Tecno Pova Neo 3 Smartphone Review

Tecno Pova Neo 3 Smartphone Review – The Tecno Pova Neo 3 smartphone was launched in June 2023, as a new mid-range smartphone that is stylish and yet light on the wallet. That’s what the company promises at least, but we will find out just how interesting this smartphone is for you. However, style is not the only motivator behind a purchase. It’s true that a good-looking smartphone sells well, but there are other factors that equally matters to a consumer, such as the cameras, battery life, user experience, and more.

Any ordinary phone does the basic call and messaging services. But for a phone to be a true and decent smartphone, it must deliver on all those fronts. On top of that, the price also matters a lot, especially in the lower mid-range section. The market is very competitive and if the smartphone isn’t priced right, then it will fail to impress the people. Let’s begin with the Tecno Pova Neo 3 review and find out all we can about the smartphone and whether you should consider buying this smartphone.

Tecno Pova Neo 3 Smartphone Review

Highlights

1. The Tecno Pova Neo 3 features a 6.82 inches IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate.
2. The smartphone is powered by the 12nm Mediatek Helio G85 chipset that can reach up to a 2×2.0 GHz clocking speed.
3. The smartphone comes pre-loaded with the latest Android 13 OS with a HIOS user interface.
4. Tecno Pova Neo 3 features a 16MP dual rear camera system along with an 8MP selfie camera.
5. The smartphone has a massive Li-Po 7000mAh long-lasting battery with 18W wired fast charging technology.

Design and Display

The Tecno Pova Neo 3 is a stylish smartphone no matter from which angle you look at it. From the sides, you get a flat side frame that is made up of polycarbonate but is incredibly strong and features a matte finish. The back of the smartphone is also made up of polycarbonate material but features a stylish pattern with a diamond-cut camera module on the top-left part of the back.

Combine all of that, you have a very stylish and shiny-looking smartphone. The style doesn’t end here. Even from the front, the smartphone looks gorgeous. The entirety of the front is occupied by the display, thanks to the bezel-less design. The smartphone features thin bezels and a small dot notch at the top that occupies the selfie camera. The display featured in the smartphone is a 6.82 inches IPS LCD display that is color accurate.

It has HD+ resolution support with a 90Hz refresh rate for a smoother user experience. The smartphone is available for purchase in Hurricane Blue, Amber Gold, and Mecha Black colors. The Hurricane Blue color looks absolutely gorgeous and it’s a personal favorite of us. The smartphone looks stylish but disappoints in terms of 720p resolution display and default nits brightness support. Even at similar pricing, the alternatives offer a better set of specs in the display department.

Memory and Internal

The Tecno Pova Neo 3 smartphone comes with the 12nm Mediatek Helio G85 chipset, which can reach up to a 2×2.0 GHz clocking speed. The chipset can process operations a lot faster and this makes the experience of using this smartphone a pleasure. The chipset doesn’t heat up or consume too much battery, thanks to the optimizations done by the Tecno team.

Anyways, the chipset has some restrictions and therefore you will receive average performance from this SoC. The GPU in the Helio G85 chipset is the Mali-G52 MC2, which can run demanding games like PUBG Mobile and CODm, but only at lower graphical settings. However, the smartphone is not 5G-ready, which is not yet possible at this price range without significantly compromising other components of the smartphone.

For RAM and storage, the phone can be purchased with 4GB/8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. When it comes to the software side of things, the smartphone is running on the latest Android 13 OS with a HIOS user interface. The overall experience with the specs offered is just average, while support for a dedicated SD card slot compensates a bit for the compromise.

Camera

The Tecno Pova Neo 3 sports a dual rear camera system with a 16MP sensor as the main camera. You may see a 48MP sensor on some other smartphones, but it’s not the number of megapixels that counts. It’s the optimization and the camera algorithm that matters the most. This sensor is optimized to capture some really detailed pictures with good dynamic range, well-saturated colors, and perfect white balance.

Also, if you usually take photos at night, you will be happy to know that the quality and the detail level of the camera don’t diminish at night, thanks to the night mode. The night mode allows the sensor to capture some well-lit shots and the pictures turn out with some incredible details and the colors were perfectly natural.

Apart from this, there is a so-called 0.08MP secondary lens mounted on the rear setup. The images captured are good enough to post on social media but an underperforming setup can’t be ignored by the camera-centric users.

The 8MP selfie camera manages to capture selfies with good colors and a decent level of detail considering the price. As for video recording, the phone can only shoot at a maximum of 1080p videos@30FPS from the rear camera. Though there are minor issues with the camera it is a fact that the camera specs arriving with Tecno Pova Neo 3 are quite outdated.

Battery and Others

The Tecno Pova Neo 3 smartphone has a huge Li-Po 7000 mAh battery capacity battery that is capable of providing excellent battery backup. You may find it hard to believe, but the smartphone can last for 2 to 3 days with light to moderate usage. But, if you play too many games on the smartphone, the battery will not last that long as modern games tend to be very power-hungry and no battery can last that long when gaming.

The smartphone has support for 18W wired fast charging, which will quickly recharge the smartphone when the battery does run out of juice. Apart from that, the phone also has support for Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, GPS, and FM Radio. The company expected to launch the smartphone at the price of $180 (Rs 14,990 in India) approx. for the base variant.

Tecno Pova Neo 3 Pros and Cons

Tecno Pova Neo 3 Specifications Detail

Down below you can see the full specifications of the Tecno Pova Neo 3 smartphone.

Conclusion

The Tecno Pova Neo 3 arrives with a decent look and stylish appearance to grab the impression at first sight. The device has negligible bezels that are generally not seen in this price segment. Apart from this, the smartphone packs a massive battery and fast charging support that is quite appreciable. Besides this, the presence of a dedicated card slot adds to the value.

This is where problems start with this device as it equips an average chipset and a poor camera setup. The device also disappoints in terms of default brightness. On the other hand, the absence of Full HD resolution can’t be ignored, when alternatives are offering a way better deal at the same price segment.

The smartphone is not that bad but the pricing at which it is available is surely a disappointment. The mid-range segment of smartphones is very competitive and therefore you will have plenty of options available that suit your needs. We recommend you to check out the Realme 10 that offers a way better value-for-money deal, however, the final decision is up to you and your requirements.