TECNO launched the POVA CURVE 2 5G, the company’s latest 5G smartphone in the Curve series, earlier this month. This has a 144Hz 3D curved AMOLED screen, is powered by the new MediaTek Dimensity 7100 processor and a huge 8000mAh battery, yet maintains a 7.42mm sleek design.
However, the price has increased this time due to an increase in component cost and the 8GB + 128GB base version. Is this a good successor to the POVA Curve? Let us dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Camera |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- TECNO POVA Curve 2 5G 8GB + 128GB in Melting Silver colour
- 45W fast charger
- USB Type-A To Type-C cable
- Protective case
- SIM ejector tool
- User manual
Display, Hardware and Design
The POVA CURVE 2 5G sports a 6.78-inch (2644 × 1208 pixels) FHD+ 20:9 aspect ratio AMOLED display with 144Hz refresh rate. The screen has up to 450 nits peak brightness, up from 1300 nits in the predecessor. The colour output good as well since it has 1.07 billion colors.
You can select smart switch or force it to 60Hz or 144Hz. The 144Hz refresh rate offers a smooth user experience, especially when you are scrolling through the UI and when gaming. You can select from Original (default), and Bright colour style.
There is 2304Hz PWM Dimming that is automatically activated when you are using the phone in low brightness. You also find sleep aid mode and eye care mode in the display settings.
The phone has a 13MP front camera inside the punch-hole. There is an earpiece on the top edge, but it doesn’t work as a secondary speaker. You can see the narrow bottom bezel. The haptic feedback is good.
Coming to the button placements and ports, the power button is present on the right side along with the volume rockers. There is nothing on the left side. The dual SIM slot, primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and loudspeaker grill are present on the bottom. The secondary microphone is present on the top, and the IR blaster has been moved to the back. The phone has a plastic frame and a matte finish, so it doesn’t attract fingerprints. The phone is just 7.42mm thin.
It weighs just 195 grams, which is low even though it packs a 8000mAh battery, up from 5500mAh in the predecessor. The weight distribution is good.
The phone has a starship-inspired design, and the device moves away from traditional camera bumps with a new triangular, asymmetrical camera module that gives it a futuristic look. Even though the back has a plastic finish, the matte finish offers a good look.
In addition to the Storm Titanium colour that we have, the phone also comes in Mystic Purple and Melting Silver colours. It has IP64 ratings for dust and splash resistance and also has SGS 5-Star Drop Resistance.
Camera
- 50MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture
- 2MP secondary macro sensor with f/2.4 aperture
- 13MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture
The camera UI is the same as other phones running HiOS 16. It includes several features such as Portrait, Super Night, Dual Video, Vlog, Time-lapse, Panorama, Sky Shop, Pro, Documents, and more. Even though the phone has a 50MP rear camera, the final output is about 12.5MP in size after pixel binning, and the front camera output is 13MP.
Coming to the camera quality, the daylight shots are good, and it is recommended to enable the HDR option, which automatically switches on HDR according to the shot, so that the dynamic range is good. The camera can focus quickly. The portrait mode has good edge detection. The 2MP maco camera can only focus from 10cm distance, so it is recommended to use the main camera with 2x zoom for macro shots.
Low-light images are decent, but there is noise when you zoom in. The night mode is useful, thanks to the optimization. The 13MP front camera does well in daylight, and the front camera portrait is decent as well.
Check out some camera samples below
It can record videos at 2k resolution at up to 30 fps from the rear and the front cameras. It has EIS but doesn’t have OIS. The phone has portrait video recording at 1080p, 30 fps.
Software, UI, and Apps
Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 16 with HiOS 16 on top. It has the Android security patch for February 2026. The POVA Curve 2 5G will get 2 major Android updates and 3 years of security updates, which is good.
There is ELLA AI 2.0, built for Indian users with multilingual support across Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, and Marathi. There is also AI Call Assistant that provides real-time translations, transcriptions, and summaries for calls, including WhatsApp.
Other features include AI Auto Answer, AI Voiceprint Noise Suppression, AI Writing & Document Assistant and AI Screen Awareness. Gallery app has AI Eraser 2.0 & Image Extender, AI Sharpness Plus, and there is also AI Wallpaper Generator, Vogue Portraits & Artboard. There is also all-scenario AI noise reduction, keeping your voice crystal clear in WhatsApp chats and Zoom meeting, and other apps.
Out of 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM, about 7.54GB is usable, out of which 3GB is free when the default apps are running in the background. There is an additional 8GB RAM expansion feature. Out of 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage, 103.7GB is free out of the box.
