We have already reviewed the Tecno Pova 4 Pro, and we liked it! Now, it’s time we review the Tecno Pova 4, which went official recently in India. It is an attractive phone with a unique rear design that provides superior performance at a low price of Rs 11,999(~$145). Like its predecessors, it packs a big display and a large battery. To top it off, the Pova 4 features a 50-megapixel dual-camera system. Here is our review of the Pova 4.
Tecno Pova 4: What’s in the box?
The Tecno Pova 4’s retail package has the following contents:
- Tecno Pova 4 handset
- Transparent case
- SIM ejector tool
- 18W charger
- USB-C to USB-A cable
- 12-months warranty card
- User manual
Design and Display
| Dimensions | Display |
| Size – 170.59 x 77.52 x 8.7mm | 6.82-inch IPS display |
| Weight – 212.5 grams | 720 x 1640 pixels (HD+) |
| IPX2 Splash-resistant | 20:5.9 aspect ratio |
| Up to 90Hz refresh rate | |
| Up to 180Hz touch sampling rate | |
| 480 nits brightness | |
| Color variants | Panda Glass protection |
| Cryolite Blue | |
| Uranolith Grey | |
| Magma Orange |
Tecno sent us the Cryolite Blue edition of the Pova 4 for review. The polycarbonate back of the device has a matte yet glittery finish, which appears black and blue depending on the reflection of light. But the top left corner of the back of the phone, where the dual-camera system and dual-LED flash are, has a glossy finish that easily attracts fingerprint marks. Overall, the device looks sleek and feels good enough for its cost.
The topside of the Pova 4 is barren, which means there is no secondary microphone onboard, while the opposite side has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microphone, a USB-C port, and a speaker grille. The other speaker is lodged in the earpiece on the top bezel of the device. The left spine of the phone has a SIM card tray, which offers a dedicated slot for a microSD card. The device comes equipped with an IPX2-rated chassis, which provides protection against water splashes.
The Pova 4 features a massive 6.82-inch LCD display. The screen is bright and offers a tall aspect ratio of 20.5:9, but there should have been support for Full HD+ resolution on the device. The chin is not too thick and does not feel obtrusive. The centred punch-hole display design allows the phone to support a high screen-to-body ratio.
The support for 90Hz refresh makes the overall experience smooth on the Pova 4. Since it supports Widevine L1, users can stream OTT content in HD. However, there is no support for HDR on YouTube. The color reproduction is good, but there is no option to change the color profile in Settings.
Performance and Battery Life
- MediaTek Helio G99
- 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM
- 128 GB of UFS 2.2 storage
- 6,000mAh battery with 18W charging
- Android 12 OS with HiOS 12
The 6nm Helio G99, which is the most powerful Helio-branded chipset available on the market, powers the Tecno Pova 4. Since it is not a Dimensity chip, there is no support for 5G connectivity on the device. The gaming-friendly chip is accompanied by 8 GB of RAM and a massive UFS 2.2 storage capacity of 128 GB. In addition, the phone supports up to 5 GB of virtual RAM.
The Tecno Pova 4 and Infinix Hot 12 Pro (debuted in August 2022) are the only phones under the Rs 12,000 (~$145) price segment to offer 8 GB of RAM, but the Infinix phone has an inferior Unisoc chip and a smaller battery onboard. Coming back to the Pova 4, it offers unmatched performance in its price segment.
The Pova 4 has a 6,000mAh battery with 18W charging via the USB-C port. It took around 2:15 minutes to fully charge the device. To recall, the Pova 3 had a bigger 7,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging. However, despite packing a better charger, it took longer to achieve a full charge on the Pova 3. The Pova 4 is capable of lasting up to 3 days with normal usage. In addition, it can be used as a powerbank to charge accessories like earbuds through its 10W reverse charging feature.
I tried Garena Free Fire Max on the Pova 4 in Smooth+Ultra graphics setting. I also played Shadow Fight 4 on the device. With a big battery and a good chipset onboard, the Pova 4 impresses in the gaming department. It is equipped with a heat dissipation unit with a surface area of 10718 mm2. The device became moderately warm after playing for over an hour. Here is how it performs on benchmark apps.
The Pova 4 comes preinstalled with Android 12 OS and HiOS 12.0. There are several preloaded apps on the phone that you may want to uninstall or disable. Otherwise, the HiOS 12 is filled with handy features like call recording without letting the recipient know, dual apps, multi-window support, WhatsApp call recording, and more.
Photography and Other Features
| Rear Camera | Other Features |
| 50MP + AI lens, dual-LED flash | Dual speakers |
| Video Ultra Steady | Dedicated microSD card |
| Side-facing fingerprint scanner | |
| Face unlock | |
| Front Camera | Dual-band Wi-Fi |
| 8MP Camera with LED flash | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Video Ultra Steady | NFC |
| 3.5mm audio jack | |
The Tecno Pova 4 has a 50-megapixel Samsung S5KJN1 primary camera with an f/1.6 aperture and PDAF. It has an AI lens and a dual-LED flash. The default camera app shoots using the AI Cam feature, which manages to recognize scenes correctly. Because of the 4-in-1 pixel binning technology, the Pova 4 captures images in 12.5-megapixel resolution by default. There is a dedicated 50MP mode for shooting 50-megapixel resolution photos.
As expected, the Pova 4 manages to capture decent daylight photos. Colors appear rich, and noise is well-controlled. The results are softened when images are shot indoors. In low-light conditions, users can rely on the Super Night Mode, to add some level of detail to images. However, sometimes users may have to capture multiple shots to get the right one.
Both the front and rear cameras can capture up to 2K videos at 30fps. The Ultra Steady feature reduces jerks when shooting 30fps FHD videos. It also supports 240fps slow-motion video shooting. For shooting videos with the front and rear cameras, there are bokeh and beauty modes. In both modes, the front and rear cameras shoot 720p videos at 30fps.
Some of the photography modes on the Pova 4 are Google Lens, Short Video, Video, Beauty, Portrait, Super Night, Pro mode, Panorama, AR Shot, Documents Scanner, Timelapse Video (30 fps in 2K), and Slow Motion Videos (up to 240 fps). Apart from these, it offers other features like HDR mode, 50MP mode, and filters. On the front, the Pova 4 has an 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash for bright shots / videos in low light. Selfies taken in normal or portrait mode are good. The level of edge detection in portrait shots is also passable. The overall performance of the Pova’s 4 rear cameras is quite good.
The dual speakers work fine and are loud enough. A surprise inclusion on the device is support for NFC connectivity for contactless payments, which is rarely found on such a reasonably priced phone.
Verdict
The Xiaomi Redmi 11 Prime 4G and POCO M5, which pack almost identical specs, are the two major competitors for the Pova 4. While the competitors offer Full HD+ resolution on a smaller 6.58-inch display, the Pova 4 packs a larger 6.82-inch screen with HD+ resolution. All three phones are available at the same price and feature the same Helio G99 chip, but the rivalling phones have less RAM, storage, and battery when compared to the Pova 4. Hence, investing in Pova 4 is not at all a bad decision. I can say that the Pova 4 can live up to the expectations set by its predecessor.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Tecno Pova 4 review are solely mine based on my experience, and there has been no editorial input from Tecno.
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