TECNO Boom J8 is the latest addition to the series of smartphones in the market, specifically coming as a second in the Boom series and also a successor to the Boom J7. TECNO introduced the Boom series in 2015 as a dedicated smartphone for music on the go with a dedicated music streaming app and great audio quality.
Fast forward to 2016, we have the Boom J8 with a lot of obvious changes in design and music player (Boom Player) interface. Infact there is a new user interface which TECNO decided to name HiOS and a completely new design.
You can check out the unboxing of the Boom J8 here and also watch the Unboxing video here
What has changed?
Very noticeable is the design of the Boom J8, a good number of people actually asked me at first hand if it was an iPhone because it really takes after the iPhone design. Welcome animation has changed, volume rocker (Volume up and Volume down) are now separate as well as the overall experience, thanks to the new HiOS. Notification panel also has a subtle change, the icons now look different.
The design is plastic with a metallic rim around the edges, speaker grills placed at the bottom ‘looks so iPhone’ but hey, only one of the grills function as a speaker (the Left side), the other just complements the design.
A piece of advice here: Maybe you shouldn’t buy the white colour variant because the back cover is prone to scratches and dirt, however you can use the complimentary phone case that came with it if you are so in love with white otherwise you opt for the variant with a “sandpaper like” back cover.
Notification light has been replaced with a pulsating light just below the screen, this also act as the equalizer light that responds to the beats of the music. I think this is fancy and one of my best features on the phone because the light just makes the phone cool on a dark night when playing music.
Its HiOS but not an iPhone
TECNO has adopted a new user interface, the HiOS which seems to confuse people as its more likely to be pronounced as Apple’s iOS. Although it doesn’t seem close to iOS, it still has its own shine. As mentioned earlier, the experience on the phone is different, apps now take a square shape, app launcher exist and apps can be grouped into folders.
The interface of the shut down/restart windows is now different but cool. Yes! Instead of a tap you either slide up or down to power off or reboot the device.
In the overall, HiOS interface is smooth, manages RAM efficiently and I have to say it is impressive for the first trial, nevertheless TECNO please an update to the HiOS is necessary, there are bugs here and there.
You looking for a super camera? Face forward!
If you are photographer by heart and you would like to take stunning photos, I bet the J8 is not your friend. Camera interface and settings is just basic, no settings, no tweaks to play around with except for the basics such as panorama, HDR and slow mo. Well maybe it can pass because it’s a music phone otherwise TECNO think people who love music don’t care about pictures so they have to be patient for the Camon C9.
The front facing camera has a flash but it really does not have any “ghenghen” effect on pictures taken at night. The 13MP camera at the back still shoots moderate quality pictures so Instagram lovers can smile. Daylight pictures are good but low light conditions will give you a seemingly busy image.
..and below are pictures taken under low light.
..and here is selfie picture taken under low light, looking very busy.
Some users may also experience about 5 seconds delay when switching camera to selfie mode. I didn’t believe it could ever take that long to switch from back camera to front camera.
2GB RAM seem perfect but almost half of the internal storage is gone
The Boom J8 comes with 2GB of RAM and internal memory of 16GB but you only have access to about 9GB out of the box to cater for your apps and multimedia. Over 5GB has been chopped off by the phone system
The 2GB RAM works well for this mid-range smartphone, phone function smoothly and surprisingly web pages opened on the native brower don’t reload even after you have left the app. Restarting the device does not clear apps, instead they still remain when you hit the multitasking button. Very impressive all thanks to the optimized HiOS.
Hurray!! Its all about the music (Boom)
The Boom J8 is all about music music and music. The quality of the audio from the speakers is noble as well as the bass effect. There is a proprietary Boom Max app which gives users flexibility to change the tone of the music from reggae to Highlife to soul, Afropop etc.
The Boom Max app is also smart enough to automatically detect the whether you are playing via the phone speaker or using a earphone. Apart from that, when using a normal earpiece, Phantom 5 earpiece or the complimentary Boom headphones, you can select either of those to optimize quality of sound….and there it goes, there is support for a Beats studio so you can plug and enjoy.
While the Boom headphone isn’t so Boomy or anything way out of this world, you will sure enjoy the music experience . I like feeling of disconnect I get from the noisy Lagos when I have the headphone on.. Yes and it doesn’t stop there, the headphone makes a good fashion statement.
Battery life is good
The boom J8 battery is capped at 3,000mAh and it takes me for a better part of the day doing pretty basic stuff and more of chatting. Obviously continuous chatting and keeping screen on time longer is a way to test battery life. The Boom J8 didn’t do so bad tho but I always wanted to plug.
One flaw is the fact that it may take forever to charge the phone, my guys in the office literally tell me to plug my phone in the morning and come back to remove it from power when am leaving for home later in the evening.
So that’s our take on the device, in conclusion it is not a bad device for a mid-range category.
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The device is dope and the free headphone is what i really like
The free headset is what will definitely capture everyone`s heart.
What a great reviews you have got here , nice phone
Tecno Mobile knows how to captivate their customers , the device is looking dope
thats y i called them CAPTain ACTIVIty
lol..nice coining
Hi TechCity, this review in my opinion is incomplete. You guys didn’t make mention of the Processor, GPU and a few details. High end users like me need such info. They are the first things I always want to know about a device before buying. I suggest you always give a summary of the key specs at the beginning of each review before the details. Can you pls do something about that.
Thanks.
oh good observation..modify it and post.we will appreciate
that wud be cool..
Wow… Lovely review Ade… You really did justice to it.
abi oo…with the pics,its so interesting
really good cam
ya the came is really nice
nice write up op
the headset is really selling it