TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G Review: A Pleasing Matte Screen

Everyone wants to select retired bluish light. Whether done your glasses, laptop, aliases smartphone, companies person hopped connected nan bandwagon to merge bluish ray blockers to trim nan wavelength from reaching your eyes. The declare is to thief amended slumber and trim eyestrain, moreover though studies person yet to find these blockers effective.

TCL is 1 specified company. It has been manufacturing phones and tablets pinch its “Nxtpaper” LCD exertion for a fewer years, and nan 3rd procreation successful nan TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G smartphone is bully capable to artifact 61 percent much bluish ray than a normal tablet to “protect your eyes and trim oculus fatigue.” I've utilized this $250 Android phone for much than a week, and I don't deliberation nan claims clasp up, but I've still travel to bask nan matte paperlike screen. Don't bargain it for nan blue-light blocking promises; bargain it because nan matte surface looks and feels nice.

Matte Screen

The 60 XE's main attraction is nan Nxtpaper matte LCD. It has a pleasing paperlike texture and isn't reflective. Colors are a smidge much muted than phones pinch OLED screens, and matter and app icons tin look a small fuzzy—I only really noticed this erstwhile comparing it broadside by broadside pinch different handset.

The phone's backmost has a akin matte texture, though pinch a marble shape for a luxe look, complete pinch a glossy, information camera module. A friend said it looked “fancy," though I find it teeters connected tacky. I don't mind nan marble pattern, but nan camera module isn't symmetrical and feels a small retired of place. Still, it doesn't look for illustration any different $250 smartphone. That's a plus.

Back to nan Nxtpaper display, though. On nan correct separator of nan telephone is nan Nxtpaper switch, and flicking it up lets you take from 3 show modes: Color Paper Mode, Ink Paper Mode, and Max Ink Mode. I'll get to what these modes do, but I want to constituent retired that nan move feels inexpensive and has a flimsy rattle. Switching modes besides takes a beat—it plays a small tune and animation each time, and I can't find a measurement to disable this. (You tin astatine slightest group it truthful that it enters a circumstantial mode erstwhile you flip nan move alternatively of having to take each time.)

Color Paper Mode desaturates and softens nan colors, almost for illustration a color E Ink ebook reader. Ink Paper Mode strips distant each colour and goes achromatic and white, and nan colour somesthesia of nan surface is little blue. This is still an LCD, but to my eyes, it's amended than Android phones that effort to usage E Ink. You get a akin paperlike reference acquisition and a matte screen, but dissimilar nan Minimal Phone aliases nan Boox Palma 2, it's not frustrating aliases slow. The 120-Hz surface refresh rate and decent onboard CPU make it execute for illustration a normal phone.

I've enjoyed switching to either of these modes erstwhile I'm reading, whether done Chrome, Google News, aliases moreover doomscrolling done Bluesky. I usually move it disconnected and usage nan modular mode erstwhile swiping done Instagram Reels, though nothing's stopping you from watching videos successful these modes if you for illustration nan desaturated look.