Initial verdict: With a bigger battery, better cameras, and a flashier design, TECNO wants to dominate the budget gaming segment with the POVA 6 Pro. 

Pros

-Great battery and charging combo

-Better front and rear cameras

Cons

-Stereo speakers need a bit of tweaking

-Internals the same with POVA 5 Pro

We’re in Barcelona for MWC 2024, and TECNO is one of the participating brands for this year. One of their highlight products is the POVA 6 Pro, which is a follow-up to last year’s budget gaming king. We got our hands on the phone ahead of its official launch and gave our first impressions of the POVA 6 Pro:

 

TECNO POVA 6 Pro: Design

Since the POVA 5 series, TECNO has been pushing for a cyberpunk-like design for their back panels. The POVA 6 Pro has a louder design, with more lines to emphasize its gamer vibe.

Like its predecessor, the POVA 6 Pro distinguishes itself from the standard model–which has yet to be released–with its Dynamic-Light array in the back that can be programmed in different ways. It’s similar to how Nothing does it with its Glyph Interface and can used as a way of flexing the POVA 6 Pro to your friends.

Our review unit is in Comet Green, which has a high-gloss finish that attracts fingerprints like crazy. We recommend that you use the included–which has a translucent area to showcase those lines on the back panel.

The POVA 6 Pro is pretty hefty since it packs a 6000mAh battery inside, but we’re impressed that TECNO managed to make it relatively thin. On top of having speakers on the top and bottom, you still get a headphone jack–and a headset–with the POVA 6 Pro. The left side has the SIM card tray, and the right side has the power and volume controls. You also get an IR blaster as well, so you can also use the POVA 6 Pro as a remote control for most of your devices.

 

TECNO POVA 6 Pro: Display and speakers

Like its predecessor, the POVA 6 Pro comes with a 6.78-inch 120hz AMOLED display, which is one of the best options you can get for a budget mid-range phone. The bezels may be on the thick side, but you do get an in-display fingerprint scanner with the POVA 6 Pro.

The POVA 6 Pro supports Widevine L1, so you can enjoy your Netflix shows in Full HD and appreciate the deep blacks and vibrant colors typically associated with AMOLED displays.

You also get a stereo speaker setup, though the soundstage felt like it lacked detail and bass. The POVA 6 Pro is supposed to be the first TECNO phone to have Dolby Atmos, so we presume that the feature will be available later through a software update.

 

TECNO POVA 6 Pro: Cameras

While cameras are not a priority in the POVA series, the POVA 6 Pro gets a higher-resolution 32-megapixel selfie and 108-megapixel rear camera. The two filler cameras are unfortunately still there, and we wished TECNO just scrapped them in exchange for something more useful like an ultra-wide camera.

While TECNO did not mention what sensor was used for the main camera, we presume that it is an ISOCELL HM6 since there’s a 3x digital zoom option on the camera app.

We haven’t explored the POVA 6 Pro’s cameras yet, but we noticed that it can shoot Full HD 60FPS video on top of capping out at 2K resolution. There’s also an Ultra Steady mode, but that caps out at Full HD 30FPS.

 

TECNO POVA 6 Pro: Internals and Battery

Like its predecessor, the POVA 6 Pro comes with a 5G-ready Dimensity 6080 processor that’s paired with 256GB storage. You are getting more RAM this time at 12GB, which means that the POVA 6 Pro should perform better when it comes to multitasking.

The Dimensity 6080 is based on the Dimensity 810, and based on our experience, it should be good enough to run demanding titles like Genshin Impact at high graphics (medium graphics with 60FPS enabled). It’s a fairly good budget mid-range processor that can handle both multitasking and gaming at the same time.

 

The POVA 6 Pro comes with Android 14-based HiOS14, and is the first TECNO device to have Android 14 out of the box. It has its fair share of bloatware, but not as much as what we’ve encountered with other devices especially those under the Transsion group.

What’s new in the POVA 6 Pro is the bigger 6000mAh battery that supports 70w charging. That’s the best battery and charging combination we’ve seen to date–the closest one that can match this is the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate’s 6000mAh battery that’s paired with 65w charging.

 

TECNO POVA 6 Pro: Wrap-up and Initial Conclusions

With better cameras and a beefier battery, the POVA 6 Pro builds up on the value-packed offering of its predecessor when it comes to budget gaming. We expect it to get a few upgrades along the way, especially the support for Dolby Atmos for its stereo speakers.

We’re not sure about the pricing of the POVA 6 Pro, but we expect it to be around Php 11k since that’s also the same launch SRP of the POVA 5 Pro last year.