TCL announced a slate of new phones at CES 2024 last month, but there wasn’t a lot of information about them. Thankfully, that’s just changed.
Now that MWC 2024 is here, TCL has dropped a lot more details regarding its upcoming phones — including full specs, pricing, and availability. And you know what? They all look promising.
TCL 50 XE NxtPaper 5G
TCL is bringing its NxtPaper technology to the smartphone, starting with the TCL 50 XE NxtPaper 5G.
On the TCL 50 XE NxtPaper 5G, you’ll find a 6.6-inch HD NxtPaper display with a 90Hz refresh rate. Thanks to the NxtPaper technology, it has multilayered eye protection that can reduce up to 61% of blue light from the screen. It also has an antiglare matte finish, so it’s very close to a paper-like viewing experience.
TCL included a MediaTek 6835 23E+ chipset, and the phone comes with 4GB RAM with expansion 5 to 8GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB storage. The 5,010mAh battery should last two full days on a single charge, and it has 33-watt fast charging support.
For photos and videos, you get a dual rear camera system with 50MP main and 5MP ultrawide lenses. While it’s not the best, it should be good enough for basic pictures. There is also a 32MP selfie camera in the hole-punch cutout on the front display.
You can get the TCL 50 XE NxtPaper 5G from TCL’s website for just $199. It will be available in the third quarter of 2024 for North America.
TCL 50 XL NxtPaper 5G
The TCL 50 XL NxtPaper 5G is a little higher-end than the XE, offering nicer specs across the board for a still very reasonable price.
With the TCL 50 XL NxtPaper 5G, you have a 6.78-inch NxtPaper display with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, so the scrolling is smoother and crisper. And since it also has NxtPaper display tech, it has multilayered eye protection that will reduce harmful blue light. And the paper-like matte finish means no reflections or glare.
TCL put in a MediaTek 23E+ chip, so it’s a little better than the one in the XE. It comes with a base 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, and it is also expandable up to 2TB of storage through a microSD card.
Like the XE, the TCL 50 XL NxtPaper 5G comes with a 5,010mAh battery that should last about two days on a single charge. However, while it does have power delivery fast charging, it is only up to 18W speeds.
Camera-wise, the TCL 50 XL NxtPaper 5G is only slightly better than the XE, as it has a triple lens camera system. It has a 50MP main shooter, a 5MP ultrawide snapper, and a 2MP depth lens. In other words, don’t be fooled by the triple camera layout — there’s no telephoto camera here. On the plus side, the 50MP wide camera should be able to handle motion in photos with TCL’s Steady Snap technology. On the selfie front, the TCL 50 XL NxtPaper 5G has an 8MP camera.
You’ll be able to get the TCL 50 XL NxtPaper 5G in the U.S. starting in the third quarter of 2024 from TCL’s website for just $229.
Other TCL phones coming soon
Though the NxtPaper phones are the most interesting of TCL’s upcoming releases, there are a few other phones that will be available.
The U.S. market will also get the TCL 50 XL 5G, TCL 50 XE 5G, and TCL 50 LE.
The TCL 50 XL 5G has a 6.78-inch FHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 50MP hybrid camera with an 8MP front camera, and an impressive 5,010mAh battery for all-day performance. This one will cost just $169 and be available from Metro by T-Mobile in the U.S.
The TCL 50 XE 5G features a 6.6-inch HD display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ chipset, a 50MP main camera, and a 5W ultrawide camera. You can get this one in the U.S. for just under $149.
The TCL 50 LE has a 6.6-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 4,000mAh battery at a super affordable $99 price tag.
There will also be the TCL 50 5G and TCL 50 SE. However, these will not be coming to the U.S.; instead, they will be heading to the European, Middle East, and African markets. Both of these will start from €149.99 ($162 U.S) and become available in the second quarter of 2024, with the possibility of more markets later.
