The TCL 50 XL Nxtpaper 5G ($199.99) brings the company’s glare-free Nxtpaper display technology, previously limited to its tablets, to its low-cost phones. The crisp and colorful display is impressive, as it produces vivid colors without the glare that often accompanies LCD and OLED panels. We also like its dedicated reading modes and expandable storage. However, the cameras are mediocre, the battery falls short of the competition, and TCL only offers two years of security support. Ultimately, you’re better off with the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G ($199.99), which has sharper cameras, faster performance, and longer software support, making it our Editors’ Choice winner for affordable phones.
Design: Large With Slippery Plastic
The TCL 50 Nxtpaper 5G is a tall phone. It measures 6.6 by 2.97 by 0.32 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.9 ounces. The Galaxy A16 is shorter, wider, and heavier (6.47 by 3.07 by 0.31 inches, 7.06 ounces), while the $199.99 Motorola Moto G is shorter and wider but lighter (6.58 by 3.0 by 0.32 inches, 6.81 ounces).
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
There’s a power button with a built-in fingerprint reader along with a volume rocker on the right side of the phone. Both buttons make an audible sound when pressed. The fingerprint scanner works well, but I prefer the convenience of the included face scanner. TCL’s face scanner isn’t secure and can’t be used to authenticate financial apps, but I find it the easiest way to unlock the phone. The combined SIM/microSD slot is on the left side, while a 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C charging port, and speaker grille sit on the bottom edge.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The phone only comes in Space Blue, but to me, the color looks more like a reflective gray. The plastic back and bezels are slippery, and I had a difficult time keeping the phone from falling out of my small hands.
A large circular camera bump occupies most of the phone’s upper back. It looks impressive but seems much larger than necessary, as there’s plenty of wasted space between the flash and the end of the bump. Otherwise, the back does a good job of repelling fingerprints, though you’ll want to put a case on it to prevent it from slipping out of your hands.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The 50 XL Nxtpaper does not have an IP rating for dust and water protection, but we don’t necessarily expect that feature on a $200 phone. Still, the Galaxy A16 has an IP54 rating for protection against dust and splashes, while the Motorola Moto G has an IP52 rating for protection against light spills.
Display: The Main Event
The 6.78-inch display is the star of the show. It has a decent resolution of 2,460 by 1,080, and the Nxtpaper technology works to make everything pop. The matte, glare-free finish means you never compete with ambient light for a clear view. This is particularly impressive outdoors, where there’s very little reflection on the screen, even under direct sunlight. That said, it would be nice if the display could get a little brighter. I could certainly see the screen outside under the sun, but it wasn’t as luminous as I would have liked. TCL doesn’t specify the exact level of nits the Nxtpaper display produces.
The display also has a 120Hz refresh rate that automatically adjusts between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on the setting. This is good for gaming, as it ensures smooth playback. The touch sampling rate reaches 240Hz, which is also helpful for gameplay.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
TCL says the screen is made of 2.5D glass, which means it is curved along the outer edges. The company doesn’t say if the glass is hardened against breakage like Gorilla Glass.
No other phone in this category has a display that employs technology like TCL’s Nxtpaper. Instead, competitors use traditional glare-prone screens. For example, the Samsung A16 has a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 800 nits. Meanwhile, the Moto G’s 6.7-inch display has a lower resolution of 1,604 by 720 pixels but comes with a 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 3. Neither is as easy to see outdoors as the Nxtpaper.
Performance: OK for Everyday Tasks
The TCL 50 XL Nxtpaper is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ system on a chip and comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. This is the only model available. You can increase the storage by up to 2TB by using your own microSD card.
The phone is generally responsive and seamlessly switches between apps and games. However, it slows significantly when playing games or using CPU- or graphics-intensive apps.
(Credit: Geekbench/GFXBench/PCMag)
The numbers bear this out. We use the Geekbench 6.0 testing suite to measure CPU performance, and the phone scored 669 on the single-core test and 1,789 on the multi-core test. Both the Moto G and its Snapdragon 480+ (814, 1,957) and the Galaxy A16 with its Exynos 1330 processor (883, 2,020) performed better on the same test.
The scores align more with GPU performance, which we measure with the GFXBench Aztec Ruins test. The Nxtpaper managed a frame rate of 5.7fps, the Samsung A16 ran at 5.6fps, and the Motorola couldn’t run GFXBench at all. None of these scores are impressive, but affordable phones often have low-performance processors to keep the price down.
That said, the graphically intensive Genshin Impact is playable on the Nxtpaper, albeit with stutters that are particularly noticeable during moments of intense combat. Casual games, like Alto’s Odyssey, play much better.
Battery Life: Unimpressive
To test the battery life, we run a YouTube video on a loop at full brightness. It took the TCL 50 XL Nxtpaper’s 5,010mAh battery 9 hours and 4 minutes to drain from 100% to 0. That’s not nearly as long as the Galaxy A16 (13 hours and 46 minutes) or the Moto G (15 hours and 39 minutes).
The 50 XL Nxtpaper can charge at up to 18W through a wired connection, though it does not support wireless charging. A charging brick is included in the box. The Galaxy A16 can charge up to 25W, though you need to provide your own power adapter.
