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TECNO has over the years looked to capture smartphone users with trends such as integrating backlights onto a smartphone. The legacy continues in the TECNO POVA 6 Pro, which I’ve been experimenting with for a couple of weeks.
Design
The TECNO POVA 6 Pro carries forth the design language we saw on the POVA 5 Pro last year. A lovely 3D texture is etched on the rear plastic panel on the corners in gold and sharp indents help the smartphone stand out. The whole design language feels very sci-fi, definitely a plus! The Comet Green colour variant I’ve received for review looks very appealing but is prone to smudges on the glossy back.
The POVA 6 Pro has a monotone white LED around the camera bump at the back, which is still fun and highly customisable. For notifications, calls and music, I could play up to nine different variations and pulsating patterns in the settings like its predecessor. I could even choose to have it glow in sync with whatever song I am streaming on the device using the party mode.
Display
The TECNO POVA 6 Pro features a 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED display which is quite bright and colour-accurate. It felt great to watch the dark grey and gold dual tones of the title teaser of Rajinikanth’s Coolie on YouTube. The display can show deep blacks, and I watched more reruns of the TV series Monk than I anticipated. The auto-brightness algorithm at times played spoilsport and tended to dim itself a little too much indoors. The saving grace was the outdoor brightness which made the display decently viewable in bright sunlight.
The phone also features a Dynamic Port near the camera punch hole which displays call notifications, ongoing recordings, charging status, and user experience elements.
The sound hit the right notes considering it’s a budget surround sound experience out of the box. The Dolby Atmos tuning available from the sound settings can help further fine-tune the audio profile. The stereo speakers helped deliver a well-distributed sound stage. However, vocals sometimes tended to sound flat against the instruments in Vida Karo from Imtiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila.
Camera
The TECNO POVA 6 Pro features a 108 MP lens, a 2 MP dual Camera and a light sensor. Shots taken off the rear camera in clear daylight were detailed. However, the white balance tended to take a cooler tone for daylight shots by default. Switching to Pro mode got me the accurate colours I needed. Night shots were flat without much detail, but didn’t hold me back from using them for social media. Selfies shot with the 32 MP front camera were sharp and handled the colour balance quite well.
Performance
The TECNO POVA 6 Pro features a MediaTek Dimensity 6080 processor with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB ROM. The device scored 4,30,741 on AnTuTu benchmark, finding itself a rank below the Poco X5 (4,33,894) and just above the likes of Infinix Hot 40 Pro (421752). The 12 GB RAM and 256 GB ROM make day-to-day usage quite easy without any stutters while using apps, or while gaming. Call of Duty Warzone is rendered on a steady 30 FPS without any frame drops with video graphics streaming.
The one sore point is the amount of bloatware and annoying notifications that get in the way of a seamless user experience.
Battery
The phone features a 6,000 mAh battery which translates to about a day and a half of usage including two to three hours of gaming, one to two hours of Microsoft team calls, a few hours of YouTube and Netflix and a few phone calls. The 70W supplied charger helped charge the device in under two hours.
Verdict
The TECNO POVA 6 Pro has got a lot going for it with good performance, a bright display and a decent design to go along with it, but the price leaves it fighting for space in a market flooded with competitive choices such as the POCO X6, Moto G84 and last year’s OnePlus Nord CE 3.
Price: ₹21,999 (12 GB+256 GB)
Pros: Good performance, decent design and bright display
Cons: Bloatware, flat sound profile
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