If you’ve been itching for an alternative to theBoox Palmawith a bit more smartphone DNA, TCL might just have you covered. The TCL 50 NXTPAPER and PRO NXTPAPER 5G the company is announcing at IFA 2024, combine a smartphone-sized version of TCL’s anti-glare display with a dedicated reading mode you may enable at a whim with a physical button, all in one phone / eReader hybrid.
TCL, like Samsung, reaps the benefits of making both displays and devices that use displays. The company might bebest known for its televisions, but it’s been pushing its NXTPAPER display technology for years at this point,first on tablets, andmore recently on smartphones. The TCL 50 NXTPAPER phones seem targeted at a growing crowd of people interested in a less-distracting, slower-paced kind of smartphone. Whether they meet those needs remains to be seen, but here’s what we know about TCL’s new smartphones so far.
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The TCL 50 NXTPAPER phones are ultimately cheap Android devices
It’s mostly about the special features of the display
Both the TCL 50 NXTPAPER and the TCL 50 NXTPAPER 5G have TCL’s 3rd generation NXTPAPER displays, designed to reduce your exposure to blue light, prevent glare, and automatically adjust their color temperature so you’re always getting the best viewing experience.
The phones themselves are standard Android fair, with a hole-punch camera on the front, triple camera lenses on the back, a body with a flat front screen and sides, and a mixture of colorful matte and glossy textures on the back.
The tech specs are nearly identical between the two phones
You’ll get a 6.8-inch 120HZ FHD+ display on the TCL 50 PRO NXTPAPER 5G, along with 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, a MediaTek 6300 chip, a 108-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 2-megapixel macro. The main difference with the TCL 50 NXTPAPER 5G is it only ships with 256GB of storage, and it has a weaker 8-megapixel front-facing camera in comparison to the 32-megapixel front-facing camera on the “Pro” model.
Both phones also have a 5010mAh battery, which TCL claims can last up to 26 days when the phone is put into the reading focused Max Ink Mode. For the rest of the specs, refer to the tables below.
TCL 50 PRO NXTPAPER 5G
TCL’s 50 PRO NXTPAPER 5G is a cheap, reading-focused Android smartphone that can be toggled into a dedicated reading mode with the press of a button.
TCL 50 NXTPAPER 5G
The TCL 50 NXTPAPER 5G is nearly identical to its “Pro” sibling, with a focus on reading, and 256GB of storage.
Max Ink Mode turns your phone into an eReader
Press the NXTPAPER Key to completely change how your screen looks
The magic trick of these new TCL phones isn’t their basic components, though – it’s “Max Ink Mode.” TCL has included reading-focused modes on NXTPAPER devices before, but Max Ink Mode feels more dramatic on a smartphone. When you toggle the NXTPAPER Key on the side of either phone, Max Ink Mode is enabled, turning the screen black and white, muting notifications, and bringing reading apps front and center.
It’s not quite the same thing as using a dedicated E Ink device like the Boox Palma, but it’s absolutely better than just downloading some reading apps on your Android phone and crossing your fingers.
It’s not quite the same thing as using a dedicated E Ink device like the Boox Palma, but it’s absolutely better than just downloading some reading apps on your Android phone and crossing your fingers. TCL’s NXTPAPER display is paper-textured and pleasant to look at, and even if it’s not as easy on your eyes as E Ink, there are worse ways to avoid buying a dedicated eReader. These seem like sold phones to buy if you want to squeeze in a few more books or articles on your commute home in a pleasant, distraction-free way.
Minor AI productivity features for summarization and transcription
Like every new product in our AI-obsessed present, TCL is also including some new AI features in these new NXTPAPER phones. In partnership with Microsoft, there’s a new Text Assistant feature that can translate, summarize, and rewrite text, and a Voice Memo app that can record, transcribe, and summarize any conversation you have in earshot of your phone.
TCL’s new NXTFrame TVs are here to take on the Samsung Frame
Expect to pay a premium for the aesthetic.
TCL’s new NXTPAPER phones put distraction-free reading first
The TCL 50 NXTPAPER 5G and TCL 50 PRO NXTPAPER 5G aren’t as flashy as the latest flagship Android phone. You shouldn’t buy one of these cheap phones and expect a Pixel 9-level experience. But as an affordable smartphone, they stand out because of their commitment to one big idea – in this case reading without eye strain.
The TCL 50 PRO NXTPAPER 5G will be available in Europe and Latin America for €229 or approximately $254. The TCL 50 NXTPAPER 5G, meanwhile, will only be available in Europe, for the same price of €229.
