I used one of the most ridiculous Android phones of 2024

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The Tecno Pova 6 Pro has a huffy name , comes in a mad green color , and has an equally unhinged design . It ’s undoubtedly the craziest - looking smartphone announced at Mobile World Congress ( MWC ) 2024 , and we have n’t even started to get into the brainsick features yet .

I spend a long weekend with the Tecno Pova 6 Pro , a phone you probably wo n’t ever get to buy , but one you should definitely know about . It has managed to capture my nitty-gritty in a way I did n’t really await .

MWC 2025

Tecno’s crazy and mad design

Tecno continues to be a brand that intrigues us . It does n’t deal its devices in the U.S. , but our journey with the stain started with thePhantom X2 Proand its unusual pop - out photographic camera , then preserve with thePhantom V Foldand thePhantom V Flip — two fold up phones you could potentiallybuy both of for lessthan the monetary value of oneSamsung Galaxy omega Fold 5 . The Tecno Pova 6 Pro is n’t in the same technical league as those phones , but that does n’t have in mind it ’s slow . Quite the opposite , in reality .

The gloss of the phone in our photos is Comet Green , and it really is very light-green . you could get it in Meteorite Grey , too , but why would you when the William Green is this eye - catching ? It ’s not just the color , the patterns , or the shininess that make the design particular either . It also has a lot of mini - LED in the massive tv camera module , which like theNothing Phone 2 , activate when a call or notification comes in and to show battery charge story . The mini - LEDs can even link with the popularPUBGgame for some sum up brashness .

They are n’t as bright or as customizable as the Nothing Phone 2 ’s Glyph lights , but it will be interesting to see if they can serve this sound take on theNothing Phone 2awhen we see it in the near future . The back of the Pova 6 Pro is madden in other , less fun manner too . It pull a huge amount of fingerprints and has various statements like “ NFC ” and “ Hi - Density Battery ” slapped on it , which degrade the look of the sound — something not aid by the sticky skullduggery of the plastic used for the back panel and chassis .

A photo taken with the Tecno Pova 6 Pro.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

More foolishness exists on the frame and in the box . The Pova 6 Pro has a 3.5 mm phone jack on the bottom , and while that ’s certainly strange these days , inside the boxful is something we have n’t seen in a long while : a pair of wired in - ear headphone . I told you this is n’t like all the other phones out there at the moment .

One of the biggest batteries we’ve seen

The materials used for the Tecno Pova 6 Pro tip at the phone ’s lower - midrange status , but Tecno has filled the svelte , lightweight headphone with a whopping 6,000mAh battery . Does it return mad battery life ? I part using a fully charged Pova 6 Pro on a Friday night and ignored a charger until the barrage ran out . It finally cash in one’s chips at 4 p.m. on Monday after five - and - a - half time of day of sieve clock time , along with mixed use over the weekend . A 70 - watt pumped charger come in the box , and it took 15 minutes to make about 50 % and less than 45 minutes to strike 100 % .

this is perhaps notabsolutely insanebattery life , but is still quite telling . The Pova 6 Pro ’s small stipulation helps it make the most of its capacity . The covert is a 6.78 - inch AMOLED with an FHD solution , a 120Hz refresh charge per unit , and one of the sorry automatic smartness modes I ’ve ever encountered . Its ponderous response time and preference for almost total duskiness are exasperate , run me to turn it off . A MediaTek 6080 central processing unit and 12 GB of RAM supply decent mogul , and playingAsphalt 9 : Legendsproved no problem .

Tecno has updated its HiOS Android interface to match the installment of Android 14 , and it bring home the bacon a far better experience than any premature Tecno phone I ’ve used . There ’s less bloatware , fewer pointless apps and widgets preloaded on the family screen , and a pleasing turn of speed . It ’s not perfect — the split up apprisal shade is vexing , and the face and fingerprint unlock system of rules is too dull — but it has been honest and has a much cleaner , more classic Android design than anticipate . It even has its own take onApple ’s Dynamic Island , call Dynamic Port 2.0 , which works quite well .

A photo taken with the Tecno Pova 6 Pro.

3x zoomAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

A camera with a surprisingly missing feature

What about the camera ? The Pova 6 Pro come out to have three television camera on the back , along with an LED jiffy . You know one is a 108 - megapixel independent television camera , as it tell you on the rear dialog box for all to see , so that would make the other two a wide - slant camera and the expected 2MP macro lens , right ? Wrong . The Pova 6 Pro does n’t have a wide - slant camera at all , making it stand out from almost every other phone loose over the past few years , just contrarily so .

Surprisingly , I have n’t missed a wide - angle tv camera . The Pova 6 Pro ’s position means it likely would have been quite an ordinary television camera anyway , so I never really felt robbed of being able to take a mediocre wide-eyed - angle photo I ’d plausibly never depend at again . So , what are those other two cameras ? first-class doubt . The specification list the 108MP camera , and that ’s it . I checked with Tecno , and sure enough , one of them is a fixed focussing 2MP camera , and the other is an “ AI tv camera ” that roll up ambient light .

Photo timbre varies wildly . At its honest , it is only mediocre and has no stabilisation . It also has trouble focusing on object that are reasonably closemouthed , and although the Pova 6 Pro ’s camera also has an “ in - sensor ” zoom feature with a 3x shortcut available in the app , the results seldom inspire . Lowlight photos are noisy , too . There are a mates of exceptional features , including a dual video mode that shoots with the front and rearward cameras at the same time and an edit modal value that changes the flavor of the sky in your photos . Although the Pova 6 Pro ’s design makes it look like the camera will be a standout feature , it ’s all a convict , and it ’s crazy it conk out to such trouble to make it appear so limited .

A photo taken with the Tecno Pova 6 Pro.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The Tecno Nova 6 Pro isall over the placein an oddly endearing way . The funky design makes it different , the software is amazingly dear , and the electric battery will last a few days with fair use . It even has an IP53 water and rubble impedance military rank , plus Dolby Atmos and Hi - Res Audio wire and wireless support . However , it gets covered in fingerprints , the camera is a secret , fundamental principle like the fingermark detector and auto - brightness are slow and treacherous , and there ’s no lasting always - on video display — a favored peeve of mine .

Yet , for all its ups and downs , I like the Tecno Pova 6 Pro , and a lot of that is due to the improved computer software . It make such a difference when I do n’t finger like I ’m fighting against it , which I did with previous versions of Tecno ’s HiO. Instead , after a short clock time customizing it to my personal preferences , it settled down to become a upstanding companion . I ’ve felt more well-fixed more chop-chop with Tecno ’s HiOS than I usually do with Xiaomi ’s MIUI , even if it ’s not quite as slick or feature - pack .

What the Pova 6 Pro pauperization is refinement , as many fundamental principle are hit - and - miss , and I ’d bed to see a Tecno sound with a more adequate to mainframe in spite of appearance to give it some extra performance . I ’ve had fun with the Tecno Pova 6 Pro , and that ’s a small recommendation on its own . I continue to like what the company is doing , but unless you ’re happy to put up with a poor tv camera and all the other rabidity on show , it ’s probably not a phone you should rush out and grease one’s palms .

A photo taken with the Tecno Pova 6 Pro.