Content
- Specifications
- Appearance and equipment
- Software
- cameras
- Performance and Benchmarks
- conclusions
The Chinese company TCL is mostly known in Russia as a manufacturer of TVs, a little less – as a manufacturer of various home appliances, and, frankly, is little known as a manufacturer of smartphones. However, if you dig deeper, TCL has been making phones under the Alcatel brand since 2004. Today we will talk about TCL 20B – a budget model in the modern line of TCL smartphones.
Specifications
 |
Specifications TCL 20B |
|---|---|
| Net | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Firmware | Android 11 (TCL UI) |
| Screen | 6.52″, 20:9, 1600x 720 pixels, IPS , 60Hz |
| Chipset | MediaTek Helio P22 MT6762D GPU: PowerVR GE8320 |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| ROM | 64 GB |
| SIM and memory card | nanoSIM + nanoSIM / microSD (up to 512 GB) |
| Camera | Primary: Samsung S5KJN1, 50 MP , f/1.85, PDAF Additional: GalaxyCore, 2 MP, GC2905, f/2.4 |
| Selfie | Samsung S5K4H7, 8 MP, f/2.0 |
| Battery | 4000 mAh |
| Charger | USB-C Supported: 18W Adapter included: 10W |
| Wireless interfaces | WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n(4) bluetooth 5.0 GLONASS, GPS, A-GPS FM radio |
| NFC | There is |
| Biometrics | Fingerprint scanner on the lid |
| Sound | Mono 3.5mm audio jack |
| Waterproof | IP52 |
| Dimensions and weight | 164.7×74.7x8mm 178 g |
Appearance and equipment
The TCL 20B box contains the device itself, a protective film, a USB-A to USB-C power cable, a modest 10W power adapter, a SIM tray eject needle, and documentation. It is clear that the device is budgetary, and demanding any excesses from it is the last thing, but I cannot but note that the case would come in handy. First of all, due to the fact that finding it in stores can be another problem (but you can order it).
Case materials include a plastic frame, a plastic lid, and impact-resistant glass on the front. The device has rounded edges and fits comfortably in the hand. The glossy cover plays with highlights in the light, but is prone to collecting prints and scuffs.
In terms of interfaces, you should pay attention to the following points:
- On the left side there is a separate button for calling the voice assistant. Such a thing seems quite appropriate and useful when the manufacturer makes it possible to hang on it what is convenient for the user (as, say, ASUS does). In the same implementation, I could not reassign the button.
- The fingerprint sensor found its place on the lid. There is nothing criminal in this, but it looks somewhat archaic. Yes, and reaching / hitting it is more difficult than in the case of location in the power button.
- Vibro is not annoying. The character is kind of soft, or something.
- The sound of the speaker is mediocre, but there is a 3.5 mm audio jack and FM radio support.
- The SIM tray can hold either two nanoSIM cards or one nanoSIM + microSD memory card.
The display uses a 6.52″ IPS-matrix with a resolution of 1600 × 720 pixels and a standard refresh rate of 60 Hz. The panel is large, moderately bright, with good viewing angles. In the settings, you can adjust the color rendering and turn on the video enhancer (an amateur feature) The only nuance associated with the screen is the incorrect operation of the proximity sensor when the “Pocket” mode is activated. The smartphone constantly complains about closed sensors (the screen is shaded, a red bar appears on top), even when nothing covers them. It is treated by holding a finger in the selfie camera area when each manifestation, or by disabling the “Pocket” function in the settings (company representatives are aware of the problem and assure that they are working on a fix).
Screen settings
Software
TCL 20B runs on Android 11 in TCL UI skin. The system is similar to pure Android, but has a number of its own add-ons and options. During the operation, the system proved to be worthy (except for the moment with the proximity sensor): the appearance is concise, there are no ads, the speed is moderate.
TCL UI
cameras
Three sensors are responsible for photo and video shooting:
- Main Samsung S5KJN1 with 50 (→12.5) MP resolution, f/1.85 aperture and PDAF.
- Front Samsung S5K4H7 with a resolution of 8 megapixels and f / 2.0.
- Plug GalaxyCore GC2905 2 MP.
With enough light from the main camera, you can expect good detail and, at times, floating colors. With contrasting scenes, the situation is complicated: on the one hand, there is not enough color range (bright areas can burn out, shaded ones go into excessive blackness), on the other hand, HDR noticeably recolors the picture. With a lack of light, the quality of the photos drops. There is no separate night mode.
Main camera
Main camera: portrait and standard modes
Main camera: zoom
Main camera in low light
In favorable conditions, the front camera shows good detail and colors, but in contrasting scenes and low light, it has a hard time.
Selfie camera in standard and portrait modes
As you know, shooting video is largely the merit of computing power, and with them the TCL 20B is modest. As a result, video shooting is limited to 1080@30fps mode, the image quality is “budget” (example at the link). Usually it is customary to scold for this, but given the class of the device, this just needs to be borne in mind.
Camera app interface
Performance and Benchmarks
The smartphone has a MediaTek Helio P22 MT6762D chipset with a PowerVR GE8320 graphics chip. 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of permanent memory are responsible for working with data. You should not worry too much about the small amount of ROM, since there is always the possibility of adding up to 512 GB via microSD.
The chipset, as expected, cannot boast of high performance in tests and games, but it is important to note that some tests even refuse to run on TCL 20B due to the lack of support for the necessary technologies. So, for example, it happened with the 3DMark Wild Life graphics benchmark.
It is recommended to launch resource-demanding applications through the game launcher. Judging by the throttling test, the already stable performance becomes the reference in it. It’s a gift that there are not many points.
Throttling test in standard and game modes
With games, the situation is exactly the same as you might have already imagined: light, casual projects are successfully launched and played on a large display, but more or less demanding, dynamic projects will not have enough local performance. In such cases, you can expect a comfortable frame rate only at low settings, although there may be drawdowns on them. So not the most demanding COD Mobile does not allow you to set graphic settings higher than “low”, but even on them, frame instability is sometimes felt.
A 4000 mAh battery is responsible for the autonomy of the device. The capacity may not be the most impressive, however, given the iron restrained in its appetites, the charge was easily enough for me for a day and a half. Measurements showed the following discharge numbers:
- 60 minutes YouTube (Wi-Fi, 50% brightness, 1080p) – 15%,
- 30 minutes Tacticool (Wi-Fi, brightness 60%, low settings) – 9%.
The smartphone supports fast charging at 18W, but that’s bad luck: only 10W is included in the kit. The charge timings with its help are as follows: 15 – 15%, 30 – 30%, 45 – 45%, 60 – 60%, 75 – 74%, 90 – 88%, 105 – 97%. Against the backdrop of insane Chinese chargers, it may seem slow, but if you compare, for example, with the Japanese Sony Xperia 5 III ( review ), the numbers come out similar.
conclusions
TCL 20B turned out to be a worthy representative of budget devices. For its price, it does not offer anything outstanding, but it does a good job with the mandatory program. If you start from such characteristics as NFC, 4/64 GB of memory and a diagonal of 6.5 “, this is one of the most affordable offers on the Russian market. Of the nuances, you should pay attention to the weak chipset and video quality.
A smartphone can be recommended as a service, second, child or main device if the user does not put forward any serious requirements.
© Dimitri Pivnev. mobile phone
