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Tecno Pova Curve 2 Review: 8,000mAh Battery in a Slim Phone?

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Review: 8,000mAh Battery in a Slim Phone?

Name: Tecno Pova Curve 2 Review: 8,000mAh Battery in a Slim Phone?
Item: Tecno Pova Curve 2 5G

Can Tecno’s Pova Curve 2 deliver big-battery performance in a slim form factor?

Written by Sheldon Pinto, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 27 February 2026 18:41 IST

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Review: 8,000mAh Battery in a Slim Phone?

The Tecno Pova Curve 2 is priced from Rs. 27,999 in India

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Highlights

The Tecno Pova Curve 2 has a cool cyber-themed design
It feels quite slim for a big-battery smartphone
Tecno should have picked a better chipset

Advancements in both battery tech and processors, along with good software optimisation, have ensured that high-capacity batteries aren't necessarily the need of the hour. Lithium-ion batteries with silicon-carbon technology have also ensured faster charging and allowed squeezing in higher capacities into compact devices. And yet, we witnessed the launch of a big-battery smartphone like Realme P4 Power in 2026, which shockingly managed to squeeze in a powerbank-sized 10,001mAh battery into a regular-sized smartphone.

In our review, we concluded that despite its obvious advantages, the Realme P4 Power was overkill for the casual user. And now, we have Tecno that has somehow managed to squeeze an 8,000mAh battery into a visibly slim design. Over the previous Pova Curve, not much else has been added, but there are some minor downgrades. Does this big-battery smartphone make sense? Or do competitors offer better value? Read on to find out!

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Design: Slim and Stylish

Dimensions - 162.68 x 77.15 x 7.42mm
Weight - 195g
Durability - IP64

The new Tecno Pova Curve 2 features a brand-new design compared to last year's Pova Curve. The Curve 2 has rounded corners with wider radii and is also just 0.08mm slimmer. It has a curved-edge display with aggressively curved edges on the left and right sides. The same goes for the rear panel, and this gives the phone an even slimmer profile or appearance than it actually is.

Realme P4 Power Review

The Tecno Pova Curve 2 has a slim profile for a big-battery smartphone

The curvy and rounded design makes the large phone quite comfortable to hold. But the matte finished polycarbonate frame and rear panel also make it quite slippery. The rear panel, despite its matte finish, collects fingerprints. However, these are hard to spot on the brighter Melting Silver review unit we received.

There's a cyber theme on the rear panel, with some outlines, the ‘Pova' branding, and layered (almost holographic) circuit-like graphics in the bottom-right corner, which complements the odd, but cool, triple-camera module, neatly tucked into the top-left corner. Also visible is an orange accent next to the ‘Pova' label and the ridged power button.

The Pova Curve 2 has some cyber-themed design elements and graphics

The camera module is quite thick, given the slim profile, but its triangular layout does not make the phone wobble when placed on a flat surface. Despite using polycarbonate, the Curve 2 offers a basic IP64 rating for dust and water, but do keep in mind that damage caused by water ingress is not covered under warranty.

While the Tecno Pova Curve 2 looks quite interesting from a design standpoint, it also houses a larger-than-usual 8,000mAh battery, which isn't of the silicon-carbon variety. Given that this battery is large and takes up plenty of space inside the slim body, I noticed some performance-related compromises as well, indicating that Tecno has cut a few corners.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Display: A curvy affair

Display size - 6.78-inch, 1,208 x 2,644 pixels, 439 PPI
Display type - AMOLED, 144Hz (60-90-120Hz)
Display protection - Gorilla Glass 7i

The curved-edge display has uniform borders all around that curve aggressively on the left and right sides. The panel gets quite bright outdoors, with images and text being clearly legible even in direct sunlight after enabling the Extra brightness feature in Display Settings. Colours are a bit punchy at the default Original Colour setting. Text and images appear sharp for a 1.5K resolution panel.

The curved-edge display is bright enough for watching video outdoors

The 144Hz high-refresh rate claim is fake. The display, by default, only fluctuates between 60-90Hz. You can force it to refresh at 120Hz if needed, but the system does not have any option to force it to run at 144Hz. The only time the display refreshes at a slightly higher 120Hz is while playing games. However, even while doing so, I found the touch sampling rate a bit slow for fast-paced FPS titles.

OTT apps support Widevine L1 playback at full HD resolution. Despite getting plenty bright outdoors, there's no HDR certification, but the content in OTT apps appears sufficiently sharp. The phone has only one bottom-firing speaker. It's sufficiently loud and sounds quite good, just that it's one-sided.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Software: An iOS 26 look-alike

Android version - 16
Software - HiOS 16
Software commitment - 3 years OS + 3 years SMRs

The Tecno Pova Curve 2 has a very interesting software experience that's also unique in some ways. HiOS seems very iOS 26-inspired in terms of design, but adds new UI elements to make things interesting. We have all seen the new lock screen wallpaper depth-effect implementations by various Chinese smartphone brands after iOS 26. HiOS (adding an ‘H' sure makes a difference) takes things a notch up by offering a depth effect on its homescreen as well.

