New TCL 50 Pro NXTPAPER could be the perfect cheap smart/dumb phone hybrid

So-called ‘ dumb-phones ’ lacking the bells and whistles of modern smartphones are building up a cult following amongst techies who want to live a life that’s more free from the distractions of social media and mobile gaming. But taking the plunge can be a daunting step, which is where TCL’s affordable new NXTPAPER phones announced at IFA 2024 come in.

The TCL 50 NXTPAPER and TCL 50 Pro NXTPAPER 5G phones boast hardware and features you wouldn’t be totally surprised to find on a Samsung, Google or Apple smartphone. We’re talking 6.8-inch full-HD 120Hz displays, a 108MP rear camera (and for the Pro a 32MP selfie camera, which is only 8MP for the base model), 8 GB of RAM, 256GB and 512GB of storage respectively, and even a Microsoft designed AI – though the devices lack the power for onboard AI translations or summaries so everything is handled off-device in the cloud.

But on the side of the phone you’ll find a slider, and flicking it transforms your phone from full-color to effectively a black and white e-reader .

In this mode the TCL 50 NXTPAPER phones transition to using e-ink to minimize eye strain, increase their max battery life to seven days, and adopt a minimalist design with a much less cluttered home page – which is decorated with only the specific apps you choose.

You can enjoy the dumb phone lifestyle when you need to cut out distractions and focus on a task, and then return to the modern conveniences of the fully-fledged smartphone experience by moving the slider back.

The basic model is only launching in the EU at the time of writing, but the TCL 50 PRO NXTPAPER 5G is coming to the UK, EU and Latin America at £279.99. There’s no word on a wider global launch for now, but if you’re keen on trying the dumbphone lifestyle but aren’t convinced you want to commit quite yet we’d recommend keeping an eye out for these new TCL phones.

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