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TECNO POVA 5 review: a stylish budget gaming device

Today I’m reviewing the TECNO POVA 5 smartphone. The model is from the POVA line of mid-range devices that focus on gaming capabilities. The device appeared on sale in early summer, has a pretty good filling and costs only $230. A quick acquaintance showed that the POVA 5 is a very interesting smartphone that may appeal to anyone looking for an affordable device for normal everyday tasks, photo/video and mobile games. Today we will take a detailed look at this model, test the level of performance and autonomy, see what the cameras are capable of. Well, as always, let’s start the review with technical specifications.

Technical specifications

  • Processor: MediaTek Helio G99, 8 cores (2×Cortex-A76 2.2 GHz + 6×Cortex-A55 2 GHz), max clock speed 2.2 GHz, 6 nm process technology
  • Graphics chip: Mali-G57 MC2
  • RAM: 8GB, LPDDR4X type, expandable by 3/5/8GB
  • Storage: 256GB, UFS 2.2 type
  • Display: IPS; 6.78″; 2460×1080 resolution; 120Hz refresh rate; 396 ppi density; 580 nits max brightness; 85% screen-to-body ratio
  • Main camera: 2 lenses (main and ToF). Main lens 50MP, maximum video recording resolution 2K (2560×1440) at 30fps, dual flash
  • Front camera: 8MP, maximum video recording resolution 2K (2560×1440) at 30fps, flash
  • Battery: 6000 mAh Li-Ion; maximum charging power 45W; with support for fast and reverse charging
  • Operating system: Android 13
  • UI shell: HiOS 13.0.0
  • Communication standards: 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE) with VoLTE support
  • Wireless technology: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5, NFC
  • Geolocation: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
  • SIM card slot: 2×Nano-SIM (2 sim cards + 1 memory card)
  • Memory card support: microSD up to 1TB
  • Sensors and sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, fingerprint scanner, light sensor, proximity sensor, electronic compass, NFC
  • Dimensions: 168.61×76.61×9.0 mm
  • Weight: 218 g
  • Bundle: smartphone, charger, USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, 3.5 mm headset, case, SIM card clip, documentation, promotional materials

Price and positioning

TECNO POVA 5 model is positioned as a budget gaming smartphone of the initial medium level. The gaming belonging to us directly tells us about the hardware, design and even the packaging of the device. However, POVA 5 may interest not only fans of mobile games. After all, among other things, it still has a pretty good camera, a capacious battery of 6000 mAh and NFC-module, which makes it a good option as a smartphone for everyday use.

The average price at the time of writing the review for the POVA 5 is $230, which is not bad considering the specifications of the device.

TECNO POVA 5 complete set

The smartphone comes in the original branded cardboard box, which is made in the form of a triangular prism. I must admit that the packaging design is quite unusual and atypical for smartphones in general, which already makes POVA 5 stand out from many competitors. The packaging conditionally consists of 2 parts: a cover and a box with the main package. Visual design of the cover reminded me a bit of the design of video card boxes from the 2000s, when it was fashionable to place images of various “game” characters on the packaging. The design of the main box has a more modern look, in hi-tech style. As for the information content of the package, everything is quite standard: brand name, model designation, brief technical specifications of the device.

We open the box, there’s a box waiting for us:

  • smartphone
  • 45W charger
  • USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable
  • 3.5 mm headset
  • cover
  • SIM card clip
  • promotional materials

Basically, we have an excellent set. The kit has everything you need and even more. For example, a headset. There is no protective glass, but it is not really needed, because the display is already covered with a protective film from the factory. By the way, I have a complaint about the film – if you look closely, you can see that it is a little out of size for the screen. Otherwise there are no complaints, everything is perfect.

Design, ergonomics, build

Design is probably one of the main aspects that can set this model apart from its competitors. As the manufacturer itself states, the design of POVA 5 is stylised as a mech combat robot.

