TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition review – a super-sleek mid-range Android

As far as limited edition phones go, they don’t come much slicker than the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition. As the name suggests, the phone is a result of a collaboration between the Chinese tech brand and Lamborghini, one of the most iconic luxury car brands in the world. However, it might surprise you to learn that this isn’t a flagship phone.

No, the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition is very much a mid-range phone, which makes things a bit trickier, as that’s a more congested market than the flagship section. It also means that, in terms of comparisons, we’re putting the Pova 8 Pro 5G up against the top picks from our guide to the best mid-range phones, including devices from brands such as Nothing, Samsung, and Google Pixel. So, does it have more to offer than just a slick design? Let’s find out.

Price and availability

Okay, so right from the off, this is a bit complicated, as the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition isn’t available in the US or Europe. That is to say, it’s not officially available, though I have spotted multiple listings on eBay in both regions, so if you read this review and you’re determined to pick it up, it’s not impossible. However, we don’t have an official price point to offer.

As for configurations, there are three available: 256+8GB, 256+12GB, and 512+12GB. With each of those options, you can boost the virtual RAM to double the original amount, which is a useful feature we’ve seen in TECNO phones before. For this review, I received the 256+12GB version.

Specs

Here are the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition’s specs:

Performance and gaming

I’ll start this section by pointing out that the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G boasts a MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Ultimate chip, which, in simple terms, is a decent, middle-of-the-pack mid-range chip. However, it’s not going to offer the same level of performance as a flagship chip, such as MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. With that said, let’s get into the specifics.

When it comes to the day-to-day tasks – messaging, scrolling social media, etc – the Pova 8 Pro 5G takes whatever you throw at it in its stride. That’s what you’d expect from a mid-range phone, and that’s what you get, so I’ve got no complaints there. What about gaming, though?

Good news – it’s a solid phone for playing your favorite picks from our guide to the best mobile games. I booted up Honkai Star Rail to do a bit of in-game grinding, and when locked to 30FPS and at medium visual settings, I didn’t get much in the way of lag at all. Admittedly, you’re going to struggle to push it much further than that, but you can say the same of almost any of its mid-range rivals.

While performance might not be flagship level, I am impressed with the Pova 8 Pro 5G’s vapor chamber cooling capabilities. With a lot of flagship phones I’ve used this year, downloading the massive amount of data required to play Honkai Star Rail has left some devices more toasty than I’d like, sometimes to the point I could barely touch the phone. I had no such issue with this TECNO mid-ranger, and it didn’t get overly hot when using it to play the game either.

Features and software

Like most non-Apple phones, TECNO’s operating system combines the latest version of Android, Android 16, with the brand’s own skin. In this instance, it’s TECNO’s HiOS skin. I won’t lie, HiOS isn’t my favorite custom software skin, but it’s come a long way in the last couple of years and feels smoother than ever and, more importantly, easier to use.

A nice touch on this version of the Pova 8 Pro 5G is the custom widgets, which match the phone’s red-and-black theme. This funky visual touch also extends to the regular suite of Google apps you get with any Android phone, although it doesn’t affect third-party apps, including games. On the subject of gaming, though, you do get the Game Space app pre-installed, and there are some great options there for optimizing and tinkering with performance.

As for AI features, there’s Ella, TECNO’s AI assistant, and it’s a decent enough tool. I’m not a big AI guy, but it seems like a serviceable alternative to the likes of Claude and ChatGPT that you can use at no additional cost. You’ve also got Circle to Search with Google, as well as what have quickly become the standard set of AI tools, including AI Caption, Translation Assistant, AI Writing, and more. For a mid-range phone, it’s a relatively comprehensive offering.

The main downside on the software front is support. TECNO is only offering two years of Android updates and three years of security updates. That just doesn’t cut it in 2026, with the likes of Samsung and Google Pixel offering at least six years, even for their mid-range devices. There’s also a bit too much in the way of bloatware, but it is, at least, easy enough to remove once you’re up and running.

Design

A limited edition phone lives or dies by its design, but fortunately for the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition, it’s an absolute looker. It might seem slightly unassuming from the front, but flip it over, and you’ve got a lovely transparent back with the Lamborghini logo proudly on display and a subtle red strip that lends it some flair without looking garish. Not only that, but on the back is where you’ll also find the Alive Matrix Display.

