POVA 8 review: a phone designed to be noticed

• By Dhruv Joshi
Published On: 29 June 2026 | 13:54 IST

The POVA 8 is one of those phones that try to grab your attention before you’ve even switched it on. It’s bold, a bit chunky, and very clearly taking inspiration from Nothing’s design language, a look that wants to feel a bit more “designed” than the usual offerings in the mid-range segment.

And to be fair, that is what’s doing most of the heavy lifting here. In a market where hardware upgrades have slowed to a crawl and spec sheets don’t quite look like they used to, Tecno seems to be betting big on design to carry the POVA 8 forward.

But the catch? It’s also priced higher than you’d expect, which makes that bet feel a lot riskier. In this review, I’ll share my thoughts on the device based on my experience so far, supplemented by a lot of data, to see if the phone justifies its value.

Short Verdict

The POVA 8 has a bold design, a large battery, and cameras that do well enough for everyday use. It also feels smooth in normal use and has a playful character. But the LCD panel is a missed opportunity, storage options are limited, and the pricing feels a little ambitious. Taken as a whole, the phone may not be an easy recommendation, but it has enough charm.

Design: an all-new aesthetic

Tecno is very clearly chasing attention with the POVA 8, and to be fair, it works at first glance. The transparent-style rear panel, sharp geometric accents, and that circular secondary display sitting next to the camera module immediately set it apart from the usual mid-range crowd. The phone definitely makes you look twice, even if you’re not entirely sure how you feel about it yet.

It does carry similarities to Nothing’s design language, from the exposed aesthetic to the way the back is meant to feel interactive. Tecno calls the secondary display “Alive Matrix Display”, and it’s essentially their take on turning the rear panel into a visual playground. You get multiple lighting elements, notification cues, and what are essentially Glyph-style features.

Once you get past the visual flair, however, the POVA 8 weighs in at 225 grams and 8.8mm thick. The phone is a little on the heavier, chunkier side, but that is because it has such a large battery. It does have a refined in-hand presence, and you get used to the weight in time. The phone’s design is meant to be bold, a bit loud, and unapologetically trying to be the centre of attention.

Tecno seems to be making a clear statement: this phone is meant to be seen as much as it is used.

Display: things could be better

The display is one area where the POVA 8 does miss the mark a bit. At this price, not having an AMOLED panel is a clear disadvantage, especially when AMOLED has become the more expected choice in this segment.

The colours do not look like what you get on rival phones with OLED panels, so this is not the most satisfying screen for watching videos or scrolling through photos. The brightness is also lacking outdoors, making it hard to see in harsh lighting. It does get the job done, but it lacks that bit of punch you’d expect at around Rs 30,000.

The 144Hz refresh rate helps keep things feeling smooth, but it’s not implemented across the board. From what I’ve seen, that higher refresh rate is limited to just a handful of system apps like Messages, Phone, and Settings, and games do not seem to support it yet. So while it sounds impressive, the actual experience is a little more restrained than you’d hope. With time and future OTA updates, the phone is likely to have improved support for 144Hz in games and other third-party apps.

Alive Matrix Display

The real talking point here is the Alive Matrix Display, which can be configured in the settings. Under the badge “Status light” in settings, you can dig into the customisation options, tweak the matrix display, and play around with the phone’s more playful side. Right now, there are only two toys available: a rotating microphone mode that works a bit like a flip-the-bottle game and a lucky number pull, both of which can be triggered by shaking the phone three times.

It is an interesting idea, but the implementation is not quite as polished as what I’ve seen on Nothing Phone (3) (review). There, the rear-panel interaction felt more intentional because you had to physically press a button to activate the toys. Here, the shake-to-launch approach is easy to access, but I did run into situations where it triggered randomly in my pocket or during an auto ride. That takes away some of the charm.

On the plus side, you do get plenty of customisation, whether that means choosing from a wide range of matrix patterns or even drawing your own image, and the brightness controls are easy to use and keep the rear display quite visible.

Battery: an easy 1.5 days of use

One of POVA 8’s biggest strengths is, without a doubt, its massive 8,000mAh battery, and in day-to-day use, it lives up to the promise. In my testing, it comfortably pushed through around 1.5 days with roughly 5 hours of screen-on time each day, which is pretty good if you are a fairly casual user. More demanding users will still get good endurance, but realistically, you are looking at closer to a full day of use.

That is mostly because the battery efficiency is a little lacking here. During heavier tasks like gaming, the battery drain becomes more substantial, with around 8 percent gone in 30 minutes. If you play games often, you’ll feel the pinch. The PCMark result also reflected that, although it was still decent at 17.5 hours.

Charging, however, is a pleasant surprise. I expected a battery this large to take a fair bit longer, but the bundled 45W charger gets the phone from 20 to 100 percent in a little over an hour, which is very impressive. So while the battery is not flawless in terms of efficiency, the overall experience is still very good for most users.

