This price range Android pill lastly does one thing totally different

I simply received achieved reviewing two of the very best, but most boring, price range Android tablets from Samsung (the Galaxy Tab A11 Plus) and Lenovo (the Thought Tab Plus). They had been each completely competent gadgets that did nearly all the pieces I anticipated, however there was nothing notably thrilling about both.

So when a proposal to check the TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus ($249.99 at Amazon) got here up, I anticipated extra of the identical. I’d already shaped my opinions on what a $250 Android pill is. However this was additionally my first likelihood to correctly expertise TCL’s much-talked-about “paper-like” show, so I set these expectations apart. Three weeks later, I’m glad I did.

The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus has the very best unboxing expertise I’ve had with any price range Android pill so far, and I’ve examined a good few of those now. Whereas most reasonably priced tablets barely embrace something past the pill and a USB-C cable, TCL offers you a stylus pen within the field, and in the event you go for the bundle for $369, you additionally get a folio case. The pill itself additionally appears and feels higher than I anticipated.

Each the Samsung and Lenovo tablets I discussed earlier got here in that uninteresting grey colour that price range tablets appear to default to (the Samsung technically has a silver possibility too, nevertheless it’s no extra inspiring). The NXTPAPER 11 Plus, in the meantime, is available in a matte black that appears, frankly, beautiful.

The all-metal construct feels noticeably extra premium than its price ticket suggests, and the matte end on the again has that very same satisfying, luxury-metal really feel that among the HTC telephones from again within the day used to nail. The round digicam module positioned on the again heart additionally provides simply sufficient character to make the pill stand out from the ocean of nameless grey rectangles on this class.

At 490g, the NXTPAPER 11 Plus isn’t precisely feather-light, however its 3:2 facet ratio makes it wider and extra sq. in comparison with the standard 16:10 tablets on this vary. It appears like a small factor till you decide it up and understand how a lot better-balanced its weight feels whenever you maintain it in each portrait and panorama orientations.

The ability button and quantity rocker are each clicky and satisfying. There’s additionally a 3rd button on the body, however that one deserves its personal part as a result of it controls the pill’s finest characteristic. What you don’t get is a SIM card slot, expandable storage, or a headphone jack. The NXTPAPER 11 Plus is Wi-Fi solely, and the 256GB of inside storage is all you get.

The show is the primary speaking level right here, and earlier than utilizing this pill, I didn’t totally know what to anticipate. I knew TCL had been pushing its NXTPAPER branding for some time, however part of me assumed this could be nearer to an e-reader-style show with apparent compromises that may make it worse for normal pill use. Boy, was I flawed.

Let’s get the fundamentals out of the best way first. The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus has an 11.5-inch IPS LCD panel with a 2,200 x 1,440 decision, a 3:2 facet ratio, and a 120Hz refresh charge. On paper, that already places it in a very good place for this worth vary. However the actual story is TCL’s NXTPAPER 4.0 coating and show tuning.

The pill makes use of a matte, nano-etched floor to scale back glare, fingerprints, and reflections, then pairs it with totally different colour modes meant for normal viewing, studying, and reduced-color use. The consequence is without doubt one of the nicest price range pill screens I’ve used.

Firstly, I really like the matte end on the show. It instantly makes the pill really feel extra premium than a shiny glass slab, and it additionally solves considered one of my largest annoyances with low-cost tablets: smudges. Shiny price range screens decide up fingerprints nearly immediately after which look messy until you retain wiping them down. The NXTPAPER 11 Plus stays a lot cleaner, and that alone makes it extra nice to make use of on daily basis.

What shocked me much more is that the display screen nonetheless appears good. I anticipated the matte layer to make colours look uninteresting or washed out, however that hasn’t been my expertise. In comparison with the Lenovo Thought Tab Plus, the TCL nonetheless appears vibrant, colourful, and punchy.

There’s a trade-off, although. The show appears dimmer when considered from an angle. I don’t suppose that’s as a result of TCL used a poor-quality LCD panel. It looks as if a aspect impact of the matte coating. Matte surfaces diffuse mild to scale back glare, however that diffusion also can make the display screen look much less vibrant or contrasty from sure angles.

Have a look at it straight on, and the NXTPAPER 11 Plus appears a lot better than I anticipated. I watched World Cup matches, Netflix exhibits, and loads of YouTube movies on it, and I by no means felt like I used to be utilizing some bizarre, compromised show. Outside, the display screen can look uninteresting in the event you’re viewing it off-axis, nevertheless it stays usable since you aren’t preventing harsh mirror-like reflections the best way you do on shiny tablets.

