Reviewing Tecno POVA 3: Massive 7,000 mAh Battery, 90 Hz Display, and Affordable Price

Tecno has officially unveiled the Tecno POVA 3 in the Philippines in May 2022. The device boasts many attractive features such as a beautiful design, sufficient performance, large battery... and especially an incredibly affordable price. So how impressive is the Tecno POVA 3's performance? How long does the Tecno POVA 3's battery last? Is the Tecno POVA 3's camera quality good? If you're curious too, let's evaluate the Tecno POVA 3 together to discover the details about this phone and see what makes it special!

Note:

• The price of the Tecno POVA 3 in the Philippines starts from 8,999 PHP (approximately 4 million VND) for the standard version with 4 GB RAM + 64 GB internal storage. This price may change due to exchange rate fluctuations.
• The images in this article are referenced from YouTube channels TechLine, Sulit Tech Reviews, Hardware Voyage.
• Article information is referenced from MySmartPrice and YouTube channel TechLine.

See more:

• Should you buy the Tecno POVA 2 - A phone under 4 million, with a robust 7,000 mAh battery?
• This newly released budget phone features a 90Hz display and a large 5,000 mAh battery

The Tecno POVA 3 boasts a beautiful design, leaving a lasting impression with its unique back panel

Despite being aimed at the budget segment, the Tecno POVA 3 stands out with a unique and distinct beauty, setting it apart from other products in the same segment. The device comes in three different colors: Electric Blue, Tech Silver, and Eco Black. While these color options may seem somewhat simple at first glance, when combined with the overall design of the Tecno POVA 3, each color brings a unique beauty of its own! So, how does the Tecno POVA 3 look? Let's explore it together!

In terms of overall appearance, the Tecno POVA 3 has a fairly long and light profile (measuring 173.1 mm in length, weighing only 230 g), with a thickness of 9.4 mm, providing a comfortable and secure grip during use. The Tecno POVA 3 features a square frame but still has a certain curvature on the back and corners, creating a more harmonious overall look. Overall, the device's appearance is quite common in today's smartphone market, but with the overall design, it certainly provides comfort for users, especially when carrying the phone in a pocket or holding it for a long time.

When it comes to design, overlooking the back panel is indeed a major oversight, and in the case of the Tecno POVA 3, it's a prime example. The device features a back panel made of plastic, but it's not fragile or flimsy; instead, it's quite sturdy. The rear of the Tecno POVA 3 has a prominent mirrored strip running vertically across the back, and this has become a standout feature in the design process, making the POVA 3 stand out from other competitors at a similar price point.

Particularly noteworthy is the Electric Blue color variant of the Tecno POVA 3, which offers a more prominent highlight compared to the other two colors. Within the prominent mirrored strip running vertically along the back of this color variant, there's an LED light strip that illuminates whenever you charge your phone or receive notifications. This is the special variant that only the Tecno POVA 3 Electric Blue color offers, making it stand out and shine compared to any other device in the same segment.

The triple-camera module on the rear of the Tecno POVA 3 is arranged in a vertical row without any surrounding frame. This design approach bears a resemblance to the design language of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S22 Ultra, but the sensors on the POVA 3 don't protrude as much from the back panel; instead, they slightly protrude, giving the device a seamless overall appearance, as noted by the author of MySmartPrice.

Additionally, if you want to learn more about the exterior of the Tecno POVA 3, you can check out our hands-on review of the Tecno POVA 3 for a more detailed overview!

The Tecno POVA 3 features a massive 6.9-inch IPS LCD display with a 90 Hz refresh rate

Compared to devices in the 4 - 5 million price range, the Tecno POVA 3 is one of the smartphones with the largest display. Specifically, the device features a 6.9-inch IPS LCD screen with Full HD+ resolution (2,460 x 1,080 pixels). Additionally, the Tecno POVA 3's screen has a 90 Hz refresh rate and a 180 Hz touch sampling rate, impressive figures in the budget segment. With these features, the Tecno POVA 3 can provide users with responsive and smooth touch gestures during use.

According to the author of MySmartPrice, the bezels surrounding the screen are relatively thin, and the screen-to-body ratio reaches 91%. Overall, the Tecno POVA 3 delivers an excellent display experience with its large screen providing ample display area for better visibility. Moreover, the screen specifications of the Tecno POVA 3 can fully meet visual experiences when watching videos, browsing the web, or especially engaging in gaming tasks!

