Verdict
The TCL NXTPAPER 11 is a genuinely fascinating low cost pill, and we don’t say that fairly often. Whereas its matte show and achieved (if non-obligatory) stylus supplies distinctive advantages to readers and writers, nevertheless, the NXTPAPER 11 falls behind its normie Android rivals on common pill duties.
Professionals
- Stable design
- Very reasonably priced
- Fluid writing expertise with T-Pen
Cons
- Poor efficiency
- Display screen not suited to ‘regular’ pill duties
- Achingly gradual cost speeds
- T-Pen not included as customary
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Nice for studying ebooksThe TCL NXTPAPER 11’s principal perform is to make ebooks simpler to learn, with particular show expertise that takes the dangerous glare out of studying. -
Useful T-Pen stylus helpThe choice T-Pen stylus makes for a robust writing expertise at a comparatively low worth – it’s only a disgrace it isn’t bundled by default. -
Premium construct high quality for a finances pillRegardless of its finances price ticket, the 6.9mm-thick, 462g aluminium NXTPAPER 11 feels something however low cost.
Introduction
Low cost Android tablets are a dime a dozen, however low cost Android tablets that provide one thing genuinely completely different to every part else in the marketplace? Now the TCL NXTPAPER 11 has my consideration.
This £220 system is a full-sized 11-inch Android pill with a twist – two twists, actually. Its show has a singular matte end that provides it a sure ‘color E Ink’ high quality, supposedly making it simpler in your eyes, in addition to being extra pure to put in writing on.
That brings me to the second, barely much less distinctive function – a powered stylus out there at an extra price. Along with that particular show, it delivers the type of slick, natural-feeling writing expertise that I’m used to paying lots of of kilos extra for.
It’s within the common, on a regular basis enterprise of working as a pill that the reservations begin to manifest. In day-to-day phrases, can the TCL NXTPAPER 11 carry out to a degree that its novel show, fancy stylus, and strong construct counsel?
Design and display screen
- 6.9mm-thick, 462g aluminium physique
- 10.95-inch LCD with matte end
- Quad audio system
The TCL NXTPAPER 11 is a solidly constructed piece of equipment. Getting it out of the field, the very last thing that springs to thoughts is that it is a low cost pill.
With a strong 6.9mm-thick aluminium body and a substantial (however not extreme) weight of 462g, it feels helpful. Not iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab S9-valuable, however actually nothing like a cheap-and-cheerful Hearth pill.
There’s a thick plastic rim edging across the show, which takes away from that premium really feel considerably, however your eye is extra prone to be drawn to the dead-flat metallic edges, which has change into the de facto design selection for many tablets nowadays.
The rear of the pill options an unassuming digital camera module, a TCL emblem, and an antenna strip that divides the metallic again from what appears to be an identical plastic part that kinds the highest edge. This prime edge is the place the quantity buttons and the microSD tray stay.
You’ll discover quad audio system organized on the left and proper edges, offering loud, clear stereo sound. We’re not speaking iPad Professional ranges of depth and nuance right here, however simply have a look at the value differential.
That brings us to the TCL NXTPAPER 11’s 10.95-inch LCD show. With a decision of 2000 x 1200, it’s exactly as sharp as you’d hope from a pill of this worth – no less than on paper.
In follow, the pill’s much-heralded ‘Full-colour Digital Paper Show’ takes a little bit of an edge off positive textual content and pictures. It’s not massively pronounced, however it feels such as you’re viewing content material by means of an additional layer of glass, and one which’s had a number of pairs of grubby mitts rubbed on it.
Let’s discuss what this visible expertise brings to the desk. TCL is claiming an e-book-like viewing expertise, with a nano-chemical materials supplying a matte impact that deadens the standard searing readability of pill shows.
Studying e-books on the Kindle and Google Play Books apps, I activated the devoted Studying Mode, which renders every part monochrome like an e-reader. NXTVISION 2.0 expertise apparently reduces sleep-harming blue mild, however as ever that’s very troublesome to check.
The general impact does certainly seem to separate the distinction between an iPad and a Kindle, although it’s nonetheless far nearer to the previous for my cash.
Elsewhere, TCL claims that this show supplies “eye-friendly brightness” which appears to check with a 150% increase in brightness in comparison with earlier variations of the expertise. This leads to a claimed peak brightness of 500 nits and a measured max brightness of round 400 nits, which is cheap for a finances pill, if not precisely outdoors-friendly.
However, TCL’s claims of “harmonic color tones” appear to be a little bit of a stretch. My very own common colorimeter assessments would beg to vary, no less than when you’re judging them by sRGB requirements, the place the outcomes fell nicely wanting any claims of naturalness or authenticity.
