Tecno Pova Curve 5G Review-OxBig News Network

Tecno and its sibling brand Infinix, under the banner of Transsion Holdings, are among only a handful of OEMs trying to maintain a mass-market appeal while also offering phones that break the mould and stand out in the overcrowded sea of generic-looking offerings. Aiding its cause is the Tecno Pova Curve 5G, which was recently launched in India, and this one is no exception. Featuring a starship-inspired design and promising on-paper specifications, the handset seeks to impress at first glance. However, do these additions really justify its price tag?

The price of Tecno Pova Curve 5G in India starts at Rs. 15,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage configuration. It is also available in an 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant, which is priced at Rs. 16,999. Read on to find out whether the handset is worth its asking price in our Tecno Pova Curve 5G review.

Tecno Pova Curve 5G Design: Uniquely Refreshing

• Dimensions – 164.3 x 74.6 x 7.44mm
• Weight – 188.5g
• Durability – IP64

Make no mistake, the Tecno Pova Curve 5G has a distinctive appearance. It brings a curved, tall, and slender build with a sleeker in-hand feel and gives off a premium vibe. While the rear cover and the frame are both made of polycarbonate, the phone still provides an excellent grip. At 7.44mm, the Tecno Pova Curve 5G is one of the slimmest phones I’ve had the pleasure of using at its price point. It also features good weight distribution, weighing in at 188.5g.

Moving on, the Tecno Pova Curve 5G’s futuristic back panel borrows inspiration from a starship. It is offered in a total of three colour options — Geek Black, Magic Silver, and Neon Cyan. While the Geek Black is too subtle and the Neon Cyan turns heads, I found the Magic Silver shade, featuring orange-accented elements, to be the most appealing of the bunch. It sports a frosted finish that highlights the various elements, resulting in a “techy” aesthetic without being overly flamboyant. It is certainly nicer to touch than most other handsets in this segment with glossy plastics. This finish not only makes the Tecno Pova Curve 5G stand out but also helps with fingerprint resistance. The back panel also features a vertically placed dual camera setup, which we’ll discuss in the camera section later.

The top of the phone features a speaker grille, a microphone, and an infrared (IR) blaster, which is a nice touch, allowing you to control IR-compatible devices such as TVs and air conditioners. Meanwhile, the speaker grille, SIM tray, microphone, and USB Type-C port are located at the bottom. The right side of the Tecno Pova Curve 5G features the power button and volume rockers, while the left side remains clean and uncluttered.

You get a speaker grille on each end of the Tecno Pova Curve 5G

Lastly, its IP64-rated build protects the handset from dust and water sprays, though you’ll have to be careful about accidentally dropping it in the pool.

Tecno Pova Curve 5G Display: Packs a Punch

• Display size – 6.78-inch, 1,080 x 2,436 pixels
• Display type – AMOLED, 144Hz
• Display protection – Gorilla Glass 5

The display is one of the strongest suits of Tecno Pova Curve 5G. It sports a 6.78-inch full HD+ (1,080 x 2,436 pixels) curved AMOLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate, 1,300 nits peak brightness, and a 93.8 percent screen-to-body ratio. I’ve always preferred curved panels to flat displays, which, though less practical and more fragile, lend a more premium feel.

The Tecno Pova Curve 5G’s curved screen does not come with a pre-applied protector

The colour reproduction on the Tecno Pova Curve 5G is excellent, although it can appear slightly oversaturated to those transitioning from phones in a lower segment, even when set to the “Original” setting. Courtesy of the AMOLED panel, you also get deeper blacks. When scrolling through apps or social media, the experience is butter smooth, mainly due to the 144Hz refresh rate, which is a rare but welcome addition at this price point. The screen is set to 120Hz by default, but it can be manually adjusted to reach up to 144Hz in certain apps, such as WhatsApp.

However, outdoor visibility is an area where the Tecno Pova Curve 5G struggles. While perfectly fine to use indoors, the harsh daytime sunlight, especially in Delhi’s peak summer conditions, demands a bit more punch, which the phone cannot deliver. Further, there’s no official HDR support for streaming apps like Netflix, though the phone often fools YouTube into thinking it has so, through software.

The in-display fingerprint sensor is snappy and accurately registers quick inputs. Its screen has a Gorilla Glass 5 coating but may still be prone to scratches due to its curved design. There’s no pre-applied screen protector either, which I feel is a notable omission due to the scarcity of third-party protectors in the market for handsets with curved screens.

Tecno Pova Curve 5G Performance: Par for the Course

• Processor – MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultimate RAM – 8GB (LPDDR5)
• Storage – 128GB (UFS 2.2)
• Software – HiOS 15

The Tecno Pova Curve 5G is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultimate chipset. You get a choice of either 6GB or 8GB LPDDR5 RAM along with 128GB of UFS 2.2 onboard storage capacity. The RAM can further be virtually expanded up to 16GB using additional, unused storage. The company claims to offer up to two years of OS updates on the Tecno Pova Curve 5G.

The Tecno Pova Curve 5G runs on HiOS 15 based on Android 15

The SoC delivers a performance par for the course. In day-to-day scenarios, the phone was smooth and responsive to use, and I did not notice any noticeable lag in everyday tasks, such as calls, messaging, or browsing through social media, even with multiple apps open in memory. It can also handle most games, delivering between 80-85 frames per second (fps) after an hour and a half of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) gameplay when set at the “Smooth + Extreme+” graphics setting. However, the phone did warm up a bit after extended play.

Storage is where I felt Tecno could definitely have done more on the Tecno Pova Curve 5G. You only get 128GB of onboard storage, no matter which configuration you choose. There’s no support for storage expansion via a microSD card, either, which means that if you keep a lot of data or take lots of pictures, this could become a bottleneck, and you’ll need to delete or transfer them to free up the space.