Not only providing great visual experiences, but Tecno also pays attention to audio quality for the Tecno POVA 3, delivering vivid and clear sound. During the experience, the author made some positive remarks when combining the two displays and audio while watching various content such as movies or YouTube videos. The sound output is quite standard, the volume is also good, and not too low like other devices in the same price range. This success is attributed to the superior dual speaker system, surpassing many competitors at the same price point who typically only have a single speaker.

Moreover, the dual speaker system of the Tecno POVA 3 can also produce DTS sound effects, enhancing audio clarity and creating more impressive surround effects. Furthermore, what's particularly impressive about the Tecno POVA 3 is that the manufacturer has thoughtfully considered the speaker placement so that both the top and bottom speaker grilles are not obstructed by your palm or fingers during horizontal phone usage when gaming or watching videos.

The Tecno POVA 3 features a massive 7,000 mAh battery for impressive usage time

Arguably the most standout feature of the Tecno POVA 3 is its impressive 7,000 mAh battery. This is the largest capacity compared to other devices in the same price range, and the usage time this battery provides is truly remarkable. According to the author's sharing, the Tecno POVA 3 offers excellent battery life with continuous usage ranging from 13 to 14 hours and can last in standby mode for up to 2 to 3 days.

With this battery, the Tecno POVA 3 has more than enough capability to provide you with usage time throughout an entire day or even longer when performing various tasks. With these insights, the POVA 3 truly surprised me, and personally, I think the Tecno POVA 3 is a formidable competitor in the budget segment.

Not only does the Tecno POVA 3 feature a large battery, but it also comes with 33 W fast charging. Considering the equivalent price range, other devices typically top out at 18 W fast charging or may not even offer fast charging at all, so having a 33 W charging capacity makes the Tecno POVA 3 stand out significantly. The author took 50 minutes to charge from 0 to 50% and a total of 2 hours 30 minutes to reach 100%. Although it may seem a bit long, remember that this device falls into the budget segment and has a 'massive' battery, so this figure is entirely acceptable in my opinion.

Tecno POVA 3 offers decent performance with the Helio G88 chipset

Let me quickly summarize the specifications of the Tecno POVA 3 for you to grasp easily!

• Display: 6.95-inch size, IPS LCD panel, Full HD+ resolution, 90 Hz refresh rate.
• Operating System: Android 12 (with HiOS 8.6 customization).
• CPU: Helio G88.
• RAM: 4 GB or 6 GB.
• Internal Storage: 64 GB or 128 GB.
• Rear Camera: 50 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP.
• Front Camera: 8 MP.
• Battery Capacity: 7,000 mAh, supports 33 W fast charging.

Tecno POVA 3 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G88 processor. This processor is manufactured on a 12nm process with 8 cores, including 2 Cortex-A75 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz and 6 Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. It also features the Mali-G52 MC2 GPU based on the Bifrost architecture operating at 1.0 GHz to deliver enhanced graphics processing capabilities for the device.

To fully unleash the power of the Helio G88, Tecno POVA 3 is also equipped with either 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM (with support for up to 5 GB of virtual RAM) to handle basic tasks such as web browsing, video streaming, etc. Additionally, the device offers either 64 GB or 128 GB of internal storage, providing enough space for users to store numerous photo albums, videos, and more.

Tecno POVA 3 will run on the HiOS 8.6 interface based on Android 12 right out of the box. Along with that, Tecno POVA 3 will come pre-installed with a plethora of apps and software. However, only three of those apps can be uninstalled, posing a challenge for users. Nevertheless, HiOS still offers many useful features for users, such as Screen Translate and the utility menu located at the screen's edge, and these features work seamlessly on the Tecno POVA 3.

The performance delivered by Tecno POVA 3 is quite good as the Helio G88 has been optimized to provide enough power to handle light to moderate tasks easily. However, according to the author's experience, when simultaneously using YouTube and some Google apps, Tecno POVA 3 starts to become sluggish. Specifically, apps don't launch instantly but take a few seconds to start up and display the interface.

