The sub-Rs 15,000 price bracket in India is currently one of the most competitive segments for smartphone brands and the competition to offer the best value for money phones is intensifying. Tecno, which has been a very active brand this year with the Spark, Phantom V Fold and Camon 20 series, has now launched the POVA 5 Pro and this new phone will compete directly with the newly launched phones. POCO M6 Pro 5G, Realme 11x and more. Does the POVA 5 Pro stand out from the rest? Read my detailed review and find out!
charge
TECNO POVA 5 Pro will grab your attention with its LED strip design, but the most impressive aspect of this phone is its 68W fast charging, 120Hz display and solid performance. This phone has the most to offer, but low-light photography is one area that needs some work Overall, the POVA 5 Pro is an easy recommendation for most people.
Design and display
While we usually start our reviews by talking about the design of a smartphone, it makes more sense than ever when it comes to the POVA 5 Pro. TECNO POVA 5 Pro is built to grab your attention and succeeds with its LED strip design and rear camera module. First, let's talk about the back panel, which the brand has dubbed the "Arc Interface." The phone has several backlight effect options like Soft, Racing, Dreamy, Breathing and Party. This effect can be applied to incoming calls and automatic downloads. Several other variations of this light effect can be applied to notifications, such as sunrise, star, halo, clear, and lightning. Does the Arc interface enhance the phone's visual appeal? In short, yes. But I want to emphasize that the advantages of this design element are limited only by aesthetics. Unlike the Nothing phone, there is no option to customize the LED strip.
The rear camera module is trapezoidal and has two large round mounts for the two camera lenses. The phone's overall form factor is quite large, thanks to the large 6.78-inch IPS LCD screen, but the weight distribution doesn't make the phone feel too heavy in the hand. But if you have small hands it may seem a bit thin. However, you can still reach the power button, which doubles as a fingerprint sensor with your thumb.
On the display panel, the 120Hz refresh rate and FHD+ screen resolution provide a great viewing experience, whether you're browsing the user interface or watching YouTube videos. The phone's viewing angles are good, but visibility outdoors in direct sunlight isn't great as the panel doesn't provide a high level of brightness.
Camera recorder
Let's start with problem solving. The POVA 5 Pro features a 50MP wide-angle main sensor with PDAF support and a 0.08MP depth sensor. In testing, I found the rear camera to do a very good job of detecting edges, which is often not the case with cameras in this price range. The main sensor captures a lot of detail in well-lit areas. I think that even in terms of color accuracy, the camera does its job quite well. However, the POVA 5 Pro's weak point, like most phones in this price range, proved to be poor lighting conditions. The drop in quality in low light is noticeable, but fortunately, using Super Night mode improves image quality slightly.
In the default camera app, your phone offers several options to choose photos you like While you can keep things simple and use "AI CAM" which produces great photos with good dynamic range, younger people are probably more interested in using beauty filters which ensure that every photo you take gets posted on social media. Ready-made options include skin softening, face slimming, eye enlargement, skin tone adjustment, nose slimming and even head slimming. While you can adjust the level of this filter, you still have complete control over how you look in the photo
The front camera of the TECNO POVA 5 Pro is capable of capturing detailed images with good color accuracy under various lighting conditions, but if you go out at night, the photos will come out a bit grainy, which is not unusual in this price range.
Performance and software
TECNO POVA 5 Pro is powered by MediaTek Dimension 6080 5G 6nm chipset with two Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0GHz. The processor is assisted by a Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. With regular use, I didn't experience any issues with the phone and its animations and switching between apps was also smooth. I even tried gaming on the phone, and despite over an hour of non-stop gaming, the phone didn't overheat, which should give confidence to anyone buying this phone for mobile gaming. One of the things I have noticed while using this phone over the past few days is that I have never experienced a drop in performance while using any app or playing any game. Not the most capable phone in this price range, but it will certainly handle any task thrown at it without a problem.
In terms of software, the POVA 5 Pro boots HIOS 13 based on Android 13. The phone has a bunch of pre-installed apps that I didn't really use during the review. Some of the useful features included in this interface are Game Space (optimizes games for better performance), MemFusion (allows you to expand your RAM up to 5 GB with internal storage) and Video Assistant (does not interrupt you with notifications while watching videos. Some applications) . Also check out the Micro Intelligence section in the Settings menu, which lets you control various quality-of-life features like Lift to Wake, Flip Mute, etc.
In the AnTuTu test, this phone scored 413805, which is more or less in line with other phones with good performance in this price range. In Geekbench tests, this phone scored 747 in single-core test and 2047 in multi-core test, again in line with other phones like Realme 11x and POCO M6 Pro.
Check out the 5G speed test done on the phone below. This test was conducted in Gurugram, Haryana:
Battery life and charging speed
The phone has a 5000 mAh battery and with normal usage, it lasts more than a day on a single charge. If you love to play games, you may need to charge your phone at the end of the day. In our PCMark battery test, this phone lasted 12 hours and 12 minutes, which is more than enough for everyday use.
One of the phone's standout features is support for the flagship 68W fast charging segment, and in my tests it went from 1 to 100% in less than 50 minutes, which is impressive. Since most phones in this price range don't support fast charging above 45W, the TECNO POVA 5 Pro is way ahead of the competition at this price point.
final decision
Reasonable Price for TECNO POVA 5 Pro Brand: Rs.14,999 This phone has good performance in almost all areas. Its unique design, 120Hz display, and best-in-class support for 68W fast charging also make it a strong case for this phone. However, the lack of an ultra-wide rear camera sensor and large form factor may be an issue for some users. Overall, the phone offers a good all-round package to consider if you're looking for a new daily driver under Rs 15,000, especially if you're constantly on the move or don't like slow charging.
Editorial Rating: 8/10.
Reason to buy
- The unique design adds to the appeal of this phone.
- nice look
- Display 120 Hz
- 68W fast charging speed.
Reasons not to buy
- Lacks an ultra-wide camera sensor.
- The large form factor may be a problem for some
Competitors Tecno Pova 5 Pro
