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Apart from the TV market, TCL is not a highly recognized company. Many are surprised to learn that it develops and produces a significant number of smartphones under names such as Blackberry, Alcatel and Thomson. TCL decided that he wanted people to see his own brand in the future. At IFA, the company announced the first phone to bear its name, the TCL Plex. Surprising performance equipment combined with a modest price (around $ 365 in Europe) could help it stand out among the plethora of other midrange phones – if TCL manages to advertise its product.
The back looks clean and sober.
The Plex is clad in glass at the front and back, surrounded by a metal frame. Although there is a large enough "chin" at the bottom of the screen, it gives up a notch in favor of a round cut of the camera at the top left, it is called "notch" ". At the back, three camera lenses are perfectly arranged in a horizontal line, flanked by two flashes. The fingerprint sensor is located just below, in an easily accessible place. Like many Motorola and LG phones, the TCL Plex has a dedicated side button that allows you to quickly call Google Assistant. You can also reprogram it to other functions, such as SDR display mode on TCL HDR.
Holding the phone in my hands, it is solid, heavy and well built. It's pretty big, although it's not as heavy as the OnePlus 7 Pro or the Samsung Note10 + (just like those two, however, it's a fingerprint magnet). The Plex is available in two colors, black and white, but they have a twist: the glass has prisms worked in this color change depending on the fall of light.
As a TV manufacturer, TCL claims that its 6.5-inch LCD is one of the best and most accurate color in the industry. Looking at it, I felt that this statement was not far off. Even though it uses LCD technology, black levels are excellent. Judging by the harsh lighting in the showroom, the screen became almost dark in dark scenes, which you usually associate with OLED displays. He also has some tips in his sleeve. Like many Apple devices, the screen changes its white balance according to the ambient light to give it a more papery appearance. That's what TCL said, anyway. It was difficult to test in the illuminated work area.
The camera interface is reminiscent of Google Camera.
The Plex uses the 48 MPa Sony sensor with an f / 1.8 aperture for its main camera as well as a secondary wide angle Samsung 16MP f / 2.4 lens. They are joined by another 2MP f / 1.8 camera specifically designed for recording videos in low light. After what I could test, low light and photo video modes seemed very capable. While the results were darker than the image of my Pixel 3, the colors seemed much more accurate.
Like many other Chinese manufacturers, TCL uses a custom user interface on Android 9 Pie. It seems pretty light unlike something like Xiaomi's MIUI, though, and although it features some design elements that differ from Android, it still seems to be closer to Samsung and others. For what it's worth, a spokesman told me that TCL was planning to release Android 10 for the Plex in January.
The Plex uses a custom user interface above Android, but it stays closer to the stock than other manufacturers' user interfaces.
Through a partnership with the Bluetooth software provider Tempow, the Plex is able to simultaneously connect up to four speakers or headphones. It offers individual volume levels for each device. This can be useful for watching a movie with your partner while on a plane or train, although you can simply use a 3.5mm splitter to achieve the same result. Nevertheless, it is always good to have options, so it's nice to see a headphone jack on the Plex in the first place, just as its FM radio function might be useful to some.
TCL is certain to be able to enter the smartphone market with the help of its reputable TV brand and to stick to its principles: to offer a quality experience at an affordable price. And TCL should know how to build a powerful device: tens of millions of phones are sold each year through brands like Alcatel. The success of the Plex is probably in the hands of the marketing team, because if its name is perhaps recognizable in the world of television, it is not yet the case in the mobile telephony sector .
Black and white models are fingerprint magnets.
Unlike other Chinese manufacturers, TCL will focus from the outset on the European market. The Plex will be deployed in some countries, starting with Germany on October 18th. Spain, Portugal and Turkey will be confirmed at the next stage of the Plex. It will be sold around 330 € depending on taxes. There is no word on American availability yet.
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