The Pros and Cons of Tecno POVA Slim 5G

Being a mid-range phone doesn't stop Tecno from innovating. This time, Tecno comes with a smartphone that has a very slim body design, Tecno POVA Slim 5G. Its body thickness is much thinner than most phones, only 5.95 mm. This trend was started by other brands like Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone Air, which are even thinner.

Interestingly, the price of the Tecno POVA Slim 5G is much lower. It still keeps a standard battery capacity, a strong display, good performance, and unique features. For more details, check out the pros and cons below.

Pros of Tecno POVA Slim 5G

With its thin body, the Tecno POVA Slim 5G remains affordable in the mid-range class. Here are some of its main strengths.

1. Thin Curved Body with Good Durability

One thing that makes Tecno POVA Slim 5G interesting is its ultra-thin curved design. Previously, Tecno made the Tecno POVA Curve 5G, but its thickness was still 7.5 mm, so it could not yet be called a very slim phone.

Meanwhile, Tecno POVA Slim 5G is under 6 mm at 5.95 mm. It seems this phone was inspired by the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge with a thickness of 5.8 mm and the iPhone Air with 5.6 mm. However, those models are priced much higher, while Tecno keeps its price in the mid-range.

Even with its slim design, Tecno POVA Slim 5G still has good durability. It has IP64 certification for dust and splash resistance. It also comes with MIL-STD-810H certification, which means it can withstand impact or drops from certain heights.

This phone is available in three color options, Slim White, Cool Black, and Sky Blue. All three use plastic material with a smooth matte finish. More importantly, the body doesn't easily show fingerprint marks.

2. Unique Module Design with Mood Light Design

Besides being thin, Tecno POVA Slim 5G also has a unique design, especially on its camera module. The shape is not square or round but a long horizontal pill. It has two circles on each side that looks like an eye.

This camera module is called the Mood Light Design. It has a Dynamic Lighting Effect that combines two LED lights around the camera to look like an eye. This light effect can show different emotions and respond directly based on the activity being done.

Some of the emotions or moods that can be shown by this module are Happy, Unhappy, Open Eyes, and Blink. The dynamic lights can also be used for Notification, Charging, and Calls. The Charging animation is the most interesting because it shows the percentage of the battery being charged.

3. Supports 45W Fast Charging and ByPass Charging

One thing that makes Tecno POVA Slim 5G more interesting is its battery. Even though it is thin, it still has a standard capacity of 5160 mAh. This is higher than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge with a 3900 mAh battery or the iPhone Air with only 3149 mAh.

This makes its battery life a bit better for daily use. According to Tecno, Tecno POVA Slim 5G can reach a DoU (Day of Use) score of up to 28.1 hours.

Besides having good endurance, its charging speed is also quite fast. The Tecno POVA Slim 5G comes with a 45W Super Charge feature that can fully charge in 57 minutes. It also has a reverse charging feature that allows it to charge other devices.

Another nice feature is ByPass Charging. This feature helps the phone last longer. Even while charging, you can safely play games without worrying about the phone getting hot or your health being affected. Tecno also claims its battery health stays above 80 percent after up to 5 years of use.

4. Bright and Smooth Curved AMOLED Screen

Tecno POVA Slim 5G has a curved screen on both sides. This curved design makes it different from other POVA series phones. Its performance may be similar to Tecno POVA Curve 5G, which also has a curved screen but is not as thin.

The screen size is quite large at 6.78 inches with an AMOLED panel. The resolution is sharp at 1.5K or 1224 x 2720 pixels with a density of 440 ppi. The screen brightness can reach 4500 nits (peak), meaning it is still comfortable to use outdoors even under strong sunlight.

The Tecno POVA Slim 5G also has a high refresh rate of up to 144 Hz. This level is usually found in gaming phones for smoother performance. There's also an adaptive refresh rate feature to help save battery life.

For durability, Tecno POVA Slim 5G screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 7i. It can resist cracks and scratches from sharp objects to make it more durable and suitable for long-term use.

5. Powerful Dimensity 6400 Performance

Moving to performance, Tecno POVA Slim 5G uses the Dimensity 6400 chipset. This chipset is an upgrade from the Dimensity 6300 with slightly faster performance, while the other specs remain similar.

The chipset is built with a 6 nm process and has eight CPU cores. It includes two Cortex A76 cores (2.5 GHz) for performance and six Cortex A55 cores (2 GHz) for power efficiency. For graphics, it uses the Mali G57 MP2 GPU.