While it sounds like fun and admittedly looks cool, it is a bit annoying when your icons move around or get shuffled when a character or object in the wallpaper gets in the way.

HiOS offers a depth-effect wallpaper on the homescreen as well

Apart from its homescreen party trick, HiOS is surprisingly likeable and user-friendly. There's plenty of customisation, be it icons, themes, fonts, and even an AI theme generator to fiddle with. There's also genuine consistency in the app's UI elements that's not found in other Chinese skins. Also present is the usual slew of AI tools that are baked into HiOS' native apps. The AI image editor does a fine job of erasing objects in a clean, discreet manner. The AI translator app (Hi Translate) also works well and surprisingly supports several Indian languages. What I did not like about HiOS was the tons of preinstalled apps and games. Thankfully, these could be uninstalled.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Performance: Not up to the mark

Processor - Mediatek Dimensity 7100, 2.4GHz, 6nm
RAM - 8GB (LPDDR5X)
Storage - 128/256GB (UFS 2.2)

Despite the 90Hz cap, software operation appears sufficiently smooth, but I did notice some random micro stutters when launching third-party apps. The multitasking experience is also pretty smooth and effortless.

In terms of synthetic benchmarks, the Tecno Pova Curve 2 literally offers half the raw performance of its competitors. This is mainly to do with its 6nm chipset and its focus on delivering better battery life.

Benchmarks	Tecno Pova Curve 2	OnePlus Nord CE 5	Motorola Edge 60 Pro
Display resolution	1.5K	FHD+	1.5K
Chipset	Dimensity 7100 (6 nm)	Dimensity 8350 Ultimate (4nm)	Dimensity 8350 Extreme (4 nm)
AnTuTu v10	7,69,455	14,12,373	14,13,220
PCMark Work 3.0	11,152	13,435	19,111
Geekbench 6 Single	993	1,317	1,368
Geekbench 6 Multi	2,918	3,989	4,466
Geekbench AI CPU (Quantized)	2,070	NA	NA
Geekbench AI GPU (Quantized)	606	NA	NA
3DM Wild Life	2,524	Maxed Out	Maxed Out
3DM Wild Life Unlimited	2,528	11,038	11,148
3DM Steel Nomad Light	279	NA	NA

With no cooling mechanism in place and a dated 6nm chipset, the phone can handle casual games with ease but struggles to sustain a steady frame rate when playing fast-paced FPS titles or heavy 3D games. I tried out Call of Duty: Mobile, and the game defaults to a rather abysmal Medium graphics setting and Max frame rate, with all effects save for anti-aliasing greyed out. The game is playable at its default settings but starts to lag with frequent slow-downs during fast-paced matches, hinting that the processor just can't keep up. The phone also warms up internally when playing games, but the heat is only felt on the display, not on the rear panel. The overall stability of the frame rate can be improved by turning on the Image Stabilisation feature, but it does not work as expected and reduces the overall resolution of the game (which is already low) to achieve this.

I understand that this is a slim device, but given its current price, one definitely expects better gaming performance, even if its software chugs along smoothly for now. Images after capture also take an extra second or two to process.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Cameras: Gets the job done

Primary camera - 50-megapixel, f/1.79, AF
Selfie camera - 13-megapixel, FF

The Tecno Pova Curve 2 has only one user-accessible rear camera

Appearances can be deceptive, and in the case of the Pova Curve 2, they sure are. What appears to be a triple-rear-camera setup only provides one user-accessible camera. The primary camera offers basic image performance that feels more at home in the budget segment than the mid-range.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 primary camera samples (tap images to expand)

The binned 12-megapixel images captured in daylight are a bit low in detail, especially for landscape photos. Dynamic range is good, but there's noticeable purple fringing in the brighter areas of any given photo. Finer details like foliage aren't processed well and appear a bit flat and textureless. Noise is under control, and the 2X digitally zoomed crops are usable (albeit with less detail) in daylight but can appear soft at times.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 low-light camera sample (tap image to expand)

Low-light captures from the primary camera come out softer than those captured in daylight. The dynamic range is decent with slightly contrasty images, leaving out a lot of details in the crushed blacks. Using the Super Night (or the dedicated Night mode) forces the camera to capture (stacked) images with longer exposures, but the results are only slightly sharper in comparison.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 primary camera samples (tap images to expand)

Capturing close-ups of objects results in better results, showing more resolved detail. The same for the Portrait mode photos, which show good detail but fall short on dynamic range and appear a bit too contrasted.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 selfie camera samples (tap images to expand)

Selfies show good detail in daylight. But edge-detection is below average, so be prepared to see ears, hair and random background objects getting cut out or added to your face in the software bokeh. In low light, details are quite soft, and so the photos appear flat (even with the software bokeh switched on), showing little separation between the subject and the background.