After hearing those reviews, you must be curious about Tecno POVA 3's gaming capabilities, right? Tecno POVA 3 features 2 functions: Panther Engine 2.0 and Gaming Space 2.0 developed by Tecno. Therefore, according to TechLine's YouTube channel, when using the gaming feature (Game Mode), the performance of Tecno POVA 3 will be automatically enhanced with numerous settings to provide a better gaming experience for you. Moreover, Tecno POVA 3 can easily handle popular games like PUBG Mobile, Asphalt 9, etc., with appropriate graphics settings.

So, what level of performance does Tecno POVA 3 achieve? MySmartPrice has also scored the performance of Tecno POVA 3 and obtained the following results:

- AnTuTu: 250,197 points.

- Geekbench:

• Single-core score: 333 points.
• Multi-core score: 1,297.

The results show that Tecno POVA 3 possesses quite good performance as the scores achieved in the performance test fall within the optimistic range that a budget device can achieve. Therefore, you can rest assured about the performance that Tecno POVA 3 brings!

Tecno POVA 3 camera offers impressive photo capturing capabilities with a 50 MP main sensor

Before delving deeper into the camera system of Tecno POVA 3, let's quickly summarize the camera specifications that the device possesses:

• Main camera: 50 MP resolution, f/1.6 aperture.
• Macro camera: 2 MP resolution.
• AI depth camera.
• Selfie camera: 8 MP resolution.

For a budget device like Tecno POVA 3, the camera specifications are highly praised. At a similar price point, most other devices are usually developed with a focus on one aspect rather than being comprehensive like Tecno POVA 3. The camera system of the device includes a 50 MP main sensor, accompanied by a 2 MP macro camera, an AI depth sensor, and a front selfie camera with an 8 MP resolution, all of which are very impressive figures.

This camera system is also equipped with features similar to other devices on the market such as portrait mode, beauty mode, AI camera, slow motion, GIFs, etc. So, how does Tecno POVA 3 perform in terms of image quality with these features? Let's find out below!

According to the author's review on MySmartPrice, the photography experience on Tecno POVA 3 is not very impressive despite the camera system having decent specifications. Specifically, let's go through the author's insights below!

• Selfie Photos

The selfie photos on Tecno POVA 3 have fairly good quality, capturing vibrant colors of objects and natural skin tones. However, the biggest drawback here is the representation of the sky color, which appears overexposed and glaring. Even the portrait mode doesn't perform as well as expected, notably in terms of background blur, failing to accurately detect the subject and resulting in blurred subject details.

As for the quality of selfie photos taken with Tecno POVA 3, in low-light conditions, it is somewhat inferior compared to well-lit environments, and the details are not as clearly portrayed.

• Main Camera Photos

The 50 MP main sensor of Tecno POVA 3 demonstrates good autofocus capabilities for subjects through the machine's AI algorithm. According to the TechLine YouTube channel, photos taken with the main sensor exhibit fairly good quality in well-lit environments with rich details. However, the colors produced are not entirely natural and somewhat deviate from reality. For instance, as shown below, you can observe that the sky and buildings appear natural in color, while the contrast of the foliage is enhanced, resulting in a deeper green color than usual.

In low-light conditions, Tecno POVA 3 produces slightly yellowish-toned images, and there is a tendency for light sources to be overexposed. This results in details and colors that are not quite accurate compared to real-life scenes.

The rear camera setup of Tecno POVA 3 is capable of recording videos at up to 2K resolution with a frame rate of 30 frames per second. The image quality is quite good, delivering smooth and sharp footage at this resolution. Moreover, the audio captured by Tecno POVA 3 is also very clear and crisp.

How much does Tecno POVA 3 cost? Is it worth buying?

Tecno POVA 3 is a smartphone equipped with impressive specifications, design, and notably, a 7,000 mAh battery. These are excellent features given its incredibly affordable price. So, if you're looking for a budget-friendly phone with attractive specs, Tecno POVA 3 is a highly reasonable choice that you shouldn't overlook. What's your opinion on Tecno POVA 3? Feel free to leave your comments below the article for me and everyone to know! Thank you for taking the time to read my article.

Isn't Tecno POVA 3 just so enticing? You can also explore other budget-friendly phones priced between 2 to 4 million VND, offering a variety of designs and good specifications. Click the button below to check them out!

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