According to testing by Gyan Therapy in his video, Tecno POVA Slim 5G can reach an AnTuTu v10 score of up to 450,000. This is a fair number since most sources say this chipset has an average score in the 400,000 range.

To support stable performance, the phone comes with 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM. The internal storage options are 128 GB or 256 GB. Even without a microSD slot, this capacity is large enough for smooth use.

Although it has a slim body, Tecno POVA Slim 5G does not overheat easily. It uses a large cooling system with a 24,532 mm² Heat Dissipation Area. Tecno also claims that its performance will stay stable for up to 5 years.

6. Equipped with Tecno AI

Tecno POVA Slim 5G runs on the Android 15 operating system with HiOS 15 as its interface. Its software is up to date with the 2025 smartphone standards. Tecno also brings some new features, including one of the biggest updates for the Tecno POVA Series.

The AI feature is called Tecno AI. Some of its tools can be used to improve photo quality, such as AI Eraser 2.0 to remove objects, AI Image Extender to expand photos, and AI Sharpness Plus.

In addition, the AI features on the Tecno POVA Slim 5G can help with daily activities. For example, AI Search to find information quickly, AI Writing, and AI Translate. There is also an AI Call Noise Cancellation feature to reduce noise during calls, and AI Call Translation to translate chats instantly.

Circle to Search with Google is another AI feature that stands out. It lets you search for information on the screen easily. You can also search for songs by letting the AI listen to the tune.

Tecno POVA Slim 5G has a voice assistant named Ella. This AI feature is integrated with DeepSeek-R1. For those who follow AI development, this may be quite interesting and one of the main highlights of the phone’s AI features.

7. Complete Connectivity and Sensors

Tecno equips Tecno POVA Slim 5G with a full set of sensors. Despite its slim body, it still includes all the important sensors such as accelerometer, proximity, light, compass, and a hardware gyro that works well. This gyro sensor is often used in FPS games like PUBG Mobile or COD Mobile.

With its AMOLED panel, the Tecno POVA Slim 5G also has an in-display fingerprint sensor. It uses an optical type, not ultrasonic, but it still works well and reads fingerprints quickly.

Features like NFC and infrared blaster are also available. The phone can be used for non-cash payments and can work as a remote control for several electronic devices. Another useful feature is Touch Transfer, which lets you share files faster by simply touching two phones together.

Tecno POVA Slim 5G also has a unique feature called FreeLink. This feature lets you contact other devices without a network signal. It can be very useful in emergencies when there is no mobile connection, although the range is shorter than a normal call.

Cons of Tecno POVA Slim 5G

Even with its great features, the phone still has some drawbacks. These can be things to consider along with its strengths. Here are the main ones:

1. Mono Speaker Only

One drawback of the Tecno POVA Slim 5G is that it only uses a mono speaker. The sound quality is quite loud, especially with Dolby Atmos support. However, having only one speaker hole is not enough.

The sound experience will feel different compared to phones with stereo or dual speakers. When watching movies or listening to music, you will not get a surround effect. You need to use wired or wireless earphones for a richer sound. Unfortunately, there is no 3.5mm audio jack port on the body.

2. Incomplete Camera Configuration

Another drawback is the camera setup. The Tecno POVA Slim 5G does not have an ultrawide camera, so it relies only on the main camera. In fact, an ultrawide lens is often more useful than a depth sensor.

Even so, the main camera performs quite well with a 50 MP resolution. It can capture sharp and clear photos in good lighting.

For video, the Tecno POVA Slim 5G can record up to 2K 30 FPS with the rear camera. Unfortunately, the front camera cannot do the same. It is limited to 1080p 30 FPS video recording.

Conclusion

Tecno POVA Slim 5G is an interesting thin smartphone. It stays in the mid-range segment with an affordable price, unlike Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge or iPhone Air. The body thickness is only 5.95 mm, and it weighs 156 grams. Interestingly, it still has a 5160 mAh battery, which is a plus.

With its curved body and screen design, Tecno POVA Slim 5G provides an immersive visual experience. Its bright display and smooth movement make it enjoyable to use. The phone also has a unique Mood Light Design on the camera module that shows emotions based on phone activity in real time.

To stay modern, the Tecno POVA Slim 5G includes several AI features to improve photo quality and help with daily tasks. However, it still has some downsides, such as the mono speaker and limited camera setup. So, is this ultra-thin phone still worth choosing?