Tag Archives: TCL

TCL Note A1 Tablet Feels Like E-Ink Paper but Shows Full Color and Video

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People bounce between paper notebooks, e-ink readers, and glossy tablets, each good at one thing and bad at others. E-ink is gentle but slow and monochrome, LCD is fast and colourful but tiring for long reading, and paper is great until you need to search or backup. TCL Note A1 NXTPAPER is an attempt to merge those worlds into a single, paper-leaning tablet that does not make you choose between comfort and capability.

TCL Note A1 NXTPAPER is an 11.5-inch eNote tablet that blends a full-colour LCD with a paper-like surface. The 3A Crystal Shield Glass brings anti-glare, anti-reflection, and anti-fingerprint coatings, plus TÜV Rheinland certifications for eye comfort, flicker-free operation, and low reflection. The idea is a screen you can stare at for hours of reading and writing without feeling like you are looking into a lightbox, which is exactly what most tablets become after the first hour.

Designer: TCL

The tablet is built around handwriting, with a stylus that has dual tips, an eraser, and haptic feedback from an X-axis linear motor. Each stroke is meant to feel smooth and controlled, closer to pen on paper than plastic on glass. TCL’s pitch is that every note and sketch feels natural and expressive, making it a place where you actually want to write instead of just tapping keys or hunting for the right toolbar icon.

Note A1 has an octa-microphone array and tools for audio-to-text transcription, real-time translation, and AI summaries. In meetings or lectures, it can record, transcribe, and condense discussions so you can focus on listening instead of frantic note-taking. Writing helpers handle rewriting, grammar, translation, and summarising drafts, turning the tablet into a quiet collaborator rather than a blank page waiting for you to figure everything out alone.

The infinite canvas feature lets you zoom, expand, and sketch without hitting page edges, and the split-screen mode lets you read on one side while taking notes on the other. That combination makes it easier to absorb and organise information at the same time, whether you are annotating a PDF, outlining a report, or sketching over reference images without juggling windows or losing your place.

Note A1 supports syncing via Wi-Fi and cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, plus wireless screen casting for presentations. The aluminium body is 5.5 mm thick and around 500 g, which keeps it light enough to carry all day. It feels more like a slim notebook than a chunky laptop, but with enough solidity to survive bags and desks without worrying about scratches or dents.

Note A1 NXTPAPER is aimed at people who read and write a lot, sit through meetings or lectures, and want a single device that feels kind to their eyes and helpful with their words. A paper-leaning, AI-assisted slate that treats focus and handwriting as first-class citizens offers a different path from the usual entertainment tablet, especially when long-form thinking matters more than another hour of streaming.

The post TCL Note A1 Tablet Feels Like E-Ink Paper but Shows Full Color and Video first appeared on Yanko Design.

TCL’s $199 Projector Puts a 120-Inch Screen in Any Room (And Costs Less Than AirPods Pro)

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Home cinema has never been this affordable. The TCL Projector C1 brings 120-inch screen entertainment to your living room for just $199, making it cheaper than the AirPods Pro, which sounds wild considering one’s a tiny pair of earbuds and the other’s an entire cinema in your house. This isn’t a stripped-down compromise either. The projector packs Google TV, automatic focus, and a built-in battery into a portable package.

What makes this pricing remarkable is the complete feature set TCL has managed to include. Most projectors at this price point require external speakers, lack smart TV capabilities, or need constant manual adjustments. The C1 combines all these essentials in one device. You can set it up anywhere in your home, cast content from your phone, and enjoy Dolby Audio without buying additional equipment. For the cost of a mid-range streaming device, you’re getting an entire home theater system.

Designer: TCL

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TCL just launched their C1 projector in the UK for £249.99, though Americans get a fairly sizeable price slash of $199. I keep staring at that number trying to figure out where the catch is. You can project a 120-inch image for less than a pair of premium wireless earbuds. A full-size screen that dwarfs even the most absurdly large televisions, available for impulse-purchase money. And there isn’t some limited Black Friday offer anywhere – this is the MSRP on the box.