The display screen’s uncommon paper-like end does make it extra glare-resistant than common shows, no less than to a degree. It gained’t replicate vivid mild sources straight again at you, however diffuse it over extra of the show, which may show a hindrance to visibility in its personal approach. Along with that modest brightness, this impact implies that the NXTPAPER 11 isn’t a lot use outside – another excuse for dedicated readers to not ditch their e-readers simply but.
I’m not satisfied by TCL’s claims that this end is extra fingerprint resistant both. Tilt the pill just a bit within the mild and also you’ll see the proof of your prods and pokes similar to every other pill. What you gained’t be capable of do, when you tilt the pill in such a approach, is see the display screen very clearly. That matte end doesn’t assist a lot with angled legibility.
Additionally price noting is that the show is just 60Hz. That’s not tremendous fluid, however is fairly regular for a less expensive pill. It matches the Oppo Pad Air, for instance. Spend a bit extra, and the likes of the OnePlus Pad and the Xiaomi Pad 5 offers you the complete 120Hz show expertise.
Digicam
- 8MP rear digital camera
- 8MP selfie digital camera
- 1080p video at 30fps
You don’t purchase a pill for the digital camera, least of all an affordable pill, however we’ll shortly run by means of the fundamentals. You’re getting a stripped-back pair of 8MP cameras right here – one on the again, and one of many entrance.
Neither is way use in any way, however don’t let the pixel parity idiot you – whereas the rear digital camera is dangerous, the selfie digital camera is way worse. The rear digital camera would possibly lack element and wrestle with dynamic vary, however it does significantly better than the entrance digital camera, particularly on the subject of pores and skin tones and publicity.
That is arguably a a lot greater difficulty, as a pill’s entrance digital camera is far more essential than the rear one. It’s the one you’ll use for video calls, in spite of everything.
Speaking of video, footage seize maxes out at 1080p and 30fps right here, which says every part concerning the degree of this digital camera system. It’s about the place low cost smartphones had been a number of years in the past.
None of this counts as an enormous unfavourable within the grand scheme of issues, for the explanations outlined. You don’t purchase an affordable pill anticipating nice photographs; these expectations gained’t be upended right here.
Efficiency and software program
- Modest MediaTek Helio P60T chipset
- Android 13 with TCL UI
- Non-compulsory T-Pen stylus with 4,096 ranges of strain sensitivity
The TCL NXTPAPER 11 runs on a Mediatek Helio P60T, a reasonably humble processor that has been utilized in quite a lot of Chromebook units up to now. Chromebooks, in fact, are sometimes fairly modest units that place the emphasis on cloud computing moderately than localised processing, which ought to let you know one thing.
When mixed with a meagre 4GB of RAM, it doesn’t make for a clean expertise.
In GPU and CPU benchmark assessments, it’s barely overmatched by different reasonably priced tablets such because the Oppo Pad Air and the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. It’s completely blown away by the ageing Xiaomi Pad 5, although that pill nonetheless retails for a good chunk extra even two years on from launch.
In sensible phrases, efficiency is sufficient at finest. I noticed frequent pauses and micro-stutters when going concerning the enterprise of primary navigation, whether or not that be getting into or exiting apps, or just looking the house screens and menus. I additionally noticed that YouTube movies carried out badly when operating at 1080p/60fps or larger, with frequent visible stutters.
Gaming efficiency is okay in 2D video games like Slay the Spire, however the NXTPAPER 11 struggles badly with extra superior 3D fare. Genshin Influence often stutters and pauses even on the default Low graphical settings.
In software program phrases, the TCL NXTPAPER 11 runs on Android 13 with a TCL UI layered on prime. It’s a fairly clear tackle Android, with little in the way in which of residence display screen adornment. The drop-down notification pane appears a bit completely different to inventory Android for tablets, however could be very related in perform and structure.
There are many Google apps unfold throughout the primary residence display screen, which is all the time welcome. That’s to not say that there isn’t a bit bloatware right here. Apps for Reserving.com, Fb, and WPS Workplace are preinstalled and on the second residence display screen.
TCL has additionally added a number of much less frequent apps that, though a little bit of a seize bag, no less than appear to have been included with a watch to the NXTPAPER 11’s distinctive attributes. Cam Scanner permits you to scan and signal PDFs (for a yearly subscription price), Webnovel is a store window for fanfiction, and Jnotes is TCL’s personal app for hand-scrawled notes.
I discovered the latter’s inclusion to be probably the most helpful, however it’s a little bit of a large number as an app. It takes too many faucets to easily get to a clean web page, and the Suggest templates are bizarrely area of interest, from an Error E book to an Ebbinghaus Phrase Guidelines and a Badminton tactic planner. Suffice to say, you’ll need to swap in your chosen handwriting observe app as a matter of precedence.