POVA 8: middling performance, decent OS

The POVA 8 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7100, paired with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. In recent launches, brands have generally been a bit more measured with their processors to keep costs in check, and this phone follows that trend. For casual use, it does the job well enough, handling browsing, social media, and light multitasking without much fuss, but it does not feel especially quick or polished all the time.

What also hurts its appeal is the lack of a higher storage option. You only get the 6+128GB and 8+128GB variants, which feels a bit limiting when there is no microSD card expansion either. That may not bother everyone on day one, but it is something that becomes more relevant if you plan to keep the phone for a while. If you want a more performance-focused device with better storage options, the OnePlus Nord CE6 Lite (review) and Motorola Edge 70 Fusion (review) are better choices under Rs 30,000.

Thermals are another area where the phone could have done better. It does get quite warm under load, with temperatures rising by more than 8 degrees Celsius in around 30 minutes of gaming.

Gaming performance itself is decent, though, and Tecno seems to have done a fair job of tuning the software for popular titles. So while the hardware is not particularly exciting, it does hold up better in games than the specs might suggest.

HiOS is one of the better parts of the POVA 8 experience. It feels clean, responsive and nicely put together in day-to-day use, with Tecno’s refreshed Glow Space design language giving the interface a more polished look across key areas like quick settings, first-party apps, and call screens. It also brings a decent set of AI tools, along with useful customisation options.

Although there are some things I wish to improve. A few first-party apps still do not fully match the new design language, which makes the experience feel a little uneven in places. The software update policy could also be better, but despite that, HiOS still does enough to earn praise at this price point.

Cameras: great colours, low detail

The POVA 8’s camera setup is one of the weaker parts of the package. You get a 50MP main camera with an auxiliary lens at the back and a 13MP selfie camera up front, but for the price, that feels a bit underwhelming, especially without OIS or an ultrawide lens to give the setup some proper flexibility.

In daylight, the main camera actually does a decent job. Colours look natural, and Tecno seems to have kept the output fairly close to what you see in real life, which I appreciate. The problem is that details are soft, and that softness becomes more obvious once the light drops. Low-light shots lose quite a bit of texture once you zoom into the images, so this is not the camera for anyone expecting strong night performance.

The selfie camera is fairly similar. It handles daylight reasonably well, with pleasing colours and decent facial detail, but once you move indoors or into dimmer light, it starts smoothing things out a bit too much, and detail takes a hit.

To get a better idea, I compared the phone’s cameras against the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion (review). Check it out below:

Daylight

In regular daytime images, the POVA 8’s advantage lies in its colour reproduction, which is a lot more faithful to the actual scene compared to the Edge 70 Fusion. Where it falls behind, however, is in terms of details. The Edge 70 Fusion’s image is a lot sharper and more detailed.

POVA 8

Motorola Edge 70 Fusion

Portrait

The portrait shots from both phones come out looking fairly good, with the POVA once again dominating in terms of colour accuracy. The Edge 70 Fusion does better in terms of details and has better edge detection, cleanly separating the subject from the background.

POVA 8

Motorola Edge 70 Fusion

Selfie

The selfie camera is where the POVA 8 absolutely outperforms its peers. Its detail level is a lot better, and it doesn’t beautify the image to make it look more appealing. The handset offers better skin colour rendition and facial details, making it the clear winner.

POVA 8

Motorola Edge 70 Fusion

Low light (night mode)

This is an aspect where the POVA 8 struggles a little since it is unable to capture as many details. However, it does have better exposure and lens flare control compared to the Edge 70 Fusion, while also leading in terms of colour accuracy.

POVA 8

Motorola Edge 70 Fusion

Final Verdict

The POVA 8 has some clear strengths, and its design is one of the first things that stand out. It looks distinctive, draws attention, and the battery life is capable enough to handle a full day and then some. Even the cameras are fairly good for everyday use, which makes the phone more rounded than it first appears.

At the same time, there are a few compromises that are hard to overlook. The LCD panel feels like a miss at this price. The lack of a 256GB variant is another limitation, since storage expansion is also missing, and that can affect long-term use. Pricing also feels a little ambitious for what the phone offers overall.

Compared with the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion (review), the POVA 8 finds it harder to justify itself on value alone. The Motorola may not be as eye-catching, but it does many things well: the design is still good, the camera system is more versatile, the battery life is decent, the phone is thinner, and performance is stronger, all at a lower price. That makes it the more complete option for most buyers.

And then there is the Nothing Phone (3) (review), since Tecno’s design clearly borrows some cues from it. The Phone (3) usually sells for around Rs 43,000-45,000 during sales, which does make it look like a more compelling bargain. So while the POVA 8 has personality and some very strong points, its value depends on whether you prioritise design above everything else.

Editor’s Rating: 7.8/10

Reasons to buy

• Eye-catching design that clearly stands out from the crowd.
• Battery life is strong and easily lasts through the day.
• Cameras are surprisingly decent for everyday daylight use.
• Software feels smooth, clean, and fairly well optimised.

Reasons not to buy

• LCD display feels misplaced for a phone at this price.
• No 256GB storage option makes future use less comfortable.
• Pricing feels high for the overall package.