Review: TCL 30 XE 5G – TCL’s First 5G Smartphone

Last January 5, 2022, during the Consumer Electronic Show 2022 (CES), tech-giant TCL revealed some of the most amazing gadgets with cutting-edge technology ever to grace the stream. And one of the most exciting gadgets ever showcased was the TCL 30 XE 5G.

This hot-topic smartphone has been one of the most talked-about phones of 2022 so far. And because of that, we ordered our very own and tested the smartphone the moment we got it! So today, we’ll be giving this our full-blown review!

And now, let’s take a deep dive into one of the best phones we’ve ever used:

Like any other phone, first impressions matter. We already had high expectations when we saw the phone from TCL’s big CES 2022 showcase, but when we saw the box, it was a bit underwhelming for us. Packaging-wise, it doesn’t have the “wow” factor we were looking for, unfortunately.

As TCL’s very first branded 5G smartphone, it’s no surprise that its sleek look had captured a lot of attention, with a notch behind the front camera and a black bottom bar to frame the screen quite nicely.

The clean and elegant shadow black polycarbonate case is as classy as it gets. With dimensions of 164.1 x 74.9 x 9 mm (6.46 x 2.95 x 0.35 in), it’s one of those tall, slim phones that can easily fit in any bag. You won’t have to worry about your backpack, bag, or pocket space.

The screen has an IPS LCD, with a 20:9 90Hz refresh rate display. It uses the NXTVISION 6.52-inch HD+ 720 x 1600 display, 102.6 cm2, and that’s roughly 83% for its screen-to-body size. This is the kind of phone that can bring out the richest colors on its surface, all protected under Dragontrail Glass, which is IP52: dust and water-resistant. It’s safe to say that the phone is clean and protected, too.

Platform, Memory, and External Storage

Android users rejoice, its OS is Android 11, with the TCL UI 3.0 interface. It’s powered by the MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G (7nm), which is a powerful chipset that’s paired up with 4GB of RAM, making it reliable in performance and power. It also runs on an MT6833 Octa-core processor, a 6x 2.0 Gx ARM Cortex-A55, plus a GPU of ARM Mali-G57 MC2.

For its internal storage, you have a maximum of 64GB. However, you can always count on its dedicated external storage slot for microSDXC/microSD/microSDXC

The microSDXC slot can even store SanDisk’s 512GB Extreme microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card, which is an amazingly spacious and fast-transfer and fast-reading storage that can treat you right by keeping all of your precious photos, videos, recordings, and even important documents and pdfs! It’s also enough for you to keep high-quality 4k movies or downloaded Spotify music, too, so you’ll save yourself from boredom during long flights, road trips, or boat rides.

With that much storage, you won’t ever have to worry about taking photos, videos, etc. as you add in all of your favorite series, songs, and games!

Cameras

You can take amazing photos with its triple-lens camera, 4th being a sensor, found at the smartphone’s backside. The rear cameras consist of a 15MP for shots, and 2MP cameras for depth sensing and macro. It can take amazing 4K resolution photos, HDR photos, great panorama shots, close-up or macro shots, and wide shots, too. As for videos, you can take videos of up to 1080p resolution at 30 fps.

If you’re more into selfies, then you’ll be happy to know it’s got a front cam that shoots 8MP, and also takes wide shots. And it still takes 1080p at 30fps!

These are the other camera features of the TCL 5G Smartphone:

● Autofocus
● Continuous Shooting
● Digital Zoom
● Geotagging
● Panorama
● HDR
● Touch focus
● Face Detection
● Pro/Manual settings (white balance, ISO)
● Exposure compensation
● Self-Timer
● Scene Mode
● Macro Mode
● Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF)
Battery

TCL’s 30 XE 5G long-lasting 4,500mAh battery is there to keep you powered all day and night, especially since it’s a fast-charging phone at 18W. What you have to take note of though is that the Li-Polymer battery is non-removable. So, you have to take good care of your TCL phone and not throw it around or over-charge it.

Other Features

Included on the phone are sensors. It’s got an entire set, from the fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted), face recognition, accelerometer, proximity, compass, gyro, and even the barometer. It’s even got an FM Radio receiver. Plus, the usual loudspeaker, and the ever-exceptional audio jack for your earphones or headphones.

The phone’s Bluetooth version is 5.1, which allows A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), and LE (Low Energy). You can also sync this phone up to your computer.

Finally, for its USB, it’s a Type-C 2.0. So, you better think twice about the kind of cable chargers you’re buying!

It’s currently available on T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile with additional courier availability for 2022.

PRICE

With all these amazing features, you could expect the phone to reach prices such as $800, but actually, this phone just reaches values of $420 to $520! Currently, it’s $470. Honestly, for prices like that, it’s safe to say that you can get everything you’d ever need with an affordable high-quality phone.

From its high performance, camera quality, processing speed, and its overall look, we can perfectly say that this is one of those phones you definitely should NOT miss out on.

FINAL THOUGHTS

And with that, we can conclude that TCL had exceeded our expectations. With these amazing features such as the AI-Powered Camera, to the smooth processing and user-friendliness. Not only that, but the NXTVISION Display technology upgrades our experience with its improved color, contrast, and sharpness, too. We can say, without a doubt, that this is one of the best affordable 5G smartphones you can ever get in 2022.

If you don’t want to miss out and get your very own TCL 30 XE 5G smartphone, click here!

And if you want to get your own SanDisk 512GB Extreme microSDXC memory card, click here!