Tecno Pova 8: specs, price and full review

The Tecno Pova 8 is a mid-range 5G phone built around one big selling point: an 8,000 mAh battery, one of the largest you can get at this price. Around it, Tecno has put a Dimensity 7100 chip that holds steady in games, a 144 Hz Full HD+ LCD and a small light panel on the back called the Alive Matrix Display. It is aimed at people who want two days away from a socket and long gaming sessions without the phone overheating. But at around 185,000 FCFA (Indian price converted), it is up against rivals with better screens and better video, including some from Tecno’s own line-up.

Introduction: the Pova that bets everything on endurance

Announced in India on 11 June 2026, the Pova 8 kicks off the new generation of Tecno’s Pova series, the brand’s gaming and battery-life line. It went on sale on 18 June on Flipkart, then reached Malaysia at the end of July. It sits below the Tecno Pova 8 Pro, unveiled on 22 July, which moves to AMOLED, the Dimensity 7400 Ultimate chip and IP69 certification, but with a smaller 6,500 mAh battery.

So the Pova 8 makes a clear choice: it gives up screen quality and slimness in favour of capacity. Its 8,000 mAh is 2,000 mAh more than the 2025 Pova 7 5G. The other novelty is on the back: a grid of 117 white LEDs that lights up for calls, notifications and charging.

The catch is the price. In India, the Pova 8 starts at 29,999 rupees, roughly double the launch price of the Pova 7 5G, and it loses its predecessor’s 4K video along the way. It is meant for delivery riders, sales reps, students and gamers who spend the day far from a socket or live with frequent power cuts.

Verdict at a glance

Three figures stand out on this spec sheet. First, the 8,000 mAh, which makes the Pova 8 one of the longest-lasting phones in its class. Second, the 225 g weight, the price you pay for that battery: it is heavy, even for a 6.76-inch screen. Third, UFS 2.2 storage, an old standard that slows down app installs and large file copies. There are three configurations: 6 GB/128 GB, 8 GB/128 GB and 8 GB/256 GB.

Design: a semi-transparent back and a light-up matrix

The Pova 8 looks like nothing else in its price bracket. Its semi-transparent back, inspired by spacecraft according to Tecno, shows technical patterns and a few markings such as “5G | NFC”. Under the triangular camera block sits the Alive Matrix Display: a grid of 117 white LEDs.

It offers 49 scenarios for calls, notifications, music, gaming and charging, customisable animations and even a dice roll. Useful? Not very, except for spotting a call when the phone is lying face down on the table. Fun? Yes, and that is exactly the audience the Pova series is after.

The build is conventional: plastic back and frame, toughened glass on the front. According to GSMArena’s review, the chassis does not flex and the whole thing feels well put together. The fingerprint reader is built into the power button on the right edge and responds quickly. The IR blaster lets you control a TV or an air conditioner.

The tricky part is the size: 165.7 x 78.5 x 8.8 mm and 225 g. It is a two-handed phone and you will feel it in your pocket. On durability, IP64 certification protects it against dust, handy on unpaved roads, and against water splashes, but not against immersion. Tecno also claims the MIL-STD-810H military standard (drops, temperatures). The Pova 8 Pro goes all the way to IP69.

Display: a bright but slow 144 Hz LCD

The Pova 8 uses a 6.76-inch IPS LCD panel at 1,080 x 2,344 pixels, around 381 pixels per inch. Tecno quotes a typical brightness of 760 nits and a 950-nit peak in high-brightness mode.

GSMArena measured 647 nits with manual brightness and up to 991 nits in auto mode under strong light. That is a good result for an LCD: the screen stays readable in full sun, from Douala to Abidjan, even if it does not reach the peaks of recent AMOLED panels. The phone supports HDR10 and HDR10+, and it has Widevine L1 certification, which you need to watch Netflix in HD.

The refresh rate goes up to 144 Hz, with steps from 45 to 120 Hz. Early published reviews, however, describe rather rigid switching, with smoothness that varies from game to game. More annoying is the slow pixel response time: during fast scrolling or in action games, trails appear behind moving objects.

