This phone is unlike anything that I’ve seen before. The main reason is the display – it’s a matte screen. But what’s the big deal? You could go out and stick a matte screen protector and call it a day. Yes, but none has done it as coherent as this.
This TCL 40 NXTPAPER 5G phone is in my opinion, the perfect phone for anyone who reads off their phones. But, this is still a review – we’ll go through our 8 points as usual, but we’ll be focusing particularly on the display first, then the design of this phone because it is just that unique.
Display
So, let’s get the specs of the screen out of the way first. This is a 6.6-inch IPS LCD screen with 1612×720 pixels in resolution and goes up to 90Hz refresh rate. That in itself doesn’t sound impressive, but that matte finish is important. TCL is calling this the NXTPAPER and I have no idea how they did it. Is it etched onto the glass or just a coating on top?
TCL calls this a paper-like display, but I think it’s not as rough as the real paper-like. This is more matte. Either way, the result is impressive.
First of all, the matte finish is definitely felt by my fingertips. This is the highest quality matte finish on a screen that I’ve tried so far. We have talked about the different types of screen protectors alongside its pros and cons – link at the top right corner there if you want to know more about the difference between this type of matte finish compared to the coarser paper-like finish.
But there is an inherent issue with matte displays. If the screen’s individual pixel size is too small when compared to the grain size of the matte finish, then the color will be really bad. That’s why this phone has a 720p display – and to my eyes, I think it’s a good compromise.
Now, matte screens are also funky in a way that the brightness level doesn’t actually matter that much even if we’re using the phone outdoors. That is because the matte finish acts as a light diffuser for the sunlight and the light coming out from the display. This video makes the screen look darker than it is supposed to be – but in reality, I can read whatever the heck is shown on the screen just fine. The absolute maximum brightness of this screen is only 550 nits, by the way.
Oh – there is another option that we can enable so that the screen’s brightness will drop down low too. The lowest brightness we measured is only around 2 nits – and that’s great for those who read books on their phone in total darkness before sleeping. I am one of those people, by the way.
Our colorimeter also says that the colors coming out of this screen are decent. We’re getting around 84.59% of sRGB color gamut coverage with very low ΔE numbers. And even watching videos with this phone still looks good. I’m impressed.
Perfect device for reading
Of course, with a little software trick – this display can be taken to the next level – making it perfect for those who read books or whatever using the phone. Within the settings menu, there are two controls that I want to highlight.
The first one is the NXTPAPER mode. Not quite sure what’s the idea – but they just say “color paper”. It’s disabled by default but once enabled, it becomes… desaturated? The other option is ink paper – which made the screen to be reminiscent of an e-ink display like a Kindle.
However, if we head into the NXTVISION setting, there is another option here called “reading mode” which also makes the screen become monochromatic, but it’s different from the ink paper mode that we talked about earlier. It’s slightly yellowish – emulating a physical book instead.
We can make reading mode automatically turn on for certain apps, In my case I’ll add the Google Play Books to the list – and yes, this feature works flawlessly. I’m not sure if I prefer the ink paper mode or the reading mode more – I think it boils down to personal preference.
Software
Other than that, I don’t have anything much to say about the TCL UI. It’s very close to stock Android but with a few additional features sprinkled here and there – and I really like this.
There is some bloatware built-in but I think it’s not too bad. Just some random games that we can uninstall easily.
Performance
Speaking of gaming… you’ll have to manage your expectations. This phone is powered by the Dimensity 700 chipset and while it is good enough for day-to-day usage, it’s not that good for anything intense.
I mean, you’re not buying this phone for gaming anyway – so keep that in mind. We have a demo of Genshin Impact on this phone – watch the video at the top of this review to check that out.
Battery
To power this device, it comes with a 5,000mAh battery and it can last for a very long time – beyond 13 hours according to our standardized battery life test. That means if we want to read books using this phone, I think it can last for like 5 hours straight with no issues – depending on the brightness level, of course.
Charging speed
However the charging speed is a rather funky one. On the official specs sheet, it says that this TCL 40 NXTPAPER 5G supports 15W charging but upon closer inspection, this phone only comes with a 10W charger in the box.
That, however, will take more than 2 and a half hours to charge completely – so yes, you’ll have to charge it overnight.
But if you do have a USB-PD charger, then yes – this phone does take in 15W of power and shortens the charging time by around zero minutes. Yes, still takes around 2 and a half hours to charge completely – but at least it reaches 50% at a much faster pace.
Design
As for the design of this phone, I have to tip my imaginary hat off to TCL for making such a coherently designed phone. The screen has a matte finish, but so does the frame of the screen. And also the frame of the phone. The back though, I’m not sure how to describe it. It still has a matte finish but it’s slightly rubbery. No matter what it is, the grip on this phone is amazing.
TCL did include a TPU case in the box as well but I really don’t feel like using a case with this phone. TCL did such a fantastic job with the texture.
Cameras
And as for the camera of this phone – I’m not going to talk much about it. There are 3 cameras here but I’d say only one of them can be used to take pictures but it’s not even that good. We can take some pics – and here are a few samples for you to see – and all of those pictures are in our video. Watch that.
Misc things
And a few more things to mention before we end this review – if you want to just listen to music with this phone, then you can just plug in an audio jack. TCL even included a pair of earphones that look like it’s from the year 2005 too.
You can even convert this phone into a music player since it does have a microSD card slot.
However, transferring files into the phone will be quite painful since it is using a USB 2.0 port at the bottom – but that’s fine. I’m not expecting anything else.
Should you buy the TCL 40 NXTPAPER 5G?
So, for the price of RM999 – I really don’t know how if people should buy this phone. I have to be brutally honest with you. I don’t think this phone is appealing to that many people. For the specs it offers, the price is too high. But, if you can make full use of this unique NXTPAPER screen, then this phone will offer tremendous value.
But as far as I know, TCL does have other products with the NXTPAPER screen. I’m most interested in the TCL NXTPAPER 10s as it is a 10.1-inch tablet with this matte finish. I’m really loving this display.
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