'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
CES 2022: TCL's newest smartphones bring 5G and affordability to US carriers
While CES isn't typically the home to smartphone announcements -- Mobile World Congress (MWC) is -- display maker TCL joins Samsung by unveiling a series of new mobile devices. The 30 Series, which builds upon the successes of last year's 20 Series, features the TCL 30 V 5G and TCL XE 5G, a duet of 5G-enabled Androids set to arrive at Verizon and T-Mobile stores, respectively.
TCL 30 V 5G
The TCL 30 V 5G will be a Verizon-exclusive device, boasting a 6.67-inch display with a 1,080 by 2,400 resolution. The big screen smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 chip, 4GB of RAM, and a 4,500mAh battery, all of which TCL hopes will provide day-long usage. At the back of the device is a fingerprint sensor and a camera module that houses a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 5MP super-wide lens, and a 2MP macro lens. The front-facing selfie camera sports a 16MP lens. Flanking the side is a microSD card slot, expandable up to 1TB of storage, in case the internal 128GB doesn't suffice. With support for Verizon's 5G bands, you can expect the TCL 30 V 5G to cost anywhere between $300 to $500, making it a solid mid-range option if you're on the network.
See also: The best cheap 5G phones in 2022: Flagship quality at affordable prices
TCL 30 XE 5G
T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers can exclusively look forward to the TCL 30 XE 5G. The device differentiates itself from Verizon's 30 V model with a smaller 6.52-inch display at 1,600 by 720 resolution, and a 90Hz refresh rate at that. We're continuing to see a trend of budget smartphones sporting higher refresh rate displays, which make the overall viewing and scrolling experience smoother. The TCL 30 XE 5G is also equipped with a Mediatek Dimensity 700 chip, 4GB of RAM, and a triple camera setup consisting of a 13-megapixel primary camera, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens. (Basically, the phone shouldn't be your go-to if mobile photography and video is your passion.) Again, there is a microSD card slot that lets you expand from the existing 64GB of storage up to 512GB. And like Verizon's 30 V model, the phone houses a 4,500mAh battery. However, the charging speed -- a feature that has become a selling point for affordable 5G devices -- was not disclosed by TCL, nor was the actual pricing of the device.
TCL says that the two phones will begin to arrive in Verizon, T-Mobile, and Metro by T-Mobile stores in the US starting in February. Hopefully, that means we can get more details on pricing and availability soon.