Three-dimensional elements, textural inserts, facets, false screws create an original unique image in the style of high-tech. The POVA 5 model is available in 3 colours: Amber Gold, Mecha Blac and Hurricane Blue. The last variant – Hurricane Blue smartphone – has arrived for my review.

The entire front panel of the smartphone is occupied by a 6.78-inch display. The ratio of the display to the body is 85%. The dimensions of the bezels, if measured together with the body, are as follows: 4 mm on the sides, 7 mm on the bottom, 5 mm on the top. The front camera is of island type, located on the display itself.

On the back panel we can see 2 main camera modules, flash and TECNO POVA logo. The whole back panel of the smartphone is covered with a plastic insert that imitates glass. Under it there is a pattern that creates the very hi-tech style: facets, three-dimensional textural elements, false screws. The camera modules in this model are quite large.

The side edges of the POVA 5 are straight and the corners are slightly rounded. The smartphone can easily stand on the table itself both horizontally and vertically. The edges look like they are made of some kind of alloy, probably aluminium. On the usual plastic certainly does not look like. On the right edge there is volume control and power/lock button, in which the fingerprint scanner is embedded. On the left edge is the SIM card tray. The tray is triple sided, it can accommodate 2 sim cards and 1 memory card at the same time. On the top edge we can notice only the speaker hole. On the bottom edge we can see a 3.5 mm headset jack, USB Type-C connector and a second speaker hole.

The main material in the performance of POVA 5 is plastic. The smartphone itself is light and thin. The device weighs 218 g. And its dimensions are 168.61×76.61×9.0 mm. Despite its size, the device lies comfortably in the hand. The thumb can easily reach the volume control and the lock button. Of course, to reach the very top of the display, you need to slightly intercept the smartphone in your hand. But still, I personally found it comfortable to use it all the time I had it under review.

The build quality of the device is, without exaggeration, excellent. A solid monolithic design of the case without creaks, backlashes, deflections. I have a small complaint only about the glued protective film on the display. It is a little out of size, I have already mentioned this. Otherwise, everything is perfect.

Display TECNO POVA 5

The TECNO POVA 5 features a 6.78-inch IPS display. It has a resolution of 2460×1080 pixels and a screen refresh rate of 120 Hz. If necessary, the screen frequency can be adjusted in the settings: 60 Hz, 90 Hz, 120 Hz and Auto (dynamic refresh rate).

The density is 396 ppi. The picture, separate elements and text look on the display clearly, not blurred. The pixels themselves are not visible even at a close proximity.

The maximum brightness of the display is 580 nits. The smartphone can be used outdoors in bright sunlight without any problems. The brightness level itself, as far as I am concerned, is more than enough. For me, the optimum level on the POVA 5 display is reached when setting the brightness at 75%.

POVA 5 touchscreen recognises up to 5 simultaneous touches. It’s not much, but it’s enough for gaming in general. The response is excellent – the display responds quickly and clearly to all gestures, swipes and taps.

The colour reproduction and contrast ratio of the POVA 5 display is, to me, excellent. Colours are bright and saturated. Black colour looks good. Of course, it doesn’t reach the level of OLED displays, but nobody expects such a thing from POVA 5.

There are surprisingly few settings for colour reproduction. You can select bright colour mode and colour temperature: cool, standard, warm. During the time I was using the smartphone, the colour settings were set by default and I was completely satisfied with it.

Viewing angles are as wide as possible. Even when viewed at a high angle, the display does not darken and retains its original colours.

To summarise the display of the TECNO POVA 5 – it is excellent. The set price of the device corresponds more than quite well.

Components and performance

The POVA 5 has a good filling, as for its price segment. The smartphone is based on the MediaTek Helio G99 processor, has 8 GB of RAM and modern storage type UFS 2.2. Now let’s go through each component in more detail and run some performance tests.

Processor and graphics chip

MediaTek Helio G99 is an 8-core chipset announced in May 2022. Technoprocess is 6 nm. The architecture of the cores is as follows: 2 Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.2 GHz and 6 Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2 GHz. The maximum clock frequency, respectively, is 2.2 GHz. The Mali-G57 MC2 chip is responsible for graphics.

