TCL 10 Pro Review
- You've probably already heard of TCL. You know, they're those guys who make the surprisingly good, mid-range, Roku powered TVs? But, I'd forgive you if youhaven't heard of their phones 'cause normally they're content to sticking other brand's names on them, whether it's Alcatel orBlackBerry or even Palm. So, that makes the TCL 10Pro a little bit special. This is a TCL phone, I mean,its name is right there on the back of the device. So, is it worthy of their brand name? Or is this beauty only skin deep? - (upbeat music) - The TCL 10 pro looks prettygreat for a 450 dollar phone. I mean, I know this isn'ta surprise to anyone but I really love how quick and high end design trickles down. You're still getting a decentlysized 6.47 inch display in a design that doesn'tfeel too bulky to hold because of its 19.5 x9 aspect ratio display. And for me, one of the nicest things about the design of thisphone is this camera bump. Or should I say its lack of a camera bump.
I mean, yes, I know that technically these 2 flash modules, of which there are 2, weird, right? technically stick out ever so slightly, but in terms of cameras,it's entirely flat. Yes, I know this ismainly an aesthetic thing, but honestly it's just nice being able to lay thisthing down on a desk and tap on it without it rattling around. So, on the bottom there's USB-C, which fast charges up to 18 watts thanks to support for quick charge 3.0. That's not while I was chargingbut, you know, 450 dollars. Battery life is generally fine, but I'll admit that it's alittle bit hard to evaluate given my home-basedlifestyle at the moment. I was averaging about4 hours of screen time in between charges. Which is okay, but alittle bit low considering the 4,500 milliamp hourbattery inside of this device.
said, it should get youthrough a day of use just fine. There's a headphone jackon the top of the device, a volume rocker, and aGoogle assistant button. TCL originally said it wasgonna let you remap this button, but unfortunately that featurehasn't made it to release. Ultimately, I found I was just constantly pressing this button. I'd put it in my pocket and accidentally activateGoogle assistant, so, in the end I justturned it off entirely. Broadly speaking then, it'snice external hardware, but of course that doesn't really matter if the internal hardware and software can't make the most of it. The TCL 10 Pro is powered bya Snapdragon 675 processor paired with 6GB RAM, which in 2020 terms translates to a solidmid-range Android phone.
It's fine for day-to-day stuff, but I definitely noticesome occasional stuttering while opening and closing apps, and it's also not great ifyou're planning too much gaming, so, be warned. Compared to other Androidphones at this price, these specs are reasonable, but it doesn't look so greatcompared to the iPhone SE 2, which, let's not forget, has Apple's latest andgreatest processor in it. And now, TCL has made somesensible tweaks to Android, but, thankfully in other caseswhere it misses the mark, you can pretty easily undo its choices. I liked the edge bar, but I wasn't such a fan ofthe SDR to HDR conversion, which takes SDR contentand tries to deepen blacks and make highlights brighter to make it look like HDR content.
I mean, it's not the worstthing I've ever seen, but, honestly, I think it just looks alittle bit too processed and unnatural. And while you're at it, I'd really, strongly suggestchanging the color profile to its gentle setting, since the other modes are justa little bit too saturated. With all these tweaks, Igenerally like the screen, but I still think it's alittle bit too saturated. Honestly though, it's an OLED, it supports HDR 10, it's 1080p, and honestly, you could do a lot worse. And as a side note, you have to put up with a fairly basic set ofdownward firing speakers and they're just nothing special. This display contains anoptical fingerprint censor, and it works about as well as any other in displayfingerprint reader I've used. I'd say it failed on me, at most, maybe once a day, which isn't at all bad. I had bigger issuesactually using the screen because i constantly found myself accidentally touching its curved edges.
I'd be watching a YouTube video and I'd go to grab it andturn it into landscape mode and accidentally findmyself opening an ad. Now, obviously, this isn't a problem that'sunique to the TCL 10 Pro but for whatever reason itjust felt less manageable here. And I also had problemswith the small lower vessels since TCL hasn't done a greatjob optimizing this phone for Android 10s new gesture controls. When you turn off the navigationbuttons on this phone, the oasis keyboard is justway too far down the screen. Now, other manufacturersinsert blank space to make it easier on your fingers. So, yes, you can make aphone with small vessels but that doesn't really matter if your software isn'twell optimized for it, and the TCL 10 Pro kinda isn't. Now, let's talk cameras. So, one of the earliest things I did when I first got this phone was take a photo for my friend Becca, and what the hell is this? So, it turns out that by default, this phone watermarks your photos.
