Our Favorite Features of the TECNO Pova 5

The budget gaming smartphone segment is becoming ever more competitive each year. By budget, we’re talking about something that costs under PHP 10,000. One of the newest models in the segment is the TECNO Pova 5, which was just launched globally a few weeks ago.

Now, it’s finally in the Philippines, and we got the chance to check it out. While it might be a budget gaming phone, we had a lot of fun using it. Today, we will be talking about our favorite features of the TECNO Pova 5, and why it’s a phone you should consider if you’re in the market for an affordable gaming smartphone.

Bright & Fast Display

If there’s one important feature we look for in all gaming phones, it’s a nice and bright display. While it might be a phone that costs under PHP 10,000, the TECNO Pova 5 comes with a large 6.78-inch IPS LCD screen with 1080 x 2460 resolution. The colors are great despite being an entry-level screen, and you get great contrast whether you’re watching videos or playing games.

But perhaps our favorite feature of the screen is the 120Hz refresh rate, which is rarely available for a phone at this price point. Having a high refresh rate is important in a gaming phone since you get smoother movements when playing. This alone can give you a big advantage as compared to playing against users with a 90Hz screen.

Aside from improved gameplay, the high refresh rate screen also makes it more enjoyable when you’re going through the menu or just watching videos. It is still a phone after all, and you will likely be using it beyond gaming.

Not to mention, the TECNO Pova 5 also has a relatively bright backlight rated at 580 nits, making it easy to use in all kinds of environments. So even if you’re playing under the hot summer sun, you’ll be able to see what’s happening on the screen.

Great gaming performance

Aside from a nice display, another important aspect of a gaming phone is the chipset. Powering the TECNO Pova 5 is a Mediatek Helio G99 together with a Mali-G52 GPU, which is more than capable of playing the usual set of games like Mobile Legends, Call of Duty:Mobile, and Free Fire. Not to mention it also comes with something that TECNO calls Game Space 2.0.

It’s not the most powerful chipset available, but it’s still very capable. At the same time, you do have to set expectations after all since it is a budget gaming phone.

Along with the chipset, the phone also comes with 8GB of RAM which comes with an additional 8GB ram expansion for a total of 16GB. Not to mention it has a large internal storage capacity of up to 256GB for all your games, videos, and apps. And if that’s still not enough, you can expand storage further via a microSD card slot.

Together with the 120Hz display, you can definitely enjoy playing games with this phone and not worry about breaking the bank.

Big Battery

To be able to continuously game throughout the day, you need a big battery. And the TECNO Pova 5 packs a large 6,000mAh lithium-ion battery. Given its large size, you should be able to continuously game for extended hours on end without ever having to worry about charging. TECNO says it can last up to 11 hours of gaming or 14 hours of video playback.

If you do need to charge the phone, you don’t have to worry about downtime. The phone comes with 45W Smart Charge. TECNO claims that you can charge the phone to 50 percent in just 21 minutes using the included cable and charger.

But if you want to further improve your battery life, there’s also Battery Lab 3.0 which can choose various power settings depending on your needs.

Beautiful design

Being able to play games is just one thing, a phone also has to look good. In terms of the aesthetic department, the TECNO Pova 5 does not disappoint. It looks great, especially in this Mecha Black colorway and the unique back panel design. While it might not light up, it will catch the attention of people. In addition, it also makes the phone look more premium too.

Although it might look like glass in the photos, it’s actually made of hard plastic. The frame is also made of the same material. It feels very durable too, and it looks great without the included rubber case.

The phone also comes with DTS dual speakers, a USB-C, and a 3.5mm audio jack too. Overall, it feels good to use on your hand.

A capable camera

While the TECNO Pova 5 is mainly a gaming phone, you still get a nice camera system. There’s a dual-rear camera with a 50MP main sensor, which captures okay photos. What’s even better is that the camera can shoot up to 2K video, which is quite surprising for a phone of this price. So when you’re not gaming, you can bring this phone around to capture footage and images for social media or just for memories.

Bonus: A great price

Perhaps one of the best and most surprising thing about the TECNO Pova 5 is the price. While not exactly a feature, the phone currently retails for PHP 7,999 for the base 8GB/128GB model, while the 8GB/256GB model starts at around PHP 8,499.

So yes, for less than PHP 9,000, you can get a capable gaming phone without breaking the bank.

But what do you think of the TECNO Pova 5? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

You can buy the TECNO Pova 5 over at Shopee.

TECNO POVA 5 specs:
6.78-inch FHD+ IPS LCD @ 1080×2460 pixels
120Hz, 580 nits (typ)
MediaTek Helio G99 chipset
Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
Mali-G52 MC2 GPU
8GB RAM
128GB/256GB storage, expandable via microSD
50MP f/1.8 (wide), PDAF + 0.08MP (depth) rear camera
8MP f/2.4 (wide) front camera
1440p@30fps, 1080p@30fps video recording (rear and front)
GSM / HSPA / LTE, dual nano-SIM
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC
Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass sensors
USB Type-C 2.0 port, OTG
Android 13 OS with HiOS 13
6000 mAh Li-Po battery, non-removable, 45W wired charging
Mecha Black, Amber Gold, Hurricane Blue colors
Dimensions: 168.6 x 76.6 x 9 mm
Weight: 219g