Tecno POVA 7 Review: A Feature-Packed Contender at ₹12,999?

The Tecno POVA 7 enters the competitive smartphone market with an enticing offer price of ₹12,999, aiming to deliver a blend of unique design, solid performance, and a suite of AI features. But does it truly offer value for money? This detailed review, drawing insights from a recent video, explores its design, display, battery, performance, software, and camera capabilities.

Unboxing and Distinctive Design

The Tecno POVA 7 comes with a comprehensive unboxing experience, including a clear protective case, essential documentation, a Type-A to C charging cable, and a robust 45W charger . The phone’s design immediately catches the eye with its futuristic geometric patterns . A standout feature is the “Delta Light” surrounding the camera module, which acts as a dynamic notification light, displaying various patterns for calls, ringtones, volume changes, timers, charging progress, low battery alerts, and even game starts .

In hand, the phone feels comfortable, with a slightly boxy form factor . Practical additions include an IR blaster on top for remote control functionality and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, providing decent loudness for media consumption . The power button on the right side integrates a responsive fingerprint scanner . Notably, NFC is included, a welcome feature in this price segment . The phone also features a hybrid SIM tray for storage expansion and supports dual 5G connectivity . Advanced connectivity features like call notification on the second SIM during a main call and the ability to use another POVA phone’s network in low signal areas are also mentioned, though the latter was not tested .

Display: High Refresh Rate on LCD

The Tecno POVA 7 sports a 6.78-inch LCD display with Full HD+ resolution . A significant highlight for its price segment is the impressive 144Hz refresh rate . While the UI typically runs at 120Hz, some apps like Facebook, Instagram, and the phone app can indeed utilize the full 144Hz . Despite being an LCD panel, it supports HDR for content like YouTube, offering good colors . The bezels and punch-hole camera are acceptable for the price point , and the 900 nits HBM brightness ensures decent outdoor visibility.

Battery and Performance: Powering Through Your Day

Equipped with a large 6000mAh battery and supporting 45W fast charging , the POVA 7 is designed for extended usage. Under the hood, it’s powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultimate processor, a proven performer in this price segment . The reviewed variant comes with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage .

Benchmark scores are impressive for its category, with an AnTuTu score of around 6.7 lakh and a Geekbench multi-core score of approximately 2600 . It also achieved excellent 99.8% stability in stress tests . For everyday tasks and social media, the phone performs smoothly . Gaming performance is stable, with Call of Duty running at an average of 89 FPS (on 90 FPS settings) and BGMI at an average of 59 FPS (on 60 FPS settings) .

Software and AI Features: A Smart Assistant in Your Pocket

The Tecno POVA 7 runs on HiOS based on Android 15. The UI is smooth with fluid animations, and a major focus is placed on its array of AI features, primarily centered around Tecno’s voice assistant, “Ella”.

Key AI functionalities include:

AI Call Assist: Allows AI to answer calls, translate them in real-time, and provide call summaries.
Document Summary: Upload documents to get AI-generated summaries.
Writing Assistant: Corrects spelling mistakes and provides summaries of written text.
AI Note: Converts sketches into real images with AI .
AI Wallpaper Generator: Creates various wallpapers.
AI Editing Tools in Gallery: Expands or erases elements in photos.
AI Portrait: Changes dress or background in portrait photos.
Smart Touch: Extracts text from images using a simple two-finger gesture.

While the UI is smooth, it could benefit from more modern visual touches. Users can uninstall pre-installed apps for a cleaner experience.

Camera: A Single 50MP Lens with Good Results

Despite appearing to have three cameras, the Tecno POVA 7 features a single 50MP main camera on the back. HDR performs well in various lighting conditions, and photos generally exhibit good saturation. Portrait mode offers decent edge detection for its price point . Occasionally, photos might appear over-sharpened due to heavy processing . In low light, the camera captures sufficient brightness and respectable details.

The 13MP front camera produces slightly soft selfies with a smoothing effect on skin. Both front and back cameras support 4K video recording with stabilization , and back camera video recording shows good colors and light balance for the price segment.

Conclusion: A Strong Contender for its Price

The Tecno POVA 7 is positioned as a very good phone for its ₹13,000 price point . The reviewer also briefly mentions the Tecno POVA 7 Pro, priced at ₹17,000, which offers an AMOLED display, 30W wireless charging, a 64MP main camera, and an ultrawide lens as key upgrades .

Overall, if you’re considering a smartphone in the ₹13,000 range and are open to the Tecno brand, the POVA 7 comes highly recommended for its unique design, strong performance, and array of AI-powered features.