A portrait can show what someone looks like, but what about the story behind the face?

TECNO and visual artist Angélica Dass are exploring that question through “100 Portraits of Becoming,” a two-year global portrait project featuring 100 people across Kenya, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Brazil.

The project begins with 20 portraits from Kenya, each paired with a personal story about identity, choices, change, and growth. Rather than having participants represent an entire culture or generation, the project focuses on their individual experiences.

Beyond inclusive imaging

The project builds on TECNO’s work with Universal Tone, its imaging technology designed to represent diverse skin tones more naturally and accurately.

But “100 Portraits of Becoming” takes that idea further. With AI increasingly involved in capturing, recognizing, and generating images of people, TECNO and Dass want to explore how technology can better represent the individual behind the image.

For Dass, meaningful portraiture starts with human connection.

“Meaningful portraits are never created by technology alone.”

She says her experience in Kenya reinforced the importance of trust, listening, and the willingness of people to share their stories.

The Philippines is next

Following Kenya, the project heads to the Philippines for a chapter called “Beyond Many Labels.”

It will feature 20 individuals, including working solo mothers and people whose lives are closely connected to solo parenthood.

Their stories will look beyond labels such as “single mother,” “breadwinner,” and “strong woman,” while exploring their ambitions, relationships, and personal growth.

The chapter will also explore “diskarte” — the ways Filipinos adapt, make choices, and find practical ways forward in everyday life.

After the Philippines, “100 Portraits of Becoming” will continue to Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Brazil.

By the end of the project, TECNO and Dass hope the 100 portraits will offer exactly what the title suggests: 100 different ways of seeing humanity.

TECNO is teasing the CAMON Slim 5G, a new smartphone that combines a 6.39mm-thin body with a large 6,000mAh battery. It’s a new smartphone that puts its ultra-slim design front and center.

At just 6.39mm thin, the CAMON Slim 5G is designed to offer a slimmer and more comfortable form factor. All while without giving up battery capacity. TECNO says the phone packs a 6,000mAh battery into its slim body.

The phone will also come in five colorways: Burgundy Red, Neo Mondrian, Matisse Black, Van Gogh Blue, and Rebel Pink. Each takes a different approach to the phone’s rear design. It has options ranging from a color-changing finish to patterns inspired by classic artwork.

TECNO is also teasing the CAMON Slim 5G’s imaging capabilities. The phone features a 50MP Sony LYTIA 700C main camera, while its camera system includes features designed to help capture subjects in low light and fast-moving scenes.

The company is positioning the CAMON Slim 5G as more than a thin phone, with AI-powered features and a focus on everyday use also forming part of the device’s feature set.

TECNO is also tying the launch to its #MakeItLighter campaign, which celebrates young Filipina professionals and the different roles they take on in their careers and personal lives.

More details about the TECNO CAMON Slim 5G are expected with its upcoming launch. The phone will be available through authorized TECNO retailers and official e-commerce stores in the Philippines.

As of publishing, the POVA 8 Pro launched more than a month ago. And, much like the company’s “Stop At Nothing” ethos, nothing is stopping them from announcing another model.

The special Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition I possess is a living testament that a midrange-grade smartphone, with its exotic yet exquisite aesthetics, can still exist in the 2026 smartphone race track.

Rare, even when bare

From my perspective as a multimedia creative, the very mouthful TECNO POVA 8 Pro Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition is one hell of a great-looking smartphone.

When bare, this supercar-coded smartphone flaunts its striking design in every millimeter.

Looking closely, the pattern reminds me of vent grilles found in modern-day supercars.

Its back design elements slowly reveal their deep red hues, even when hit by the faintest of light.

That pulse line in the middle is reminiscent of an engine valve with a flowing fuel in it.

Even the iconic triangular cutout, ever since its existence on the POVA 7 series, wasn’t forgotten at all.

It might sound like I’m exaggerating but, truth be told, this has got to be one of, if not, the best smartphone designs I have ever seen IRL.

Material-wise, it has a plastic back and frame, making it a complete departure from the full-metal unibody build I’ve personally witnessed in MWC 2026.

I don’t have an issue if this was used to keep overall costs down. However, my huge gripe about this is how its back attracts not just smudges, but even dust almost instantly.

That plastic frame might even scratch and chip when exposed wholly.

I then had a full sigh of relief when I found its bundled case in the box.

This not only gives utmost protection and adds grip when held, it further shows its premium touch with a finish closely resembling carbon fiber.

While I’m more than grateful if TECNO bundled it with a regular clear case to showcase its true beauty, they didn’t stop just there and stepped it up even further.

And with protection mentioned, it’s one less worry that it boasts IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K water and dust resistance ratings.

The Limited Edition ambition

The Tonino Lamborghini partnership doesn’t end there just yet.

From the moment I fired up the phone, it boots up with its Tonino Lamborghini boot animation and immediately shows its stealthy interface.