The phone can only record 1080p video at 30 fps and 60fps. It's well-stabilised but appears a bit soft and lacks detail even when recording in daylight. Dynamic range is also a problem with plenty of highlight clipping. There's no 4K recording resolution (given that it's a mid-range device), but the phone offers 2K 30fps. 2K 30 fps resolution shows better detail and a noticeably wider field of view at the cost of stabilisation (it is shaky even when panning). Low-light video recordings appear soft and noisy at best.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Battery: Good for casual users

Battery capacity - 8,000mAh, li-ion,
Wired charging - 45W
Charger in the box - YES

Yes, we have a big battery stuffed into a slim phone, but does it work as expected? Well, PCMark's Work Battery Life test managed a good score of 20 hours and 12 minutes. Given the high-capacity battery (even if it is a basic lithium-ion one), we did expect better performance. But Tecno's move of pairing this battery with a dated 6nm chipset wasn't great. With casual use, I could comfortably stretch the phone's battery life to about 1.5 days. This means I did not need to plug the phone in overnight. But with heavy usage, it performs as well as a 5,000mAh battery device, delivering just a day with about 20-30 percent left. Given that it offers basic gaming performance and average cameras, most users will end up using it casually.

The 8,000mAh lithium-ion battery offers good battery backup for casual users

Charging the battery with the bundled charger was surprisingly quick for a high-capacity battery. The phone charged to 36 percent in 30 minutes and touched 73 percent in an hour, completing the charging process in 1 hour and 24 minutes.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 Verdict

Rising smartphone prices (in every segment) automatically force the buyer to put value over everything else. In the Tecno Pova Curve 2's case, it is indeed a hard sell. You have a phone that looks cool and offers a smooth software experience, but has the raw and imaging performance of a budget device. So, even with that big battery, the Curve 2 does come up short of expectations for a mid-range device.

Fortunately for those in the market for mid-range devices, 2026 still has plenty of options to pick from. If you are chasing a truly big-battery smartphone experience, the Realme P4 Power is the one to pick. It offers an impressive (almost powerbank-like) 10,001mAh battery along with enough raw performance, decent cameras and software updates that will keep the phone working just fine for the next few years.

Looking for better cameras? Look no further than Motorola's Edge 60 Pro, which offers 3 capable cameras (including a proper telephoto camera) all packaged into an attractive IP69-rated design from Rs. 27,999 onwards. The phone offers decent battery life compared to the Pova Curve 2, so this one's mainly for the camera bugs.

The gaming crowd will drift more towards the iQOO Neo 10 (Rs. 27,999 onwards), which offers dual-chipset, gamer-friendly hardware and a 7,000mAh battery at the same price point.

And if you really desire something slim and you can stretch your budget a little, the Motorola Edge 70 offers a solid mid-range experience with a premium design and good cameras at Rs. 29,999.

Tecno Pova Curve 2 5G

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Vibrant curved-edge display
Youth-centric design

Bad
144Hz display refresh rate claim is fake
Poor gaming performance
Average camera performance
Single user-accessible primary camera
Single bottom-firing speaker

Read detailed Tecno Pova Curve 2 5G review

Display 6.78-inch

Processor MediaTek Dimensity 7100

Front Camera 13-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 2-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 8000mAh

OS Android 16

Resolution 1080x2364 pixels

More Tecno mobiles Tecno mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Tecno, Tecno Pova Curve 2 5G, Tecno Pova Curve 2 5G Specifications, Tecno Pova Curve 2 Design, Tecno Pova Curve 2 Display, Tecno Pova Curve 2 Software, Tecno Pova Curve 2 Performance, Tecno Pova Curve 2 Cameras, Tecno Pova Curve 2 Battery

Sheldon Pinto

Email Sheldon Pinto

Sheldon Pinto is based in Mumbai, and has several years of experience in reviewing smartphones and gadgets. As a Senior Reviewer at Gadgets 360, you will always find him deeply immersed in his reviews, switching from one phone to another. When the battery dies out, Sheldon is always browsing the web for a good sci-fi movie or reading up on cars and bikes. He also loves creating lists of interesting places to eat and travel. Sheldon is available on Twitter at @shellshocd, and you can mail him at ...More