TCL has been talking about foldable phones for quite some time now, but it looks like the plan to launch a foldable device before the end of 2021 will not be realized. TCL has revealed that it has canceled the clamshell foldable codenamed the Chicago Project for various reasons. However, the good news is that TCL's foldable ambitions aren't dying with the Chicago Project.
TCL may have several ranges of unexpectedly affordable TVs, but that doesn't mean there's no space in the line-up for a flagship. That's just what the TCL X9 85" OD Zero mini-LED 8K TV promises to be, a new Google TV set that's the first in TCL's XL Collection to use its third-gen mini-LED backlighting system.
The folks at TCL have a new sort of camera that's made specifically for TCL TVs. TCL makes Google TV and Android TV television sets that are relatively low in cost and simple in functionality. With the TCL Full HD USB Camera, the company wants users to upgrade their TV set with the ability to make video calls with relative ease.
TCL revealed a line of Google TV devices this week to add to their already-significant collection of smart TV units with Roku or Android TV. They've revealed both pricing and availability for their first Google TV smart TV units across both "premium and award-winning 5- and 6-Series" lines. There are TCL 5-Series models with Google TV out on "presale" now, including 50, 55, 65, and 75-inch models. TCL 6-Series models with Google TV were put on presale today in 55 and 65-inch models, with a 75-inch model coming soon.
TCL has priced up its 8K TVs, and if you assumed the step up from 4K would break the bank then you might be in for a pleasant surprise. The company announced its 8K 6 Series sets back at CES 2021 in January, but has now bucked the big TV trends by kicking off pricing at just $2,199.99.
TCL kicked off the year with its 20 Series phones that now number over half a dozen models. As with any manufacturer, only a select few actually make it to the US. It seems that the company, perhaps best known for its TVs and displays, has finally chosen who among its 2021 roster would get that distinction as the TCL 20 Pro 5G leads the march. In addition to its trio, however, TCL is also making available its latest TWS buds, the MOVEAUDIO S600.
There have been a lot of coverage on affordable mid-range Android phones, but when it comes down to it, nothing beats Android Go phones when it comes to affordability. Of course, these phones are configured with very minimal hardware requirements, so that's not telling much. Still, for some markets and consumers that just need a basic Android phone, Android GO edition phones might be the way to go, and TCL just expanded their options with the addition of the Alcatel 1 (2021) and the Alcatel 1L Pro.
With the attention given to foldable phones and smartwatches, you'd almost think that smart glasses were dead. After all, most companies have either backed out of that niche market or targeted their products at equally niche customers, like Google Glass 2 for the Enterprise. As one of the world's leading display manufacturers, however, TCL just wouldn't let that status quo remain. At MWC 2021, TCL is unveiling the NXTWEAR G, a pair of smart glasses designed for consumers but not designed for walking around.
Once upon a time, pre-releases of Android's next version were available only to a limited few. Of course, Google's own Nexus phones, later Pixels, had first dibs on any development version but some big names in the Android empire also boasted that preferential treatment. Almost like a testament to Android's more open development strategy, a number of manufacturers have all but simultaneously announced the availability of Android 12 beta for some of the phones, some companies you might not have expected to just that early into a development preview in the first place.
TCL is aggressively carving out a niche for itself among affordable Android phones that don't force compromise on display, camera, or design, and three new additions to the 20 Series today suggest that strategy isn't going anywhere. The TCL 20 Pro 5G leads the charge, championing the company's homegrown OLED and throwing in some styling details that rivals like Samsung don't seem to be able to manage.
TCL plans to launch a commercial flexible smartphone this year, but until then it's unveiled an even more unusual concept, with the TCL Fold 'n' Roll combining both folding and rolling mechanisms. Tapping the company's own CSOT flexible OLED panel business and its homegrown hinge design, the Fold 'n' Roll does basically just what the name suggests: morphs from a regular smartphone form-factor to a 10-inch tablet.
TCL is working on a foldable, rollable phone hybrid, which combines two of the biggest trends in smartphone design at the moment. The company - which makes its own displays, and which began pushing its own brand for Android devices in early 2020 - has been working on foldable and flexible OLED panels for some time now, though this new concept device brings them together in as-yet unseen ways.