The Tecno Pova 5 Pro stands out with its eye-catching LED strip design, but what truly impresses about this phone are its lightning-fast 68W charging, smooth 120Hz display, and dependable performance. While it excels in many aspects, low-light photography is an area that could use some enhancement. All in all, the POVA 5 Pro is a straightforward recommendation for the majority of users.

Tecno Pova 5 Pro Design

TECNO has put a lot of effort into making the POVA 5 Pro attention-grabbing, and it achieves this goal with its LED strip design and rear camera module. Let’s start with the back panel, which TECNO calls the ‘Arc Interface.’ This phone offers various backlight effect options like Soft, Racing, Dreamy, Breath, and Party, which can be applied to incoming calls and bootup. Additionally, there are other variations of this backlight effect, including Sunrise, Starburst, Halo, Pure, and Lightning, which can be used for notifications. Does the Arc Interface enhance the phone’s visual appeal? In short, yes, it does.

Display

The Tecno Pova 5 Pro has a 6.78-inch IPS LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The resolution is 1080 x 2460 pixels, and the pixel density is 396ppi. The display is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.

The 120Hz refresh rate makes the display smoother and more responsive, which is especially noticeable when scrolling through webpages or playing games. The high resolution ensures that images and text are sharp and clear. And the Gorilla Glass protection helps to prevent the display from scratches and cracks.

Here are some of the key features of the Tecno Pova 5 Pro display:

• 6.78-inch IPS LCD display
• 120Hz refresh rate
• 1080 x 2460 pixels resolution
• 396ppi pixel density
• Corning Gorilla Glass protection

Cameras

Let’s dive into the details of the camera. The POVA 5 Pro has a 50MP main camera and a 0.08MP depth sensor. During my testing, I found that the rear cameras did a commendable job with edge detection, which is often a weak point for phones in this price range. The main camera also captured a lot of detail in well-lit environments, and the colors looked pretty accurate. However, like many other phones in this price range, the POVA 5 Pro struggled in low-light conditions. The quality of photos noticeably dropped without proper lighting, but using the ‘Super Night’ mode helped improve the image quality to some extent.

Performance and software

The TECNO POVA 5 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6080 5G chipset, which has two fast 2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 cores and six efficient 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 cores. It also comes with a Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. During my regular use, the phone performed smoothly without any issues. App switching animations were mostly smooth, and even when I played games for over an hour continuously, the phone didn’t get too hot. This should reassure those looking to buy this phone for gaming. One thing I noticed during my time with this phone is that it consistently delivered strong performance. While I won’t claim it’s the absolute best in its price range, it can handle any task or game without breaking a sweat.

Let’s talk about the software on the POVA 5 Pro. It runs on HIOS 13, which is built on Android 13. The phone comes with some pre-installed apps, but honestly, I didn’t find myself using them much during my review. However, the UI does offer some useful features, such as:

1. Game Space: This optimizes games for better performance.
2. MemFusion: It allows you to expand RAM by up to 5GB using internal storage.
3. Video Assistant: This feature prevents notifications from interrupting your video watching experience in certain apps.
4. In the settings menu, you’ll also find a section called Micro Intelligence, where you can control quality-of-life features like Lift to Wake, Flip Mute, and more.

Battery

The phone comes equipped with a 5,000mAh battery. In typical usage, it comfortably provides more than a day of power on a single charge. However, if you engage in gaming, you may find the phone requires recharging by the day’s end. In our PCMark battery test, the phone managed to endure for 12 hours and 12 minutes, which is quite respectable for everyday use.

A remarkable feature of the phone is its top-of-the-line 68W fast-charging capability. During my testing, the phone went from 1 to 100 percent charge in under 50 minutes, a truly impressive feat. Considering that most phones within this price range typically don’t provide more than 45W fast-charging support, the TECNO POVA 5 Pro stands head and shoulders above the competition in its price category.

Price

The TECNO POVA 5 Pro is priced reasonably at Rs 14,999, and it performs well in nearly every aspect. It stands out with its special design, 120Hz display, and leading 68W fast-charging support, making it a compelling choice.