TCL 50 XL 5G smartphone evaluation – Nearly advantageous for $159

REVIEW – The TCL 50 XL 5G is a brand new launch by TCL that’s accessible at Metro by T-Cellular. It’s free with sure plans or $159 at full value. The corporate says the cellphone will ultimately be accessible at different carriers and unlocked at Amazon, however there have been no specifics given. One Samsung folding smartphone prices over $2100. Sony simply launched a brand new cellphone that prices $1500. The TCL 50 XL solely prices 1,590 dimes. Can a $159 cellphone eek by as of late? Did TCL proceed to construct on their report of excellent worth at stunning costs. How did this econo-phone carry out?

What’s it?

The TCL 50 XL 5G is a brand new smartphone accessible as of Could 2024 at Metro by T-Cellular.

What’s included?

• TCL 50 XL 5G
• 18W charger and cable
• SIM instrument
• Customary paperwork

Tech specs

Design and options

The perimeters of the TCL 50 XL smartphone are flat as an alternative of rounded and because of this are comfy and safer within the hand. I obtained a rubbery nook protector case however obtained to the place I trusted myself to make use of the cellphone with the case off.

Curved edge telephones have at all times shocked me by how onerous they’re to carry securely. Perhaps it’s collusion with case makers? After I get a cellphone with curved edges it’s instantly secured right into a case.

I haven’t heard of ‘2.5D glass’ so I discovered this: “2.5D is simply a naming conference that’s used for addressing contoured glass, which is any glass that has a slight curvature in the direction of its edges. So, 2.5D glass will be Gorilla Glass or every other model of glass, strengthened or not.” TCL makes no claims in regards to the glass so it should not be Gorilla, and will not be strengthened or I’d anticipate the advertising specs to specify.

The TCL 50 XL has a fingerprint reader on the facility change underneath the quantity rocker change. It labored surprisingly nicely besides once I had the case on the cellphone. Any case that stops full finger publicity onto the floor of the reader will most likely impede its potential to determine the print and unlock the cellphone.

The rear digital camera setup is a 50MP three lens cluster which incorporates depth, ultra-wide and macro.

The macro operate could make some fascinating pics however it’s nothing tremendous spectacular. I normally want to close-up in common lens mode.

You’d anticipate low mild to be a problem for a finances cellphone so the 50 XL will shock nobody who must activate the flash or add mild to a scene.

Nobody buys a $159 cellphone for its sound high quality, however for podcasts or informal music listening the 50 XL delivers greater than its cash’s value. Readability is nice with no ‘splatter’ with the quantity totally up. There’s even a bit, only a bit, of bass response. It’s a ‘faucet’ vs. a ‘growth’ however hey, verify the worth once more.

With good earbuds or over-ear headphones the 50 XL delivers glorious sound to the listening system.

The display screen high quality is sharp over its full dimensions, and colours are rendered precisely compared to my Pixel cellphone.

The 50 XL has NFC!  That’s seen much less usually on finances telephones. Google Pay labored flawlessly via the 50 XL.

Meeting, Set up, Setup

Setup took me longer with the 50 XL than it normally does with different telephones I’ve reviewed. I first tried to get the 50 XL to acknowledge my Pixel 6a. No cube. The telephones wouldn’t talk. Rebooted each, re-tried, needed to transfer on. I then cabled the 2 telephones collectively. I had to make use of my very own twine as a result of whereas TCL features a charger and cable with the 50 XL, it’s USB-A to USB-C. With the 2 telephones cabled collectively they appeared to acknowledge one another however wouldn’t do the info switch. Rebooted and re-tried.

I resorted to what I normally do anyway and arrange the cellphone with my final Google backup of my Pixel and all went nicely in comparatively brief order. If I had began with the Google backup setup I’d have been completed inside an hour. The actually lengthy a part of cellphone setup goes into each app to make settings, get 2 issue authorizations, set permissions, notifications and tweaking all of the settings that aren’t captured by the Google backup course of.

The OS obtained an replace as quickly as I checked for one. TCL continues to replace my older 30 XE quarterly and I’d anticipate the identical with the 50 XL. Good on TCL! Safety updates actually matter to potential patrons.

Efficiency

A few occasions when charging the TCL 50 XL smartphone with the 18W charger and cable that got here within the field, a ‘Sluggish charging’ indicator was on the display screen.

I rotated the USB-C plug and Quick charging was indicated.

The 50 XL digital camera carried out within the class of ‘fairly nicely’. Greens obtained embellished a bit and a few nicely lit scenes had been grainier than they appeared in actuality.

One space the place the cellphone often struggled is with picture processing and backup.

It was a shock to see how lengthy it typically took the 50 XL to add photographs to Google Pictures. The cellphone has 6GB RAM so it should not have any operational lags. It could often take the 50 XL a number of minutes to add one picture to Google Pictures on my quick dwelling wifi. I feel the method obtained caught in a loop typically so I’d reboot the cellphone, then when it revived, the add of that pic was transient, but slower than different telephones I’ve used.

I additionally typically needed to wait a number of seconds to edit a photograph in Google Pictures as an alternative of the Edit operate opening instantly. I’d be taking a look at a pic that I took, faucet ‘Edit’, and a ‘ready spinner’ appeared till the Edit display screen opened. It was usually a 10-15 second wait earlier than I may edit a photograph. This was intermittent. Generally Edit opened instantly.

There was no perceptible lag for every other cellphone course of. I moved rapidly via a number of apps with no hiccups.

Whereas testing the 50 XL on cellphone calls, phrases and syllables often dropped out when individuals spoke to me throughout calls. This didn’t occur with each name, however did so on a number of calls. I first attributed this to having wifi calling on however once I turned off that characteristic the problem persevered. The 50 XL sign bars had been at all times at 2 or above at my home which is comparable with any cellphone I’ve had. I skilled no dropped calls throughout my time testing the 50 XL. The dialog cut-out drawback was intermittent so may it have been T-Cellular, a wonky tower, or photo voltaic exercise? (That final one isn’t a joke anymore.) It occurred sufficient that I lean in the direction of it referring to a ‘lower nook’ half contained in the 50 XL.

It’s necessary to acknowledge that sign bars are solely a illustration based mostly on software program programming. With two telephones on the identical provider, my cellphone could present 3 bars whereas your cellphone reveals two bars, and vice versa.

Often, and pretty regularly, an app would ship a notification that didn’t set off the system-wide notification sound on the 50 XL. The notification was there to learn visually, however had not triggered the same old alert tone I had set as my notification sound.

What I like in regards to the TCL 50 XL 5G smartphone

• Nice display screen brightness and coloration
• Good battery measurement with out making the cellphone really feel heavy
• No bloatware
• OS settings are simple to comply with and use

What must be improved?

• No calls dropped however there was some audio ‘cut-out’ from individuals I known as
• Quick charging must be in keeping with the provided charger
• Picture processing and digital camera efficiency may very well be enhanced
• A software program replace may enhance notification sound supply

Closing ideas

If the shortcomings of the TCL 50 XL 5G aren’t a difficulty for you, it may solely be had at Metro by T-Cellular shops or ordered on-line for now. Or maintain an eye fixed out for different sources later should you don’t need to change carriers. Hopefully software program updates can resolve the problems I had with the 50 XL 5G.

Worth: Free with relevant plans or $159 retail.
The place to purchase: Metro by T-Cellular in shops and on-line as of Could 2024.
Supply: The pattern of this product was offered at no cost by TCL. The corporate didn’t have a remaining say on the evaluation and didn’t preview the evaluation earlier than it was printed.