HiOS 15, based on Android 15, powers the phone. It is Tecno’s staple skin, which we’ve already seen in other phones from the Transsion Holdings subsidiary, with fairly snappy operation but with a fair amount of bloatware, too. While the UI, along with its deep customisation options, takes some time to get used to, the rest of the experience is decent and par for the course. What isn’t nice is the software support. Tecno has promised only one major OS update for the Pova Curve 5G, along with two years of security updates.

Some benchmark scores of the phone for your reference

With artificial intelligence (AI) becoming the buzzword in recent years, Tecno has jumped on the bandwagon, too, offering a surprising amount of AI-backed features for the camera and productivity on the Tecno Pova Curve 5G.

There’s AI Call Noise Cancellation, AI Auto Answer and AI Call Assistant for phone calls, while the AI Gallery app gets AI Eraser 2.0 (for removing unwanted objects), Image Extender (to widen image frames), and AI Sharpness Plus (for enhancing image clarity). Most of the features, especially the AI Call Noise Cancellation, worked pretty well, though they are cloud-based and require network connectivity at all times.

The main highlight of the AI suite on the Tecno Pova Curve 5G is Ella, an AI voice assistant which offers support for Indian languages. It is an alternative to Google Assistant and can be used to do a range of tasks, such as playing music, setting alarms and timers, or simply asking queries. Currently, Ella only supports conversations in Hindi and select global languages, although Tecno claims it will bring support for Bengali, Gujarati, and other regional languages by the end of 2025.

While it is not a direct replacement for Google Assistant by any means, Tecno’s Ella works okay as long as your requests are straightforward.

Also worth mentioning is the Intelligent Signal Hub System. It is claimed to enable seamless connectivity even in low or no-signal areas, but it only works between Tecno Pova phones, which limits its practical usefulness. The audio on the Tecno Pova Curve 5G, backed by Dolby Atmos, is above average with ample volume. So, there are no real complaints on this front.

Tecno Pova Curve 5G Cameras: Decent

• Primary camera – 64-megapixel, f/1.7
• Portrait camera – 2-megapixel, f/2.4
• Selfie camera – 13-megapixel

Moving on to the camera department, Tecno has equipped the Pova Curve 5G with a dual rear camera system, comprising a 64-megapixel primary camera with a Sony IMX682 sensor and an f/1.7 aperture, and a 2-megapixel portrait lens with an f/2.4 aperture. And while the on-paper specifications matter, it is the real-world performance that does the talking.

The Tecno Pova Curve 5G has decent cameras for its price

The primary sensor, a Sony IMX682 unit, captures excellent shots in daylight, offering plenty of detail, sharpness, and vibrancy. When HDR is enabled, the shots have a good dynamic range. While the colours pop out a bit too much for someone like me who leans towards more natural tones, they can be considered Instagram-worthy without requiring too much editing work. The nighttime shots also maintain detail fairly well, although some noise can creep in during extremely low-lit situations when the Super Night mode is not used.

Top to bottom: Rear camera samples at 1x (primary), 2x (in-sensor crop) zoom (tap to expand)

If you’re someone who likes taking portrait photos, then there might be better options for you out there than the Tecno Pova Curve 5G.

Left to right: 24.0mm vs 35.0mm vs 50.0mm portrait camera sample

While portrait shots are detailed and rarely appear soft, the edge detection is hit-or-miss and lacks consistency, even with the dedicated portrait mode enabled.

The 13-megapixel front-facing camera captures decent selfies with some amount of detail, although there is noticeable smoothening too.

Top to bottom: daylight, indoor lighting, low-light selfie camera sample (tap to expand)

That said, a big win for the Tecno Pova Curve 5G is the video recording support. It allows you to shoot in up to 4K resolution at up to 30 fps, which is a rare offering in this segment. The phone also gets electronic image stabilisation (EIS), though the absence of OIS is felt here.

Tecno Pova Curve 5G Battery: Great!

• Battery capacity – 5,500mAh, lithium-ion
• Wired charging – 45W
• Wireless charging – No
• Charger in the box – Yes

The battery life on the Tecno Pova Curve 5G is excellent. It is equipped with a 5,500mAh battery that supports fast charging at 45W. With moderate usage involving calls, messages, social media, and streaming a few videos, the phone easily powers through a day and slightly more on a single charge. This is the case even with the always-on display (AoD) enabled. Heavy usage shortens that window to slightly shy of a day.

The phone does not support wireless charging

The company claims that the handset can get up to 50 percent charged by plugging in for just 15 minutes, whereas a 45-minute charge can top it up to 100 percent. In our tests, the Tecno Pova Curve 5G charged up to 60 percent in 30 minutes with the accompanying 45W charger. It took about 50 minutes to charge the phone, which is not groundbreaking fully, but it gets the job done.

Tecno Pova Curve 5G Verdict

The Tecno Pova Curve 5G presents a compelling case as a value-for-money offering in the crowded mid-range segment. It is aided by an attractive “starship-inspired” design and a slender build, which gives it a visual edge in its segment. The 144Hz refresh rate, along with the curved AMOLED screen, results in snappy operation and an immersive viewing experience. Performance is par for the course. A comprehensive set of AI features enhances the overall appeal, and the main camera performs well in ideal lighting.

Storage limits, the requirement for a network to access AI features, outdoor visibility challenges, and the lack of HDR support dampen the experience somewhat, but none of these are major deal breakers. So, at its price tag of Rs. 15,999, the Tecno Pova Curve 5G emerges as a decent choice for those who prefer style, nifty AI features, reliable cameras, and an enduring battery life.