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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Tecno’s Pova Slim is a unique, ultra-thin, and affordable smartphone.
- A large battery in the phone shows that thin devices can still have great battery life.
- The Pova Slim has created excitement for the rumored iPhone 17 Air and the trend of slim phones.
IFA 2025 has wrapped, and while I was there, I caught up with Tecno, a phone maker that deals almost exclusively outside the U.S. But the company has a reputation for creating some unique and inexpensive smartphones for its market, including foldables.
Back at MWC 2025 in Barcelona, the company allowed the press to look at but not touch a super slim phone — the Pova Slim<!–>. At IFA, we got to touch it and even take it home to test further. The phone has officially launched for the price of INR 19,999, or just under $230.
At just 6mm thick, or roughly .02mm thicker than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, the phone is ridiculously thin. Some other specs include a 6.78-inch display, 13-megapixel selfie camera, 128 or 256GB of storage, 8GB of RAM, and a Mediatek Dimensity 6400 built on a 6nm process – just in case you were wondering what the big compromise was.
It also comes with a 5,160 mAh battery, which is 33% larger than the battery in the S25 Edge.
During my testing with the latter, I found a day’s worth of use perfectly doable. The Pova then should be a solid day of heavy use or a day and a half of medium use. What that tells me is that the iPhone 17 Air could potentially have a decently sized battery as well. iPhones tend to have batteries that are smaller than Android counterparts, but software and hardware optimization tend to keep those batteries running just as long.
Here’s the Tecno phone (right) next to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 when unfolded (left).
Adam Doud/ZDNET
Aside from being really thin, the phone also has a great, but also odd design. The back of the phone is what would happen if a Pixel 10 Pro and a Nothing Phone 3 had a baby. There’s a visor across the top of the phone — not unlike what rumors suggest the iPhone 17 Air might look like — but there’s also an LED strip running between what looks like two camera modules on the left and right sides of the phone.
Also: If Apple unveils the iPhone 17 Air with these features today, I’m ready to upgrade
I say “looks like two camera modules” because the phone only has one 50-megapixel camera. So what does this have to do with the iPhone 17 Air?
All the rumors suggest the iPhone 17 Air will be even thinner, closer to 5mm than 6mm, but it will also have a (much) higher sticker price. The Pova Slim has a SIM slot, while rumors suggest that, at least at first, the iPhone Air will continue Apple’s eSIM-only tradition in the U.S. Beyond that, though, the Pova Slim and the Galaxy S25 Edge before it have me excited about thin phones.
Put simply, they’re eye-popping in many ways. Besides being thin and light, they’re also attractive and surprisingly durable. While I don’t think this will be an overall trend in the industry, it’s certainly an intriguing alternative to more traditional phones. It’s great that Apple is adopting this trend, though it feels as if the very rumor of Apple doing this prompted other manufacturers to get theirs out first.
Also: The iPhone 17 series could be Apple’s boldest move in years – here’s why
Now, Tecno has done that, on the eve of the phone that likely is the reason it exists in the first place. Having played with this phone for a few days, I’m very excited to see what Apple can do with an even slimmer form factor. It’s put me in the right mindset to welcome the iPhone 17 Air – and the trend of slim phones in general – with open arms and genuine excitement.
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Source: Robotics - zdnet.com