Speaking of that stylus, it’s a really clean operator. It’s properly weighted, pen-like measurement, and the versatile tip mixed with that matte show makes for a natural-feeling writing expertise. Latency isn’t as little as Samsung’s and Apple’s equal techniques, however it’s not ruinous by any means, and 4,096 ranges of strain sensitivity is adequate for these creative variations.
My principal difficulty with the T-Pen is that it doesn’t appear set to return with the NXTPAPER 11 as customary. When it’s bundled in, because it was as a part of my check package deal, the entire package deal makes much more sense and is an efficient deal extra compelling.
Battery life
- 8000mAh battery
- Robust stamina and standby time
- Painfully gradual charging
TCL has packed its pill with an 8000mAh battery, which is a good capability for a full-sized pill. The Xiaomi Pad 5 tops it with an 8720 mAh cell, however the Oppo Pad Air comes up wanting the NXTPAPER 11 with a 7100 mAh cell.
In fact, that is the place TCL’s comparability to e-readers doesn’t show too useful to its personal trigger. Your common e-reader will final weeks, not the times of standard tablets. Suffice it to say, that is no Kindle on the stamina entrance.
In my testing eventualities, an hour of Disney+ streaming sapped 7% of a cost, whereas TCL claims that it’ll be capable of stand as much as a full 13 hours of video playback (presumably offline). An hour of YouTube Music streaming sapped simply 1%.
In the event you’re viewing the TCL NXTPAPER 11 as a standard pill, as you most positively ought to, then normal stamina is robust. I used to be significantly impressed by the pill’s standby instances, with the share barely seeming to shift throughout the downtime in between utilization periods.
It helps right here that the TCL NXTPAPER 11’s show is just 60Hz and doesn’t get massively vivid. That is the primary power-hogging element of any sensible system, however particularly so within the case of tablets.
Extra problematic is the sheer period of time it takes to cost the pill up. Utilizing the bundled-in 5W charger (sure, actually), it took me an excruciating 4 hours simply to get from empty to 66%.
Trying on the pill’s spec on-line, it appears TCL is claiming that the NXTPAPER 11 helps as much as 18W charging, so I attempted utilizing an 18W Realme charger I had mendacity round. This improved issues, however not by very a lot. It nonetheless solely hit 80% in 4 hours, and took round 5 hours for the complete 0 to 100% cost.
Newest offers
Do you have to purchase it?
You spend the overwhelming majority of your pill time studying: The TCL NXTPAPER 11’s principal perform is to make ebooks simpler to learn, with particular show expertise that removes the dangerous glare from studying.
You watch a number of video: The NXTPAPER 11 doesn’t present video content material at its sharpest or most correct, and it struggles to stream higher-quality YouTube content material.
Last Ideas
The TCL NXTPAPER 11 provides a pleasingly distinctive choice to the reasonably priced pill market, providing a premium (if non-obligatory) writing expertise and strong design for a low worth.
Whereas its central matte show gimmick could nicely scale back eye pressure and be higher to learn from, it supplies an inferior expertise in just about all ‘regular’ pill duties like net looking, watching movies, and enjoying video games. It suffers from gradual charging, poor efficiency, and a display screen that doesn’t favour media content material.
For the same worth you could possibly purchase the Oppo Pad Air, which outperforms the TCL NXTPAPER 11 in each common pill metric. And that’s type of the purpose right here: as a pure Android pill, the TCL NXTPAPER 11 is merely mediocre.
Nonetheless, as an reasonably priced digital writing and studying device with a show made to facilitate these two actions above all others, it’s a winner – if a decidedly area of interest winner that gained’t swimsuit most individuals.
How we check
We check each cell phone we assessment totally. We use industry-standard assessments to match options correctly and we use the cellphone as our principal system over the assessment interval. We’ll all the time let you know what we discover and we by no means, ever, settle for cash to assessment a product.
Discover out extra about how we check in our ethics coverage.
Used as a principal system for per week
Examined alongside official stylus accent
Examined and benchmarked utilizing revered {industry} assessments
FAQs
It’s an Android pill, however with a matte end to the show.
10.95 inches.
Android 13 with a customized UI.
Trusted Critiques check information
Geekbench 6 single core
Geekbench 6 multi core
Color gamut protection
1 hour video playback (Netflix, HDR)
Battery drain 60-min (music streaming on-line)
Time from 0-100% cost
Time from 0-50% cost
30-min recharge (included charger)
15-min recharge (included charger)
3D Mark – Wild Life
GFXBench – Aztec Ruins
GFXBench – Automotive Chase
Jargon buster
mAh
An abbreviation for milliampere-hour and a approach to categorical the capability of batteries, particularly smaller ones in telephones. Normally the upper the mAh, the longer the battery will final however this isn’t all the time the case.
LCD
The kind of show often used on cheaper and mid-range units. Lacks the punch on an OLED panel.
