TCL phone gives bang for your buck

You don’t need to break the bank to get a top-end smartphone. While Apple and Samsung dominate, there are other options that don’t compromise on features and functionality. TCL is one of the world’s biggest electronics manufacturers and its entry-level phone costs less than $250 around Perth. Yet it has a large 6.82-inch display, 16MP quad rear camera system, 5000mAh battery and it uses the Android 11 operating system. I’ve just taken the flagship TCL 20 Pro 5G for a test run. It is packed with advanced features but it costs less than $800. It looks and feels like a quality product when I open the box and to my surprise there’s even a cover and headphones included, which is not the case when you buy an iPhone or Galaxy phone these days. Although it is a Chinese brand, it doesn’t have the same restrictions as Huawei. As a result of a ban on trading with the US, Huawei can’t preload phones with Google apps and services. It’s dead easy to set up. After charging it, I simply follow the prompts, sign into my Google account and I’m away. I have access to all my Google products and the Google Play app story — just like on my Samsung phone. It has a beautiful curved 6.67-inch AMOLED display with a 32MP selfie camera discreetly embedded under the screen at the top. While the show is at the front, the business is at the back, where the 48MP quad camera set-up is located. The camera system has a super-wide angle and allows for 2x optical zoom and up to 10x digital zoom. It also has a super-macro lens, depth sensors and dual LED flash. The cameras are paired with a Sony optical image stabilisation system to help with getting steady unblurred photos and video. Being a Pro model, there is a host of cool and useful controls on offer in the camera module. In addition to the stills and video settings, there’s a Portrait, a Super Night and a Pro setting, which allows you to take control of camera settings like ISO, shutter speed, aperture and other advanced settings. The TCL 20 Pro is 5G ready and has a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor, which provides instant and smooth performance. Other notable features include a fast-charging 4500mAh battery and 256GB of onboard memory. I’m impressed with the TCL 20 Pro. It looks and feels like a quality product and it has all the bells and whistles you expect from a high-end smartphone. It doesn’t quite match Samsung’s Galaxy S21 and Apple’s iPhone 12 in camera performance but it comes pretty close and given the price, it represents excellent value. I particularly like the Super Macro and Super Night modes. The phone was lent to Travel by TCL, who have not seen or approved this story. For more information about the TCL 20 Pro 5G and other TCL phones, head to tcl.com.au