Tecno Megabook T15DA laptop

The SSD capacity is divided into two parts: 200 gigabytes are used for the system partition, and the rest remains free. The laptop comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Home operating system, as well as OneLeap utility, which provides wireless connection to a smartphone in the Tecno ecosystem. It also comes with a suite of Microsoft 365 apps that require payment to use. The product is packaged in a stylish cardboard box with a convenient carrying handle.

In addition to the laptop itself, the kit includes a power adapter with a replaceable output cable 1.75 m long, an instruction booklet in Russian, and a sheet with certification information.

Appearance and ergonomics

The device is offered in a gray color, officially called Space Grey. The texture of the surfaces is matte with a slight roughness; handprints are visible on them, but not noticeable.

The overall design of the Tecno Megabook T laptops looks elegant, although the open lid can be a little confusing due to the numerous colorful stickers. Both body panels and the top cover are made of aluminum alloy, providing good rigidity. However, they may flex slightly when pressed hard. We didn't notice any squeaks or clicks during testing, although the torsional strength of the LCD screen lid leaves a lot to be desired.

The laptop is compact: its dimensions are 358x235 mm, and the maximum body thickness is 17.1 mm (including the rear leg up to 20.8 mm). The weight is almost 1.6 kg, which is quite significant for such a device, mainly due to the large battery capacity.

The plastic frame around the screen has different widths: 6.9 mm on the sides, 12 mm at the top (a webcam with an indicator, microphones and a light sensor are located here), and 18.3 mm at the bottom until the edge of the lid bends.

On the bottom of the laptop, in addition to the legs (two small ones in front and one almost across the entire width at the back), there is a ventilation grille. Air is drawn through it to cool the components, so it is recommended to avoid placing the laptop on soft surfaces.

On the back of the case there are larger slots through which the ventilation system removes heated air. They are closed with a curve that hides the hinges, but this creates heating at the bottom of the screen. However, during intensive testing, this turned out to be insignificant.

Ventilation slots are closed by the bend of the lid

The lid with the laptop screen opens to an angle of up to 180 degrees, without touching the table with the bottom edge, and is securely fixed in any position, starting from 10-15 degrees. To keep it closed, magnets are used at the front edge of the case.

The force required to open the lid is noticeable, but it can be opened with one hand without having to hold the bottom. For user convenience, there is a small recess in the middle of the front edge of the case, which is easy to pick up with your finger, which makes opening even more convenient. This is more difficult to do in other places.

On the left side of the laptop there are the following elements: a hole for a Kensington lock, a two-color LED indicator (white + orange), a USB Type-C connector for connecting a power adapter (only power is supported, data transfer is not supported), a full-size HDMI port, USB 3.1 Type ports -A, as well as another USB Type-C, which is fully functional.

On the right there is a tiny hole for the Reset button (to press it you will need a thin tool, such as a straightened paper clip), a slot for microSD memory cards, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports and a combined jack for an audio headset minijack.

The range of interface ports on this compact laptop is quite extensive, although not the most modern by standards. However, in this device, interfaces like Thunderbolt 4 will probably not be particularly relevant in the near future.

The keyboard is completely identical to the one we already had in the Tecno Megabook T15AA model: membrane with an island button arrangement and a three-row numeric keypad. The up and down arrow keys are «half» height.

The indents on the sides of the keyboard are small, amounting to 14 mm. Most buttons are a standard size: 16.2 x 15.7 mm, while the function buttons are slightly smaller: 14.7 x 9.2 mm. The width of the Enter and left Shift keys is 36.8 mm, and the right Shift is 46.4 mm. The distance between the edges of buttons in one row and between rows is 2.9 mm.

Typing on this keyboard is quite comfortable, the sounds when pressed are quite quiet. The full key travel is about 1.4-1.5 mm.

The keyboard is equipped with a white backlight with four brightness levels. At the minimum level it is barely noticeable, but at the maximum it provides sufficient brightness. The backlight is controlled by a key combination, but it automatically turns off after 15 seconds of keyboard inactivity — not the most convenient feature, although it cannot be affected. Both the characters on the keys and their edges are highlighted, although to a lesser extent.

