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TCL 303 Review: Standard Smartphone For Casual Use

Look at how this smartphone can help you through casual use with this TCL 303 review. All the specifications and features will be discussed in this article.

TCL 303 Review

A great thing about smartphones is, no matter how simple it is, all the features inside may be useful for your daily life, whether just for casual use or the hecticness of work. To achieve this, you need to know all the features and specifications of the device first.

That’s no exception for a TCL 303 smartphone. This phone has a standard-looking appearance from the cover that may look older. But we can’t underestimate this; maybe under the hood, it has a lot to utilize.

Fortunately, you won’t learn about the device cluelessly. It’s because this review article talks about the TCL 303 features and specifications orderly. We recommend you take a look before buying the device.

Specifications

TCL 303 specifications:

Weight172g
Dimensions146.6 x 71.9 x 9.9mm
OSAndroid 11 Go Edition
Screen size5.5-inch
Resolution720 x 1440
ProcessorMediaTek Helio A22 (MT6761V/WB)
CPUQuad-core (4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A53)
RAM2GB
Storage32GB
Battery3,000mAh, Non-removable
Rear camera8MP
Front camera5MP
FeaturesFace Unlock

Design

TCL 303
TCL 303

The TCL 303 smartphone is built with a dimension of 146.6 x 71.9 x 9.9mm, making it small, especially if you’re compared with most smartphones nowadays. However, the phone’s weight is quite standard with 172g—not too heavy or light to handle.

The front area of this phone does not follow the trend. It still applies a design of an old smartphone that consists of large bezels at the top and the bottom. Also, the front camera is still placed at the top bezels, not a teardrop or pinhole style.

As for the other part of the TCL 303 smartphone, the back area has vertical accents that add a nice grip to handle the phone. This phone comes in Prime Black and Atlantic Blue, which is quite dark yet still pleasing to the eye. This part is where a rear camera is placed with an LED flash.

Display

TCL 303 Display

A 5.5-inch display screen is equipped on the TCL 303 smartphone to show you all the phone’s information. This screen size is not today’s standard and is quite small. Even worse, since this phone has large bezels, users will not feel satisfied to enjoy all the phone’s activities.

You will have limited experience watching movies with your phone—it does not support a cinematic-view display. Moreover, when you’re navigating the device for scrolling over social media, it’ll not be as free as we’ve experienced in other smartphones nowadays.

As for the quality, the TCL 303 smartphone’s screen is equipped with a 720 x 1440-pixel resolution. It’s also a common quality that you’ll find in every entry-level smartphone. The clarity level is okay, and it shows vibrant colors.

Camera

TCL 303 Camera

The TCL 303 smartphone doesn’t keep up with the trends of any other entry-level smartphone. Not using a dual or triple camera, this phone sticks with a single rear camera.

Even worse, this rear camera only has 8MP resolution. If you don’t know about this, this camera resolution is below the average for today–at least 13MP would be a better quality for now. However, this camera has advanced features such as HDR, Panorama, Face Tracking, and Face Beauty.

The front camera of this phone is also not that good. It has only a small resolution, 5MP. This quality is not enough to let you have a beautiful selfie. But, like we’ve said above, thankfully, this phone has a Face Beauty feature, so you can enhance the photo’s quality.

Read also: Safelink Alcatel A509DL Specifications

Storage

The TCL 303 smartphone comes with a 32GB internal storage capacity. This is a standard size for any smartphone nowadays. Nevertheless, this is not the final size you’ll find on your phone. After all the apps and systems, you will get below that number.

We’re sure you will not be satisfied with this capacity. That’s why the TCL 303 smartphone has another option to try. This phone allows you to expand the storage by installing a MicroSD card up to 128GB. With this, you can have more space to download all the apps you want and save more personal content on your device.

Performance

TCL 303 Front and Back

The TCL 303 smartphone uses a Quad-core MediaTek Helio A22 (MT6761V/WB) as its processor. This chipset is quite popular for a budget smartphone. It’s known to be reliable for any casual use. It doesn’t try to offer an advanced capability, yet it promises its users efficient and maximum performance.

This chipset runs at a standard speed at a 2.0GHz clock rate. Even though we said it’s reliable, its performance doesn’t make our jaws drop. At least, it’s enough to let you run all your needs daily.

For RAM (Random Access Memory), the TCL 303 smartphone is also equipped below the standard size; it’s only 2GB capacity to store all your phone’s temporary data. It’s not giving you optimal performance, especially if you’re using it intensively.

The 2GB RAM is not enough to let you multitask. If you want to multitask, we advise you to only open not more than ten apps simultaneously. This RAM size is also hard to do with intense apps like playing 3D games or accessing e-commerce. The performance will be decreased, and lags will be shown here and there.

The TCL 303 is embedded with Android 11 Go Edition. Android 11 is not the latest version; worse, it’s only the Go Edition version. If you don’t know about this version, the Go Edition comes more lightweight because it only contains limited features. Some features on the original version couldn’t be found here.

Go Edition is known for its compatibility with an entry-level smartphone. It makes the device operation as smooth as possible while giving you extra room to store some files because all apps here are less-consumed spaces.

Even though the TCL 303 features aren’t as advanced as their competitors, we’re glad they come with a Face Unlock feature to unlock their device. This feature can be useful and convenient whenever you need to open the device because it only takes a second.

Connectivity

The TCL 303 smartphone’s network capability relies on 4G LTE connectivity. Not seeing a 5G network here is understandable since it’s an entry-level smartphone. Still, the 4G LTE alone gives you a stable internet network and clear call quality. On the other hand, Wi-Fi is also available for you.

Meanwhile, for other connectivity, the TCL 303 smartphone has Bluetooth 4.2. This feature will be very useful if you’re always connected with other Bluetooth devices such as speakers, headsets, and smart home appliances. Connecting with these devices is quite fast, though.

Battery

The TCL 303 smartphone is equipped with a 3,000mAh of battery capacity to make your phone stay online throughout the day. Actually, this battery size seems small compared to today’s smartphone. Still, since this device doesn’t have luxurious features, it can boost performance quite well.

The TCL 303 will last around 11 hours a day—of course, it’ll depend on your personal use, network strength, etc. Meanwhile, for charging time, this device takes around 3,5 hours to fully charge.

Is the TCL 303 a good phone?

The TCL 303 is an entry-level smartphone with above the minimum pricing point. It’s sold for $130, quite expensive for such a limited-features smartphone, yet this device has an interesting offer. Users interested in this phone can get it for free on one condition; you need to subscribe for a 24 months installment.

That’s such a good deal. But it only applies to those who need a device just for casual use. Meanwhile, if you are looking for a smartphone that has a more modern look and features, this phone is indeed not your cup of tea.

Pros: face unlock sensors, adequate processor

Cons: old-school design, low performance, low-quality camera