When speaking about finances smartphones, Tecno’s choices normally aren’t a part of the dialog. Nonetheless, the newly-launched Tecno POVA may deserve a point out because the cellphone goes toe-to-toe with heavyweights from Xiaomi and Realme. Because of its big 6,000mAh battery, decently quick MediaTek Helio G80 SoC, together with an expansive 6.8-inch show, the Tecno POVA, priced at Rs 9,999, is certainly price a re-evaluation. On this evaluate, I’ll try to discover out if the POVA can displace the phase leaders and carve out an area of its personal.
The lowdown
Again within the day, finances telephones would come toting plain Jane designs, however that has been altering in current instances. The POVA is an efficient instance of the identical and the smartphone ships with a color gradient end with a shiny coating that shimmers within the mild. The polycarbonate physique offers the cellphone a lightweight in-hand really feel although the development feels sturdy. On the rear, a giant, rectangular digital camera housing is current on the highest left which comprises a quad-camera setup together with a flash module. The perimeters curve over the edges, like nearly all telephones, offering a cushty grip in my palm. The one draw back of the cellphone’s design is that for its somewhat massive measurement, the capacitive fingerprint sensor on the cellphone is positioned a tad greater, making it tough for my index finger to succeed in it.
You additionally get a textured Google Assistant button on the appropriate aspect together with common quantity rocker and energy buttons. There’s a micro-USB port on the backside which is disappointing, given how most OEMs have transitioned over to the Kind-C port. Other than that, you get a 3.5mm headphone jack and dual-SIM slot, each current on the backside. There isn’t any separate speaker grille, and the earpiece doubles up because the speaker as effectively.
In direction of the entrance, the cellphone ships with a big 6.8-inch IPS LCD panel with HD+ (720 x 1,640) decision. The bezels surrounding the display are fairly sizeable and there may be additionally a somewhat huge punch-hole notch positioned in direction of the highest left of the display. On the entire, there may be nothing particular in regards to the cellphone’s show aside from its somewhat massive floor space – daylight legibility isn’t the perfect and the viewing angles may’ve been higher too. I’m additionally not the largest fan of the display’s color copy as it’s a bit too contrasty when pitted in opposition to different finances telephones with related worth tags. The viewing expertise isn’t customisable aside from the standard toggles for eye care and adaptive brightness. You do get an Inadvertently mode for stopping unintended touches if the smartphone is in your pocket. The smartphone doesn’t ship with Widevine L1 certification both and subsequently, your content material consumption shall be restricted to SD high quality from OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Optics-wise, the POVA packs in a quad-camera structure with a 16MP main sensor which works alongside 2MP depth and macro sensors. There’s an AI digital camera current too, which makes use of scene recognition to spice up colors and publicity in photographs. Coming to the image high quality, daylight scenes shot by the Tecno POVA aren’t all that unhealthy and the photographs characteristic good dynamic vary and a wholesome quantity of detailing for a finances smartphone. That mentioned, the cellphone struggles to reveal the body correctly if the solar is shining proper behind the topic. Colors seem barely uninteresting, however in some circumstances, ensuring auto HDR is turned on does the trick.
Sadly, night time images is nothing to jot down dwelling about on the Tecno POVA. There isn’t any devoted night time mode and as an alternative, the sensor depends on the AI digital camera for capturing element. To place it mildly, night time photographs are nearly satisfactory when it comes to publicity however the cellphone actually struggles to latch onto the topic. There may be additionally lots of background noise which isn’t smoothened out. Principally, I’d suggest you follow flash images as an alternative of solely counting on the cellphone’s AI prowess. Transferring on, the macro sensor works fairly effectively offered the lighting is nice, however colors will nonetheless be a bit uninteresting. The depth sensor works effectively for clicking portrait photographs however typically background separation generally is a bit spotty. In direction of the entrance, the smartphone ships with an 8MP selfie shooter which clicks satisfactory albeit barely oversharpened photographs. Portrait mode works nearly high-quality however night time time selfies lack correct focus or publicity. In essence, I’ve seen some excellent cameras on finances telephones over the previous 12 months or so, however the Tecno POVA isn’t one among them.
The cellphone homes a mid-range MediaTek G80 chipset which comfortably chews by the essential duties and might juggle a number of apps with ease too. Throughout my time with the cellphone. I all the time had lots of Chrome tabs open within the background and regardless of that, the animations have been principally easy whereas transitioning from one app to the opposite. The cellphone is an honest choice for avid gamers too and might run graphics intensive titles like Name of Responsibility: Cell at Excessive graphics and body price. That being mentioned, the cellphone does are likely to get a bit heat to the contact, significantly when gaming periods exceed the 1-hour mark. I’ve the 4GB RAM with 64GB inner storage however you may get the 6GB RAM and 128GB model for Rs 11,999.
Coming to the software program aspect of issues, the POVA runs Tecno’s proprietary HiOS which, in a nutshell, is a heavy customized pores and skin with a ton of bloatware. You do get Android 10 however common software program updates are usually not actually up Tecno’s alleyway contemplating the POVA continues to be sitting on the September safety patch. Additionally, the speaker simply doesn’t get loud sufficient and crackles at greater volumes. The fingerprint sensor does work respectably quick however the face authentication is iffy even with in good lighting. I examined the cellphone on Jio’s Noida community and there have been no issues almost about name high quality and community speeds.
Tecno POVA’s battery is mightily spectacular at 6,000mAh and additionally it is the gadget’s headlining characteristic. Even with heavy utilization, which incorporates 3D gaming, the cellphone will final you simply for greater than a day. You’ll be able to simply push the cellphone and get nearly two days of battery backup with reasonable utilization. What’s extra, the cellphone ships with 18W quick charging, which is a rarity on gadgets retailing within the POVA’s worth phase. It is possible for you to to juice the cellphone up in about 2 hours and half-hour whereas a 50 % cost shall be achieved in about an hour.
Last verdict
The Tecno POVA will get just a few issues proper like its big battery backup, fairly quick charging and an honest chipset. The large 6.8-inch display serves the aim of immersive viewing however the panel itself isn’t very color correct. The software program pores and skin is a bit heavy on the cellphone and packs in a major quantity of bloatware. On high of that, the digital camera doesn’t encourage lots of confidence, particularly at night time. All-in-all, the POVA’s solely profitable trait is its long-lasting battery life and succesful efficiency. If that’s one thing you’re searching for in a finances cellphone, go forward with the Tecno POVA.
Editor’s ranking: 3.5 / 5
Professionals:
- Glorious battery life
- Massive show
- First rate efficiency
Cons:
- Common cameras
- Lot of bloatware
- Uninteresting show
