Another inexpensive take on 5G is on the way, as TCL takes on the mid-range with a the TCL 20 5G, offering high-speed connectivity for not much at all.
Even though high-end flagship phones were where 5G reigned supreme last year, this year in 2021, the mid-range is becoming the place to find that high-speed 5G connectivity networks are touting.
Every major telco in Australia offers 5G now, and while it’s expanding — and will get better with the addition of mmWave — getting the phones into more people’s hands is important, making price very, very important.
As the prices fall for a 5G phone, the opportunities for more people to try the 5G technology increase, especially as more phones pop up that offer it at a wallet-friendly price. And this year, there are a few.
We’ve already checked out the $499 Realme 7 5G, and it’s about to be joined by another, as TCL offers a 5G phone driven by value, the TCL 20 5G.
It’s the first of the TCL 20 series, following on from the TCL 10 range in 2020, with two launching in Australia, following on from announcements back at CES earlier in the year.
In the TCL 20 5G, you’ll find a 6.67 inch Full HD+ screen supporting HDR, sitting atop a Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 chip, 6GB RAM, up to 256GB storage, three cameras, and a side-mounted fingerprint reader that isn’t in the screen, all for a price of $499 in Australia.
Of particular note is the fact that this is another of the 5G phones sitting in the mid-range, competing with Oppo, Realme, and Motorola, with some technology to automatically switch between 4G and 5G to help balance out the the 4500mAh battery, the company says.
You can also expect some attention paid to the screen, complete with the company’s NxtVision technology, which converts standard dynamic range media (SDR) to high dynamic range (HDR), and aims to deliver better colour performance for the screen than your standard mid-range mobile display.
The TCL 20 5G will be joined by a 4G phone focused on the mid-range, the TCL 20 SE, a 6.82 inch phone sporting a Snapdragon 460, 4GB RAM, up to 128GB storage, and four cameras. The fingerprint reader sits on the back of this phone, again not in the screen, with a 5000mAh battery underneath.
While the screen is big, the resolution is not, offering a 1640×720 HD+ screen, smaller than the Full HD+ display of its $499 TCL 20 5G sibling.
However, it does come with a lower price, sporting a $299 price point in Australia, and vying for value clearly in both.
“Our launch today is the start of an aggressive roadmap through the rest of 2021 and beyond, from new smartphones to tablets and wearables that we are excited to bring to Australia as the TCL brand cements itself as a high quality, high performance and affordable brand consumers can rely on,” said David Vieira, Director of Product Marketing for TCL in South East Asia.
Both phones look set to launch in June, with the TCL 20 SE launching at Officeworks for $299 across the country, while the TCL 20 5G will cost $499 when it lands at Officeworks in June and Harvey Norman a week or two earlier at the end of May.
