Today at CES 2024, TCL revealed their whole tech lineup for the year to come, including a whole suite of mobile devices to get excited about. Better yet, all those devices will benefit from TCL NXTPAPER 3.0, display tech that promises to make all those screens much easier on the eyes. First seen a few years ago, TCL NXTPAPER turned out to be a more energy-efficient kind of display, landing somewhere between a standard backlit LCD and e-paper, with the stated goal of producing full-featured mobile devices that better recreated the look of paper.
This year, NXTPAPER 3.0 will build toward that goal by filtering out 61% of blue light, improving refresh rates, and improving color performance by dynamically adjusting colors according to ambient lighting conditions. Refresh rate is always huge — the faster the refresh rate, the less screen flicker is there to assault the eyes. Refresh rates have been on the rise across the board, for TCL and others, so how much better will TCL’s tech be? Good news: they’ll have plenty of mobile device with NXTPAPER 3.0 to put it to the test.
The NXTPAPER tech relies on the use of Circularly Polarized Light (CPL) screens, which tries to better recreate the natural paths light takes when it bounces off objects — a distinction from regular screens throwing a ton of light at you directly!
TCL doesn’t stop at hardware upgrades. The eye-care assistant is a thoughtful addition, offering customized reminders to prompt breaks or adjust lighting conditions. It’s like having a personal guide nudging you towards adopting healthier screen habits — a refreshing approach in an industry often fixated on pushing limits without considering user well-being.
But, if you find your phone becomes too much of a scold as a result, TCL makes it easy for users to disable these reminders with just a tap.
TCL 50 Series smartphones
The TCL 50 Series is their slate of 2024 smartphones — a fifth-generation lineup whose predecessor, the TCL 40 series, was announced last year a little later in the year at MWC. Whether you’re into cost-effective 5G devices or eye-friendly NXTPAPER smartphones, TCL has you covered with this diverse 2024 lineup.
To differentiate their smartphones, TCL leans into the eye strain angle. There’s an e-reader mode that better emulates the look of an e-paper display, in addition to the use of TCL NXTPAPER 3.0.
Launching in the U.S. market, the TCL 50 Series introduces five models: TCL 50 XL NXTPAPER 5G, TCL 50 XE NXTPAPER 5G, TCL 50 XL 5G, TCL 50 XE 5G, and TCL 50 LE. The first two, TCL 50 XL NXTPAPER 5G and TCL 50 XE NXTPAPER 5G, are the marquee options, promising to be the better media devices thanks to their NXTPAPER 3.0 displays and dual speakers.
The rest of the smartphones don’t have the TCL NXTPAPER 3.0 tech, but they’re not bad options, either. The TCL 50 XL 5G has a 120Hz 6.8-inch FHD+ 120Hz display, dual speakers with DTS sound, 8GB RAM, and TCL NXTURBO technology, which wrings a little more out of the graphics processor without draining the battery too much. Speaking of which, its 5,010mAh also means it should be one of the better smartphones in the lineup when it comes to battery life.
Meanwhile, the TCL 50 XE 5G boasts a 90Hz 6.6-inch HD+ 90Hz display, a 50MP triple camera, and 8GB RAM, and also benefits from NXTURBO tech. This phone also has that beefy 5,010mAh battery, and with less power to drain it than the TCL 50 XL 5G, that should make it the longest lasting smartphone of the line.
For those seeking an entry-level yet powerful device, the TCL 50 LE fits the bill with a 90Hz 6.6-inch HD+ display, dual speakers, a 13MP hybrid camera, NXTURBO technology, and a 4,000mAh battery with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage.
TCL NXTPAPER tablets
The TCL NXTPAPER 14 Pro is a blend of high performance and eye comfort, showcasing the prowess of TCL NXTPAPER 3.0 technology. The TCL NXTPAPER 14 Pro introduces the upgraded 3-in-1 VersaView UI. TCL’s UI seamlessly switches between tablet, color paper, and ink paper modes, allowing you to choose the one that best suits you or what you’re reading at that moment.
The TCL NXTPAPER 14 Pro has a large 14-inch 2.8K display, a MediaTek Dimensity 8020 chipset, 12GB of RAM, and a substantial 12,000mAh battery. This tablet can be a productivity powerhouse, but thanks to NXTPAPER, we think it’ll be best suited as an all-purpose house tablet, especially when it’s used to entertain kids.
The TCL TAB 10 NXTPAPER 5G adds 5G connectivity to the mix and runs on an octa-core processor, but you are getting a slightly smaller device, with a 10-inch 2K NXTPAPER display. That said, a 14-inch tablet might prove to be a bit too unwieldy for some, so we could see the TCL TAB 10 NXTPAPER 5G being the more popular of the two tablets.
TCL 50 Series smartphones and TCL NXTPAPER tablets pricing and availability
No word on when these devices will become available or for how much, but we know at least some of them will indeed be released in North America. We’re expecting to hear more details about TCL’s 2024 lineup of mobile devices soon!