I mean, yes, obviously if you know how, it's fairly easy toturn it off in settings but think about what yourgrandma might do with this phone. TCL isn't the only companythat does this but come on, it's pretty cheap looking. Now, the TCL 10 Pro has 4 rear cameras. There's a 64 megapixel main sensor, a 16 megapixel ultra wide, a 5 megapixel micro camera, and a 2 megapixel depth sensing camera. Then there's a 24 megapixelcamera on the front. So if I had to describe it in a word, I'd probably call the TCL10 Pro's photos fluorescent. I mean, look at thispicture of a mini cooper, and I can assure you thatthe trees behind it were nowhere near looking thatvibrant looking in real life. Or there's this photo of a street corner, there's so much sharpening going on and this tree on the top left, it almost looks cutout against the sky.
I don't think a photo with a bit of punch is the worst thing in the world, but it's something that Ilike to be able to add myself, rather than as a default. I know its maybe an unfair comparison, considering the price difference, but just look at how the Pixel3 handles this same shot. I mean, sure, maybe thingscan look a little bit too flat but it's much more accurate and I can always boostthe saturation later. Unsurprisingly, the TCL10 Pro processing means that faces end up looking alittle bit bright and unnatural. And then, if your takingphotos in lower light, they end up coming out looking like they've had an Instagram filter applied. I will give it credit forthe range of lenses though. Wide angle shots are okay,if a little soft looking, and macro shots have plenty of detail. So, sufficed to say, there are better camera phonesavailable at this price. I mean, like last yearsPixel 3A, for example, which takes almost identicalphotos to the Pixel 3. Or, I guess, there's the Pixel 4A, the all but confirmedsuccess of the Pixel 3A, which probably is gonna be coming out in the next couple of months. The TCL 10 Pro isavailable for 449 dollars, starting on May 19th, and while there is a lot to like here, there are also somefrustrating first gen kinks that really need to be ironed out. So there's promise, but I just don't think itquite sticks the landing.
Now, TCL has built a solidreputation for itself off the back of its mid-range TVs. I just think that in theworld of smartphones, it's gonna take a little longer for that logo to mean something. Now, I don't know about you but I'm really enjoying the amount of competition we're getting at the 400 to 500 or sodollar price category, but what would be your pick? Let me know in the comments down below.
I mean, yes, I know that technically these 2 flash modules, of which there are 2, weird, right? technically stick out ever so slightly, but in terms of cameras,it's entirely flat. Yes, I know this ismainly an aesthetic thing, but honestly it's just nice being able to lay thisthing down on a desk and tap on it without it rattling around. So, on the bottom there's USB-C, which fast charges up to 18 watts thanks to support for quick charge 3.0. That's not while I was chargingbut, you know, 450 dollars. Battery life is generally fine, but I'll admit that it's alittle bit hard to evaluate given my home-basedlifestyle at the moment. I was averaging about4 hours of screen time in between charges. Which is okay, but alittle bit low considering the 4,500 milliamp hourbattery inside of this device.
said, it should get youthrough a day of use just fine. There's a headphone jackon the top of the device, a volume rocker, and aGoogle assistant button. TCL originally said it wasgonna let you remap this button, but unfortunately that featurehasn't made it to release. Ultimately, I found I was just constantly pressing this button. I'd put it in my pocket and accidentally activateGoogle assistant, so, in the end I justturned it off entirely. Broadly speaking then, it'snice external hardware, but of course that doesn't really matter if the internal hardware and software can't make the most of it. The TCL 10 Pro is powered bya Snapdragon 675 processor paired with 6GB RAM, which in 2020 terms translates to a solidmid-range Android phone.
