TECNO POVA Neo Unboxing, Full Review Philippines: Is Bigger, Better?

Review Verdict: At just under PHP 6K, the TECNO POVA Neo established itself as a decent entry-level choice during our review time in the Philippines. It towers over the competition thanks to a larger screen and a massive battery, along with performance that’s typically not seen in the price range.

Pros

Large 6.8-inch display with acceptable color reproduction
Appealing price
Both rear and front cameras are decent
Features both micro SD card expansion and 3.5mm headphone jack

Cons

The processor is a little outdated
Resolution is low for the screen size
Bloatware
USB Type-A charging

TECNO POVA Neo Specs

MediaTek Helio G25 processor
4GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD
6.8-inch HD+ IPS display
13-megapixel f/1.8 main camera, AI camera, LED flash
8-megapixel f/2.0 camera
LTE, 4G
WiFi, Bluetooth, rear-mounted fingerprint scanner
18w charging
6000mAh battery
Android 11, HiOS

Unboxing and Packaging Contents

We’ve been seeing less and less come in the boxes of flagship products nowadays, so this is a breath of fresh air. Opening up the TECNO POVA Neo box reveals what would have been considered standard fare many years ago: an 18W fast charger, USB Type-A cable, earphones, a SIM ejector tool, and the typical paperwork. Not seen in the image is the phone’s simple transparent jelly case which we already have installed.

Design

The TECNO POVA Neo is built to a certain budget due to its price but the company still manages to churn out a decent-feeling phone. There is no doubt that the device has a plastic construction but it doesn’t feel cheap or weightless. The textured rear spices up the POVA Neo’s personality, with different textures depending on where you hold it. At the top left is the camera module which we’ll delve into more later, while the fingerprint scanner is conveniently placed at the center.

On the right side of the phone are the volume rocker and power buttons, while the bottom shelters the audio jack, USB port, and the bottom-firing speaker.

Display and Sound

The front holds the smartphone’s party piece: a 6.8-inch IPS display with an HD+ resolution. This number is a little close to the 7-inch tablets we had back in the day, hence our personal moniker for the phone “Goliath.” The color reproduction is acceptable, with vivid colors all throughout for an LCD panel. Watching YouTube videos or some Netflix won’t be an issue with this screen. However, use in outdoor situations may prove to be a little tricky. The brightness only goes up to 480 nits which is a low number when you compare it to 2022’s smartphones. Add that to the 60Hz refresh rate and this display is already starting to feel a bit dated.

As expected from the price range, a teardrop notch is situated top and center of the screen. There aren’t any surprises here. Since the company didn’t mention what kind of glass was used in the screen’s construction, we can assume that it is an unbranded material. As such, durability and resistance to shattering when dropped are probably below or on par with the industry average.

Watching content is doable on this due to the passable combination of video and audio. The speakers are acceptable for the price, attempting to provide a full-ish sound but lacking a bit in the bass department. Either way, we’ll have to applaud this valiant effort.

Cameras

The rear camera module sports a dual setup with a 13-megapixel main shooter at its helm. This sensor will also allow the device to take up to Full HD videos at 30FPS. Here are some samples:

We’re happy to report that photos taken with both front and rear cameras in optimal lighting conditions are splendid. Colors come out quite well and are punchy, which appeals to mainstream tastes. These images can surely be used for the purposes of social media or personal documentation. If you zoom in, however, the details will start to fuzz out.

In low-lighting conditions, the camera still performed adequately. Whether it be close-up shots of toy models or other items, there was almost no grain on the image. TECNO did an amazing job of squeezing out every last bit of the hardware’s potential to achieve this feat. It’s not game-breaking by any means since it didn’t pull out that much light from the image, but it has created absolutely usable images in awkward situations. That’s more than what can be said about other competitors in this price bracket.

The selfie camera is an 8-megapixel unit that is nothing noteworthy. While some of you may see this negatively, it also means that we don’t have any complaints about it.

Performance, Software and Battery

The chipset found on the TECNO POVA Neo is the MediaTek Helio G25. It’s a low-budget octa-core processor of ARM Cortex A53s built with a 12nm process. In this case, it’s supported by 4GB of RAM with the option to add 1 more GB of RAM via virtual expansion. Sadly, this chip is limited to 4G LTE connectivity but that’s a small compromise since 5G coverage areas are still limited anyways.

We installed the most popular slew of benchmarks onto the POVA Neo. Our point of comparison is last year’s realme Narzo 50i, another competitively-priced entry-level device that we were able to review. Both devices held similar scores all throughout, the only major difference being 3DMark where the Narzo drew an advantage. This may not mean much though since both these devices are by no means gaming giants.

In real-world performance, the POVA Neo muscles through everyday tasks with no issues. Browsing through social media and the overall interface left us with little to no stutters, which shows how optimized TECNO’s HiOS is for these paltry specifications. There’s a certain degree of polish, only held back by how much bloatware there is on the device. You can uninstall these apps but the out-of-the-box experience can be a bit daunting.

Playing lighter games such as Temple Run 2 and Mobile Legends posed no issues for the POVA Neo. Considering these have been out for years now, you can easily play these all-time favorites at decent settings. Call of Duty Mobile players might run into a bit of lag during high-movement situations, but it’s nothing deal-breaking. The only games we’d recommend buyers of this device to avoid are those on the same level as Genshin Impact. This much is obvious since this game is notorious to bring even midrange hardware to the brink. It’s borderline unplayable on the POVA Neo, even on the lowest settings.

The battery size is impressive at 6,000 mAh. However, we’ve learned over the years that capacity isn’t everything – a device must also be efficient in consuming its juice. The TECNO POVA Neo was able to last a minute under 21 hours in the Work 3.0 Battery Life Test. To get it back up to 100% took a respectable 1 hour and 20 minutes, which isn’t blazing fast by any means but is good enough if you factor in the battery size.

Wrap Up and Verdict

It’s quite difficult to give a review verdict on this TECNO POVA Neo without mentioning its price in the Philippines every other sentence. More often than not, devices within this bracket either have unacceptable hardware specifications or buggy software. As of now, the TECNO POVA Neo has neither. While some might argue that this device has the last-generation Android 11 installed, a stable experience will always be the priority.

With the gigantic display, workable camera performance, decent processing power, and everything else this device offers, we’d be happy to pick this out of a sea of terrible devices in this segment. This probably won’t be the weapon of choice for power users or gamers out there, but that’s understandable. Other than that, this will do what you want it to do.

We’re glad that this device still comes with the 3.5mm audio jack, a microSD card slot, 18W quick charging, and a bevy of essential features. Those will allow us to end this review on a positive note.