RAM

The POVA 5 features 8GB of LPDDR4X type RAM. It can be expanded by 3GB, 5GB, or 8GB by adding virtual memory from the smartphone drive.

Storage

The smartphone has a 256GB UFS 2.2 type storage. It is possible to install an additional microSD card up to 1 TB. The drive feels quite fast, which is confirmed by AnTuTu and 3DMark tests.

Performance tests

According to my personal feelings, the performance level of POVA 5 is good. Navigating the OS, installing applications and their work, web surfing, watching videos, using the smartphone cameras is more or less fast, smoothly, without obvious brakes and sluggishness. In general, just by simply looking at the characteristics can already safely say that the level of performance of this model will be more than enough for normal everyday tasks. The only point where it may lack power is particularly resource-intensive games, but we will go over them. Otherwise, I can say that the performance of this model is fine.

Personal feelings will not give an objective picture of the performance level, so let’s move directly to synthetic benchmarks and tests. For testing we will use the standard set of applications: Geekbench 6, PCMark, 3DMark, AnTuTu Benchmark and CPU Throttling Test.

In general, we have good indicators for an average budget smartphone model. But, among other things, TECNO POVA 5 is also positioned as a model for mobile games. For this purpose, it even implements several proprietary technologies that should improve the gaming process on the device. Among them are an advanced cooling system, a proprietary Game Space gaming assistant and an updated Aurora Engine for faster application launch.

Cooling system

The POVA 5 features liquid cooling with a 1399.65mm² evaporative chamber and a 9349.39mm² graphene cooling system. The official website says: thanks to 10 layers of heat dissipation, the CPU temperature is reduced by more than 5°C during rebooting of gaming scenes, providing better cooling.

Game Space assistant

Game Space is a gaming assistant that allows you to customise and optimise games and the gameplay on your device. Using the application you can: adjust the game mode, optimise the device performance, improve the quality of graphics, increase the audibility of individual sounds (footsteps, shooting, voice). Just like XArena has its own inbuilt game assistant, here it is called Panther Engine.

Aurora Engine

As the manufacturer states on its official website: Aurora Engine is a brand new engine that uses AI algorithms to quickly launch 10 of the most popular large-scale games. True, it doesn’t specify which games… But I think PUBG and Genshin Impact should definitely be among them. This technology also speeds up the launch of common applications.

Game performance

We’ve gone over the hardware and some branded features, now it’s time to check how the POVA 5 handles mobile gaming.

Asphalt 9: Legends

Developer: Gameloft SE
Price: Free

The game runs well on “High Quality” graphics settings. By feelings, we have more or less stable 30 FPS. There are no freezes and performance drops, it’s comfortable to play.

Genshin Impact

Price: Free

The game goes well on low graphics settings. By feelings, we have 25-30 FPS, it is comfortable to play. When switching to medium graphics settings we lose in performance, you can still play, but not as comfortable as on low settings.

Diablo Immortal

At low graphics settings we have about 30 FPS. The gameplay is spoilt, except for periodic freezes and paging, otherwise everything is more or less comfortable. You can safely raise the graphics settings to medium, we lose a little in performance.

Black Desert Mobile

Developer: PEARL ABYSS
Price: Free

At high graphics settings the game runs well. On average we have about 30 FPS without freezes and frame drops, even when entering cities. Excellent performance, it is comfortable to play.

Arena Breakout

By default, the game automatically set high graphics settings (HD) and Frame Rate to medium. At these settings the game is quite comfortable. By feelings we have about 30 FPS. Frame Rate” settings can be safely raised to Super High – gameplay will become smoother, frame rate will increase to somewhere between 35 and 40+ FPS.

Need for Speed No Limits

This game runs on the smartphone perfectly, stable 30 FPS. No freezes or performance drops were noticed. It’s a pity that the game has a limit of 30 FPS. Our smartphone would have no problem giving out more.

Mortal Kombat

The port of the popular fighting game also runs on the smartphone without any problems. Performance is excellent. No slowdowns, lags and freezes.