The CapsLock button has a tiny white LED built into it to indicate when this mode is activated.

The power button is located in the upper right corner of the case, outside the keyboard, and is slightly recessed to reduce the likelihood of accidental pressing. It is clearly visible on the surface thanks to its excellent texture and shiny chamfer around it.

This button has a built-in fingerprint scanner.

The webcam is capable of providing resolution up to 1080p at 30 fps, and a mechanical shutter is also provided.

The touchpad is quite large, its dimensions are 120x78 mm. The surface is slightly recessed and has a smoother texture than the body panels, which makes finger control more comfortable, but fingerprints are more noticeable. There are no dedicated keys, but the left and right edges of the touchpad can be used as mouse buttons. A special combination of buttons is provided for quick shutdown.

Screen

The laptop uses a 15.6-inch IPS matrix with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels

The outer surface of the matrix screen has a hard black semi-matte tint with pronounced specularity. There are no special anti-reflective coatings or filters, and there is no air gap. When powered by both mains and battery power and with manual brightness adjustment, the maximum brightness value is 310 cd/m² (measured at the center of the screen against a white background). While avoiding direct sunlight, this brightness allows you to comfortably use the laptop outdoors even on sunny summer days.

These criteria are very tentative and will likely be revised as data accumulates. Note that some improvement in readability can be achieved if the matrix has transreflective properties, which allows you to see the image in the light even when the backlight is turned off. Also, glossy matrices can sometimes be rotated to reflect a uniformly dark image, which can improve readability in bright sunlight. In rooms with bright artificial lighting (about 500 lux), it is convenient to work with a screen brightness of 50 cd/m² or lower.

If the screen brightness setting is 0%, the brightness is reduced to 15 cd/m². In complete darkness, the screen can be made even darker to a comfortable level.

Automatic brightness adjustment is available using the light sensor, which is located to the right of the front camera. In Auto mode, the screen brightness is automatically adjusted based on the ambient light. By default, in the dark the brightness is reduced to 40 cd/m², in bright office lighting (about 550 lux) the screen brightness is 190 cd/m², and in a very bright environment (for example, a clear day outside without direct sunlight) — 310 cd/m². m². The default settings don't always meet user requirements, so we've made additional adjustments to ensure optimal brightness in different conditions.

If the brightness decreases significantly from the maximum value, backlight modulation may be observed. However, the frequency of this modulation is very high (25 kHz), so it is invisible to the human eye and does not cause unpleasant effects.

This laptop uses an IPS matrix. Microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure (black dots are dust on the camera matrix):

Focusing on the screen surface revealed randomly located surface microdefects responsible for the matte properties:

The grain of these defects is several times smaller than the size of the subpixels (the scale of these two photographs is approximately the same), so focusing on microdefects and the focus “jumping” across subpixels when changing the viewing angle are weakly expressed, which is why there is no “crystalline” effect.

We measured brightness at 25 points on the screen spaced at 1/6th of the screen width and height (screen borders not included). Contrast was calculated as the ratio of the brightness of the fields at the measured points:

If you move away from the edges, the uniformity of all three parameters is quite good. The contrast, by modern standards for this type of matrix, is slightly above average. It is visually noticeable that the black field is mainly lightened a little closer to the edges. However, the uneven illumination of the black field is visible only in very dark scenes and in almost complete darkness, which is not a significant drawback.

The screen cover is not very rigid and may deform slightly under slight pressure, which may change the black field illumination characteristics. However, without external influences, everything returns to normal.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant loss of brightness or color changes, even at large tilt angles. However, if it deviates diagonally, the black field may become lighter and acquire a yellowish or red-violet tint.

The response time from black to white and back is 25 ms (14 ms on + 11 ms off), and the transition between halftones of gray takes an average of 34 ms. The matrix is quite slow, without overclocking.

The total output latency, from switching the video buffer page to displaying the image on the screen, at a refresh rate of 60 Hz is 11 ms. This delay is negligible and practically unnoticeable when using a PC.