Then there are the show modes, that are the place issues get actually fascinating. TCL offers you three:

• Common mode — What you’ll use more often than not. It retains the pill wanting like a traditional full-color Android pill, simply with the matte NXTPAPER end on high. That is the mode I used for movies, looking, video games, and most of my day-to-day testing.
• Shade Paper — This tones all the pieces down and offers the display screen a hotter, softer look. It’s helpful for studying articles, looking at night time, or scrolling by way of apps whenever you don’t want punchy colours. It’s not as dramatic as Ink Paper mode, nevertheless it does make the pill really feel calmer and fewer visually aggressive.
• Ink Paper — This mode turns your entire UI black and white. That is the mode I’d use for studying lengthy articles, ebooks, PDFs, scripts, notes, or something the place colour is extra of a distraction than a requirement.

I don’t wish to overstate the well being advantages right here, however the sensible benefit is apparent. At night time, or whenever you’re already uninterested in observing screens, the 2 extra display screen modes could make the pill really feel much less harsh. Shade Paper mode reduces the visible depth with out making the pill ineffective, whereas Ink Paper mode nearly methods your mind into treating it extra like a digital pocket book than one other leisure display screen.

And the animations whenever you change modes are genuinely stunning. When the colour drains out of the display screen or fills again in, it’s truthfully one of the crucial pleasant small UI moments I’ve seen on a tool not too long ago.

The rationale I used these modes as a lot as I did is the NXTPAPER key. It’s a devoted button that permits you to toggle between show modes. I might not have bothered altering modes commonly if TCL had buried them in a fast settings tile or show menu. The button can be customizable. You’ll be able to assign totally different actions to a single press, double press, or lengthy press, together with shortcuts and AI instruments.

The included T-Pen stylus feels well-built and balanced within the hand, and writing on this matte display screen is a noticeably totally different expertise in comparison with writing on a shiny glass show. It’s not “paper-like,” I wish to be clear about that, however the slight texture of the floor offers the pen simply sufficient suggestions to really feel intentional fairly than frictionless, and that provides some pleasure to handwriting and sketching.

TCL has constructed out a stable suite of stylus options. Handwriting recognition can convert scribbled textual content into typed textual content, and you should utilize intuitive gestures like scratching over textual content to erase it. Stress sensitivity can be inbuilt, so urgent more durable or lighter adjustments the burden of your strokes.

The T-Pen attaches magnetically to the aspect of the folio case for storage, which is handy. There’s no method for it to stay to the pill with out the folio case, although, and also you’ll must cost it individually through USB-C, which isn’t as seamless as Samsung’s premium S Pen setups. Nonetheless, I’m not going to complain an excessive amount of about an included lively stylus on a pill this reasonably priced.

The NXTPAPER 11 Plus additionally has quad audio system, and so they sound fairly good for a price range pill. There’s no massive Dolby Atmos branding right here such as you get on the Samsung and Lenovo tablets, however the DTS-powered audio system defnitely get the job achieved.

Simply sufficient efficiency

The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus is powered by the MediaTek Helio G100, paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That sounds first rate, however that is nonetheless modest {hardware} by 2026 requirements. It’s considerably weaker than the chipsets within the Lenovo Thought Tab Plus and Samsung Galaxy Tab A11 Plus, as proven within the benchmark scores under.

In real-world use, although, the NXTPAPER 11 Plus is nearly sufficient. Something slower would have been an immediate dealbreaker, however the mixture of the Helio G100, 8GB of RAM, and 120Hz refresh charge helps the pill really feel clean sufficient for normal use. Scrolling by way of Chrome, studying articles, watching movies, switching between light-weight apps, and utilizing split-screen all felt high-quality.

You do really feel the weaker chip when opening heavy apps or video games. PUBG and COD Cell take noticeably longer to load than they do on extra highly effective gadgets, and also you’re not going to be enjoying at excessive graphics settings. Nonetheless, I used to be shocked that I may spend a very good 30 to 40 minutes enjoying PUBG on it. It ran at decrease graphics settings with the body charge capped round 40fps, nevertheless it was playable.

That’s the fitting expectation to have for this pill. It might probably deal with informal gaming, however you shouldn’t purchase it for gaming. It might probably multitask, however you shouldn’t purchase it as a laptop computer substitute. It might probably do productiveness work, however its actual energy is studying, note-taking, looking, streaming, and light-weight on a regular basis use.

As for battery life, the 8,000mAh battery contained in the NXTPAPER 11 Plus gave me surprisingly good standby time. I left the pill unused for nearly per week, and it drained lower than 20% throughout that point. That’s precisely what I would like from an off-the-cuff pill. I ought to be capable to go away it on a desk, neglect about it for just a few days, decide it again up, and never instantly go searching for a charger.