Wreckfest

Developer: HandyGames
Price: $9.99

This game is the most resource-intensive of the whole list. At medium graphics settings we have about 20 FPS, which is not good at all. When switching to low settings, FPS increases to somewhere between 25 and 30 frames. At the lowest settings, in principle, you can play Wreckfest, but the picture quality leaves much to be desired. Conclusion: the smartphone does not pull this game.

As we can see, TECNO POVA 5 copes with most of the games. You can comfortably play almost all games at low to medium settings on the smartphone. Well, except for particularly demanding ones, like Wreckfest.

I think mobile game lovers will also be interested in how this smartphone pulls PUBG. I refused to launch it, it kept giving me an error, saying that there was a problem with the connection. But I specifically went and watched other reviews and gameplay from this model on YouTube, and I can assure you that PUBG POVA 5 also pulls without problems. You can expect 30 FPS at medium-high graphics settings.

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TECNO POVA 5 cameras

The rear camera of TECNO POVA 5 is made by 2 sensors: main and ToF. The main sensor has a resolution of 50MP. In the camera app you can quickly switch to 50MP (6120×8160) mode. The main camera can record video in resolutions: 2K(2560×1440)@30FPS, 1080P(1920×1080)@60/30FPS and 720P(1280×720)@30FPS.

8MP front camera. Available video resolutions: 2K, 1080P and 720P at 30 frames per second.

Camera app

The camera app is rich in terms of modes and various settings. The default mode for photos is AI CAM, a basic mode that automatically recognises scenes and optimises the image for them. Of the other available modes there are: beauty, portrait, super night, AR shooting, pro mode, panorama, documents, master sky. For video, apart from the standard shooting mode, there are also slow motion, dual video, timelapse and film.

Film – in this mode you can create short clips with pre-made effects, transitions and music.

As in many modern smartphones, Google Lens is built into the camera app. As for additional settings for photos and videos, everything is more or less standard. There is no sense to list everything, I will just show you what is on the screenshots.

Photos and videos on the main camera

In sufficient daylight, the photos turn out, on the whole, not bad. Not bad, but far from perfect. In some photos you can see overlighted areas. Colours look pale in some places. In general, we can say that such quality of shooting is typical for a budget smartphone.

PHOTOS IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION

When you look at it in detail, you can see that there is a difference between 12.5MP and 50MP. In most cases, photos are better in 12.5MP resolution. In 50MP resolution the picture has a more blurred appearance.

12,5 MP
50 MP
12,5 MP
50 MP
12,5 MP
50 MP
12,5 MP
50 MP
12,5 MP
50 MP
12,5 MP
50 MP
12,5 MP
50 MP

PHOTOS IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION

Photos in low and artificial light are also quite good. In most cases, again, the 12.5MP shooting mode performs better.

PHOTOS IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION

Photos in portrait mode turn out well. I can’t say anything bad about this mode. You will definitely not be left without photos for social networks.

PHOTOS IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION

It is possible to shoot with TECNO POVA 5 in the late evening and at night, but, as far as I am concerned, the image quality leaves much to be desired. The detail of the subjects drops very much.

PHOTOS IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION

There is a separate “Super Night” mode for evening and night shooting. The difference with its switching on is noticeable – the photos become much lighter. But it does not save the situation, again, because of the low detail of objects in the frame.

Super Night OFF
Super Night ON
Super Night OFF
Super Night ON
Super Night OFF
Super Night ON
Super Night OFF
Super Night ON

PHOTOS IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION

When shooting video in 2K, the picture looks good on the whole. But the impression is spoilt by stabilisation, or rather, its absence. On the captured videos you can notice shaking and twitching of the image. In 1080p@60FPS resolution the application already gives an opportunity to enable at least some stabilisation, and the captured videos look, as far as I am concerned, noticeably better. This also applies to evening and night shooting.

