Reviewing the Tecno Pova 5 Pro: A stylish budget phone with an eye-catching design, gaming capabilities, and impressive charging speeds.
Tecno Pova 5 Pro 5GTecno Pova 5 Pro 5GTECNO Pova 5 Pro review: At a glance
What is it? The TECNO Pova 5 Pro is TECNO’s latest budget-friendly Android smartphone, designed with a unique aesthetic appeal featuring a string of RGB lights on the backside. It boasts a 6.78-inch display with a 1,080p resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s powered by the mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 6080 chipset, ensuring decent performance for basic tasks and casual gaming sessions.
What is the price? The TECNO Pova 5 Pro starts at Rs. 14,999.00 in India (~$180).
Where can you buy it? The TECNO Pova 5 Pro became available in Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America markets on August 22.
How did we test it? I tested the TECNO Pova 5 Pro for two weeks. TECNO supplied the Pova 5 Pro for review.
Is it worth it? With its eye-catching design, respectable performance, and robust battery life, the TECNO Pova 5 Pro is a budget phone that offers decent value for its price, especially for gaming enthusiasts and those looking for a stylish yet functional smartphone. Should you buy the TECNO Pova 5 Pro?
The TECNO Pova 5 Pro’s design is undoubtedly one of its standout features. The previous Pova 4 series featured similar geometric patterns, but now the Pova 5 Pro takes it up a notch with a combination of transparent panels and LED strips on the back. It amounts to a futuristic feel that is certainly inspired by the Nothing Phone but is still eye-catching and stylish. Unlike the Nothing Phone 1, however, you can customize the backlights between nine different colors and pulsation patterns within the settings. That means you can have a number of notification LED effects that respond to incoming calls and texts, signal when the device is charging, or indicate battery life as a helpful visual cue.
You can even set the light effects to flash in sync with the music you’re listening to, which adds a fun factor you can show off to your friends. However, you may want to listen to music using the included wired earbuds, or a better pair of wireless buds, given that the stereo speakers can start to sound harsh at high volumes. Sadly, the light effects are limited to the top half of the phone. I wish that TECNO had adorned the entire backside with LED strips to give it a more pronounced effect. Additionally, the plastic backside of the phone is extremely prone to fingerprints. These were quite noticeable on the Dark Illusion model of the Pova 5 Pro I tested, which is a dark, metallic navy blue.
The 6.78-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate provides a pretty smooth user experience, especially for playing mobile games. On the topic of the display, I found the brightness levels could be improved. The Pova 5 Pro peaks at 580 nits, which can be challenging in direct sunlight.
Under the hood, the MediaTek Dimensity 6080 SoC ensures most tasks are handled with ease. It offers slightly higher CPU and GPU performance than the MediaTek Dimensity 700 found in the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G.
