r/nxtpaper

I am not a professional device reviewer.  I have discovered that most YouTube reviewers are allowed to review devices if they give them a glowing review without pointing out any weak spots.  I have been using digital ink devices for 2 years now.  I started with the ReMarkable Paper Pro, then the Boox Tab XC, the Vinwood AI Paper, and the iFlyTek AINOTE 2.  Each device has its weaknesses and strengths. 

I wanted to love the TCL A1 Note NXTPAPER.  The screen refresh rate is 120 Hz.  So, it is quick and responsive.  I am surprised that TCL did not set up the device like their NXTPAPER 14, with three screen modes: high-res color, simulated digital ink black and white, and simulated digital ink color.   The interface lets you tweak the screen to make it easier on the eyes (which it really is).  But the “Paper-like” screen is limited to the display and is not textured to feel like you are writing on paper (which nearly all of their competitors do).  This was a big misstep for the development team.

 

While the T-Note app also serves as the basic interface, it is limited in scope.  They do have some nice additions to the Notes app, like a ruler for drawing straight lines at any angle, and the selection of predefined shapes is nice too, but the manipulation of shapes once created needs a little work.  I also think the fountain pen needs a little work, as it doesn't write like a fountain pen.  AI integration, which is good in many aspects, is limited to the Notes App.  The Calendar-Todo app is buggy.  Half the time, it shows all the appointments, but they are shifted over one day (Monday’s appointments show up on Sunday, etc.).  Sometimes, half of the appointments do not show up at all. 

 

Instead of integrating all of Android's productivity features (such as Vinwood and iFlytek), they simply install Outlook on the system and leave it at that.  This was a real misstep in the software design.  While my corporate accounts use MS Exchange, it is hosted on our own servers.  Newer versions of Outlook do not work well with MS Exchange, unless the servers are hosted directly by Microsoft. 

 

The decision not to have the keyboard cover ready for distribution at the product launch has left a bad taste in the mouths of most early adopters, too.  The keyboard cover was included with the KickStart program and was also provided to all the reviewers on YouTube, as well as being pictured in the device's promotional materials.  For these devices to be truly functional in the creative and corporate workspace, the keyboard cover is essential.

 

While there is no perfect device on the market right out of the box, developers continue laboring tirelessly to improve the software that powers them.   For me, the iFlyTek AINOTE2 is about as close as it gets for my daily carry (although I still want to see them integrate Google Contacts into the native email program that works with Gmail). 

 

If I had been on the TCL development team, I would have examined my competitors as I designed the product, drawn on their strengths and concepts, and integrated AI into every aspect of the device.   Then I would have released a mature, highly functional device to the public, with a screen refresh that the digital ink world could not have matched.  Instead, the TCL A1 Note sits on my device as something that I play around with occasionally, hoping that future firmware updates will make it more functional in the real world.  (Also looking for a screen protector for it that will feel more like real paper, too.)

Just bought the 70 pro and am using the screen dimmer so to manage lowering the brightness, but the Kindle app overrides it. Anyone managed to get around this?

I recently got the 70 pro but the lack of good cases has been frustrating.

Ive actually had to 3d print one with TPU because the options are only equally low quality sub $10 amazon cases.

Has anyone gotten the stylus case?

I live in the US and havent seen one anywhere, not even for resale. It seems to be the best case option, and TCL even has a website for it, but the link to buy it redirects to a blocked url.

Whats going on with this? The phone has been out for months at this point, how can they sell the phone but not make the case available?

How are people who have this feeling about it? The biggest concern I have is lack of support

https://preview.redd.it/ahh3l036om1h1.png?width=1243&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a4c781ede57dd4c2da32c4f2424b1f5f235a81b

I have had the phone for the past 2 weeks, and I will preface this by saying I'm used to more power efficient phones like the nothing phone 3a pro, motorola g84 and motorola g54. As such I've been struggling immensly with how quickly the battery drains on this phone.

