TCL has been selling tablets with its NXTPAPER display technology for a few years, and now the company is bringing NXTPAPER to smartphones with the launch of the TCL NXTPAPER 40 and TCL NXTPAPER 40 5G.
Both models are budget phones set to launch in Europe soon before rolling out to the rest of the world later this year. And both feature displays that TCL positions as better for your eyes than a typical LCD… although if you were hoping for an E Ink, paper-like experience, this ain’t it.
TCL says its screens offer a “paper-like viewing experience” with reduced blue light, a matte, anti-glare, and smudge-resistant finish. There’s also a sensor that automatically adjusts the display’s color temperature and brightness based on time and environmental variables.
But these aren’t the low-power, high-contrast screens you see on Amazon Kindles or other eReaders. They’re full-color LCD displays with support for refresh rates up to 90 Hz, which is great if you’re looking for smoother motion or better color reproduction, but maybe not as great if you’re looking for something truly paper-like that can, for example, display a static image indefinitely without consuming power.
As for the phones themselves, they’re an interesting pair. Normally you’d expect the 5G variant to be a higher-performance phone. But while the TCL NXTPAPER 40 5GÂ does have a faster processor than the 4G-only TCL NXTPAPER 40, it has a lower-resolution display, less RAM, slower charging, a slightly inferior camera system, and only a mono speaker.
It seems like TCL was trying to keep the prices of both phones reasonably low, so it offset the costs of the processor and 5G support in that model by cutting corners when it comes to some other features.
The 5G model still ends up costing a bit more though. TCL says the NXTPAPER 40 will go on sale in Europe in September for €199 while the NXTPAPER 40 5G launches in Europe in October for €249.
| NXTPAPER 40 | NXTPAPER 40 5G | |
| Display | 6.78 inches 2460 x 1080 pixels 369 ppi 90 Hz 450 nits | 6.6 inches 1612 x 720 pixels 269 ppi 90 Hz 500 nits |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G88 2 x Cortex-A75 @ 2 GHz 6 x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz | MediaTek Dimensity 6020 2 x Cortex-A76 @ 2.2 GHz 6 x Cortex-A55 @ 2 GHz |
| Graphics | Mali-G52 MC2 | Mali-G57 MC2 |
| Memory | 8GB | 6GB |
| Storage | 256GB microSD card (up to 2TB) | 256GB microSD card (up to 1TB) |
| OS | Android 13 1 major OS update 2 years security updates | |
| Battery | 5,010 mAh | 5,000 mAh |
| Charging | 33W (wired) | 15W (wired) |
| Cameras | 50MP primary 5MP ultra-wide 2MP macro 32MP front | 50MP primary 2MP depth 2MP macro 8MP front |
| Wireless | WiFi Bluetooth 5.1 NFC 4G LTE Cat 4 DL / Cat 5 UL VoLTE VoWiFi | WiFi Bluetooth 5.1 NFC 5G (2.7 Gbps DL / 700 MBs UL) 4G LTE Cat 13 DL / UL VoLTE VoWiFi |
| Audio | Stereo speakers 3.5mm audio jack | Mono Speaker 3.5mm audio jack |
| Sensors | Face unlock Side-mounted fingerprint sensor Accelerometer Proximity Sensor Light Sensor E-Compass BDS/GPS/Glonass/Galileo/A-GPS | |
| Dimensions | 168.2 x 75.5 x 7.9mm | 164.5 x 75.4 x 9mm |
| Weight | 195 grams | 192 grams |
| Colors | Midnight Blue Opalescent | Black |
| Price | €199 | €249 |
| Availability | Europe in September More countries later this year | Europe in October More countries later this year |
TCL say the NXTPAPER 40 also supports an optional T-Pen for writing and drawing on the phone, and there’s an optional case case with a slot for storing the T-Pen when it’s not in use.
that’s cool