nearly half the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 4, so lot of the compromises here are natural. Moreover, the Phantom V Fold is a first-generation foldable whereas Samsung has had four attempts to perfect the foldable smartphone formula. Overall, the Tecno Phantom V Fold perfectly fits the bill of a foldable smartphone.

It doesn’t do a lot wrong, and it provides access to the foldable smartphone form factor a very reasonable price, much like most of Tecno’s smartphones. However, Samsung has had time to perfect the foldable smartphone formula and it shows. Of the two devices, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is definitely the more reliable, while the Phantom V Fold is much more reasonably priced. However, the Phantom V Fold also takes a major step in making the horizontal foldable form factor more accessible than ever before.