I've tried a multitude of things, like only using LTE, disabling battery optimisations, disabling all auto launches, 60hz, developer options, disabling WIFI and LTE search, manual brightness, disabling NXTVISION service, disabling eye comfort, using ADB to disable meta services, not using AdGuard, decreasing the time required for deep sleep...

Yet from 6 to 21 the phone is always dead (like 3-4% left sometimes even with a slight midday top up) in comparison to the nothing's and motorola's 25-31% with the same usage

According to accubattery my battery drain with screen on doesn't go below 10%/h and sometimes even goes up to 15%/h average for multiple hour sessions
Screen off often too is pretty high at 5-6%/h with deepsleep often breaking too and actually behaving like normal screen off instead of using the sometimes working 0.2%/h

My average of averages often comes round to 9-11% which seems really high. Is it a genuinely faulty battery/unit or is the phone supposed to be this way?
I did notice that the apps sometimes get stuck using a lot of resources vivaldi for example using 170% of cpu (1.7 cores) while not even running and having to be force closed (fixed since then), today it happened with tachiyomi which killed my phone in just 5.5h from 84%.
More suspicously using bluetooth earbuds while listening to music on youtube music (revanced) (with 3d boom off doesn't change much drain wise but still tested both) used 70% of a cpu core which is a lot.

Not to mention cellular especially 5g pings the phone constantly especially in low connection areas waking the phone up constantly preventing deep sleep

If someone knows their crap please do tell or ask me questions, I really want to stick with the phone, the screen is unimaginable to give up.

I own the official 70 pro stylus case, but since not everyone is able to buy that yet I wanted to do a quick list of styluses that I found worked (and how well they do with screen protectors)

The official pen works perfectly even with a screen protector. Pressure sensitivity works fine.

The pen for the "tcl stylus 5g" works exactly like the original, it also works well with screen protectors. And has pressure sensitivity. And it's magnetic so you can attach it to the back of a magsafe case! Also you can get them for only 5 bucks on aliexpress. That's why I would recommend this one over the official one

Lenovo integrated pen (came with my Thinkpad l13 yoga). Works with pressure sensitivity. But the pen only works good if you have no screen protector. With a screen protector the line gets broken all the time.

NXTPAPER 14 pen: it works, pressure sensitivity also works. But it also didn't like the screen protector at all, the line got broken up all the time. (I didn't test this one without protector, but I think it would work better without one, like the thinkpad pen)

If you got any infos about which styluses work please write them in the comments!

I bought a cheap (£5) "Anti-Blue Light Hydrogel Screen Protector" via eBay, not expecting anything. Surprisingly, the screen does possibly feel a little more comfortable than it did without it (although my tolerance may have shifted). It makes it massively more reflective, of course...

But the bigger surprise: it made the sub-pixel structure crystal clear! Compared to without, shown in my review... This indicates the "nano etched" matte surface finish is the only thing obstructing the view. I had the impression there should be more going on under the surface, but the information about a "Middle Layer: Diffuse Reflection" in the version 3 screen whitepaper is omitted in version 4's. And this is my first TCL product, so I've no feel for any changes in appearance.

Microscope video at 480fps (16x slowdown) of the middle of the test image on the \"Colour mode & temperature\" settings screen (indicated in image below).

The upshot is that we can clearly spot any temporal dithering going on (YouTube version of above as a backup)... But I actually struggled to find any TD in the usual places: home screen icon text, gradients, including Lagom test page (in image below), or NXTpaper modes (surprisingly)... But it is definitely there in HDR YouTube videos (eg "COSTA RICA IN 4K 60fps HDR") and performing an absolute disco on the settings page test image (below):

TCL NXTpaper 60 Ultra. Left: settings page with dithering image and flash reflection demonstration. Right: Lagom test page and Carson Microflip scope (that was attached to my old OnePlus 8T).