While Light Mode is activated by default, switching to Dark Mode suits its custom widgets and icons more than ever.

I just wish the icon support was extended to other third-party apps as well. The colorful icons of other apps ruin the overall vibe. This also meant I cannot be fully carefree with my home screen arrangement.

Soft UI rants aside, turning to its right side reveals the POVA branding alongside the usual power and volume buttons.

Notice that extra button? That’s TECNO’s One-Tap Button.

As a refresher, that particular button is placed at the left side and mainly acts as a one-stop AI button. Weirdly, it was situated at the lower right side of the POVA 8 Pro.

And the irony of it all? “One tap” is actually disabled.

While I believe their decision was right in order to avoid accidental triggers, I wish they would have still kept it as an option for users who want it.

Fortunately, double-pressing that button is user-customizable and not restricted to Ella AI or TECNO’s system apps. Even a game can be launched the moment you trigger it.

On my end, I love how it easily doubles as a fast camera shutter button.

Speaking of cameras, remember that triangle camera cutout at its back? It’s where the Alive Matrix Display also sits.

That small circular LED display is both a form and function. Not only it displays current time or timer countdown, it can also show charging percentage, calls and message notifications, even a song visualizer.

Personally, I just love how it displays the signature cursive “L” in the Lamborghini wordmark.

If you’re THAT creative, you can even formulate and draw your own styles.

#NowPlaying: Four Hands, Two Sonatas

One of the hottest K-Dramas right now is none other than Song Kang and Lee Jun-young’s 포핸즈 (po-haen-jeu), or “Four Hands, Two Sonatas“ internationally.

The two piano prodigies grew up in very different backgrounds and had very different upbringings. More so, they share a confusing and undefined relationship.

While it’s hard to say what the director and screenwriter’s goal at the very end of the series, what’s clear is that they both wanted to have fun while playing several piano pieces alongside one another.

Much comparable to the maestro duo, its 6.78-inch 1.5K HyperLux AMOLED display is bright and immersive, yet still sharp.

Matching their fast-playing fingers, the POVA 8 Pro Tonino Lamborghini also boasts a fast 144Hz refresh rate, very ideal for games that support it (more on that later).

On Queue: H2H, Chungha, D.O

The audiovisual goodness continues when I played these latest K-Pop releases.

H2H’s (Hearts2Hearts) stunning visuals in Moonride is very much equal to the visuals offered by the TECNO POVA 8 Pro.

More so, the diva-tastic performance of Chungha (I.O.I) with her latest titled “México.”

A Korean female idol showing her powerful dance moves alongside her language duality by singing Mexican Spanish and American English in one single song is such a power move. That’s much like the powerful dual speakers of the TECNO POVA 8 Pro.

How can I even forget the rhythmic “Guitarist“ comeback track by my long-time male idol bias since January 30, 2012 a.k.a EXO’s D.O.

This is where I think its sound superiority is purely felt.

Unlike the CAMON 50 Ultra I held months ago, POVA 8 Pro’s speakers honestly sound fuller and more powerful. And by that, it’s loud without being too flat and has the right amount of deep bass.

The guitar strums in the song can be heard even in a spacious room.

Exotic ain’t chaotic

TECNO’s POVA 8 Pro runs Dimensity 7400 Ultimate SoC. While this isn’t the most powerful midrange chip by MediaTek, it’s still a very capable processor in today’s standards.

Right off the bat. I installed the graphics-intensive mobile games I usually play.

Racing Master plays smoothly. That’s as long as you set the graphics at medium paired with 30fps frame rate and low resolution. Pushing it to its extremes is still playable yet guarantees you unavoidable frame drops.

Meanwhile, the smooth graphic settings of NTE (Neverness to Everness) clearly lives up to its name. Roaming around Hethereau and fighting unexpected encounters were a breeze

Surprisingly, Zenless Zone Zero is set to Medium post-installation. Going around New Eridu was desirable.

Albeit, Combat Mode truly tests out every bit of power of this chip — most especially when switching between agents, toggling Assist Counters, and even activating their special attacks.

To be very frank, the POVA 8 Pro performed faster, snappier, and even less laggy in contrast to the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 phone I’ve reviewed just recently.

Mind you, that Qualcomm SoC is only 4 months old. While it isn’t the direct rival of the aforementioned Dimensity chip, it still proves that real-world experiences matter more than just benchmarks and hearsays.

Clearly, these brand biases and stereotypes should be forgotten for good.

To outlast is a must

Similar to the CAMON 50 Ultra, the TECNO POVA 8 Pro Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition also packs a 6500mAh battery.

While the vanilla POVA 8 and POVA Curve 2 both rock the biggest battery in any TECNO smartphone so far at 8000mAh, this is still beyond the 5000mAh mark.

My time with it made the phone last until the end of night as long as it’s used moderately.

