TECNO has been making waves in the Philippines with its affordable and feature-packed devices. The TECNO POVA 5 Pro 5G is one of its latest offerings, aimed at gamers who want a powerful performance without breaking the bank. But how does it stack up against the competition? Let’s find out in this review.
Design & Display
The TECNO POVA 5 Pro 5G has a sleek and stylish design, with a glass front, a plastic frame, and a plastic back.
One of its most distinctive features is the Mecha Design with an Interactive LED Ambient Light Display, which consists of a unique LED light strip on the back that boasts a striking 9-color RGB interactive design. According to TECNO, it employs a nano-micro-engraving lithography technology to create a “three-dimensional feeling of light and shadow”.
In practice, the Interactive LED Ambient Light Display works somewhat similar to that of the Nothing Phone 2’s Glyph Interface. It uses light strips that sync with different scenarios, such as calls, charging, and gaming, creating a dynamic visual effect that enhances the user experience.
During the review, the LED lights were most useful for notifications with the phone lying face down on a surface such as a table or on the bed. It also adds some flair when music is played or during gaming sessions, although, for the most part, you will miss out on the spectacle since all the lighting action is at the back.
As for the Mecha Design, the robot-inspired look is eye-catching and will appeal to the younger generation, the demographic the phone is targeting. It comes in two colorways, Silver Fantasy (our review unit) and Dark Illusion (black variant).
The phone also has speaker grills at the top and at the bottom, along with a USB-C port, a microphone, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The display is a 6.78-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 2460×1080 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The screen is quite large, flat, and expansive, with a decent brightness of up to 580 nits. It is sharp, and smooth, with good viewing angles and colors. It also has a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera and minimal bezels on the sides.
Cameras
The TECNO POVA 5 Pro 5G has a dual camera setup on the back, consisting of a 50MP main camera paired with a depth sensor.
The main camera is capable of capturing crisp and vivid photos with good detail and vibrant colors in good lighting conditions. It’s more than enough for the usual Facebook or Instagram post. The camera can also record videos up to 1440p at 30fps.
In low light conditions, image quality suffers. The photos become less sharp and detailed, and noise becomes more noticeable. The colors, however, remain vibrant. The photos are still good enough for social media.
The selfie camera is a 16MP shooter that can take decent selfies with good skin tones and exposure. The camera also has an LED flash for low-light situations and can record videos up to 1080p at 30fps.
Sample Photos
Sample Photos – Zoom
Sample Photos – Selfie
Sample Photos – Low Light
Performance
The TECNO POVA 5 Pro 5G is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6080 chipset, which is a mid-range processor with an octa-core CPU and a Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. It has 8GB of RAM and a generous 256GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 1TB via a microSD card.
The phone runs on HiOS 13.1 on top of Android 13. Our review unit also has a FreeFire theme, which includes custom wallpapers, icons, and sound effects.
The phone delivers a smooth and responsive performance, with no lag or stuttering in daily tasks and multitasking. It can also handle most games well, with high frame rates and reasonable graphics settings.
TECNO claims the phone can run PUBG and FreeFire at high refresh rates. We can confirm, at least, that the former can indeed run at a high refresh rate.
The phone also has Hi-Res Audio with DTS and stereo dual speakers for an immersive sound experience. It does help with imaging in games, where you can, for example, make out where an enemy is in a first-person shooter like PUBG.
Here are the benchmark scores for your reference.
Battery Life
The TECNO POVA 5 Pro 5G has a massive 5000mAh battery that can easily last for a full day of usage. If you want to push the phone to its limits, you can get around 14.5 hours with moderate usage.
The phone supports 68W fast charging, which can charge the battery from 20% to 60% in just 20 minutes. Meanwhile, a 30-minute charge yielded 55%. Charging from 20% to 100% took around 45 minutes. The phone became slightly warm while charging.
You also have the option to activate a Charging Completion Tone, which as the name suggests plays a tone when charging is completed. You can find it under Settings> Battery Lab> Battery Setting.
Verdict
If you are a gamer looking for an affordable smartphone, the TECNO POVA 5 Pro 5G might be a good option for you. It offers a large 120Hz display that makes gaming more immersive, a decent performance that can handle most games, and a long-lasting battery that lets you play for hours. The phone also has some nice touches like the attractive design, the ambient light sensor, and the stereo speakers.
The TECNO POVA 5 Pro 5G is a great value for P9,999. However, if you prefer a better build quality and a more powerful processor, you might want to look for other alternatives, but be ready to pay more.
The smartphone is available online via the official TECNO e-commerce platforms on TikTok Shop, Lazada, and Shopee. It will also be available in physical stores starting from September 12.
TECNO POVA 5 Pro 5G specs
| Display | 6.78-inch FHD+ display, 2460×1080, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, 580 nits |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 6080 |
| RAM/Storage | 8GB+256GB |
| Rear Camera | 50MP main Depth camera |
| Front Camera | 16MP With flash |
| Network | 5G, 4G, dual SIM |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC |
| Others | Side fingerprint scanner, USB-C, FM radio, vapor chamber cooling, DTS dual speakers, Hi-Res audio, Hi-Res audio wireless |
| OS | HiOS 13, Android 13 |
| Battery | 5000mAh battery, 68W fast charging |
