TCL or “Telephone Communication Limited” is a lesser known company in North America, better known for its televisions than its mobile phones. While they may have used the Blackberry brand to produce the KEY2, TCL has recently started producing mobile phones under its own name and brand. Today we’re looking at one of their latest models, the TCL 30 XE 5G, part of their 30 Series. Listed at $355 CAD, the 30 XE is aimed more on the budget at lower-mid-range users. Working alongside rivals like the Samsung A13 5G, can TCL bring enough to the table to make a bigger name for itself?
Unboxing the phone is your pretty standard experience, as with most phones these days. You get the phone, a USB-C charging cable with a power brick, a SIM eject tool and some essential documents. No headphones or case, unfortunately. The box itself shows a picture of the phone along with the TCL branding and notable specifications and features of the phone.
The TCL itself is made of sturdy-feeling matte plastic on the sides and back with a flat glass display. The side buttons are also plastic. It’s not a deal breaker given the price and should be stable enough to satisfy most users. There is a microphone and headphone jack on the top of the device, a very welcome addition in my opinion. At the bottom, you’ll find another microphone, a single speaker, and a USB-C port for charging and data transfer.
The SIM tray on the left includes a single SIM slot and an SD card slot supporting up to a 512GB card, something I personally wish flagships would continue to include. On the back, you’ll find the triple camera along with a fast and accurate fingerprint reader. On the front, you find a teardrop-shaped notch for the single selfie camera, the earpiece speaker and the pleasantly smooth 90Hz 720p display.
“Using the TCL 30 XE 5G as my daily device lately has been an interesting experience.”
Upon booting up and setting up the phone for the first time, you’re greeted with one of your first notable surprises, a near-stock version of Android 11. TCL claims to offer two years of security and software upgrades, so it’ll be interesting to see if they follow that up on budget device. Most stock apps included are created by Google, although TCL includes its own camera and music player apps, along with a few others, including a compass app, notes, and even an FM tuner app! That being said, those who want to use the FM tuner will need to plug in a set of headphones to use it.
Using the TCL 30 XE 5G as my daily device lately has been an interesting experience. Coming from my current flagship Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5g, the TCL 30 XE 5G managed to fit comfortably into my lifestyle and daily use without much compromise. The relatively large 64 GB of built-in storage allowed me to download all my apps without any problems. I kept all the files I needed on the go on an SD card.
The built-in 4500mah battery easily managed to get me through a day and a half of fairly heavy use with the tasks of taking a few photos, messaging/calling, using GPS and even some moderate gaming. I always went to bed with over 40% battery life and over 5 hours of screen time while I had Bluetooth and 5G antennas enabled.
“The built-in 4500mah battery easily got me through a day and a half of fairly heavy use with the tasks of taking a few photos, texting/calling, using GPS and even some moderate gaming.”
All apps launched quickly and ran smoothly with no noticeable issues thanks in part to the 4GB of onboard RAM. This means that surfing the web and endlessly scrolling through your social media feeds will feel generally seamless. Videos looked sharp and clear, despite only being on a 720p display. Watching videos on the 6.52-inch screen meant I didn’t have to squint to see what I was watching like I did with smaller phones of the past.
The 90 Hz display makes the device feel much more premium than competitors in this device class. Many other devices still only offer a 60 Hz display. TCL’s included NXTVision software shines in this aspect, as it helped enhance the media I watched. Even in bright sunlight, the display was perfectly readable and clear, something people who are constantly outdoors will appreciate.
Charging the phone when the battery is dead is done at a respectable 18W, far from the slowest on the market, but certainly not as fast as much more expensive phones. I found that it usually took about two hours to fully charge the phone, perfectly acceptable for those who charge the phone at night or at their desk, not so much for the on-the-go user.
“TCL overall have done a superb job with the TCL 30 XE 5G, they’ve certainly made a great phone for the price.”
With all the great things that TCL has managed to pack into the TCL 30 XE 5G, there are bound to be some negatives too, right? Unfortunately, this is all too true as a cheaper phone. Many times I wished I had my Samsung because of its picture quality. The included TCL rear camera array worked well in well-lit environments, but inside with less-than-optimal lighting, images often came out blurry, grainy, and didn’t create an image I’d want to share with others.
The same can be said for the selfie camera. In bright lighting, images look acceptably sharp, but not overly flattering. On top of that, while the single speaker can get loud enough for a quiet room, I found it to be quite “tinny” at higher volumes. I also found myself missing the stereo speakers of other past flagships that I’m used to.
That being said, it’s important to remember that the TCL 30 XE 5G smartphone isn’t built to impress high-end users like me. While I’d be happy to sit back and tell you that I wish it had features like wireless charging or an IP rating, it’s made for the user who doesn’t want to spend a small fortune on a device. Someone looking for a device that can handle everyday tasks without breaking the bank, but still wants modern conveniences with some of yesterday’s technology.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the TCL 30 XE 5G smartphone. It really goes to show that you don’t need a high-end flagship to perform many regular tasks these days. Smartphones have come a long way in the last few years, even the budget market has stepped up its game considerably. TCL has done an overall superb job with the 30 XE 5G, they’ve certainly created a great phone for the price.
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