Obviously they cut corners somewhere. The projector outputs 230 ISO lumens, which isn’t the brightest out there by a fair mile. Yes, you can still watch movies and shows just fine, the only real caveat is that you’ll need absolute darkness – simply drawing one curtain in the afternoon won’t cut it, and watching a game with the lights on may prove to be less than satisfactory – but hey, two hundred bucks. Spend a few more on blackout curtains and you’re good. The LCD panel delivers 1080p natively with 4K support, and you need about 2.5 meters of throw distance to hit that 120-inch maximum.

Google TV comes baked in, which matters more than it should. Most cheap projectors force you to plug in a Chromecast or Fire Stick, adding another $50 and another remote to lose between your couch cushions. Netflix certification means proper app support instead of janky workarounds or browser-based streaming that buffers at the worst possible moments. Auto-focus and keystone correction handle the setup pain points that make most people abandon projectors after one frustrating evening. I’ve spent twenty minutes adjusting focus wheels on projectors that cost ten times this much, so having it happen automatically feels like cheating.

TCL included a 60 Wh battery, which gets you through a two-hour movie without trailing extension cords across your living room. Weighing 1.8 kilograms means you can actually carry this thing around from your living room to your bedroom. The integrated adjustable stand folds into the body instead of requiring a separate tripod purchase, and you can even rotate the C1 to face your ceiling for in-bed entertainment. HDMI and USB-A ports cover the basics, Wi-Fi 5 handles streaming without constant buffering, and Bluetooth 5.1 lets you pair actual speakers because that 8-watt built-in option with Dolby Audio support exists purely for emergencies. Nobody’s watching Dune on an 8-watt speaker and pretending they’re satisfied.

Projectors have always occupied this frustrating middle ground where cheap ones are genuinely terrible and good ones cost mortgage payment money. You either bought a $79 pico-projector that barely functioned or dropped $2,000 on something that required a dedicated room and professional calibration. TCL figured out that most people just want to watch movies on a big screen without taking out a loan or earning an engineering degree. The brightness limitations mean this won’t replace your main TV for daytime viewing, but it turns movie nights into actual events instead of just sitting on your couch scrolling through Netflix for forty minutes. Gaming on a 100-inch screen changes how you experience everything from racing games to sprawling RPGs. Your living room becomes the place where people actually want to gather instead of everyone staring at their phones in different corners.

Two hundred dollars removes most of the decision-making anxiety. You can buy this on a whim and if it doesn’t work out, you’re not crying into your pillow about wasted money. Although, considering TCL’s track record, this one might actually work out to be as good as, if not more reliable than, a 50″ smart TV that may cost 4-5x more.

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The post TCL’s $199 Projector Puts a 120-Inch Screen in Any Room (And Costs Less Than AirPods Pro) first appeared on Yanko Design.

TCL’s latest phone has a 1-Week Battery Life, and a VERY interesting new Display: Hands-On at IFA 2024

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Nobody ever bought a smartphone because of its screen. I’m not talking about foldables, but rather about the regular ‘candybar’ smartphone. The reason you choose a smartphone is for its camera system, its battery life, its processor, its charging speed, its AI features, or its OS. The screen is just one of those aspects that you take for granted… but what if I told you I saw a phone at TCL with a screen so good it’s the highlight of the entire phone? The phone in question is the TCL 50 Nxtpaper 5G phone, and what really sets this phone apart from others is how spectacular its screen is. At first glance, the screen looks like a rather simple matte display, but flip a button on the side, and it magically goes from color to monochrome, transforming into a bonafide electronic ink display that is highly responsive, but has immaculate contrast, and a battery life nearly 7x more than your regular phone. The display is really this phone’s highlight, and shows how TCL’s figured out a compromise between phones and e-ink tablets. The TCL 50 Nxtpaper is a phone when you need it, but hit that switch and you go into easy-reading tablet mode, with a nearly 7-day battery life thanks to the monochrome nature of the display.