This is the Pova 8’s most obvious weakness. At a similar price, the Tecno Camon 50 offers a 1.5K 144 Hz AMOLED panel, with deep blacks and far better contrast. For YouTube and series, the Pova 8’s screen will do the job, and not much more.

Performance: a modest chip with remarkable stability

The Pova 8 runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 7100, built on a 6 nm process. It pairs four Cortex-A78 cores at 2.4 GHz with four Cortex-A55 cores and a Mali-G610 MC2 GPU. It comes with 6 or 8 GB of RAM, LPDDR5X according to ETV Bharat, and 128 or 256 GB of UFS 2.2 storage.

The scores published by GSMArena place the chip clearly: 811,323 points on AnTuTu 11, 1,001 points single-core and 2,914 points multi-core on Geekbench 6. Mid-range level, nothing more. The Pova 7 5G, with its 4 nm Dimensity 7300 Ultimate, was no slower, and the Pova 8 Pro, with its Dimensity 7400 Ultimate, is well ahead.

The real strength lies elsewhere: stability. In the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme stress test, the phone goes from 695 to 687 points, a near-zero drop. The surface stays lukewarm, according to GSMArena, thanks to a graphite cooling system of almost 15,000 mm², which Tecno calls Ice Cooling System 3.0. When it is 32 °C in the shade, that matters more than a peak score.

For gaming, Tecno claims up to 90 frames per second in Mobile Legends and Honor of Kings. For Free Fire, PUBG Mobile or Call of Duty Mobile, expect medium graphics settings to keep things smooth. WhatsApp, TikTok and mobile money apps run without a hitch, but UFS 2.2 makes installs and updates take longer.

Tecno adds two in-house chips meant to improve network and Wi-Fi reception, an interesting promise where 4G is patchy, but one whose real effect has yet to be measured. The Dolby Atmos stereo speakers sound decent but are not very loud, according to early reviews. There is no headphone jack.

Camera: a good main sensor, and that’s it

On the back, the Pova 8 has a 50 MP main camera, a 1/1.95-inch Sony LYTIA 600 with an f/1.8 aperture and phase-detection autofocus. The second 2 MP module cannot even be selected. There is no ultra-wide and no telephoto. The selfie camera is 13 MP.

In daylight, the samples published by GSMArena are sharp and detailed, with good dynamic range. Colours are accurate but a little dull, and shadows tend to stay dark. The 2x zoom, obtained by cropping the sensor, produces decent 12.5 MP images, nothing more.

At night, shots keep a wide dynamic range, accurate white balance and a good level of detail, with fairly saturated colours. The 2x zoom at night, on the other hand, suffers from heavy over-sharpening. The 13 MP selfie camera is one of the pleasant surprises: solid detail in daylight, natural skin tones and respectable results in the evening.

Video is the weak spot. The Pova 8 records at best in 1440p at 30 fps or 1080p at 60 fps, with no 4K, even though the Pova 7 5G offered it. Worse, electronic stabilisation only works in 1080p at 30 fps. Content creators would do better to look at the Camon series.

Battery and charging: two days, and then some

This is where the Pova 8 earns its place. Its 8,000 mAh battery scores more than 17 hours of active use in GSMArena’s test routine, a top-tier result. Tecno promises up to two days of use. With mixed use, two full days look realistic.

During a long power cut or a trip with no socket in sight, that margin is priceless. The 10 W wired reverse charging can even rescue another phone. Finally, Tecno promises more than 80% of capacity retained after 2,000 cycles, something only time will confirm.

Charging is less convincing. Tecno quotes 45 W and about 50% in 35 minutes. Published measurements fall short: 22% in 15 minutes, 39% in 30 minutes and a full charge in close to an hour and a half. Better to plug it in overnight than to count on a quick top-up. A charger and a case are included in the box.

