Tecno Pova 8 review

Introduction

Tecno's Pova series usually works on a shoestring budget, but usually manges to deliver a surprising bit of hardware here and there. This time around Tecno focused on visual flair. The Pova 8 certainly looks interesting with its semi-transparent panel, funky camera island shape and the inclusion of what Tecno is calling an "Alive Matrix Display."

The Pova 8 also has some practical things going for it, like a big 8,000 mAh battery. The Pova 8 is also a dual-SIM 5G device and is powered by the decently capable MediaTek Dimensity 7100 chipset. Tecno even has two home-grown extra chips helping on the inside - one with network signal, the other with Wi-Fi.

Tecno Pova 8 specs at a glance:

• Body: 165.7x78.5x8.8mm, 225g; plastic back and plastic frame; IP64 dust tight and water resistant (water splashes), Round matrix display (on the back), MIL-STD-810H compliant.
• Display: 6.76" IPS LCD, 144Hz, 1080x2344px resolution, 19.53:9 aspect ratio, 381ppi.
• Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 7100 (6 nm).
• Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.2; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot) - India model only.
• OS/Software: Android 16, HIOS 16.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.95", 0.8µm, PDAF.
• Front camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, 24mm (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 1440p@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps; Front camera: Yes.
• Battery: 8000mAh; 45W wired, 50% in 35 min, 10W reverse wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; Wi-Fi 5; BT 5.4; NFC; FM radio, recording; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers (with Dolby Atmos).

The main 50MP Sony LYTIA 600 camera won't be topping any quality charts, but it is a proven performer that should be above expectations for the class. While you do have to settle for an LCD panel, instead of an OLED, at least it can refresh at up to 144Hz.

On the software side of things, Tecno invested in what it calls "Practical AI," offering things like AI Noise Cancellation and AI YouTube Summary. The Pova 8 itself comes with the promise of two major OS updates and three years of security patches. But we'll get to all that in a bit.

Unboxing

The Pova 8 ships in a two-piece cardboard box. It feels very sturdy and should protect the phone just fine during shipping. There is a cradle for the phone on the inside. It is made of cardboard, and there is seemingly no plastic in the packaging at all, which we can appreciate. The box itself is quite eye-catching thanks to its bright blue/violet (depending on how the light hits it) color scheme.

The Pova 8 ships with a 45W Tecno-branded charger - enough to maximize its charging potential. You also get a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, as far as we can tell, that cable is not actually proprietary and doesn't appear to use extra pins. However, the charger is designed to push up to 4.5A of current through said cable, so if you do end up replacing it, make sure you at least match that. Mind that if the Pova 8 comes to Europe at some point, the charger will be absent from the bundle.

Tecno also, rather generously, throws in a clear hard case for the Pova 8, so you can start using it right away worry-free.