Since the phone has an IR blaster, it comes with an IR remote feature that you can use from the quick settings. Apart from the usual set of utility and Google apps, it comes preloaded with Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and PhonePe apps. These can be uninstalled. Bugs I had faced when using HiOS 15 on the first-gen POVA CURVE, such as issues in activating Amazon Pay UPI and X Spaces bugs, has been fixed in this phone running HiOS 16.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
The phone has an optical in-display fingerprint sensor which immediately unlocks the phone just by keeping your finger on the sensor. You can add up to 5 fingerprints. There are different animation styles that display when you unlock, which you can disable. The phone also has face unlock that can unlock the phone in seconds, but it is not as secure as fingerprint.
Music and Multimedia
YouTube Music is the default music player, and there is Dolby Atmos. There is no FM Radio. Audio through the mono speakers is decent, but the stereo speaker has been removed in favor of a bigger battery. Audio through the headphones is good.
This has Widevine L1 so that you can play HD content on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and other streaming apps. It also supports HDR playback on YouTube, but this doesn’t work on Netflix.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has the usual set of connectivity features, such as 5G with 20 5G bands, and supports Airtel and Jio 5G out of the box. There is also 5G CA, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 6 802.11 ax (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.4, and GPS + GLONASS, but it doesn’t have NFC, which was present in the POVA Curve. It also has USB OTG support, and it has USB 2.0. We did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume is good. It uses the company’s own dialer, and there is call recording.
The phone also has G1 signal enhancement chip, promising 33 to 100% better mobile signal, and an SE1 Wi-Fi enhancement chip, promising 60% stronger Wi-Fi.
The TECNO POVA CURVE 2 5G’s body SAR is 1.370 W/kg, and the head SAR is 1.180 W/kg, which is way under the limit in India, which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
It is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 7100 SoC. It has 4X Arm Cortex-A78 cores at up to 2.4GHz, paired with 4X Arm Cortex-A55 cores at up to 2.0GHz. This uses 6nm process.
The Arm Mali-MC2 GPU does a decent job in games. You can play graphic-intensive games like COD, BGMI, and Genshin Impact, but you can’t expect sustained peak performance in high graphics mode. In BGMI, HDR Ultra works.
In 3D Mark wild life stress test, it scored 98.9% which is good. The temperature increased from 33 to 39 degrees, which is decent. That said, check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.
As you can see, the Dimensity 7100 is good for daily use, but the scores are slightly less compared to the Dimenisty 7300 SoC present in the POVA CURVE.
Battery life
Coming to the battery life, the phone packs an 8000 mAh (typical) battery, one of the highest on a phone in India yet. It can easily last for over a day with heavy use, thanks to the optimization. I got over 7 and a half hours of screen-on time with 2 days of use, mostly on Wi-Fi, and occasional 5G use with a smart refresh rate.
Since the phone has support for 45W fast charging, it can charge up to 50% in about 40 minutes and up to 100% in 1 and half hours. There is reverse wired charging and bypass charging as well when gaming, so the charging current bypasses the battery to go straight to the motherboard, so it doesn’t affect the battery.
Conclusion
The TECNO POVA CURVE 2 5G is a unique proposition in the mid-range segment, distinctly prioritizing endurance and aesthetics over raw power. Its absolute standout feature is the massive 8000mAh battery crammed into an impressively sleek 7.42mm chassis—a rare engineering feat that guarantees multi-day use without the typical brick-like bulk.
However, answering the question of whether it’s a worthy successor is a bit complicated. TECNO made some compromises to accommodate that giant battery and thin profile. The shift from the Dimensity 7300 to the Dimensity 7100 represents a slight step backward when it comes to gaming performance. Furthermore, the removal of stereo speakers, the lack of an ultra-wide camera in favor of 2MP macro camera, and the omission of NFC make the slightly steep starting price a tough pill to swallow for spec-chasers.
Ultimately, if your biggest pain point is battery anxiety and you want a device that lasts forever while still looking premium and futuristic, the POVA CURVE 2 5G is a fantastic choice.
Pricing and availability
The TECNO POVA CURVE 2 5G is priced at Rs. 27,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model and the 8GB + 256GB model costs Rs. 29,999. It is now available from Flipkart. There are additional bank offers.
Alternatives
The Infinix NOTE Edge 5G also has a curved screen, a sleeker design and is cheaper but has a slightly smaller 6500mAh battery. If battery is important, then the realme P4 Power 5G has a 10001mAh battery, but it is thicker.
Pros
- 144Hz 1.5K AMOLED display is good
- Decent performance
- Sleek design, IP64 ratings
- HiOS 16 is packed with several features and AI features
- Excellent battery life with 45W fast charging
Cons
- No Stereo speakers
- No OIS for main camera, 2MP macro camera