People looking for a powerful smartphone but still worrying about the prices might find this TCL 40 XE 5G review helpful. It lets you discover all the phone’s pros and cons thoroughly.
The TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone was released in June 2023. Nowadays, smartphones have become the most important everyday thing for some people. As time goes by, people are starting to look for a phone that is modern and powerful enough to fulfill their needs.
The TCL 40 XE 5G may become your next consideration for those who are always craving a new thing on their smartphone. The features inside, like the 5G connectivity, huge screen, and triple cameras, are quite promising.
Nevertheless, it is better to learn about the device before you decide to buy the TCL 40 XE 5G. Here, we presented the full device’s review completely, including the pros and cons that you should notice.
Page Contents:
Specifications
TCL 40 XE 5G specifications:
| Release Date | June, 2023 |
| Weight | 196g |
| Dimensions | 164 x 75 x 8.9mm |
| OS | Android 13 |
| Screen size | 6.5-inch |
| Resolution | 720 x 1612 |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 700 (MT6833) |
| CPU | Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Battery | 5,000mAh, Non-removable |
| Rear camera | 13MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front camera | 8MP |
| Features | Face Recognition, Fingerprint Reader |
Design
Dimensionally, the TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone is perfect. It’s built 164 mm in length and 75 mm in width, making it perfect and quite comfortable for you to bring around. For weight, it’s 196g. Grabbing the device doesn’t feel bulky and fits right on most adults’ hands.
Appearance-wise, the TCL 40 XE 5G front area is basic and no different from most smartphones nowadays. It displays today’s minimalist design with a V-notch style and a thin bezel gap on each side. The main button already appears on the display screen, and the front camera it’s installed in a tear-drop style.
As for the back area, you will see the scratched textures and style on its case. It turns off the overall look, but this texture can help users to have a better grip while holding the device. The triple camera is placed in two sections; the first two are on the big glossy rectangle and LED flash. Meanwhile, the other is at the bottom in different sections.
Display
The TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone has a 6.5-inch display screen. This big screen size is enough to show all the phone’s display features. This screen has a ~83.4% screen-to-body ratio that feels quite cinematic.
On top of that, the device’s screen has an HD+ quality with a 720 x 1612 pixel resolution. It’s actually a common quality. But what makes it better is, as the TCL smartphone, this device comes with the NXTVISION feature, which allows you to have an enhanced visual experience with a clear, vibrant, and contrasting display screen.
Plus, the TCL 40 XE 5G refresh rate is 90Hz with a touch of sampling rate up to 180Hz, which is fast and responsive enough. It also lets you have a fluid and smooth interactive and scrolling experience.
Camera
One of the TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone’s strengths is its camera. This phone is installed with four cameras; triple at the back and single at the front. It’s beyond the expectations for a budget-friendly smartphone if you’re compared with the competitors.
The triple rear camera at the back consists of a 13MP main camera for striking the best moments of your life, 2MP macro camera for having detailed close-up pictures, and a 2MP depth camera for portrait pictures. Meanwhile, at the front, it has an 8MP camera to let you take a beautiful selfie.
Those cameras can also record video. Moreover, the features are available to enhance your photography experience. It includes the panorama feature, super macro, stop motion, art effect, video effect, etc.
Read also: Nokia C110 N156DL Review
Storage
A decent quality camera makes the TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone need spacious storage to store all the phone’s files, including photos and videos. Fortunately, this phone is installed with a 64GB of internal storage capacity.
This capacity is more than enough for an entry-level smartphone. You can have many of your personal files on the device, including photos, videos, messages, contacts, and all the apps you want to install.
However, the total capacity that served you is only 44GB. If this is not enough for you, The TCL 40 XE 5G allows you to expand the storage by adding a MicroSD card into the external slot.
Performance
Under the hood, the TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone runs on the specifications of MediaTek Dimensity 700 processors. This is a common spec that you’ll find in an affordable 5G smartphone. It isn’t as outstanding as we hope, yet still dependable to boost the performance while accessing some intense operations.
Moreover, this chipset comes with an Octa-core 2.2GHz speed rate. It ensures the phone has fast performance while maintaining stability. You can rely on this device to do heavy tasks without lags or heat.
The TCL 40 XE 5G chipset will come in a duet with 4GB RAM to make it great. This RAM capacity is also above the bare minimum. With this, you can use the device for some operations, including multitasking, without encountering the burden and struggles.
Opening between two apps or more and stacking them together surprisingly runs well. Launching apps feels smooth with no struggle, and access to lightweight apps is good. However, the struggle is real when you’re trying to access some heavy apps, plus forcing the device to handle some apps harshly.
Android 13 is used by the TCL 40 XE 5G as its brain. We’re happy to see this Android version since it’s the latest one, and it’s quite rare to see this version on an entry-level smartphone.
Android 13 is known for its advanced improvements. This version is supposed to be as personal as it can be. You can customize the overall look by your preferences. You can match the media player to your personal music taste, not just the display. Moreover, Android 13 improved the phone’s security and convenience.
The TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone uses a fingerprint reader and face recognition for the security sensor. The fingerprint reader is side-mounted, which is easy to access. Face recognition is also available to let you unlock the device with only a glance or a touch.
Connectivity
Recognized by the name, the TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone uses a 5G mobile network as its default connectivity. Nevertheless, other networks, such as 4G LTE and 3G, are still available. The 5G internet offers you a faster and more stable internet experience.
Suppose you are not a fan of mobile networks; this device also allows you to connect with Wi-Fi version 5. Besides that, the TCL 40 XE 5G has a mobile hotspot feature that lets other smartphones connect to up to 10 devices to connect with your internet data.
The TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone also has other connectivity, such as Bluetooth and GPS. Bluetooth 5.1 lets you connect with other Bluetooth devices to make your life easier and more convenient. Meanwhile, GPS will be giving much help to let you find the locations of places you want to go.
Battery
The TCL 40 XE 5G is installed with a 5,000mAh of non-removable battery capacity to power up the smartphone. In moderate use, with this much battery, we can expect the phone to last up until the end of the day.
Nevertheless, in the paper, the TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone promises to last while in standby time for up to 13 days on a 5G network. It can even last longer on a 4G network—up to 32 days. If you have the device for such intense activities, the device can last up to 24 hours.
The best part of the TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone is this device supports a fast charging feature. Approximately the device’s charging time lasted up to 2.5 hours until in full condition.
Is the TCL 40 XE 5G a good phone?
Beyond our expectations for a phone with $120 as its price, the TCL 40 XE 5G smartphone offers a lot more than we should deserve. Not only to mention the 5G connectivity but also, as you can see in this review, the triple cameras and fast charging feature also become the top selling points.
Pros: affordable, 5G connectivity, triple camera, fast charging
Cons: basic design, back area textured is kinda awkward
