In a world where every new smartphone seems to be chasing thicker batteries or complicated camera bumps, TECNO has opted for a different path, unapologetically prioritizing slimness over everything else.

The TECNO SPARK Slim isn’t just thin. With its 5.93mm profile, it’s a statement piece, a device that openly dares you to check your pocket just to make sure you didn’t leave it on the table. The official retail price for the 8GB/256 GB version in the Philippines is P9,499, or roughly $165.

We’ve spent quality time pushing this new handset to its limits, trying to determine if it can truly carve out its own territory in this fiercely contested budget space. Can this device live up to the buzz it built when TECNO first teased it at this year’s Mobile World Congress, or will it falter right out of the gate? It’s time to settle the score.

@revuphilippines Unboxing the world’s slimmest 3D-curved phone: the #TECNOSlim. 📱✨ In case you missed our article about its upcoming launch in the Philippines, check it out here: https://bit.ly/TECNOSlimPHLaunch via #RevuDotComDotPH. #PowerinSlim #TECNOSPARKSlim #TECNOPhilippines @Tecno Mobile Philippine Store @monch @Alora Uy Guerrero ♬ original sound – Revu Philippines

Unboxing the TECNO SPARK Slim

Slim, not shady

Let’s just get the obvious out of the way: This thing is ridiculously — maybe even almost dangerously — thin. And for the record, we mean that in the best way possible.

The TECNO SPARK Slim is easily one of the sleekest phones we’ve ever held. That much was clear from the moment we first saw it at MWC 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. Measuring a crazy-thin 5.93mm at its narrowest point, the device is so slim it borders on feeling weightless. We actually had to pat our pockets frequently just to make sure we hadn’t lost it.

TECNO is marketing this as the “world’s slimmest 3D-curved AI phone.” Off the top of our heads, only a couple of flagship competitors — like the 5.64mm Apple iPhone Air and the 5.8mm Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge — can claim to be skinnier. But compared to the brick-like standard smartphone fare out there, that profile genuinely stands out. The SPARK Slim is also incredibly lightweight, tipping the scales at just 156 grams.

So, how did TECNO pull this off? It all boils down to the design, of course. According to the company, it used slimmed-down, essential components — think a sleeker battery, motherboard, and even the USB-C and SIM-card tray — to really cut the fat. It also leverages a “honeycomb space-stacking technology” to compress components and their spacing, which TECNO claims boosts PCB density and extends battery space. All told, this supposedly gives the SPARK Slim an improved internal space utilization rate of 12%.

Naturally, those svelte dimensions mean holding the phone for a long time is a joy. Catching up on all the seasons — including the final one — of My Hero Academia felt fantastic. This mobile is made for kicking back on the couch and scrolling one-handed. Gaming? Same story. It feels excellent in the hand. Plus, its industry-leading thinness gives us a sweet bonus: We could actually use our telescoping USB-C game controllers without having to pull the included plastic case off, which is a rarity even among modern smartphones.

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Now for the flip side. Because it’s so slight, the TECNO SPARK Slim can be prone to slippage, especially if you’re used to more chunky handsets. We’ve had a few heart-stopping close calls with our unit, so consider this your fair warning.

Unsurprisingly, the phone ditches the 3.5mm headphone jack, which is completely understandable given how skinny it is. If the USB-C port barely fits on the frame, something has to go, right? In this case, it’s the legacy port that audiophiles typically look out for. To TECNO’s credit, though, it managed a surprise win in the form of a stereo-speaker setup. Apple couldn’t even manage that on the iPhone Air. While the sound is, understandably, light on bass given the space constraints, it’s decent and packs a reasonable punch in the mids and highs.

As a bonus, the setup comes with Dolby Atmos tuning. This uses software magic to create a more immersive surround-sound experience, boosting loudness and improving dialogue clarity across everything from podcasts to videos.

But just because it’s super-slim doesn’t mean it’s fragile. In fact, TECNO claims the SPARK Slim is robust. It sports an IP64 rating, meaning it can shrug off accidental splashes and keep dust out of its internals. The curved glass up front, protecting that sweet AMOLED panel, is Corning Gorilla Glass 7i. That’s a major step up from the older Gorilla Glass 5 protection, reportedly doubling the protection against the inevitable drops and bumps. Factor in its internal high-strength structural design and tough fiberglass back, and this thing has apparently passed a military-grade shock-resistance test. So yeah, despite head-turning ergonomics, the TECNO SPARK Slim might just survive your butterfingers.

Beyond that 5.93mm frame, the other head-turner here is definitely the back panel — specifically, TECNO’s Mood Light Design, which puts two circular LED rings around the rear camera lenses. They glow to act as a notification system for messages and missed calls, among others. And yes, they absolutely resemble the two big, lovable eyes of Disney’s inflatable healthcare robot, Baymax.

Beyond the basics

Up front, the TECNO SPARK Slim boasts a gorgeous 6.78-inch AMOLED screen, subtly curved on the sides. It runs at an impressive 1.5K resolution and supports a smooth 144Hz refresh rate — which is surprising at this price point. However, note that 144Hz is reserved for system apps. The games we tested were typically capped at 60Hz or 120Hz, a limitation likely due to the smartphone’s budget chipset.

What really impressed us, though, is the sheer brightness. Seriously, we had to squint the first time we cranked up our unit. It can get pretty blinding. TECNO claims a peak of 4,500 nits, and while we can’t test that ourselves, we can attest that the screen’s overall brightness is truly out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately, for all that brightness, the panel doesn’t support HDR on YouTube. The maximum quality we could stream was 1440p at 60fps. That said, the 20:9 aspect ratio feels great for social media and one-handed use.