The screen settings offer only one refresh rate — 60 Hz. The image is output at a color depth of 8 bits per color.

We also measured the brightness of 256 shades of gray from 0 to 255. Below is a graph of the change in brightness between adjacent shades:

The increase in brightness across most of the gray scale is generally uniform, with each subsequent hue brighter than the previous one. In the darkest area, all shades are distinguishable both hardware and visually.

The approximation of the resulting gamma curve gave a value of 2.22, which is close to the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates slightly from the approximating power function:

Wider color gamut than sRGB (99.2% coverage and 123.5% volume)

Below is the spectrum for the white field (white line), superimposed on the spectra of the red, green and blue fields (lines of the corresponding colors):

Apparently this screen uses blue-emitting LEDs with green and red phosphors (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which provides good component separation. It's also possible that the red phosphor (or green phosphor) uses quantum dots. This fact allows you to obtain a wide color gamut.

The screen does not have a built-in profile with sRGB color gamut. However, on wide-gamut screens, images optimized for sRGB devices may appear unnaturally saturated without appropriate color correction. However, this problem can be solved by using a color management system such as a color profile created using DisplayCAL software.

The grayscale balance is a compromise due to the high color temperature, but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) remains below 2, which is considered excellent. In addition, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue, which has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance.

Summarizing the characteristics of the screen of this laptop, we can note its high maximum brightness (310 cd/m²), which allows you to use the device even in bright sunlight, provided it is protected from direct rays. In complete darkness, the brightness can be comfortably reduced to 15 cd/m². Among the advantages of the screen, it is worth highlighting automatic brightness adjustment, low output latency (11 ms) and no flicker. However, it is worth noting some instability of black color when the gaze deviates from perpendicular to the screen. Overall, the screen quality is rated as quite high.

Sound

The audio system, dubbed Tecno VOC by the manufacturer, promises cutting-edge technology in the audio space with support for DTS:X Ultra surround sound. However, in our experience we did not notice anything outstanding: the sound when listening to music, watching movies and playing games was quite good, but within the range of what is expected for compact laptops. The playback volume is subjectively above average and sufficient for individual use.

The speakers are located on the left and right sides of the underside of the case, closer to the front edge, and are directed downwards, which suggests that sound is reflected from the surface on which the laptop is installed.

Battery operation

The declared battery capacity is 70 Wh, the same value is indicated on it, which is confirmed by utilities.

Let's compare it with the autonomy of the already well-known Tecno Megabook T14TA model, which has a slightly larger battery capacity. For testing, we set the screen brightness to 100 cd/m² (roughly 42% of maximum brightness) to eliminate the benefit of devices with dimmer screens. The keyboard backlight is disabled and cannot be activated during testing.

In absolute numbers, autonomy when working with text is excellent; with video, the situation is worse, but only relative to the result for text.

Now let's compare it with similar class laptops (including other Tecno models) with similar battery capacity.

When working with text, this laptop, although it does not reach the results of the record holder Megabook T14TA, still takes second place unconditionally. Video review also shows the new model to be in the top three.

Regarding mains power: the adapter included in the kit or any charger that supports the 20-volt Power Delivery mode at a current of at least 3 A provides the device with a long-term consumption of three amperes and slightly higher. You can connect to any of the two Type-C connectors, but it is preferable to use the far one, leaving the near one for data exchange.

The standard single-output Type-C adapter is common on Tecno laptops, but uses gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, making it lighter and more compact, although still not quite pocket-sized: the case measures 50.5 x 34 x 34 mm, and with a fork — 89 mm.

As mentioned earlier, the kit comes with a 1.75 meter cable with USB Type-C connectors.

This power supply supports PD modes up to 20V@3.25A, which is equivalent to 65W. Of course, it can also be used for other devices that support Power Delivery technology.

In previous reviews, we have already compared this unit with an adapter of similar power without GaN technology from the Honor laptop set. In short: Tecno's power supply is noticeably more compact, although Honor's is also not gigantic in size. In terms of weight (rounded values taking into account cables of the same length), the difference is as follows: 170 grams for the Tecno adapter and 200 grams for Honor.

