If we were to choose one word to describe the TCL 30 V 5G phone, it would be ‘average’ and that’s with us being lenient. The phone’s highlights include its 5G connectivity and battery life. Its biggest con is its price of about €270 or about $289. Now, the device doesn’t have a super-premium price tag, but considering the specs, it is seriously overpriced. Its only variant has 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. The device supports an SD card which is a plus. However, the phone can only handle a single Nano-SIM card, which might very well be a deal-breaker for those who use two SIM cards.
Connections are supported up to 5G though. Design is something TCL 30 V 5G has gotten right. It is sturdy, so you don’t need to worry about its build quality. The phone has a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protected glass front and plastic frame. Its plastic back panel has a matte finish which does a good job of resisting fingerprints and smudges, as you would expect. The gadget is slightly heavy at 200.4 grams and measures 6.53 by 2.99 by 0.36 inches. It only comes in a single color option of Midnight Gray. Therefore, if you are someone who loves to have plenty of color options to choose from, this phone isn’t for you.
The phone has a good display quality, but it pales in comparison to what the competition is offering. Had this been a budget mid-range phone, the display quality would have been praised. At this price, it can simply be rated as ‘good’. TCL 30 V 5G has a 6.67-inch FHD+ IPS LCD screen with a standard 60 Hz refresh rate. The device’s screen-to-body ratio and PPI density are 85.2% and 395 respectively. In this segment, you can easily find rival phones that have AMOLED screens and that too with a refresh rate of 90 Hz. TCL had generated buzz in the market with its NXTVISION feature, which they claim can improve your multimedia experience.
However, in reality, it’s hard to say how impactful the feature is. On the bright side of things, the phone has stereo speakers and a headphone jack. While the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G chipset is capable of turning in acceptable performance, that’s not the case here. The performance is especially weak. As a result, you will have to deal with stutters and lags if you choose to buy this phone. The GPU used here is Adreno 619. On the software side, the device runs Android 11 with TCL UI. The software experience is ruined by the presence of excessive bloatware.
In fact, TCL 30 V 5G is among the phones with the most bloatware. In the sensors department, the phone has an accelerometer, proximity, compass, gyro, barometer, and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Its overall camera performance is satisfactory, but it struggles in low lighting conditions. It has a 50 MP wide-angle, 5 MP ultrawide, and 2 MP macro sensor camera on the rear. On the front, it features a 16 MP wide-angle camera for selfies.
It has all the usual camera features and can record videos in 1080p@30fps. The absence of optical image stabilization is certainly felt here. Battery life is awesome on this one as it lasts around 1.5 days on average use. TCL 30 V 5G has a 4500 mAh Li-Po non-removable battery with support for 18W fast charging. Connectivity options include USB Type-C 3.0, USB On-The-Go, GPS, Bluetooth 5.1, dual-band, Wi-Fi, and hotspot. NFC is shockingly absent here.