While Nothing flits with Glyph Matrixes and Bars, Tecno decided to infuse the soul of Thor into its latest phone concept. Dubbed the Pova Neon, this phone was possibly the most unique thing we’ve seen in the phone market in a while. Built inside the back of a phone is an inert gas chamber that emits beams of plasma thanks to high voltages that’s passed through the gas. Touch the glass panel separating you from the plasma, and the lightning gathers around your fingertips, quite like it would around a tesla coil, if you ever saw or owned one as a kid.
The detail (and the execution) is impressive, but it begs the question – who needs this?! Why does this exist? And what exactly is its purpose? Why must I have lightning trapped inside the back of my smartphone? Doesn’t it already do enough?? Or maybe the plasma lights are a great distraction from your doomscrolling habit. I’d probably pick staring at random beams of light than scroll through the news…
Designer: Tecno
The Pova Neon is just a concept. Tecno doesn’t plan on building this at all, not just because it’s complicated – it’s also fragile, fairly dangerous, and really doesn’t do much to make the phone better. Adding inert gases at the back removes the ability to add a wireless charging coil there, which means no MagSafe either. You put a case on the phone and you lose all novelty immediately. And drop the phone and you genuinely risk a fairly serious fire hazard.
But for what it’s worth, the phone is a bundle of fun. In the bright lights of MWC, the plasma wasn’t fairly visible. But the minute we put a coat around the phone to block light out, the lightning looked genuinely amazing. The random patterns, the interaction with your fingertip, it’s all entirely cosmetic, but it’s also somewhat cosmic! Good job flexing your tech chops, Tecno. I mean, besides the fact that they actually built a modular smartphone ecosystem which managed to win YD’s Best of MWC Award!
