Easy On The Eyes: TCL’s E Ink-Capable 5G Phone

Two months ago, I wrote a column here about the brand-new TCL 50 Pro NXTPAPER 5G smartphone – before I’d even tried it. That’s because it showed off a new technology that I’m super excited about. It has a physical switch on the side. Toggled downward, and the phone works like any other Android phone in full color. But when you toggle the switch upward, your phone immediately turns into an E ink device. That’s black and white, much like the many Amazon Kindle models out there, and a soft color much like the new Kindle Colorsoft.

The big deal here is that it saves you a ton of battery life. Instead of getting hours or maybe even two days of battery life, you can get weeks of it per charge – up to 26 days in Max Ink Mode, to be exact. Just in case you were unaware, E ink technology only uses power to change what's on the screen, not to sustain it. So when you’re reading a page without touching the phone – or just leaving a photo up on the screen – there is nearly zero battery life being tapped.

I finally have had the chance to try this phone for the past few weeks. It’s not yet available in the United States, so I’ve had to use it as a glorified tablet on WiFi. And what I’ve experienced has been really impressive. First of all, it uses TCL’s NXTPAPER matte screen that essentially simulates the experience of reading something on paper instead of a glossy screen. That is supposed to ease eye strain. At first I thought this was a marketing ploy, but in my experience I find it much easier to read on. And much more pleasurable than a standard glossy screen. And it’s especially noticeable and appreciated under bright sunlight.

As for the toggle, it’s pretty amazing. It doesn’t seem to slow down the phone at all, with respect to functioning, paging through documents or web pages, or even watching videos. It’s just all done in black and white instead of color. You can actually set the phone into four modes – regular color, Max Ink that consumes low power for immersive reading, Ink Paper for a black-and-white paper-like display effect, and Color Paper which displays everything in a low saturation soft color paper-like effect. All on a sharp 6.8-inch screen. The only thing that’s bothersome is the sound effect and animation of toggling back and forth, which I’ve researched relentlessly and cannot figure out how to turn off.

Reading books on this device is really pleasurable, and as I mentioned above, easy on the eyes. My eyes usually get tired easily looking at my iPhone, yet I find I can read on this phone for significantly longer periods of time before they start getting fatigued. And for whatever reason, I absolutely prefer the matte, non-reflective glass now instead of the shiny screen. Plus it’s crystal clear and doesn’t really show any fingerprints. There’s also a matte finish on the back of the phone which also repels fingerprints. I’m impressed.

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