Photos and videos on the front camera

I would say the quality of the front camera is okay. In the daytime and in sufficient light it shoots quite well. In general, the front camera here is quite typical for budget smartphones.

PHOTOS IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION

What we can say about the TECNO POVA 5 cameras as a summary: the shooting quality is not stellar, but it is not bad either. Typical level of shooting for an inexpensive smartphone.

Sound

The sound quality of the TECNO POVA 5 is good. There are 2 stereo speakers in the smartphone. There is support for DTS and Hi-Res Audio technologies. For DTS there are advanced settings with ready-made presets and equaliser.

The volume level is more than enough. With the sound from the speakers you can comfortably watch a film, YouTube or play games without any problems. The smartphone has a standard 3.5 mm jack, so there will be no problems with connecting most headsets or headphones.

Communication

In the smartphone you can simultaneously install 2 nanoSIM and 1 microSD card. The tray is double-sided triple, so you will not have to choose between one SIM and a memory card.

Supported cellular standards: 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE) with VoLTE support. This model doesn’t have 5G support. But it is available in TECNO POVA 5 PRO 5G, if this point is important for someone.

While the smartphone was in my review, I had time to check the simultaneous work of 2 SIM-cards from different operators – there were no problems. The signal is good, connection is stable, mobile internet speed is usual. Everything works like clockwork.

The quality of the inbuilt microphone and conversation speaker at the level. No problems with clarity and volume during phone conversations during the whole time.

Wireless technologies

For wireless connections POVA 5 has Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5. The model is also equipped with NFC contactless payment module. There were no problems with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection during testing. The smartphone quickly finds networks and connects to them without problems. Internet connection speed shows standard results. I can say the same about the Bluetooth device, no problems with detection or connection. By the way, POVA 5 has LDAC support.

POVA 5 supports the proprietary Link-Booming network optimisation technology. This technology enables Wi-Fi and mobile internet channels to work in parallel, so you don’t lose connection when one of them is disconnected. It also reduces battery consumption and lag in online gaming.

As for geolocation, everything is standard. The smartphone supports: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo.

HiOS software and shell

The TECNO POVA 5 is powered by Android 13 with its proprietary HiOS shell. HiOS 13.0.0 version is up to date at the time of writing the review.

The design of the shell has been worked out perfectly.

Navigation can be done with gestures or 3 buttons. Unlocking methods are standard: graphic key, pin code, password, fingerprint, Face ID. By the way, unlocking by fingerprint and Face ID works quickly and clearly, no problems with them.

There are a lot of pre-installed applications, and there are some proprietary ones that cannot be uninstalled, only disabled. For example, alternative markets Palm Store and AHA Games.

There are also useful proprietary apps, such as Game Space and Battery Lab. I’ve already talked about Game Space in the review. And what Battery Lab is, I’ll explain in a little more detail. It is a battery optimiser that allows you to significantly increase battery life.

In general, HiOS (as well as XOS) is not a bad shell. I didn’t notice any glitches, bugs or brakes in operation. The shell is visually appealing and intuitive in terms of settings and elements. And also it can be flexibly customised – literally everything can be adjusted and changed.

Battery life

The smartphone has a 6000 mAh lithium-ion battery. It comes with a 45W charger. The smartphone charges up to 50% in 20 minutes. A full charge takes approximately 1 hour.

The smartphone supports reverse charging – it can charge other devices with 10W of power.

Built-in Work 3.0 Battery Life test from PCMark showed that with continuous active use of the smartphone full battery charge will be enough for 11 hours and 9 minutes. The test was run at 75% screen brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. At the same time, no additional optimisations with the help of Battery Lab software were carried out. What can I say, excellent battery life.

Conclusions

TECNO POVA 5 is an interesting smartphone, which is sure to take its rightful place on the market and find its audience. Cool design, quality assembly, good filling and performance level in general. Also from the merits of the model I would like to note the autonomy. I did not find any significant disadvantages for myself. Well, perhaps, the cameras could be better. Otherwise, I can say that the smartphone is not bad and definitely deserves attention.

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Igor Majevsky

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