The Alive Matrix Display is a mini LED light system that you can use to get the time without activating your phone, get notifications, or just proudly display the Lamborghini logo. It’s a similar concept to the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro’s Glyph Matrix, in that it’s both a futuristic design touch and occasionally useful, especially if you want to get some basic information without unlocking your phone. I don’t think this feature is worth buying the phone for alone, but it’s still nifty.

It’s also worth mentioning that this phone is IP69K and IP68 rated, and, in fairness, you can’t ask for more. That rating means that even if you found yourself accidentally submerging the phone, it should still work fine. We’ll call that a win for durability, then.

Display

While the Pova 8 Pro 5G’s performance might not be as powerful as some of its more expensive flagship competition, it’s packing the necessary specs in the display department. The screen is a 6.78-inch 144Hz AMOLED panel, which is ideal for gaming, offering silky smooth visuals that pop with vivid colors, and it’s plenty bright, too. Simply put, the display is the part of the phone that feels most like it belongs to a flagship.

My only issue with the display is that it’s a bit of a smudge magnet, which can be frustrating, especially if you’re planning on using it as your daily driver and don’t happen to carry a microfiber cloth with you at all times. It’s not a deal-breaker, and it’s an issue you can solve with a screen protector, but it’s still a bit annoying.

Cameras

In the camera department, the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition is decent, verging on quite good. Its 50MP main lens, offering 2x lossless zoom, is essentially the same as the one inside the TECNO Camon 50 Ultra, a phone that prides itself on its photography capabilities. That means it should come as no surprise that the Pova 8 Pro 5G takes pretty high-quality, detailed photos. As is custom for my reviews, I’ve taken a picture of my dog, Floyd, using the camera, so you can see the result for yourself below.

As far as I’m concerned, the resulting image is quite impressive, better than I’ve seen from some significantly more expensive phones. I was worried about over-processing, but the picture of Floyd is remarkably accurate to real life, and you can even see the little blemishes on his nose. This is where the Pova 8 Pro 5G’s main camera really shines, in images with a central and established subject. It struggles a bit more in low light but is still by no means bad.

As well as the main camera, the Pova 8 Pro 5G also features an 8MP ultrawide. Again, color accuracy is decent, but you’re not getting quite as wide a field of view as you would with some other mid-range phones, which can be limiting when taking landscape shots, and the dynamic range feels a bit hit or miss. It’s passable, but the main camera is the star of the show.

As for the front-facing lens, it’s fine. You’re not getting quite the same level of detail or color accuracy as the main camera, but it’s decent enough for taking selfies to share on social media or to send to your friends. There’s no telephoto lens, sadly, which could be a deterrent for some – personally, I’m not bothered, but it’s worth mentioning.

Battery

The Pova 8 Pro 5G packs a 6,500mAh battery, which, for its price point, is quite generous, though there are bigger ones out there. It’s easily capable of going all day with sporadic use, including a bit of gaming, video streaming, and social media scrolling. Even with heavier use, provided you started the day with a full charge, you should get to bedtime with about 20% remaining – enough to get you to the next day if, like me, you’re too lazy to find your charger before sleeping. Hard numbers-wise, I found the phone lost about 10% charge for every hour of gaming on medium settings, beating out some of the picks from our guide to the best gaming phones.

As for charging, this phone isn’t quite as rapid as I’ve seen from other Chinese brands, but it’s not awful. If you’ve got a charger capable of its maximum 45W speeds, you should be able to juice from flat to full in just over an hour using the HyperCharge feature. I’d like to see just a little boost to get it well under the hour mark in a future model. It doesn’t support wireless charging, which is always a nice bonus with wireless charging points becoming more common in public spaces.

Should you buy the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition?

If you’re looking for a phone with a lovely display, stylish design, and a bumper battery life, the TECNO Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition is a great option. At the mid-range price point, it does have a few notable rivals, such as the Nothing Phone (4a) and the Redmi Note 17 Pro Max, but that doesn’t make it feel any less special, especially if you’re a luxury car enthusiast.

There are a couple of caveats, though. Performance is solid, but some similarly priced rivals are slightly more capable, and the same goes for charging speeds. The biggest drawback, outside of lackluster software support, is availability, given that TECNO still isn’t launching devices in the US and Europe. Still, if there ever were a case for the brand to make that leap, the Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition could be just that.