CES 2021 | The TCL 20 5G is an affordable 5G-ready smartphone that costs US$363

TCL has launched a new 5G-ready smartphone called the TCL 20 5G at CES 2020. With a price tag of €299 (US$363), it falls on the affordable end of the spectrum. Its specifications are nothing to write home about, but that is understandable, considering its price. The TCL 20 5G is currently only available for purchase in Italy at the moment. TCL says that it will be available in other markets in the coming weeks.

The TCL 20 5G comes with a 6.67-inch FHD (1080 x 2400) panel that TCL calls a 'Dotch Display', presumably due to its centrally-placed hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. It has a peak brightness of 450 nits and supports HDR10 playback. On the memory and storage side of things, RAM is restricted to 6GB across the board. It is coupled with 128GB or 256GB of internal storage. One can also add up to 256GB of additional storage via the included micro SD card slot.

Much like several other affordable 5G-ready smartphones out there, the TCL 20 5G uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 690 SoC. A side-mounted fingerprint scanner allows for biometric authentication. There is a dedicated Google Assistant button, too, for some reason. Bluetooth 5.1 functionality is enabled out of the box, allowing users to connect up to four devices simultaneously.

Lastly, the TCL 20 5G comes with three rear cameras; a 48MP primary lens, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2MP macro lens. Its selfie camera uses an 8MP module. The TCL 20 5G comes with 4,500mAh battery supports fast charging at up to 18W via the USB Type-C port. Interestingly enough, only the 256GB storage variant gets an 18W charger out of the box. The other SKU comes with a 10W brick, instead.