A problem is that I have previously used ADB commands to try to disable HDR capabilities (and so TD). I think I re-enabled this (back to default) upon retesting, previously. But I couldn't be sure then (or now) if I've changed something that will reduce TD. And don't have the time to fiddle with it a 3rd time. u/NSutrich has done similar and reported similar observations. But I'd appreciate anyone else, with a 'clean' new phone, confirming what they see, too. Using a suitable screen protector - hydrogel may be more clearly visible than glass, conforming to the surface texture better.

Example of the lack of obvious dithering (below and on YouTube). There are possibly slight fluctuations of the half-dimmed green sub-pixels, on the long edge of the "r". Which I wouldn't know enough to distinguish between TD, text anti-aliasing or pixel inversion..? There are, however, little black splotch flashes, kind of like film grain. I wondered if they are camera sensor noise..? But I've not noticed them elsewhere. So maybe some phenomenon with the backlight? They don't appear to align well with sub-pixels, although they are more visible on red ones, at the ends (some inversion artifact?).

Example of a lack of clear TD on lettering. But clear black flashes all over.

Bonus screen protector filtering evaluation: I had a go at making a precise measurement of the colour spectrum of the screen, before and after, using my cheap spectroscope. By locking my camera to the exact same Pro mode settings and measuring the same part of the screen, etc, I measured a possible blue colour intensity reduction of about 5% (relative to the red and green intensity changes). But I guestimate the potential error in my measurement to be as big as this value. So not significant. And directly overlaying (and subtracting) the 'before' and 'with protector' spectrum photos showed total black, so no notable difference between them.

Top: screenshot of phone taking the spectrum photo. Bottom: Affinity photo comparison.

Hence I'd say the blue light blocking of the screen is wishful thinking, at best (perhaps block some UV, who knows). So any change in comfort is more likely from the crisper screen appearance. It feels nicer to my finger tips. Looks better used indoors, in dim lighting. But it hopeless outside; the worse of both worlds, being reflective and less bright than contemporary OLEDs.

tl;dr: cheap blue-light screen filter doesn't work as intended, but may help those who suffered from the blurriness of this screen finish. But reflections are far worse. Handy trick for testing other devices with a matte finish obscuring the pixel structure. TCL 60 Ultra shows minimal temporal dithering in most everyday contexts.

Edit 2026-05-10: fixed images broken by delayed Reddit bug. Minor text tweaks.

(Thumbnail image hack)

Is anyone else experiencing problems making or receiving voice calls on the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro? I bought mine from Amazon UK, and everything works fine except voice calls, which is quite frustrating. I’m currently based in Singapore and using M1 as my mobile carrier.

Just received my NXTPAPER 70 Pro, and overall I'd say it's fantastic, especially considering the price-point.

But I'll never use this as an everyday phone simply because it's too large to port around. No phone should be pulling my shorts down when I'm going for a hike!

Seriously though, TCL has clearly found a niche that no other manufactures have and the movement is gaining momentum. Even T-mobile employees were asking me to stop by and show them the phone when I got my hands on one.

So in my opinion, TCL can carve this niche even deeper for themselves by releasing a smaller version. There are virtually no modern smartphones that aren't oversized. So my hunch is, if TCL would consider something like a 5" version of this phone it would sell like crazy.

What are your thoughts, do you agree? Please upvote this idea for visibility!

I have a 60 xe and I'll be moving on to other phones. This phone just isn't fast enough. I don't game on my phones but for things like navigation this phone lags too much in updating location. It also has crashed and hung too much with apps because of the slow speed.

It's not a bad concept for a phone but it just needs more speed. Minimum snapdragon 7 performance. Also the epaper like features are what upper income people would prioritize so sticking with low level professors doesn't really make sense.

Hey everyone,

Enjoying the A1 so far. I really like the screen for reading comics / manga.

Running into an issue though where I can’t zoom in on pdfs when annotating.

Anyone know a way around this?