TCL 30 XE 5G Review – TCL has announced two different 5G smartphones in January 2022, the TCL 30 XE and 30V smartphones. For today’s review, we have the TCL 30 XE 5G smartphone, but we have already covered the TCL 30 V review. The TCL 30 XE falls into the mid-range 5g smartphone category and comes with a reasonably decent Mediatek Dimensity processor and a 90Hz refresh rate display, which is honestly a surprise for a phone in the budget category.
But not everything is as golden as it looks because the screen resolution is only 720p and the average camera which may disappoint some users. The question remains, will it be enough? Is the processor fast enough to deliver a smooth 90Hz experience considering the Mediatek chipset? Let’s start with the detailed review and find out if it’s really worth your time and money.
Table of Contents
TCL 30 XE 5G Review
Highlights
- The TCL 30 XE 5G has a large 6.52 inches HD IPS screen with a 90Hz refresh rate.
- It is powered by the 7nm MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G processor and has built-in 5G connectivity.
- It comes with Android 11 OS with TCL UI on top of it.
- The phone has a triple camera system, the main rear camera is a decent 13MP sensor, but the other two sensors are just a 2MP depth and macro sensor.
- The battery inside the smartphone is a Li-Po 4500mAh battery which is included with an 18W fast charger.
Design and Display
The design of the TCL 30 XE 5G is anything but impressive, but TCL did not develop this smartphone to impress its customer with exquisite design. They developed it to provide a decent 5G smartphone experience. But that doesn’t mean the smartphone is too bad to look at. The flat-edge bezel that runs through the entire smartphone certainly looks and feels nice. The back is plastic and is only available in one color is shadow black.
The back has a matte finish, so it should keep fingerprints and smudges away and the back also houses the fingerprint sensor. The front of the phone is the large 6.52 inches IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate. Plus the TCL 30 XE screen is protected by Dragontrail Glass. The 30 XE smartphone comes with HD 720p resolution may disappoint some users, but you can also check its big brother the TCL 30 V 5G, which has a full FHD screen and updated specs.
Memory and Internal
The TCL 30 XE smartphone comes in a single variant of 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, but the internal storage type is eMMC 5.1, which is slower when compared to UFS, but we can’t ask for much at this price. The good news is that the 7nm Mediatek Dimensity 700 SoC is supported by a 5G network. It can deliver a decently smooth 90Hz high refresh rate experience along with blazingly fast 5G speeds. Also, don’t forget that it is a 5G phone and has Dual Sim 5G support.
The phone has Cortex-A76 cores at 2x 2.2GHz and ARM Cortex-A55 cores at 6x 2GHz processing speed. The A76 cores will power all-powerful applications, while the low-power A55 cores will run lighter applications and background tasks such as data. This combination of 2 high-performance and 6 low-power efficiency cores will ensure solid performance while consuming extremely low battery power. We’ll talk more about the battery in detail later.
CPU power combined with Android 11 OS which comes with TCL UI customization. You will get a decent user experience, smoother scrolling, and faster opening of everyday apps. But we can’t say the same for powerful apps that need very high CPU performance, but most of the day-to-day experience will be fine. The GPU inside the chip is Mali-G57 MC2, and it only has 2 cores, but it’s not bad. You can play games like BGMI (PUBG) on ‘Low’ graphics and Low setting, which is decent in this price category. There may be heating issues on heavy gaming and multitasking.
Camera
The camera performance of the TCL 30 XE smartphone is not very brilliant even though the rear camera has a triple camera. The main sensor is the only thing worth reading, as the rest of the two cameras are 2MP macro and 2MP depth, which are only there for the sake of number. The photos coming out of the main sensor are average even in daylight. The colors are a little saturated and lack detail. At night, things get worse as the amount of light entering the sensor is incredibly low, so the camera struggles a lot.
You get an 8MP selfie camera on the front that can take some decent selfies as long as your expectations are low. Both the front and rear cameras can record videos at a maximum of 1080@30fps without any stabilization technology. But you really can’t complain about it in this price category.
Battery and Others
The battery found in the TCL 30XE phone has an impressive capacity of Li-Po 4500 mAh and with the efficiency of the Mediatek Dimensity 700 you should easily get full days of battery life, so naturally, it consumes very little power. If you like to listen to music, watch movies and TV series on your phone, this smartphone will last you a long time.
You get an 18W USB-C 2.0 fast charger, but it doesn’t support reverse charging. It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack, dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 and the fingerprint sensor is on the back, which is also decent. So far, the company hasn’t revealed any pricing information, but you’d expect this phone to cost around $340 (Rs 25,000 in India) approx.
TCL 30 XE 5G Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the TCL 30 XE 5G smartphone.
| Specifications | TCL 30 XE 5G |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | January 2022 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.46 x 2.95 x 0.35 inches |
| Weight | 195 grams |
| Size | 6.52 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 90Hz 20:9 ratio ~269 PPI density |
| Protection | Dragontrail Glass |
| Resolution | 720 x 1600 pixels |
| OS | Android 11, TCL UI |
| Chipset | 7nm – MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G57 MC2 |
| Card slot | Yes (dedicated) |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Internal | 64GB eMMC 5.1 |
| Camera | 13 MP (wide), PDAF 2 MP (depth) 2 MP (macro) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Selfie | 8 MP (wide) Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.1, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | No |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Rear-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, compass, gyro, barometer |
| Battery | Li-Po 4500 mAh Fast charging 18W |
| Colors | Shadow Black |
| Expected Price | $340 (Rs 25,000 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The TCL 30 XE 5G smartphone’s unique selling point is its decent chipset, 90Hz refresh rate display, and 5G connectivity. Not to mention that its long battery life and an 18W fast charger inside the box provide a lot of value to this smartphone. If this phone suits your needs and you want a 5G smartphone, you can definitely go for this phone.
But if the Full HD display is a priority for you, you should get its bigger brother TCL 30V 5G however, the TCL 30 V 5G will be more expensive compared to the TCL 30 XE 5G. In the same price range, there are many other smartphones available in the market. If you are looking for an alternative option, you can definitely check out the Motorola Moto G71 phone.
