Unboxing The Tecno Pova 5 Pro
The notification LEDs have fallen to the side and the screen is dominated by always-on displays. But now they're back, bigger and more powerful than ever. in fact, they have become an integral part of the design of phones like the Tecno Pova 5 Pro.
Two units arrived at the office, one Dark Illusion and the other Silver Fantasy, both according to Turbo Light Mecha Design. Tecno has been using geometric designs for a while, including on the previous Pova 4 series, but now there's a new twist: a see-through back panel.
Let's meet the elephant in the room: No phone. While it's certainly surrounded by a lot of hype, it's not the first phone to feature a transparent back. There are earlier examples like 2018 Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer, 2020 Red Magic 5G, etc.
Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer • Red Magic 5G • Red Magic 6s Pro
A year later, the Red Magic 6s Pro appeared, which combined a transparent back panel and RGB lighting in a cooling fan. Nothing, and now the Pova 5 Pro is the latest iteration of the LED-backlit transparent design trend.
However, back to convenient phones. They only come in neutral colors, which helps when using LED bulbs. It can glow with 9 colors and can create a breathing effect.
LED on
Their use falls into two categories: useful and interesting. The phone supports the famous "mute" gesture for the first time. Now, when the phone is face down, the lights take over notification duties and will glow to notify you of incoming calls, text messages, and even social events. Another useful feature is the battery status display while charging. red is less than 20, orange is 20-60%, and green is 60-100% (we'll get back to charging in a bit).
In an interesting application, the lighting system also determines certain in-game events, yes, within the game. While playing PUBG, the phone will flash red lights when hit/killed, white when in aim down mode, and switch between different colors while driving.
The Tecno Pova 5 Pro is powered by a 5000mAh battery which should last for over 9 hours of gaming. In the box we also find a 68W fast charger that can charge from 0 to 50% in 15 minutes and fully charge up to 100% in 45 minutes.
There's a good reason why Tecno included a charger (other than you get an extra bang for your buck). The company wants to make sure that customers have a high-quality and reliable charger that will allow them to go without charging;
This avoids unwanted heat generation caused by battery charging, which in turn helps extend battery life. This is a feature commonly found in gaming phones. This mode also works with power supplies, of course, but you'll need a solid one.
As you can see from the gaming features, this is truly a gaming phone. It is based on the Dimensity 6080 chipset paired with an L-shaped vapor chamber (2820mm²) dissipating heat on a graphene sheet (10159mm²). There's 8GB of RAM (with another 8GB available by default) and 256GB of storage.
Games can be played on the 6.78" IPS LCD (1080 x 2460 pixels, 20.5:9). It has a 120Hz refresh rate and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. Many headers have been tested and optimized. Mobile Legends can maintain stable 80fps, Free Fire can reach 90fps.
Superimposed graphical audio is handled by a smart set of stereo speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports DTS, Hi-Res Audio, and Hi-Res Wireless Audio. Z-axis linear motor enhances immersion with better tactile feedback.
We will test Tecno Pova 5 Pro and let you know if it can work with gaming phones from other brands.