By that, doomscrolling on social media, streaming K-Pop songs, binging K-Dramas, taking some photos.

As expected, severe battery depletion can be felt when playing games for hours. For instance, a 2-hour Racing Master gameplay reduced my battery level from 90% to 74%.

During standby mode where the phone lays flat and untouched (due to a very busy TechTember workload), its battery efficiency shocked me. Even after being unplugged for more than 150 hours, the POVA 8 Pro still has 33% left in its tank.

Now, one of the best battery drain tests in a smartphone is none other than making it as your personal hotspot.

I went out of our house as early as 4AM. When I got back around 11PM, it was still able to preserve 11%. More surprising is that, it kept that same percentage after I slept for 12 hours.

Now, when the tank completely runs out, the POVA 8 Pro comes with its own charger and cable set.

The Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition I have is quite different though. Instead of the typical white, it has a black charging adapter alongside a braided USB-C to USB-A cable.

That said, here are my GadgetMatch Charge Test results using its bundled accessories:

	45W HyperCharge Max	45W Smart Charge
START TIME (from 0%)	5:00AM	7:25PM
3 minutes	5%	3%
5 minutes	8%	5%
10 minutes	19%	13%
15 minutes	27%	17%
30 minutes	53%	45%
45 minutes	78%	56%
1 hour	97%	71%
1 hour 15 minutes	–	88%
END TIME (100%)	6:04AM 1 hour 4 minutes	8:51PM 1 hour 26 minutes

Needless to say, activating its HyperCharge Max charging speed can fully fill the phone in around an hour.

Visionary vision

The TECNO POVA 8 Pro (regardless if it’s the regular or Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition) boasts a 50MP main camera based from Sony’s LYT-700C.

For added context, that’s also the same image sensor placed inside the CAMON 50 Ultra.

If you happened to read that particular review, I praised it a lot for its overall image quality.

Without an ounce of doubt, the same can be said here.

Even if this is a performance-focused smartphone, TECNO didn’t actually compromise its regular 1x main camera.

While its 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide shooter isn’t anything grand. Still, it gets the job done.

After all, it’s the good ol’ sensor frequently used by TECNO among most (if not all) of their phones.

With this price to hardware ratio, caveats are expected.

First and foremost, the lack of a telephoto module found on its CAMON cousin slash contender.

Notice the contrast and saturation shifting when switching between 1x and 2x? The lack of a dedicated telephoto module is the culprit.

Although to be quite frank, I still liked how well it performed even by just relying on 2x digital zoom — or even way past it!

The front camera is smaller too at 13MP (as opposed to 50MP).

Even so, all the nuances such as CAMON’s triple color profiles and the handy-dandy FlashSnap are all missing in this POVA.

Still, it’s safe to say that the POVA 8 Pro can deliver post-worthy and social media-ready photos whenever, wherever. I mean Just look at how sharp these furry friends look.

Although there’s no FlashSnap feat, that split-second gap still produced such picture-purrfect moments.

The food you devour with your family, friends, or just yourself (no judgments made) weren’t even spared from that luscious output.

Even the places you go where there’s little to no presence of natural light, the POVA 8 Pro did not disappoint at all.

These results look more than just good — especially considering the overall worth of this midranger.

Honestly, I’m not expecting anything extravagant. But, the POVA 8 Pro’s camera snappiness is such a delightful sight.

That’s a stark contrast to the most recent REDMI-dranger Pro Max I’ve handled where there were camera stutters and lags when trying to capture subjects in split-second.

Both of them also prove that chipset alone can affect a smartphone’s imaging performance and actual output.

Is the TECNO POVA 8 Pro your GadgetMatch?

In a year where countless slabs are quite indistinguishable from one another, it’s pretty rare to see a smartphone with such impact.

Not only does this phone pack a powerful punch both in core and camera performance, but its added feats, capabilities, and even “gimmicks” are worthier than other smartphones in the same league.

More so, TECNO thoughtfully and carefully executed its design aesthetics with a prestigious designer brand. That’s despite a smartphone belonging in the midrange league.

Even if the exact pricing is still not revealed at the time of this writing, the starting price of the regular POVA 8 Pro (INR 49,999) already gives us a glimpse that the phone’s price to performance ratio is justifiable.

As we (try to) embrace the “new normal” with smartphone brands launching higher price tags alongside lower specs due to the continuous components crisis, TECNO focused on what matters more.

While newer mid-class phones focus heavily on battery capacity and utmost durability while compromising hardware and full-on performance, the POVA 8 Pro dared to defy those odds. The unstoppable AI crisis and inevitable price increase don’t stop TECNO from launching and selling a smartphone beyond expectations.

The TECNO POVA 8 Pro Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition is a solid Swipe Right, a Super Swipe, and a worthy recipient of the GadgetMatch Seal of Approval.