During IFA 2024, TECNO unveiled its new AI vision, which will focus on bringing "practical AI" to smartphones around the world. As part of this, the company showed off new features we can expect to see on its phones, including tools that will let users summarize, translate, and create. The company has also been teasing its upcoming foldable phones, the Phantom V Fold 2 and Phantom V Flip 2, which are expected to arrive soon and will likely be low-cost alternatives to devices like Samsung's latest Galaxy Z series foldables.
I had the opportunity to ask TECNO's Chief Marketing Officer, Laury Bai, about the company's AI strategy and how it plans to make AI useful for emerging markets.
The meaning of "practical AI"
TECNO is no stranger to AI. The company previously launched its own AI assistant called Ella, which was powered by ChatGPT and is already found on devices like the Camon 30 Premier 5G. However, as part of the company's new vision, Ella has been upgraded with capabilities from Gemini, enabling tons of new features and conversational abilities for users, and thus becoming more practical.
"For example, after integrating Gemini, Ella has the ability to do AI search, provide the best response, real-time analyze, and effectively solve the problems with the latest data," Bai tells me in an interview.
Beyond AI interactions, Ella can also do more Assistant-like functions, such as toggling Bluetooth on/off, enabling power-saving mode, and over 600 system functions. But more so, Bai says that one of the biggest benefits of using Ella over other assistants is that there are more local languages available, which ties in with TECNO's main mission: to bridge the gap in the technology experience between developed countries and developing countries.
"There is a clear technology gap, especially with AI being very advanced in places like the US, while lots of consumers living in emerging markets are still behind," Bai explains. Because of this, TECNO focuses its efforts on making its products more accessible to these markets.
According to Bai, language is one of the main ways that AI becomes practical for users and guides how the company develops its new AI features. He says that when Samsung launched its first batch of Galaxy AI features, TECNO received feedback that the AI could not fully understand them. So, TECNO focused on ensuring that its AI would support various dialects.
"Talking about English, it differs across countries, like Nigerian English and Kenyan English. They have things in common, but they have very different accents. Also in India, there are a lot of local languages."
However, the idea of practical AI also extends to other AI features introduced in TECNO's new AI vision, which focuses on both efficiency and creativity. As highlighted in the video above, the company showed off features such as Real-Time Translation for calls and texts, AI writing to summarize or even generate text, and AI Search to provide real-world and context-based results. On the creativity side, TECNO also showed off new image editing features like Smart Eraser, which is not too unlike Google's own Magic Eraser, and AI Artboard, which lets users generate images from text.
Foldables and AI for all
TECNO's mission to bring useful AI features to more users in emerging markets also correlates with the company's hardware strategy. TECNO's devices offer plenty of value, bringing impressive designs and specs while undercutting the competition in various smartphone categories. This also includes foldable phones, with the company's first models, such as the Phantom V Flip, costing hundreds of dollars less than their competitors.
Bai says TECNO wants to ensure that it develops products that aren't detached from its target audience by stuffing them with exorbitant specs and features. "We believe that those high-end and mid-range phones should be designed and priced based on local market needs and focusing on the most core demands." That said, TECNO's products still offer a lot for what you get. The original Phantom V Fold comes with a 7.85-inch folding OLED display, a 50MP triple camera system, and is powered by a very capable Mediatek Dimensity 9000 Plus, while the V Flip features a circular cover screen, a 4,000mAh battery with 45W charging, and is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 8050.
Now, the company is looking forward to its next foldable phones, which will be equipped with the AI features outlined in the company's AI vision. According to Bai, the Phantom V Fold 2 will focus on productivity, thanks to a larger screen, while the Phantom V Flip 2 will be targeted at "fashionable consumers."
And if the upcoming foldables are anything like their predecessors, we can expect them to be priced well below the likes of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6.
Something extraordinary is on the horizon. Get ready for the upcoming #PHANTOM that lets you write, draw, and express yourself in new and innovative ways! ✍️ pic.twitter.com/o5K4mqa4H1September 10, 2024
While AI has become a hot topic for less-than-desirable reasons, TECNO says it is ensuring that consumer data will be protected with the advent of on-device AI and the ability to manage these features in the device settings.
"We process sensitive data such as real-time translation through on-device computing," Bai explains. "However, we will also combine cloud-based AI. Regarding cloud-based AI, our AI assistant is integrated with Gemini, and our partner Google will also protect user privacy with its advanced technology and strict principles concerning network security for users."
These principles also extend to the types of content users can generate with TECNO's AI, and the company says that it has safeguards in place (through the training of AI models and a partnership with Microsoft Azure) to keep consumers from producing offensive or harmful content on its devices. Of course, even giants like Google have slipped up with the launch of new features on its Pixel 9 series devices, so it'll be interesting to see if TECNO can avoid the same problems, but Bai seems confident that it can.
What about that tri-fold phone?
Ahead of revealing its new AI vision, TECNO also showed off the Phantom Ultimate 2, a concept phone with a tri-fold design. It features a unique design with a single display that folds into three different sections. When folded, it's only 11mm thick, which is thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It can be adjusted to various form factors based on how it's being used.
For now, it's just a concept, but TECNO is hopeful that it will be more than that. However, a tri-fold device brings some interesting challenges that TECNO has to overcome, and it obviously needs to make sense to launch a device like this.
"In fact, the challenge is to really find consumers' needs and user behavior towards this kind of factors or shapes," Bai tells me. "What exactly are the local consumers' needs? We need to design this kind of phone that can be well-connected by local consumers in emerging markets. That's hard."
Pricing is probably one of the biggest challenges. Regular foldable phones can be pricey, and TECNO has obviously found a way to overcome this. However, as we've seen with the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design, which starts at roughly $2,809, a tri-fold phone enters a whole new price category that may be hard to avoid, at least for now.
Given TECNO's focus on making hardware and software more accessible in emerging markets where buying a $3000 phone may not be possible, a tri-fold phone probably isn't practical in the near term. "We need to find more local scenarios where people will use the device in [these countries]. I think that's the hardest part."
However, it's clear TECNO is at least thinking about this, and the company is planning to show off the Phantom Ultimate 2 at MWC 2025. But until then, we can look forward to its upcoming foldable launch alongside its practical new AI features.