Software: HiOS 16 on Android 16, with two updates promised

The Pova 8 runs Android 16 with Tecno’s HiOS 16 skin. The manufacturer promises two major Android updates and three years of security patches, according to GSMArena. That is far from what Samsung commits to on its Galaxy A phones: if that pace holds, the Pova 8 should stop at Android 18, with security support until around mid-2029, pending an official schedule from Tecno.

HiOS 16 brings a more customisable always-on display, an AI theme generator, split screen and the Ella voice assistant. Call noise reduction, with a Pure Voice mode that recognises your voice, will come in handy in a taxi or at the market. AI editing tools can erase an object, a shadow or a reflection from a photo.

Pleasantly, the skin stays fairly clean according to early reviews: Tecno installs its own gallery, video player and browser, but no in-house app store. Some third-party apps may vary from country to country, though, including on models sold in Africa.

Price and availability: launched in Asia, expected in Africa

In India, the Pova 8 has been on sale since 18 June 2026 at 29,999 rupees for 6 GB/128 GB and 31,999 rupees for 8 GB/128 GB, roughly €280 and €295, or 185,000 and 195,000 FCFA. In Malaysia, the 8 GB/256 GB version launched at 1,399 ringgit, about €280 or 185,000 FCFA, ahead of a retail price announced at 1,609 ringgit according to Technave. These conversions are approximate.

In Nigeria, Techeconomy quotes a price of around $313, with no official price in naira. In Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, we found no official price, no release date and no confirmed retail listing as of 1 October 2026. As a rough guide, a range of about 280 to 320 euros (185,000 to 210,000 FCFA) looks plausible, to be confirmed with retailers.

Ideally, buy from Tecno’s official network or an authorised reseller. The warranty is then handled by Carlcare, Transsion’s after-sales service, which has a presence in the region’s major cities. A model imported from Asia may not be covered and may differ from the African version: according to GSMArena, only the Indian model takes a microSD card.

On the network side, Kimovil lists unofficial bands that include 4G B3, B7, B20 and B28, plus 5G n78 and n28, which are used in West and Central Africa as well as in France; the official band list for the African version is still to be confirmed with the retailer. In France, the Pova 8 is not officially sold: we did not find it on Amazon.fr, at Fnac, Darty or Cdiscount.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Exceptional battery life thanks to 8,000 mAh, with wired reverse charging
• Very stable gaming performance, without uncomfortable heat
• Convincing main and selfie cameras, day and night
• Original design with the Alive Matrix Display on the back
• Full feature set: 5G, NFC, IR blaster, FM radio, charger and case included

Cons

• LCD with slow response time and visible ghosting
• No ultra-wide, video limited to 1440p and stabilised only at 1080p 30 fps
• 45 W charging slower than claimed, nearly an hour and a half for a full charge
• Heavy (225 g) and only IP64 certified
• Outdated UFS 2.2 storage and a steep price rise over the Pova 7

If your budget is tight, the Tecno Spark 50 5G keeps a 6,500 mAh battery and 45 W charging for much less, with an HD+ screen. The Camon 50, sold for around 185,000 FCFA in Côte d’Ivoire, offers an AMOLED screen, a stabilised sensor and IP68 certification for a similar budget, but with 4G only and 6,150 mAh. Finally, the Pova 8 Pro fixes almost all of the Pova 8’s weaknesses, from the screen and chip to 4K video and water resistance, in exchange for a smaller battery and a noticeably higher price.

Conclusion: should you buy the Tecno Pova 8?

Yes, if battery life is your absolute priority. The Pova 8 lasts two days without breaking a sweat, stays stable in games and adds 5G, NFC and an IR blaster. If you deal with load shedding or work outdoors all day, that matters more than the screen.

For everyone else, the answer is less clear-cut. At around 185,000 FCFA, the Pova 8 faces better-balanced models, and its price has roughly doubled compared with the Pova 7 5G without any real gain in performance or video. Our advice: wait for the official price in your country. Below 170,000 FCFA, it becomes a good deal. Above 200,000 FCFA, you will find an AMOLED screen and better video elsewhere.

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