Update Best Cell Phones For 2021 Review – Finding a smartphone under $500 with decent features isn’t that hard these days if you know where to look. While the Samsung Galaxy A52 and Google Pixel 4a 5G are two phones worth considering, the TCL 20 Pro 5G has just entered the race, offering a sleek glass body, wireless charging and several other options that the competition can’t beat . seems to tick all the boxes at this price point.
Many people are interested in flagship devices, but most people should focus on the mid-range segment, especially phones that sell for $500. You won’t get all the latest and greatest technology, but these phones offer incredible value, and that’s exactly what the TCL 20 Pro 5G offers.
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Last year, the TCL 10 Pro wasn’t a big success because it didn’t have 5G support, but this year that was fixed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G. By now, you are probably already very familiar with the performance of this chipset. It’s fast enough to provide a smooth user experience across the entire UI, loads apps very quickly, and the phone’s 6GB of RAM is enough to handle a few light tasks. You will notice that the program sometimes runs out of memory, but this is not something to worry about.
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The 750G isn’t built specifically for gaming, but it can handle itself, even delivering 30fps in Genshin Impact and Call of Duty Mobile on medium and high settings. This is more acceptable for casual players. As games get bigger and bigger, this phone’s 256GB storage capacity is truly a standout feature in this category, giving it twice the space of its closest competitors, and that’s before you even count on expandable microSD storage .
Just for fun, I installed over two dozen of my favorite games on the phone and had over 200GB of storage left.
Unlike many other brands, TCL actually manufactures its displays in-house. This means that the panel is perfectly tuned for this device, taking into account the experience the company has accumulated over the years of producing some of the most popular TVs on the planet. The 6.67-inch FHD+ waterfall panel wraps around the edges of the phone. While I generally prefer flat displays, the curve is minimal, but it still adds unnecessary glare and accidental touch when typing.
TCL is already a bit of a disappointment as there are a number of cheaper devices with 90Hz displays but they all use LCD panels. At 60Hz this display is excellent. Powered by TCL NXTVISION 2 processor and built-in Pixelworks i6 chip, the display can automatically adjust the on-screen image to produce true-to-life colors. It is also capable of converting standard video to HDR for improved contrast and overall viewing experience.
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My only complaint is that the display could be a little brighter for better viewing in sunlight.
One of the standout features of the TCL 20 Pro 5G is its design. I don’t usually say this when I review $500 smartphones. Most devices in this category have solid plastic bodies or shiny plastic frames and backs that try to trick you into thinking they’re made of metal and glass. Since this is TCL’s most expensive device, they’ve gone all out with an aluminum frame around the edges and a double glass panel at the back. Most of the back panel has a fingerprint-resistant matte finish, while the left side has a glossy finish that highlights the TCL logo and the phone’s four cameras.
Like last year’s 10 Pro, TCL managed to give us a phone without any unwanted camera bumps. Honestly, it’s a little weird at the moment, but it’s nice to have a phone that can sit perfectly flat on your desk without rattling when you touch its display.
The left and right corners taper to give the phone a sleek profile, but the top and bottom edges of the phone are smoothed out. You can place the phone on its own if you want, although I don’t recommend this if you want the glass front and back to be as crack-free as possible.
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Since this is a mid-range device, you still have a 3.5mm headphone jack and, as mentioned earlier, a microSD card slot. If you want to use your phone as a remote control for your TV and also have stereo speakers and an in-display fingerprint sensor, TCL has also added an IR blaster. You also get a programmable smart key that can be configured for single, double, and long presses. I must say that having a hardware key to change settings or turn on the LED flash at night is very nice.
Overall, the look and finish of the phone is much better than what we typically see from other $500 devices. Typically, you will have to spend at least $700 to find a good device.
The main 48MP Sony IMX582 camera with OIS is the same one we saw on last year’s Oneplus 8, and it’s what many 2019 flagship devices have used. It’s not the best sensor for the money, but it can take good photos and, thanks to OIS, it performs very well in low light conditions. TCL still has some work to do when it comes to maintaining white balance between the main and ultra-wide cameras, but the images you can get are definitely better than what most other $500 smartphones offer.
Surprisingly, the main, ultra-wide-angle and selfie cameras are capable of recording 4K videos. The quality isn’t the best, but being able to record at the same high resolution from these three cameras makes a huge difference for those who use their smartphones as their primary video capture device. The only downside is that TCL uses multiple microphones to record a monaural audio track to the phone. I don’t know why this option was chosen, but it definitely degrades the video recording quality.
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By default, the 32MP selfie camera uses pixel wrapping to produce 8MP images that are actually quite good. To get the sharpest results, you can turn off the beauty mode and activate the High Pixel mode, which allows you to take selfies at 32MP resolution. As for the 5MP macro camera and 2MP depth sensor, they do what they say, but it’s unlikely that anyone will use them very often. I sincerely wish that TCL and all the other manufacturers who slap these sensors on the back of their phones would take the money off these cameras and give us better selfie cameras instead.
My only real complaint is with the phone’s software. As you’d expect from such a budget device, there are a few third-party apps pre-installed, but that’s not a big deal as that’s par for the course. What I don’t like is that TCL hasn’t changed their software much in the last two years.
TCL’s launcher makes it feel like you’re using a 2015 phone. It runs Android 11 and TCL is doing a very good job of delivering software updates and security patches to its other devices and I hope we get the same here. But the overall user experience of this phone needs a major overhaul, which I hope will be implemented with the release of Android 12.
Finally, let’s look at battery life and charging. The 18W wireless charging isn’t anything special, but it gets the job done and charges the 4,500mAh battery in less than an hour and a half. What makes this phone special is that it offers wireless charging, a feature that very few $500 phones have.
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Unfortunately, this good news is offset by the 20 Pro’s battery life. For a 4500mAh battery and Snapdragon 750G, the numbers are disappointing. It will get you through a full day with 5-6 hours of screen time, but will last as long as the Pixel 4a 5G, which only has a 3,885mAh battery.
So, is the TCL 20 Pro worth buying? The phone has its flaws, like most other $500 smartphones. The difference here is what TCL has given this device. With wireless charging, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a glass and metal body, and 256GB of built-in storage, you definitely get your money’s worth compared to the Samsung Galaxy A52 and Pixel 4a 5G. You’ll just have to decide for yourself whether the trade-off in battery life and software is worth it to you.
The TCL 20 Pro is one of the best mid-range smartphones of 2021, making it a great alternative for those who don’t want to settle for yet another mid-range Samsung smartphone.
I’m a technology fanatic and have a soft spot for HTC. After writing about technology for over a decade, I’ve taken things a step further.
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