The Nxtpaper Display: A Phone Screen That Feels Like Paper

For anyone tired of glossy screens, blinding brightness, and eye strain, TCL’s Nxtpaper technology is a welcome change. The 6.8-inch screen has a matte, anti-glare surface designed to reduce blue light and deliver a paper-like experience, ideal for reading and prolonged use without causing eye strain. Whether you’re reading e-books, scanning through long documents, or even just scrolling social media, the Nxtpaper display reduces the strain that typical LCD and OLED screens can cause.

Unlike traditional smartphone displays, Nxtpaper uses a layered design that reduces blue light by up to 61%, helping prevent eye fatigue. This isn’t just a standard “night mode” either — the display is engineered from the ground up to deliver a paper-like viewing experience that’s easy on the eyes at any time of day. The anti-glare surface also means no more squinting at your phone on a sunny day or awkwardly tilting it to avoid reflections. Text and icons are visible with immense clarity, echoing the feeling of an e-ink screen like the one you’d see on a Kindle.

Despite its paper-like qualities, the Nxtpaper display doesn’t sacrifice color or usability. It’s still a full-color display, and it handles everything from photos to videos smoothly. TCL seems to have struck a balance here, making it a perfect option for people who need their phone for more than just reading but still want that e-paper feel.

Max Paper Mode: Battery Life Like You’ve Never Seen

The Max Paper mode is where the TCL Nxtpaper 50 Pro is an energy-savings-beast. When you first hit the switch on the side, you’re offered an option between color mode, ink-paper mode (which offers a responsive e-paper experience), and Max Paper mode. In the latter mode, the phone dials back performance, display refresh rates, and power-hungry features to turn it into a near e-reader. TCL promises up to one week of battery life when this mode is activated — a remarkable feat for any smartphone.

Max Paper mode works by toning down the display and restricting background processes, essentially transforming the phone into a low-power reader. It’s the perfect solution for those times when you just want to get through a book, read articles, or browse documents without worrying about battery drain. Imagine going on a week-long trip without needing to pack your charger — Max Paper mode could make that a reality. In Ink Paper and Max Paper mode, the phone’s home screen even tells you exactly how many hours worth of battery you’ve got, and it’s honestly stunning to see a day-long smartphone suddenly transition into a device that can last over a hundred hours.

Of course, when you want to switch back to full power for gaming, videos, or multitasking, the phone is more than capable. But for users who want to extend their battery life and spend time in a more relaxed reading environment, this feature is a game-changer.

A Practical Smartphone for Everyday Use

The 50 Nxtpaper phone isn’t just about battery life and an eye-friendly screen. It’s a full-featured Android phone that covers all the basics. Powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 processor, it comes with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage, which can be expanded with a microSD card. It runs Android 14 and is promised to get at least two major OS updates, so it’s future-proof for the next few years.

On the camera front, the 108MP main sensor is versatile, delivering high-quality shots with ease. It’s backed by an 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro lens, which offer flexibility for various shooting scenarios, whether you’re capturing landscapes or detailed close-ups. On the front, a 32MP selfie camera ensures crisp photos and video calls.

Other features round out this package nicely, including dual stereo speakers with DTS 3D Boom Sound for immersive audio, 33W fast charging to get you back up and running quickly, and NFC support for contactless payments. Security-wise, the phone includes both a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and face unlock for fast, secure access.

Final Thoughts: A Niche, But Useful Phone

The TCL Nxtpaper 50 Pro might not be the device that makes waves for its performance or gaming chops, but it’s not trying to be. Instead, it’s aiming at a niche audience: people who care about eye health and battery life more than shiny OLED displays and top-tier processors. The Max Paper mode could be a revelation for those who find themselves drained — both figuratively and literally — by their current smartphones. Having received a bunch of awards for just how spectacular the screen is, I sincerely hope TCL manages to make this click. I honestly would love to see smartphones trying new innovations like this rather than bending and folding thrice over like that tri-fold phone that TCL’s rumored to also be working on.