Energetic battery life is ok, however not extraordinary. With brightness and quantity turned up, the pill misplaced about 20% of its battery per hour whereas gaming or watching movies. Which means you possibly can count on round 5 hours of heavier use, and only a bit extra in the event you’re studying, looking, or utilizing the E-Ink colour mode.

With a suitable 33W charger, the pill takes about an hour and 40 minutes to cost totally. That’s not quick by telephone requirements, nevertheless it’s completely acceptable for a price range pill with this battery dimension.

This was my first time spending actual time with TCL’s Android pores and skin, and I walked away extra optimistic than I anticipated to based mostly on the worth level. Coming off the Samsung and Lenovo price range tablets, each of which load you up with companion apps and preinstalled software program you didn’t ask for, TCL’s method feels comparatively restrained. It’s considerably cleaner than what I skilled on both of these two gadgets, and there are sufficient tablet-friendly touches to make the expertise really feel intentional.

There’s a customizable sidebar that offers you fast entry to apps and shortcuts, which works properly on a tablet-sized display screen. You additionally get AI-assisted options like Writing Help, Textual content Help, Good Translator, Actual-time Subtitles, and Good Voice Memo.

I don’t suppose most individuals are shopping for this pill for AI options, however they’re there, and a few of them match the pill’s studying and writing focus properly.

The one space of actual concern is software program updates. I couldn’t discover a clear promise for what number of Android OS updates this pill will obtain on any of TCL’s product pages, and I don’t suppose that’s accidentally. The pill is at the moment working Android 15, whereas Android 17 is already out for Pixel gadgets. I’m hoping it will get at the very least Android 16, however I wouldn’t purchase this anticipating frequent or quick updates.

The digicam module right here appears so good that it nearly satisfied me there’s one thing spectacular behind it. There isn’t. The 8MP rear digicam handles doc scanning adequately and produces acceptable pictures in good mild, although element and dynamic vary fall off rapidly.

The entrance digicam works for video calls, however count on noise and grain, particularly indoors. On the threat of sounding like I’m repeating myself in each price range pill evaluation, these cameras are right here as a result of manufacturers can’t but persuade you to purchase a pill and not using a digicam. That’s it.

The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus just isn’t some never-seen-before spec monster offered at an unbelievable worth. It has a mediocre chipset, no expandable storage, no mobile possibility, no headphone jack, and an unclear future for software program updates. And but, I prefer it rather a lot.

That’s as a result of TCL made a price range pill with an precise standpoint. The NXTPAPER show is not only a gimmick. It offers the pill sensible benefits over nearly all the pieces else on this worth vary. It cuts glare in vibrant environments, stays cleaner than shiny screens, feels higher underneath your fingers, makes stylus use extra pleasing, and offers you genuinely helpful colour modes for studying, writing, looking, and winding down at night time.

The remainder of the bundle holds up, too. The construct high quality is superb for the worth; the three:2 facet ratio makes the pill comfy to carry; the TCL UI is cleaner than I anticipated; and the bundled stylus provides actual worth (whether or not the folio case bundle for an additional $120 is value it’s debatable). College students, artists, heavy readers, note-takers, and anybody who hates smudged screens (me, me, me) have rather a lot to love right here.

The closest various to the TCL pill is the Lenovo Thought Tab Plus ($279.99 at Amazon). That comes with a stylus and case, and has a much bigger show, a much bigger battery, and pogo pins for a keyboard case. It makes extra sense in order for you a price range pill that leans more durable into productiveness, nevertheless it’s additionally bigger and extra cumbersome to carry, and after utilizing each, I believe the TCL is the extra comfy on a regular basis pill.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A11 Plus ($209.99 at Amazon) is the safer purchase in order for you any sort of long-term software program assist, expandable storage, a mobile possibility, and stronger model belief. It additionally performs higher. Nevertheless it doesn’t assist Samsung’s S Pen, and its show is objectively worse than TCL’s.

The NXTPAPER 11 Plus has been available on the market for over a 12 months now, and whereas there are gadgets just like the NXTPAPER 11 Gen 2, nothing up to now has been an easy improve to this mannequin that first launched globally in the midst of 2025. If a direct successor to this pill is on the best way, the one issues I’d need modified are a extra highly effective processor and perhaps wi-fi charging for the stylus.

However because it stands proper now, that is the price range pill I’d truly purchase within the sub-$300 tier. Most tablets on this worth vary are purchased as a result of they’re low-cost sufficient. The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus is affordable sufficient, too, nevertheless it additionally offers you some distinctive causes to decide on it.