TCL 20 SE Review, Pros and Cons – TCL is one of the good television brands. Its line of smartphones is also quite adequate and fascinating, as they bring state-of-the-art products that fit the budget. Not long ago, the company released the information on the TCL 20 5G variant, which we have already covered, so check it out too.
In addition, they are planning to launch a lowered variant of the smartphone will be known as TCL 20 SE smartphone, where SE means the standard edition. Unlike its older brother, the TCL 20 SE may have basic specifications. But, it can be a great choice in the entry-level segment. It will be decided at the end of the analysis whether it is worth buying this phone or not.
Let’s start with the detailed review and specifications we will have within the TCL 20 SE smartphone.
Table of Contents
TCL 20 SE Review
Highlights
- The elegant layout of the plastic body ensures a stylish appearance with a unique camera embossing.
- On the front screen, the usual IPS LCD comes with a tall aspect of a 6.82 inches screen.
- For a biometric scan, you must have a rear-mounted fingerprint reader.
- The Snapdragon 460 processing unit is quite decent and relatively new.
- Inside the box, the 18 W fast charging package with USB On-The-Go features and the Li-Po 5000 mAh battery.
Design and Display
The glossy effect of the back panel compresses an elegant appearance, although the phone’s body is made of plastic. Still, it gives a feeling of premium quality. Interestingly, the bump of the camera plate is something outstanding of the box for the TCL 20 SE smartphone. At the same time, the side buttons look sticky. Apparently, you will receive a dedicated AI button here.
Typically, an affordable smartphone needs to have a large screen that supports HD resolution to present an elegant screen experience to users. Thus, the 20 SE smartphone fulfills these two criteria and brings a combination of giant IPS LCD technology of 6.82 inches display resolution. That way, you won’t be bothered while watching YouTube, Netflix, or anything you want.
Not to forget, the brightness aspect of the TCL 20 SE phone combines a unified experience, even if you are playing outdoors. In addition, you will not feel any restrictions, as you can set the intensity of the white light to decrease the intensity of the night glow. This device is also equipped with the dark mode, which will further reduce eye pain and gradually increase battery life.
Memory and Internal
Like most TCL phones, the TCL 20 SE smartphone comes with a custom TCL UI interface. This interface is designed to provide maximum performance and focuses on ease of use. However, you see some bloatware here and there, which is quite common, as they are just system software applications. This does not mean that the company allows ad notifications to be a nuisance continuously. The firmware is clean and you won’t notice ads as you checking the ecosystem.
In addition to the Android ecosystem, you have several other personalization features that can create a personalized homepage and shortcuts to quickly access relevant applications. In addition, the hardware configuration of the Snapdragon 460 is compatible with enough power to ensure that you can enjoy the lite game alongside multitasking without any problems.
The performance factor of the TCL 20 SE phone is sufficient to distribute power to each section of the phone and to subtly improve processing through core power. Significant support comes through the 4 GB RAM, while you can choose between 64 GB or 128 GB storage. In addition, UFS 2.1 support is only available in the 128 GB variant. In addition, you add more space through the shared SIM slot.
Camera
The camera modules may look similar on the outside, but in the case of the TCL 20 SE smartphone. There will also be two variants of the camera, which will depend on the market. In short, it can be considered that the superior variant will have more adjustments. Here, the device offers a quad-camera at the rear. The 16MP will be the main snapper alongside an ultra-wide 5MP with 2MP macro and dual 2MP depth and 2MP macro lens. At the front, an 8 MP selfie camera for video calling.
On the other hand, the 13 MP main camera will be replaced with a 48 MP camera. In contrast, the 8MP selfie lens will be replaced by the 13MP lens. While the rest of the camera’s specifications will remain the same as before. If you love taking selfies, this is good news, as the phone will come with AI tone features, which will give your photos a professional touch.
The videography aspect of this phone may not be too bad because recording up to 1080p resolution. However, the result would be tremendous if you did not hold the phone firmly. There are features like night mode, slow motion, timelapse, and many more. You can’t expect anything great here, because it doesn’t offer any state-of-the-art camera processing software.
Battery and Others
There is no power drain software intact on these phones. Therefore, the possibility of rapidly draining the battery is relatively low. In addition, you can easily squeeze a few hours more than a regular device. All thanks to the robust Li-Po 5000 mAh fuel battery, unlike some well-known smartphone brands, TCL also brings the 18 W fast charging is a great decision. The end of the software also helps to increase battery life by eliminating background applications.
In addition to more than 7 hours of viewing, the phone can remain active for more than 2 days on a single charge via the USB Type-C 2.0 port. In addition, the price point is expected to fall into the affordable category. Where the initial cost of the TCL 20 SE smartphone should be around USD 180 (13,999 INR). This price will be increased for the superior variant by up to $35 more.
TCL 20 SE Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the TCL 20 SE smartphone.
| Specifications | TCL 20 SE |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Announced | January 2021 |
| SIM | Hybrid Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.78 x 3.04 x 0.36 inches |
| Weight | 206 g |
| Size | 6.82 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 450 nits Brightness ~263 PPI density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 720 x 1640 pixels |
| OS | Android 11, TCL UI |
| Chipset | 11nm – Qualcomm SM4250 Snapdragon 460 |
| CPU | Octa-core 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 240 4×1.6 GHz Kryo 240 |
| GPU | Adreno 610 |
| Card slot | Yes (uses shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Internal | 64GB, 128GB UFS 2.1 (128GB only) |
| Camera | 16 MP (wide) 5 MP 115Ëš (ultrawide) 2 MP (depth) 2 MP (macro) for 64GB 48 MP (wide) 5 MP 115Ëš (ultrawide) 2 MP (depth) 2 MP (macro) for 128GB Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama 1080p@30fps |
| Selfie | 8 MP for 64GB 13 MP HDR 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes dual speakers |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes 24-bit/192kHz audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | Yes |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Rear-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh Fast charging 18W |
| Colors | Aurora Green, Nuit Black |
| Expected Price | USD 180 (13,999 INR) |
TCL 20 SE Pros and Cons
Down below you can see the list of pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages) of the TCL 20 SE smartphone.
Pros
- Large 5000 mAh battery support.
- 18 W fast charging at your service.
- 450 nits brightness display.
- Record videos up to 1080p.
- Get the latest features of TCL UI and Android 11.
- Decent performance-oriented processors.
- Play lite games without delay.
- USB On-The-Go.
- A dual speaker offers more sound output.
- Offers dedicated AI button.
- NFC enabled.
Cons
- UFS2.1 memory support only available in the 128 GB variant.
- Uses shared SIM slot to expand storage.
- Can only watch content up to 720p.
- Without glass protection.
- No wireless charging support.
- Old USB Type-C 2.0
Conclusion
The TCL 20 SE smartphone is a pretty decent deal according to the value of the specifications. Since you are getting a powerful battery, ample storage, robust processor, and brilliant screen size. On the other hand, there are some flaws in the camera software, which may not provide the clarity you are looking for in photos and videos.
Still, the boost of Android 11 OS with custom features is eye candy, and the glossy design makes the phone even more attractive. If you are looking for something that renders value-packed specifications with a good amount of money, then the TCL 20 SE is a good choice in the $180 price tag.