The post TCL’s latest phone has a 1-Week Battery Life, and a VERY interesting new Display: Hands-On at IFA 2024 first appeared on Yanko Design.

TCL’s Ultra-Slim 1.1 Inch NXTFRAME Smart TVs with AI Art Generation and Built-in Art Gallery

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If you still happen to have an NFT collection, TCL’s TV might just be the new way to display it.

It was probably Samsung that came up with the idea of transforming your TV into an ambient art frame when not in use, and I have to admit, it’s quite a stellar idea. The television is great when you’re watching something on it, but the minute you switch it off, it becomes an ugly black rectangle on your wall. Frame-inspired TVs are a great alternative, allowing you to turn your wall into home decor, and TCL’s jumped onto that trend with its NXTFRAME range of smart TVs. Measuring a mere 1.1 inches thick, the NXTFRAME televisions sit virtually flush against your wall, pretty much like a piece of framed art.

Designer: TCL

Ranging between 55 and 85 inches in size, the smart TVs blend right into your home seamlessly, with the QLED Pro screen mimicking the feeling of printed art really well thanks to its high contrast and clarity even in brightly lit rooms. The 4K TVs come with Google TV for watching all your streaming services, but the display’s beauty lies in TCL’s built-in curated art library as well as the ability to make and display AI-generated art. A gorgeous matte screen helps the art stand out well without any added glare from lights or nearby windows, and the TV even comes with wood-like veneers that attach onto the bezel, giving the NXTFRAME a bonafide outer frame.

As gorgeously slick as the NXTFRAME looks, its performance specs are equally impressive. With a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, it promises smooth and fluid visuals, whether you’re watching a high-action movie or playing the latest video games. The inclusion of Dolby Vision IQ ensures that the picture quality adapts to the lighting conditions in your room, offering the best possible image at all times. Additionally, the support for AMD FreeSync Premium makes it an excellent choice for gamers, reducing screen tearing and providing a more responsive gaming experience. Motion Rate 480 and MEMC motion smoothing technology further enhance the viewing experience by reducing motion blur and judder, making fast-moving scenes clear and crisp.

Under the hood, the NXTFRAME runs on Google TV, offering seamless integration with various streaming services and smart home devices. It supports Chromecast and Apple AirPlay 2, making it easy to stream content from your devices. Voice control is also well catered for, with compatibility with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Home. For gamers, the TV comes equipped with Game Accelerator 240, Auto Game Mode, and AMD FreeSync Premium, ensuring an optimized gaming experience with minimal input lag and maximum visual clarity. The sound system is robust, featuring two built-in 20W speakers and support for advanced audio technologies like Dolby Atmos and DTS.

The Pro version of the NXTFRAME takes the audio experience a notch higher by including a wireless 3.1.2 soundbar and subwoofer, developed in partnership with the renowned audio company Bang & Olufsen. This combination promises an immersive audio experience, enhancing everything from dialogue clarity to the rumble of on-screen explosions. The TV also boasts four HDMI ports, including one with eARC support, allowing for easy connection of multiple devices and ensuring that audio signals remain high quality.

Pricing for the NXTFRAME series starts at $1,499.99 for the 55-inch model and goes up to $3,999.99 for the 85-inch version. The Pro versions, which include the enhanced audio system, start at $1,999.99 for the 55-inch model and reach $4,999.99 for the 85-inch model. These models are expected to be available in September 2024, along with accessories like the movable floor stand priced at $699.99 and matching table feet at $149.99. It’s unclear if the art library and GenAI art features are available along with the TV or incur an added subscription.

The post TCL’s Ultra-Slim 1.1 Inch NXTFRAME Smart TVs with AI Art Generation and Built-in Art Gallery first appeared on Yanko Design.