TCL 20 SE Review: Big Screen Energy

My aunt summed it up perfectly when I saw her for yum cha last weekend.

“Crikey, that’s a big phone!” 

She’s not wrong. 

With a whopping 6.82-inch display and 720 x 1640 resolution, the TCL 20 SE makes a statement with its screen size. And that statement is "HELLO I AM BIG." Which is fantastic for streaming content. Not so great for small pockets. 

And when our lives exist within our smartphones, portability does come into play. The TCL 20 SE is not a phone you can comfortably slide into your back pocket, or into a small clutch. It demands space, almost obnoxiously, so it's worth bearing in mind if you have small hands and/or small pockets.

If you’re unfamiliar with TCL as a phone brand - I don’t blame you. You’re more likely to have one of its TV screens or sound bars. TCL has actually been in the smartphone market for a while now - just under different branding (Alcatel, Palm, and Blackberry) and the 20 SE is its latest offering under the own name.

Aesthetically the 20SE looks… nice. Available in ‘Nuit Black’ and ‘Aurora Green’ (the latter I suspect is rather more eye-catching), the TCL 20 SE has a sleek design, although the plastic back attracts fingerprints fingerprints. You know when you see, say, a stainless steel fridge covered in messy fingerprints, and it’s a bit of an eyesore? That’s what my 20SE looked like after just a day of use. It does come with a clear plastic case that helps offset sticky prints, although this does add to its ‘plastic’ vibe. 

There’s a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, next to four cameras; the AI-powered 16MP quad camera, 5MP ultra-wide, 2MP depth and 2MP macro lens. Will the camera quality blow you away? No. Does it take decent enough pictures? Yeah, totally.

To be fair, I had low expectations for this camera, and I was pleasantly surprised at the results. It lacks the crispness of other more expensive and advanced smartphone cameras, but the 4x digital zoom was fairly clear, and I managed to take some rather spectacular sunset photos. 

While the photos don't look bad on any device, they look best on the phone itself thanks to display software that really makes them pop. In addition, images taken in low light or overcast days can come out a bit dull and gloomy. There’s no dedicated night mode either, which shouldn’t be a surprise given the price point.

Portrait mode - which has become a standard feature on new smartphones - is available, as well as AI colour mode (making the background black-and-white), panorama, slo-mo, super-macro and a particularly fun mode - light trace, which captures light and movement. The front-facing 8MP camera sits subtly in the middle of the top of the screen without being obtrusive.

While the TCL 20 SE can do a decent job at photography, if you love capturing great images on the go, it's not the phone for you. 

The 5,000mAh battery ensures a full day per charge even with fairly extensive usage throughout the day. You’ll be hard pressed to get more than a day’s worth of battery life though, and charge time is slower than what I’d like. 

Apps are fairly snappy to open; despite a lower-end Snapdragon 460 chipset (see what I did there? Snappy? Ah… forget it), there’s not a great deal of lag or slowdown. Facebook and Netflix are preloaded on the device (as is the norm for most Android phones) but I'd like to think this is a sign of highlighting the 20 SE's strengths as a phone best for streaming content and social media. 

Dual speakers sit cleverly underneath, so it’s unlikely your hands will muffle the sound as you’re holding the phone. 

TCL 20 SE - Final thoughts

If you’re on a budget, watch a lot of content and aren’t too fussed about taking spectacular photos, then the TCL 20 SE might be right up your alley. It feels impressive, even if it’s a fairly basic, entry level smartphone.

TCL 20 SE photo gallery

Kate Reynolds

Digital Content Editor

Kate Reynolds was a Digital Content Editor at WhistleOut.

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