As mentioned earlier, the back features those dual camera circles. However, only one cutout houses a usable camera sensor; the other is essentially filler. There’s no dedicated ultrawide or zoom lens here. This one-and-done approach to camera hardware is, perhaps, the SPARK Slim’s single biggest trade-off.

Thankfully, that single 50-megapixel rear sensor is plenty capable. In daylight, it captures bright, detailed shots with balanced contrast and accurate colors. Portrait mode manages to impress, too. The bokeh effect looks pleasingly natural, offering great separation between the subject and the background. Even in low light, the TECNO SPARK Slim holds its own surprisingly well, keeping noise levels manageable and maintaining a decent dynamic range. Video capture is capped at 2K resolution at 30fps for both the front and rear cameras.

Sample shots

For selfies and video chat, the 13-megapixel front camera is reasonably competent. Skin tones look natural, though highlights can still blow out in harsh sunlight. The selfie camera is coupled with a wide-angle lens, meaning you can comfortably squeeze in a friend or two for group selfies without awkward fish-eye distortion. Plus, it supports auto-focus. Your selfies should, therefore, remain sharp, with the focus locked onto your face even if your hands aren’t perfectly steady.

As for AI photo processing, all the modern tricks are present and accounted for. That means you can use the AI to effortlessly erase objects and people from your shots — albeit with various degrees of success. Selfies and portraits also get a creative boost with the built-in camera app’s AIGC mode. This feature lets you apply artistic, almost painterly transformations to any image in your gallery with a simple tap.

AIGC mode-generated outputs: The author vs his AI equivalent 😀

Under the hood, the SPARK Slim is powered by MediaTek’s capable Helio G200 4G chipset, which is built on an efficient 6nm process. Our unit ships with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is more than ample for our usual gauntlet of testing apps and games. Connectivity is solid with 4G/LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC, ensuring you don’t miss any modern essentials. The phone ships with Android 15 and TECNO’s lightly customized HiOS overlay. It’s visibly cleaner than previous versions and thankfully only comes with a handful of preinstalled apps.

Performance-wise, the Helio G200 is roughly comparable to its predecessor, the Helio G100, offering marginal gains in clock speed and power optimization. Our device achieved a score of 591,552 points in the Antutu Benchmark and 733 and 1,978 in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. Everyday tasks such as browsing and streaming are handled smoothly, and even certain demanding titles like GRID Autosport and Oniro are perfectly playable at low settings.

One clear upside to having a non-flagship chip like the Helio G200 is that the TECNO SPARK Slim excels at thermal management. Of course, having a large vapor chamber that the brand says boasts a heat-dissipation area of 24,532mm² also helps. Internal temperatures consistently stayed below 40 degrees Celsius, and even after over an hour of playing Oniro, we observed zero signs of severe thermal throttling.

The CPU Throttling Test app showed the chip only throttled to 82% of its peak performance — an impressive result. Even in 3DMark’s notoriously stressful Wildlife Stress Test, the smartphone registered a staggering 99% stability, meaning performance remained virtually unchanged even after 20 continuous runs.

Uncompromised battery life and charging

TECNO managed to pack a sizable 5,160mAh battery into the SPARK Slim, despite its ridiculous 5.93mm frame. This is incredible, as the battery is typically the first casualty when OEMs try to build a phone this thin.

In the PCMark battery test, our unit lasted 10 hours and 58 minutes. That’s a respectable result. In real-world usage, however, the SPARK Slim performed better. Streaming a 1080p 60fps video on YouTube for 30 minutes only drained the battery by 2%, and an episode of My Hero Academia on Crunchyroll cost just 5%, with the brightness maxed out. Even after 90 minutes of intensive gaming, the drain was a manageable 22%.

When it’s time to top up, the TECNO SPARK Slim supports 45-watt fast wired charging right out of the box. We clocked a 70% charge in half an hour, and a full charge took about 65 minutes. That means quick top-ups are a reality, drastically minimizing your downtime. You can essentially get a full charge — or close to it — in the same time it takes to finish an episode or two of your favorite show.

The SPARK Slim also supports bypass charging, which is a great feature for heavy gamers. It allows the phone to draw power directly from the charger, bypassing the battery to minimize heat and prevent thermal throttling during those long gaming sessions.

Final thoughts

The TECNO SPARK Slim is a clear engineering flex. Can a smartphone be slim, not shady? The answer is a resounding yes. For a device that starts at just P7,999 ($138), you get a bright and crisp AMOLED display, great thermals, and — most impressively — a large 5,160mAh battery that defied all expectations for a 5.93mm chassis.

Yes, the camera suite is limited to a one-and-done approach, and the chipset isn’t built for flagship gaming, but those are fair tradeoffs for a device that offers such a unique, premium-feeling form factor at an aggressive price tag. If you’re tired of bulky phones and crave a handset that effortlessly slips into any pocket while delivering all-day power, the TECNO SPARK Slim is, without a doubt, the slimmest surprise of the year.

TECNO SPARK Slim specs

• 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display, 1.5K resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, 4,500 nits peak brightness, 2,160Hz PWM dimming
• 6nm MediaTek Helio G200 4G processor
• Mali-G57 MC2 GPU
• 8GB LPDDR4X RAM
• 128GB/256GB UFS 2.2 storage
• Dual 50-megapixel main camera, 2-megapixel rear cameras
• 13-megapixel front camera
• Under-display fingerprint reader
• 5,160mAh battery with 45-watt fast wired charging
• HiOS based on Android 15
• Colors: Slim White, Cool Black

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