Okay, I think it's time to release the review on this phone. It's been an interesting take, because, well... typically, I've been reviewing flagship phones or phones that are an economical version thereof. This TCL is entirely outside of those types.
Sure, it's an economical choice... but it has some novelty that you just can't find anywhere else.
Now, to address the elephant in the room, here are the specs, and they just can't be ignored (I'm so trying to not be 'snobbish' about this), but remember you're paying $350CDN
- 6.78" @ 2460x1080, 120Hz
- MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ (2.4GHz octacore)
- 6GB RAM
- 128GB storage + microSD
- Rear cameras: 50MP + 5MP (wide) + 2MP (for depth)
- Front camera: 32MP
- 5010mAh
So it's a bigger phone, I'm surprised I'm not overly put off by that. The 'non-plus' size phone is growing on me, but this didn't feel big. I liked it.
6GB RAM feels like it's very limiting (remember how I moaned about only having 8 on the Pixel 8). But, you can sacrifice 6GB of the 128GB storage to give it some 'virtual RAM'.
OnePlus Does this too, but it also has 512GB of storage usually, so I'm not going to miss a few extra. 128GB is a little limiting. But, given the specs, you're probably not going to be doing too much with it to require a lot of extra space... maybe.
The cameras have good MP numbers, but as we have always found, that doesn't tell the whole story.
I found photos to be pretty... dull. Not bad, just when you compare them to Pixels... no contest. But again, for some people - this might be just fine, they may have an actual camera for their photography.
The real surprising spec is that battery. 5000mAh is huge, and especially something that has not full QuadHD res, and a paper mode, it should be something that lasts for a long long time.
Now, you've seen my initial reactions where I reviewed the various paper modes, go check that out, as I don't need to rehash that detail here. Tho', I do a little recap in my quick video here:
As you can see, it does a good job of fitting into my hand for the size, the buttons are easily reachable (and that power button is a fingerprint reader... it's been a while since we've seen that).
The switch for the paper modes is tactile to help you differentiate.
Looking around the device you see there's a headphone jack (what?!?!).
The camera bump at the back looks similar to the OnePlus circle.
The display has a matte look to it, meant to help diffuse the light, and give it that general feel of a piece of paper; the big upshot of the matte'dness is that there is nearly 0 glare.
Out in a sunny day, it reads pretty well.
Overall, it's a decent phone. It definitely isn't blazing fast, but I doubt most people could pick up on it.
On the various modes, you can still scroll, watch YouTube, play games, just whether or not in full colour, or 'paper' modes.
I can see for a specific group of users that juts leaving it in the Colour Paper mode would be just fine and works for most people without question with a huge battery performance bump.
And for those times you want to go to 'camp' (I guess if you're not from Northwestern Ontario, you call it 'the cottage'), putting it in Max mode you could go all weekend easily!!
This is definitely not a phone for everyone. It's niche... so you'd have to want this extra battery and willing to sacrifice display quality for it. I think I might find myself getting a little ... irked over time.
Also, being a 'niche' device, I wonder about the ability to find accessories for it (cases) are as plentiful as others. I like having options.
A simple quick access sidebar / app 'shelf'.
What I love about it is how simple it is. With others there is always some 'floating' little mark that you tap and can move around ... and you can do that here. But by default, to trigger it is a super simple gesture. Do a 'back' gesture (swipe in from the edge of the display) but hold it.
I love it... simple. NO worrying about where is that dock, or is it blocking any display piece.
All in all, this device has some neat features, but I think you have to pretty much need them to consider it. There's a lot ot sacrifice (high resolution display, mediocre camera, low RAM, mediocre speed performance...) but you do get a novel display with an extreme amount of battery time.
I think this has a very narrow use case for the right people, yet I can still imagine folks like my parents using it without complaint. All those older folks I hear who say "this phone only lasted a day"
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