It's fine for day-to-day stuff, but I definitely noticesome occasional stuttering while opening and closing apps, and it's also not great ifyou're planning too much gaming, so, be warned. Compared to other Androidphones at this price, these specs are reasonable, but it doesn't look so greatcompared to the iPhone SE 2, which, let's not forget, has Apple's latest andgreatest processor in it. And now, TCL has made somesensible tweaks to Android, but, thankfully in other caseswhere it misses the mark, you can pretty easily undo its choices. I liked the edge bar, but I wasn't such a fan ofthe SDR to HDR conversion, which takes SDR contentand tries to deepen blacks and make highlights brighter to make it look like HDR content.
I mean, it's not the worstthing I've ever seen, but, honestly, I think it just looks alittle bit too processed and unnatural. And while you're at it, I'd really, strongly suggestchanging the color profile to its gentle setting, since the other modes are justa little bit too saturated. With all these tweaks, Igenerally like the screen, but I still think it's alittle bit too saturated. Honestly though, it's an OLED, it supports HDR 10, it's 1080p, and honestly, you could do a lot worse. And as a side note, you have to put up with a fairly basic set ofdownward firing speakers and they're just nothing special. This display contains anoptical fingerprint censor, and it works about as well as any other in displayfingerprint reader I've used. I'd say it failed on me, at most, maybe once a day, which isn't at all bad. I had bigger issuesactually using the screen because i constantly found myself accidentally touching its curved edges.
I'd be watching a YouTube video and I'd go to grab it andturn it into landscape mode and accidentally findmyself opening an ad. Now, obviously, this isn't a problem that'sunique to the TCL 10 Pro but for whatever reason itjust felt less manageable here. And I also had problemswith the small lower vessels since TCL hasn't done a greatjob optimizing this phone for Android 10s new gesture controls. When you turn off the navigationbuttons on this phone, the oasis keyboard is justway too far down the screen. Now, other manufacturersinsert blank space to make it easier on your fingers. So, yes, you can make aphone with small vessels but that doesn't really matter if your software isn'twell optimized for it, and the TCL 10 Pro kinda isn't. Now, let's talk cameras. So, one of the earliest things I did when I first got this phone was take a photo for my friend Becca, and what the hell is this? So, it turns out that by default, this phone watermarks your photos.
I mean, yes, obviously if you know how, it's fairly easy toturn it off in settings but think about what yourgrandma might do with this phone. TCL isn't the only companythat does this but come on, it's pretty cheap looking. Now, the TCL 10 Pro has 4 rear cameras. There's a 64 megapixel main sensor, a 16 megapixel ultra wide, a 5 megapixel micro camera, and a 2 megapixel depth sensing camera. Then there's a 24 megapixelcamera on the front. So if I had to describe it in a word, I'd probably call the TCL10 Pro's photos fluorescent. I mean, look at thispicture of a mini cooper, and I can assure you thatthe trees behind it were nowhere near looking thatvibrant looking in real life. Or there's this photo of a street corner, there's so much sharpening going on and this tree on the top left, it almost looks cutout against the sky.
I don't think a photo with a bit of punch is the worst thing in the world, but it's something that Ilike to be able to add myself, rather than as a default. I know its maybe an unfair comparison, considering the price difference, but just look at how the Pixel3 handles this same shot. I mean, sure, maybe thingscan look a little bit too flat but it's much more accurate and I can always boostthe saturation later. Unsurprisingly, the TCL10 Pro processing means that faces end up looking alittle bit bright and unnatural. And then, if your takingphotos in lower light, they end up coming out looking like they've had an Instagram filter applied. I will give it credit forthe range of lenses though. Wide angle shots are okay,if a little soft looking, and macro shots have plenty of detail. So, sufficed to say, there are better camera phonesavailable at this price. I mean, like last yearsPixel 3A, for example, which takes almost identicalphotos to the Pixel 3. Or, I guess, there's the Pixel 4A, the all but confirmedsuccess of the Pixel 3A, which probably is gonna be coming out in the next couple of months. The TCL 10 Pro isavailable for 449 dollars, starting on May 19th, and while there is a lot to like here, there are also somefrustrating first gen kinks that really need to be ironed out. So there's promise, but I just don't think itquite sticks the landing.
Now, TCL has built a solidreputation for itself off the back of its mid-range TVs. I just think that in theworld of smartphones, it's gonna take a little longer for that logo to mean something. Now, I don't know about you but I'm really enjoying the amount of competition we're getting at the 400 to 500 or sodollar price category, but what would be your pick? Let me know in the comments down below.
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