CES 2021 is officially underway, with companies making announcements for a slew of devices that will be coming over the next few months. We’ve already seen some new smartphones announced from the likes of Motorola, but now TCL is getting in on the fun with two new devices.
TCL surprised many in 2020 with the launch of a new lineup of budget-minded handsets, with the TCL 10 series of products. For 2021, TCL has revealed its all-new TCL 20 devices that could make waves over the course of the next year.
If you are in the market for a new budget-friendly phone, and don’t care about having 5G, then the TCL 20 SE will be an intriguing option. This offers an enormous 6.8-inch display, providing a 90% screen-to-body ratio and a resolution of 1640 x 720.
Powering the 20 SE is the Snapdragon 460, which should be more than enough for your day-to-day tasks. The 460 is coupled with 4GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of storage which can be expanded via the microSD card slot. Battery life should be quite impressive with the combination of the HD+ display and the 5,000mAh battery.
Camera fanatics will thoroughly enjoy the quad-camera setup on the back, highlighted by the 48MP primary camera. There’s also a 5MP wide-angle lens, 2MP depth sensor, and 2MP macro camera. Selfies should look pretty good too, thanks to the 13MP lens on the front of the device.
The TCL 20 SE is slated to launch sometime this month and will be available in multiple countries. Pricing for the 20 SE starts at just 149 EUR.
It should come as no surprise that TCL is staying away from the mid-range market, let along avoiding the heavyweight battle in the flagship smartphone space. Instead, we’re seeing two new devices firmly-planted in the sub-$400 range, with the TCL 20 5G operating as the “flagship”, and the TCL 20 SE offering the value pick.
With its 6.67-inch FHD+ display, the TCL 20 5G actually has the smaller display of the new TCL handsets, but it does feature a higher resolution. TCL is also equipping the 20 5G with NXTVISION 2.0, which was a questionable addition to the company’s smartphones last year. Nevertheless, NXTVISION 2.0 is a software feature designed to improve SDR to HDR conversion, enhanced color calibration, and more features to help keep your eyes healthy while staring at your phone.
As for power, the 20 5G features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 690 chipset, which provides the ability to connect to 5G networks, if it’s available in your area. Since connecting to 5G networks can be rather rough on battery life, TCL has implemented software features to automatically switch between the 4G and 5G bands based on what you’re doing. This will help alleviate any potential battery life issues for the 20 5G’s 4,500mAh battery.
Those wondering about the cameras on the TCL 20 5G will be happy to see a triple camera array on the back. There’s a 48MP primary camera, along with an 8MP wide-angle lens, and a 2MP macro camera. It will be interesting to see what the company has done to improve the cameras when compared to last year’s TCL 10 series.
The TCL 20 5G is available starting today in Italy for 299 EUR. We’ll be seeing the device launch in more countries over the course of the next month.
We’re gearing up to see quite a few new devices getting ready to launch, and it seems that TCL isn’t stopping with the 20 SE and 20 5G. TCL also confirmed that there will be “at least” three new devices coming to the TCL 20 series. Those will include another 5G model, but we aren’t sure what else to expect from those three unannounced phones.