Tecno Pop 8

Design & Display

The Tecno Pop 8 is built with a youthful and modern design that stands out in its budget segment. It features a clean and appealing look with curved edges and a well-finished plastic back. The rear panel comes in various eye-catching colors, such as Gravity Black, Mystery White, Alpenglow Gold, and Magic Skin, catering to users who appreciate aesthetic choices even at a low price. The plastic material used is sturdy and helps keep the phone lightweight, making it easy to hold and use for long periods without strain.

The front of the Pop 8 is dominated by a large 6.6-inch IPS LCD display. This screen has a resolution of 720 × 1612 pixels, which is standard HD+ quality. While it won’t compete with full-HD displays in clarity, it’s more than adequate for reading text, watching videos, and casual browsing. The size of the display makes it suitable for media consumption, especially for users who enjoy larger screens for video streaming or social media use.

One of the key standout features of the Pop 8’s display is its 90Hz refresh rate. This is a rare feature in entry-level smartphones and adds smoothness to interactions like scrolling through apps, navigating menus, and swiping on the home screen. It provides a noticeably better experience than the typical 60Hz panels in other budget phones. This feature makes it feel more responsive, even if the processor behind the screen isn’t the fastest.

The display houses a punch-hole cutout at the center-top for the front-facing camera, which gives it a more modern aesthetic compared to older designs with notches or thick bezels. This design choice is typically seen in mid-range or premium phones, so seeing it here adds value. The bezels are reasonably slim on the sides and top, with a slightly thicker chin at the bottom, but it doesn’t distract much from the viewing experience.

The brightness level of the screen is decent for indoor use but may struggle a bit under direct sunlight. Colors are reasonably vibrant, though not as rich or deep as AMOLED panels. Still, for its price, the Tecno Pop 8 offers a good visual experience for average users. Watching YouTube videos or scrolling through photos is enjoyable and clear enough for most needs.

Overall, the design and display of the Tecno Pop 8 are among its strongest features. Tecno has managed to make a phone that looks stylish and current while delivering a smooth and enjoyable visual experience thanks to the large screen and 90Hz refresh rate. It successfully balances form and function without breaking the bank, making it appealing to style-conscious users on a budget.

 Performance

The Tecno Pop 8 is powered by the Unisoc T606 chipset, which is an octa-core processor built on a 12nm process. It includes two Cortex-A75 cores for performance tasks and six Cortex-A55 cores for efficiency, paired with a Mali-G57 GPU. This hardware combination is tailored for light usage, and while it’s not built for demanding workloads, it handles everyday tasks reasonably well when managed with realistic expectations.

In terms of RAM, the phone comes in 3GB and 4GB variants, with support for up to 4GB of virtual RAM. The addition of virtual RAM helps manage multitasking slightly better, especially when switching between light apps. Storage options include 64GB and 128GB internal storage, both of which are expandable via a microSD card up to 1TB, giving users plenty of room for photos, videos, and documents.

Basic usage like calling, texting, browsing, and using social media apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram runs smoothly on the Tecno Pop 8. However, app loading times are a bit slower compared to mid-range or premium devices. Light games like Subway Surfers, Temple Run, or basic puzzle games play well, but more graphics-heavy titles such as PUBG Mobile or Call of Duty will either run poorly or not at all.

The Unisoc T606 is not known for high performance, so it’s expected that multitasking or switching between several apps can result in noticeable lag. This is not a phone for productivity-focused users or gamers. However, for users who need a reliable device for light to moderate use, especially for communication, entertainment, and casual browsing, the performance is acceptable.

The phone does a decent job at managing thermal performance. Even under moderate use, it doesn’t get uncomfortably warm, which contributes to long-term reliability and battery efficiency. This is likely due to the 12nm fabrication and the use of Android Go, which helps manage resources better.

To summarize, the Tecno Pop 8’s performance is solid for its price tier. It’s not designed to compete with mid-range or flagship devices, but it provides enough capability for essential smartphone tasks. The inclusion of virtual RAM and expandable storage helps extend usability for basic users, making it a practical device for students, first-time smartphone users, or anyone needing a functional backup phone.

 As

The Tecno Pop 8 features a dual-camera setup on the rear, consisting of a 13MP main camera and a 0.08MP AI depth sensor. While these specs might sound modest, they’re fairly standard for phones in this price range. The 13MP camera is capable of taking decent shots in well-lit environments. Daylight photos show good color and acceptable sharpness, suitable for casual use and social media sharing.

The camera interface includes modes like HDR, beauty mode, portrait mode, and night mode, although results vary. Portrait mode uses the depth sensor to blur the background, and while edge detection isn’t perfect, it works well enough for casual shots. HDR can help slightly with balancing exposure in bright scenes, though it’s not very aggressive and results are sometimes hit or miss.

In low-light conditions, the camera performance noticeably drops. Photos taken at night or indoors tend to be grainy and lacking in detail. The night mode helps a little by brightening images, but it does not bring out much detail. The LED flash is strong enough for nearby objects but can result in overexposure if used too close.

Video recording is supported at 1080p resolution. The lack of stabilization means videos can be shaky unless held very still. Audio recording is average, and background noise can be noticeable. The phone isn’t ideal for serious videography, but it’s good enough for capturing quick clips or making video calls.

The front camera is an 8MP shooter housed in the punch-hole cutout and is paired with a dual LED flash. Selfies taken in good lighting are satisfactory with decent color reproduction and detail. The beauty filters are aggressive by default but can be toned down or turned off, depending on user preference. The front flash makes selfies possible in darker conditions, though results may still suffer in quality.