The Nxtpaper took 2 hours and 36 minutes to fully charge from a dead battery. The Motorola and Samsung phones charge faster, at 2 hours and 10 minutes and 1 hour and 35 minutes, respectively.
Connections: Simple 5G Support
The phone supports sub-6GHz 5G, including C-band, but not the fast mmWave technology found on the T-Mobile and Verizon networks. It is important to point out that the TCL 50 XL Nxtpaper is only available through the C Spire regional network right now and does not come unlocked. TCL tells PCMag that a tier-one carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon) plans to sell the phone later this year.
C Spire does not operate where I live, but I was able to use the phone on Google Fi’s service, which piggybacks off of the T-Mobile network.
The phone reached maximum speeds of only 93.2Mbps down and 6.08Mbps up. Meanwhile, my iPhone 14 Pro recorded 211Mbps down and 16.4Mbps up when tested from the same spot.
The phone supports the older Wi-Fi 5 spec rather than Wi-Fi 6, 6E, or 7. When tested close to my Wi-Fi 6 router, the phone recorded speeds of 236Mbps down and 22.7Mbps up. The iPhone 14 Pro hit 377Mbps down and 22.5Mbps up from the same spot. The Nxtpaper outperformed the iPhone at the edge of the Wi-Fi network, where it managed 88.7Mbps down and 19.1Mbps up, while the iPhone 14 Pro could only muster 7.3Mbps down and 12.0Mbps up from the same location.
The phone comes with Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC for mobile payments.
Audio: Good Sound, Low Volume
Call quality is crisp and clear. I could hear everyone I called, and they could easily hear me. That said, the earpiece and speakerphone are a little too quiet for my tastes. The earpiece tops out at 77.4dB, which is fine for quiet spaces but would be hard to hear over construction noise. The speakerphone is particularly disappointing, as it reaches only 64.4dB. This is just adequate for a quiet room but is almost impossible to hear walking down a crowded street.
The soft speakers are also a problem when playing music. The sound is muddled, and it is hard to make out any of the bass in our test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout.” The music sounds flat all the way around, and the volume isn’t loud enough to fill even a small room. You’ll want to connect a pair of wired or wireless headphones for the best listening experience.
Camera: A Basic Shooter That’s Uninspiring
The phone has a main 50MP camera at f/1.8, a 5MP ultra-wide camera at f/2.2, and a 2MP depth camera. The main camera uses pixel-binning by default, so it produces 12.5MP images. You can go into the settings to change the camera to use the full 50MP if you desire. There’s also a 32GB front-facing camera for selfies.
Main camera (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The camera has four zoom modes: macro, 0.6x, 1x, and 2x. However, the camera struggles to capture accurate color or fine details. You’ll see lots of smearing and pixelation upon zooming in, even in photos taken in bright light. Here is a series of photos taken at various crop levels:
Ultrawide camera, 0.6x (Credit: Sarah Lord)
Main camera, 1x (Credit: Sarah Lord)
Main camera, 2x (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The cameras can record 1080p video at 30fps. The results aren’t very impressive, but they are good enough for capturing a quick moment. You probably won’t want to post the results on social media.
Selfie camera (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The selfie camera did an OK job of capturing this photo of my dog in low light.
Software: Impressive Nxtpaper Modes, Poor Support
The 50 XL Nxtpaper comes with Android 14 (not the current version, Android 15), and while the company claims the phone will receive one OS update, there’s no time frame for when that will arrive. The phone will receive security updates through 2027. This pales in comparison with the Galaxy A16, which is guaranteed six years of OS upgrades and security support.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The phone runs a TCL UI over the base Android platform. Very few unwanted apps are preinstalled.
TCL’s Nxtpaper modes are built into the operating system and accessible from the quick drop-down menu. The modes include Regular, which gives you a full-color screen; Color Paper, which eliminates all the blue light to give you muted colors that look like they were drawn by a color pencil; and Ink Paper, which turns everything on the phone to grayscale.
Left to right: Regular, Color Paper, Ink Paper modes (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The results are impressive and reminiscent of E Ink. I find E Ink to be superior for long reading sessions, but I appreciate the flexibility of the Nxtpaper technology here and find that it really does help reduce eye fatigue.
Verdict: Not Quite a Winner, But TCL’s Nxtpaper Tech Is Promising
The real draw of the TCL 50 XL Nxtpaper 5G is its display technology. The matte finish all but eliminates glare, while the various color modes provide plenty of eye-friendly options for reading, scrolling, and watching videos. However, short battery life, middling cameras, slow 5G performance, and limited support hold the phone back. The Samsung Galaxy A16 5G beats the Nxtpaper across the board with better cameras, speedier performance, longer battery life, and superior software support. It’s the best Android phone for less than $200 and our Editors’ Choice winner.
Cons
The Bottom Line
The TCL 50 XL Nxtpaper 5G has a unique Nxtpaper display that is almost entirely glare-free and has advanced reading modes, but the phone falls short in most other areas.
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About Sarah Lord
Analyst, Mobile
