The brand new model was announced on the 6th of April and it came to the market on the 19th of May. It shows itself as a strong alternative between the middle-range standards. There isn’t any doubt that for this price, we won’t find a much more level headed smartphone, even more, when it is one of the light in the market with such a good camera of 48 megapixels and 64 GB expandable internal storage. It also comes with Android 10 with 11 on sight (already confirmed). In terms of performance, the TCL 10L achieves what we expect from it, besides its natural physical limitations, even if it’s from the CPU, or the smartphone itself. About the CPU, we’re talking about the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 that is a bit old but it continues to handle the tasks without any regrets. Accordingly, with Antutu Benchmark data, TCL 10L had a satisfactory performance during the test, between what is expected from it in the market, taking into account that it is an entry on middle-range standards.

TCL 10L Specifications

About Processor

The score of the CPU, the Snapdragon 655drives up the score of the equipment by overcoming 19% of the competitors with a score of 70.390 points. When we talk about graphics processing, the model is equipped with Adreno 610 from Qualcomm that overcome 9% of the competitors during the test, which is one percent more than the overall smartphone. The only moment we felt the lack of a strong processor was when we left out an app to another, in this case, we opened the camera and started recording at 4K with the optical stabilization activated, and we noticed that TCL 10L was a bit buggy with a delay in its footage, which wasn’t right when we started seeing this kind of things, leading in some cases to compromise the recording itself. We would like to mention the fact that the smartphone is compatible with Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-fi (double band) 5.0 with160 MHz of frequency. Well, when we talk about photography, TCL includes 4 lenses in the back and a punch-hole camera in the front so that you can take incredible selfies. The performance wasn’t anything fantastic, especially, because I already know the other major sensors from Samsung (like 64and 108MP). Although, these 48 megapixels of the main lens are performing just right, maintaining the respect we have to Samsung. In addition to the wide-lens of 48 megapixels with an aperture of f/1.8, we have an ultra-wide lens that has an aperture of f/2.2 with 8 megapixels and, finally, two lenses: one is macro-lens and depth sensor, the second one, kind of a “blur sensor” :)but both (macro and depth) with an aperture of f/2.4 and 2 megapixels. One thing that deserved my attention was the option of including the macro lens with just 2 megapixels that allow us to capture macro photos with much better focal distance in super-macro mode, which is great.

About Camera & Battery

I really wouldn’t expect this to be so good, by improving the definition of the photo, when we use it with this model. The main camera which doesn’t support recording in 4K@60fps However, we’d also like to mention that, we have slow-motion capture at120 fps in Full-HD, which is so great, especially for those who like to capture scenes where you need that slow-motion feature, or “in ritardando”, for example, during cinematic footage. In its turn, front sensor, we have a wide lens of 16 megapixels with an aperture of f/2.2, which is amazing, giving the fact that, allow the camera to capture selfies with great light, which guarantees a great fidelity of the photos even if you have low light conditions and you want to take that photo. Talking about the battery and the autonomy, the brand new TCL 10L has a battery of 4.000 mAh which isn’t great, but not a shame, however, giving the price we would hope little more. We understand, on the other hand, that this might have to do with the factor of not increasing the weight of smartphones. because, a 5.000 mAh battery is already heavy and also, a higher cost for the manufacturer who chose to include other benefits, other important specs, which they think is the focus of its customers, neglecting, a little here, the battery. Resulting in a charging period of more than two hours! two and a half, I believe that is needed to fulfill the battery, which is ridiculous nowadays, when we have smartphones that handle to charge 50%, for example, in just half an hour.

About Display

When we talk about the screen, the TCL 10L has an IPS LCD with 6,53 inches and 85,4% screen-to-body ratio, that shows the commitment in using the front part of the smartphone. Avoiding to have any trouble with its customers, TCL has included Gorilla Glass 3 which is a bit old (but better than nothing) because Gorilla Glass 5 is more expensive, and by doing this, the users are a bit safe if the smartphone falls (at least one time). When we talk about the design, we’d like to mention the fact that the manufacturer has special care with its different materials, we say this because, TCL included only plastic on the exterior, instead of any metal even in the borders of the case, this is a solid plastic of good quality that has an amazing colorful pattern, a vibration of colors in shades of blue, almost glossy-plastic, which is also interesting. As expected, the smartphone has a fingerprint sensor in the back of the body of TCL 10L, which could be even more interesting if they put it on the power button, but it didn’t happen so. Of course, we couldn’t even think or speak on the under-display sensor, because it is too expensive and this smartphone is not pretending to be like that. Although once again, what surprised me was the inclusion of a jack audio entry of 3,5 mm, that is a thing a bit more strange to this type of smartphone, giving the fact that brands avoid this type of costs nowadays TCL made it, and it very cool indeed, this time, the Chinese brand made its way up strongly.

About Pricing

Finally, in our opinion, the TCL 10L is focused on the entry-level of the middle-range, that is not, a smartphone that you think that is very good for a lower price, but it is, in fact, a piece of equipment,that for its price, we know they have strongly made smartphone with good quality and has its basic functions uncompromised. This is a piece of technology that is a compliment in terms of productivity and photography, giving the fact that the 48 megapixels are already astonishing… I can guarantee that, as you saw by our footage during the video, and where it is clear that is possible recording cinematic footage, with active optical stabilization, which is by far, very good indeed for this type of cameras, even if you can’t use more than 4K at 30 fps. Using an LCD, we can’t expect a low use of the battery, because this type of display uses backlight (instead of LEDs), as it happens with OLED and AMOLED screens. The LCD can’t turn off parts of the screen when in black, like OLED, for example (that is one reason because it consumes more). Then, that is the reason why IPS LCD uses more energy from the battery, however, the low-weight and the high ratio screen-to-body is very interesting and can be a very valid option, where ergonomics are also good, very practical and well done, for each customer, of a smartphone or a less smart one!