- I found the TCL 60XE NXTpaper 5G phone on the CES show floor because I didn't want to leave Vegas without seeing it.
- It switches from a color screen to a grayscale screen in seconds.
- It was named the best mobile phone of CES 2025 by TechRadar.
Between practical exercises with Sony's Xyn headset prototype and a long-distance drive through Las Vegas, I made my way to the extravagant TCL booth CES 2025. Why? Well, the answer lies in the GIF below, which shows a smartphone switching from a color display to a grayscale display, which quickly increases battery life.
That's that TCL 60XE NXTpaper 5G Android smartphonewhich can transform from an FHD+ to a matte grayscale display similar to a newspaper thanks to custom display technology. Still, it's a fully functional Android phone with TCL's interface, although you're limited to using seven apps in this mode. The good news is that you can select these and it only takes a few seconds for the screen to change.
I can't emphasize enough how practical and intuitive this simple switch is and the benefits it claims to bring, considering other TCL NXTpaper devices have long battery life, which is a feature of this upcoming smartphone. During my short test on the exhibition area Consumer Electronics Fair 2025Even though it's clearly in black and white mode, the animations still rendered smoothly and it responded fairly well to my touch inputs.
Aside from the shock and wow of the display transformation, The really nice factor is that TCL is taking its NXTpaper into new formsand this is where potential battery life wins. TCL says it can last a full week, a full seven days in continuous use, or 26 days in standby mode. That's pretty impressive, and remember that this is still an LCD screen with a few extra layers that make it possible to switch from color mode to this less power-intensive mode.
It's a fairly large phone with a 6.8-inch screen, a front-facing selfie camera and a rear stack with a 50-megapixel unit on the back. It also supports wireless charging and has a USB-C port at the bottom. The TCL 60XE NXTpaper felt good in the hand and was quite easy to handle, even for a larger smartphone.
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I also liked that the switch was easy to find in the bottom right to switch between the two display types. I turned it back and forth several times without any problems, and it was easy to view on a bright display surface.
Between the potential for extremely long runtime and two display options on a single screen, there's a lot to like here with the 60XE NXTpaper, and it'll be interesting to see if the same is the case on future TCL phones. Not to mention, it also won our best phone of CES 2025. Check out our 24 other favorites here.