A sticker on the top of the T15DA notebook states that the GaN power supply is «40% smaller» (the website even says 50%); if this refers to the size of the case, then this is close to the truth.

And «40% faster» obviously refers to charging speed, and it's likely just an advertising claim: charging speed depends on current, not semiconductor technology. The maximum currents for Tecno and Honor chargers are the same, determined by the Power Delivery specification, and in both cases they are 3.25 A for 20-volt mode.

We start charging from a standard power supply after automatic shutdown at 1% charge. At the time of charging, the laptop had an installed operating system. The table shows the readings of the corresponding tools of the Windows operating system:

According to these indications, the process is not very fast even for a battery of such capacity: 70% were obtained in two hours (for many “classmates” the battery is fully charged during this time), 95% in more than three hours, and it took four and a half hours: an unusually long time, more than an hour, took up the last five percent, of which about 45 minutes fell on the last percent, so there is no particular point in waiting for the change from “99%” to “100%” (although for autonomy tests we did).

The test with charging from a standard adapter was carried out with the laptop turned off, and the current was measured with an external device. Results in the table:

Time, h:mm	until 0:25	0:25-0:50	0:55	1:00	1:10	1:20	1:30	1:55	2:35	3:10	3:20	3:25
Current, A	≈3.1	≈2.8	2.4	2.1	1.7	1.3	1.0	0.6	0.3	0.2	≈0.15	Specifications Key Features The specification looks like this: Tecno Megabook T15DA     CPU AMD Ryzen 7 5800U (8 cores/16 threads, up to 1.9/4.4 GHz, 10-25 W) available with AMD Ryzen 5 5560U   RAM 16 GB LPDDR4-4266 (Hynix H54G56CYRBX247 chips are soldered on the board) the description mentions an 8 GB option   Video subsystem integrated, AMD Radeon Graphics (Radeon RX Vega 8)   Screen 15.6 inches, 1920×1080 (16:9), IPS (CMN N156HCE-EN1), 60 Hz   Sound subsystem Realtek, 2 speakers   Storage device SSD 512 GB (Foresee XP1000F512G, M.2 2280, NVMe, PCIe 3.0 x4) there is a free slot for a second drive   Card reader microSD   Network interfaces Wired network No Wireless Wi-Fi network Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210D2W (IEEE 802.11ax, 2.4/5.0/6.0 GHz)   Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.3   Interfaces and ports USB 1 × USB Type-C for charging only 1 × USB 3.1 Type-C supporting data transfer, Power Delivery and graphics output 1 × USB 3.1 Type-A 2 × USB 3.0 Type-A RJ-45 No   Video outputs 1 × HDMI 1.4 1 × DisplayPort over USB Type-C   Audio connectors combined for headset (minijack)   Input Devices Keyboard with backlight and digital keypad Touchpad clickpad   IP telephony Webcam 1080p@30 fps, has a mechanical shutter Microphone yes (2 pcs.)   Fingerprint's scanner There is   Battery 70 Wh, lithium-ion   Dimensions 358×235×17.1 mm (including legs up to 20.8 mm)   Weight without power supply 1.56 kg   Power adapter 65 W (supports Power Delivery up to 20V@3.25A), weight 0.17 kg (with cable)   operating system Windows 11 Home (22H2)   Specifications SKU: TE339CL44HMJPNAFAMZ Model: T15DA R5-5500U(8GB+512) SSD-15.6inch AMD Weight (kg): 0.3 Color: Grey Customer Feedback This product has no ratings yet. Tecno Megabook T15DA laptop UGX 2,160,000 UGX 3,400,00036% Add to cart Questions about this product?Chat Recently Viewed See All Welcome to Jumia! Welcome to Jumia! Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first one to know about our amazing deals! I agree to Jumia’s Privacy and Cookie Policy. You can unsubscribe from newsletters at any time. I accept the Legal Terms MaleFemale