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TCL A30 Review: Modest Smartphone For Everyday Use

The TCL A30 review contains detailed information about the phone specifications. Learn every aspect of it in this article and find out its capability.

TCL A30 Review

The TCL A30 smartphone was released in October 2021. It is not long enough at the market. Categorized as an entry-level smartphone, this phone hopefully can offer attractive features–at least, for being a simple communication device.

For a price under $100, we have mixed feelings about it. To be honest, there is nothing fancy here. Instead of a dual or triple rear camera, the TCL A30 only has a single rear camera. The battery size and display screen are also not something we like.

Nevertheless, there are still many fishes to catch under the sea. We’ll dive deeper into the phone to know this better than before.

Key Specs

TCL A30 specifications:

Weight171g
Dimensions146 x 71 x 9.9mm
OSAndroid 11
Screen size5.5-inch
Resolution1440 x 720
CPU2GHz Quad-core, MediaTek Helio P22 MT6762V
RAM3GB
Storage32GB
Battery3,000mAh, Non-removable
Rear camera8MP
Front camera5MP
FeaturesFacial Recognition Unlock

Design

TCL A30
TCL A30

Design-wise, the TCL A30 looked very simple and threw us a few years back. It’s outdated yet still minimalist. The phone’s design doesn’t give us premium vibes, but it doesn’t look cheap either. This phone comes in a rectangular shape with cornered bezels. It gives us much comfort to hold the phone.

You will notice a display screen with bezels on the front side. The top and bottom bezels come thicker than the left and right. At the top, there is a front-facing camera embedded.

Meanwhile, in the back area, there is nothing much going on. You can only see a rear camera in a rectangular shape and an LED flash below it. The back cover looks cheap with the plastic case and textured design.

Display

TCL A30 Display

A 5.5-inch display screen is featured on the TCL A30 smartphone. For an entry-level smartphone, this size is decent. This phone has an 18:9 screen ratio to support users’ broader viewing experience.

Regarding the screen quality, this phone comes with 1440 x 720 resolution. By this resolution, the TCL A30 is considered an HD+ display. Users will get vibrant colors and richer tones. Watching videos, scrolling browsers, and social media will be comfortable. However, don’t be surprised if the quality decreases when you’re outdoors.

For screen protection, the TCL A30 already comes with 2D Asahi Glass. It can give your extra phone durability.

Camera

TCL A30 Camera

Unlike many of today’s smartphones, the TCL A30 only features two cameras. The 8MP main camera and 5MP front-facing camera. These camera megapixels are clearly not made for professionals, but they can still do some justice.

The main camera consists of 8MP. This is not the best, but there is a Pro Mode available. This mode allows you to take sharper, steadier, and high-definition photos more quickly than ever. You can also record a video with 1080p quality.

The front-facing camera comes as a selfie camera. With this camera, you can activate the Portrait mode. In which you can take a beautiful and aesthetic selfie with a blurred background.

Read also: Kyocera DuraXA Equip Review: Ideal Solutions For Outdoor Environments

Storage

The TCL A30 is equipped with 32GB of internal storage. Honestly, the capacity is smaller than the average, but we understand since it is an entry-level smartphone. On the downside, there is a limited capacity that you can use. You can only use around 21GB of the total storage because the systems already reserve the memory.

Don’t worry. There are always some options to solve this limited storage. You can add expandable memory storage up to 512GB to the external card slot. However, you may need to spend more cash because the MicroSD card doesn’t come for free.

Performance

TCL A30 Side View

The TCL A30 relies on 2GHz MediaTek Helio P22 MT6762V as its brain to operate the system. This is the bare minimum setup you can find in an entry-level smartphone. After all, instead of being ultra-fast, this phone tends to be reliable for everyday use.

Runs on a 2GHz clock rate, this smartphone guarantees more efficient battery usage. The battery won’t drain very fast in casual use. And also, it will improve the battery performance to keep working at a good pace.

The TCL A30 is coupled with 3GB RAM to store the phone’s temporary data. For a budget smartphone, this RAM capacity is quite generous. With a big RAM size, you can have more flexibility to multitask.

With 3GB RAM, you can do a couple of tasks simultaneously. Multitasking will be easier and more efficient. Accessing heavily consumed apps will also feel smoother. We found no delays and lags while streaming videos and movies. However, you must pay attention when playing 3D games. The phone is a little bit shaky while operating this.

The TCL A30 uses Android 11 as its operating system. It’s not the latest Android version, but we are satisfied with this. This OS has several advantages and improvements over its predecessors. 

First of all, Android 11 allows us to have better privacy management. You can control the message notifications and categorize them into relevant groups. Android 11 also has a cleaner user interface to keep everything looking simple. To be advanced, this OS also already comes with Google Smart Assistant.

You might have noticed an absence of a fingerprint reader on the TCL A30 smartphone. Instead, they offer face recognition to unlock the phone. Theoretically, this feature is quicker than others. However, you may find struggles when unlocking in dark-light situations.

This phone also has several sensors, such as accelerometers, light, and proximity sensors. Each sensor has a different purpose. For example, the accelerometer can be used for detecting any movements, while the proximity is for preventing unwanted touches.

Connectivity

The TCL A30 supports 4G LTE and other older network bands. As we expect, there is no 5G technology provided. But, we can always rely on 4G for the network since it is still reliable in most places worldwide. Thanks to this connectivity, users are allowed to enjoy loud and clear voice calls with the VoLTE feature.

This phone comes with other network features such as Wi-Fi and mobile hotspots. With Wi-Fi, you can stay connected without a data network. And, with the mobile hotspot, you can turn your phone into a modem to let other devices connect to the internet.

Moreover, there is also Bluetooth connectivity. You can connect with earbuds or Bluetooth speakers with this feature. As for navigating, there is a GPS to help you out.

Battery

A decent 3,000mAh battery capacity can power up the phone’s operations. If we compare it to today’s smartphones, it is considered smaller. But for us, it’s enough. A removable battery type can be a burden since it’s rarely found in smartphones nowadays.

The TCL A30 promises users can use the phone for up to 7.5 hours of talk-time. Unexpectedly, this phone can last up to 300 hours max in standby time. But we want to be more realistic since putting your phone on standby all day is impossible.

This phone also comes with Smart Manager optimization to keep your phone on duty for 14 hours of mixed-use on a single charge.

Is the TCL A30 a good phone?

With the TCL A30 review, we conclude that this phone can be a good reference for users who need a basic smartphone. It doesn’t have outstanding features and significant selling points. Some advantages of this smartphone are the decent performance with 3GB RAM, reliable processors, and Android 11.

Besides, we also notice some drawbacks, such as the low battery capacity, an outdated design, and a single rear camera. For a price of $100, we expect more than this. But in the end, it’s up to you to decide. If you are looking for a decent smartphone for casual usage, it may be perfect.

TCL A30 Pros:

  • Decent 3GB RAM
  • Reliable processors
  • Android 11

TCL A30 Cons

  • Out-dated design
  • Single rear camera