Content
- Specifications
- Appearance and equipment
- Software
- Cameras
- Performance and Benchmarks
- findings
The Chinese company TCL is mostly knownin Russia as a manufacturer of televisions, a little less as a manufacturer of various home appliances, and, frankly, is little known as a manufacturer of smartphones. However, if you dig deeper, TCL has been making phones under the Alcatel brand since 2004. Today we will talk about TCL 20B - a budget model in the modern line of TCL smartphones.
TCL 20B at MegaFon
Technical characteristics
 |
Technical characteristics of TCL 20B |
|---|---|
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Firmware | Android 11 (TCL UI) |
| Screen | 6.52″, 20:9, 1600x 720 pixels,IPS, 60 Hz |
| Chipset | MediaTek Helio P22 MT6762D GPU: PowerVR GE8320 |
| Ram | 4 GB |
| ROM | 64 GB |
| SIM and memory card | nanoSIM + nanoSIM / microSD (up to 512 GB) |
| Camera | Main:Samsung S5KJN1, 50MP, f/1.85, PDAF Additional: GalaxyCore, 2 MP, GC2905, f/2.4 |
| Selfie | Samsung S5K4H7, 8 MP, f/2.0 |
| Battery | 4000 mAh |
| Charging | USB-C Supported: 18W Adapter included: 10W |
| Wireless interfaces | WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n(4) Bluetooth 5.0 GLONASS, GPS, A-GPS FM radio |
| NFC | there is |
| Biometrics | Fingerprint scanner on the lid |
| Sound | Mono 3.5mm audio jack |
| Water protection | IP52 |
| Dimensions and weight | 164.7×74.7×8 mm 178 g |
Appearance and equipment
The device itself is located in the TCL 20B box,protective film, USB-A to USB-C power cable, modest 10W power adapter, SIM eject needle and documentation. It is clear that the device is budgetary, and demanding any excesses from it is the last thing, but I cannot but note that the case would come in handy. First of all, due to the fact that finding it in stores can be another problem (but you can order it).
Body materials include plastic frame,plastic cover and impact-resistant glass on the front side. The device has rounded edges and fits comfortably in the hand. The glossy cover plays with highlights in the light, but is prone to collecting prints and scuffs.
In terms of interfaces, you should pay attention to the following points:
- On the left side there is a separate buttoncalling the voice assistant. Such a thing seems quite appropriate and useful when the manufacturer makes it possible to hang on it what is convenient for the user (as, say, ASUS does). In the same implementation, I could not reassign the button.
- The fingerprint sensor found its place on the lid. There is nothing criminal in this, but it looks somewhat archaic. Yes, and reaching / hitting it is more difficult than in the case of location in the power button.
- Vibro is not annoying. The character is kind of soft, or something.
- The sound of the speaker is mediocre, but there is a 3.5 mm audio jack and FM radio support.
- The SIM tray can hold either two nanoSIM cards or one nanoSIM + microSD memory card.
The display uses 6.52″IPS matrix with a resolution of 1600 × 720 points and a standard refresh rate of 60 Hz. The panel is large, moderately bright, with good viewing angles. In the settings, you can adjust the color rendering and enable the video enhancer (a trick for everyone). The only nuance related to the screen is the incorrect operation of the proximity sensor when the “In your pocket” mode is activated. The smartphone constantly complains about closed sensors (the screen is shaded, a red stripe appears on top), even when nothing blocks them. It can be treated by holding your finger in the area of the selfie camera each time it appears, or by disabling the “In Pocket” function in the settings (company representatives are aware of the problem and assure that they are working on a fix).
Screen settings
Software
TCL 20B runs on Android 11 in TCL UI skin.The system is similar to pure Android, but has a number of its own add-ons and options. During the operation, the system proved to be worthy (except for the moment with the proximity sensor): the appearance is concise, there are no ads, the speed is moderate.
TCL UI
Cameras
Three sensors are responsible for photo and video shooting:
- BasicSamsung S5KJN1 with resolution 50 (→12.5)MP, aperture size f/1.85 and PDAF.
- Front Samsung S5K4H7 with a resolution of 8 megapixels and f / 2.0.
- Plug GalaxyCore GC2905 2 MP.
With enough light from the main camera you can expect good detail and, at times,floatingcolora.With contrasting scenes, the situation is complicated: on the one hand, there is not enough color range (bright areas can burn out, shaded ones go into excessive blackness), on the other hand, HDR noticeably recolors the picture. With a lack of light, the quality of the photos drops. There is no separate night mode.
Main camera
Main camera: portrait and standard modes
Main camera: zoom
Main camera in low light
In favorable conditions, the front camera shows good detail and colors, but in contrasting scenes and low light, it has a hard time.
Selfie camera in standard and portrait modes
As you know, shooting video is much morethe degree of merit of computing power, and with them the TCL 20B is modest. As a result, video shooting is limited to 1080@30fps mode, the image quality is “budget” (example at the link). Usually it is customary to scold for this, but given the class of the device, this just needs to be borne in mind.
Original photos and videos
Camera app interface
Performance and tests
The smartphone has a MediaTek Helio P22 chipsetMT6762D with PowerVR GE8320 graphics chip. 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of permanent memory are responsible for working with data. You should not worry too much about the small amount of ROM, since there is always the possibility of adding up to 512 GB via microSD.
The chipset, as expected, cannot boast of highperformance in tests and games, however, it is important to note that some tests even refuse to run on TCL 20B due to the lack of support for the necessary technologies. So, for example, it happened with the 3DMark Wild Life graphics benchmark.
Running resource-hungry applicationsIt is recommended to carry out through the game launcher. Judging by the throttling test, the already stable performance becomes the benchmark in it. It's a gift that there are not many points.
Throttling test in standard and game modes
With games, the situation is exactly the same as you could alreadyimagine: light, casual projects are successfully launched and played on a large display, but more or less demanding, dynamic projects will not have enough local performance. In such cases, you can expect a comfortable frame rate only at low settings, although there may be drawdowns on them. So not the most demanding COD Mobile does not allow you to set graphic settings higher than "low", but even on them, frame instability is sometimes felt.
The battery is responsible for the autonomy of the device.4000 mAh The capacity may not be the most impressive, however, given the iron restrained in its appetites, the charge was easily enough for me for a day and a half. Measurements showed the following discharge numbers:
- 60 minutes YouTube (Wi-Fi, 50% brightness, 1080p) - 15%,
- 30 minutes Tacticool (Wi-Fi, brightness 60%, low settings) - 9%.
The smartphone supports 18W fast charging,but here's the problem: the kit only comes with 10 W. The charging timings with its help are as follows: 15 – 15%, 30 – 30%, 45 – 45%, 60 – 60%, 75 – 74%, 90 – 88%, 105 – 97%. Against the backdrop of the crazy Chinese charges, it may seem slow, but if you compare, for example, with the Japanese Sony Xperia 5 III (review), the numbers come out similar.
Conclusions
TCL 20B turned out to be a worthy representativebudget devices. For its price, it does not offer anything outstanding, but it does a good job with the required program. If we take into account such characteristics as NFC, 4/64 GB of memory and a diagonal of 6.5″ – this is one of the most affordable offers onRussianmarket. Among the nuances, it is worth paying attention to the weak chipset and video quality.
A smartphone can be recommended as a service, second, child or main device if the user does not put forward any serious requirements.
TCL 20B at MegaFon
© Dimitry Pivnev.