TCL quietly did something clever with its Nxtpaper phone and AMOLED at MWC
Source: ZDNet
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- TCL has unveiled a Nxtpaper AMOLED concept phone.
- It promotes more vivid imagery while retaining its eye‑comfort elements.
- Key upgrades include a higher polarization rate and reduced blue light.
TCL Nxtpaper AMOLED concept at MWC
By building Nxtpaper over AMOLED, TCL says its phones can now achieve more vivid visuals while retaining the level of eye comfort we’ve come to expect. In a warm, naturally‑lit room, I picked up a working model and saw the difference myself.
Display comparison
Since the beginning, TCL Nxtpaper has been rooted in LCD panels, partly for the ease of light management (to create that natural e‑paper appearance) and cost. The downside of LCD backlighting, however, is reduced contrast and color accuracy. That’s where AMOLED comes in.
Using a paper‑like image sample set, the AMOLED unit was noticeably more color‑accurate, preserving brownish tones regardless of brightness. The AMOLED unit reached comparable brightness to the LCD model at just over the 50 % brightness setting, highlighting the efficiency of the panel upgrade.
Brightness and anti‑glare
TCL notes that the new phone can reach a peak brightness of 3,200 nits under outdoor sunlight, comparable to today’s flagship phones. The glass panel retains a matte texture, which TCL markets as the first anti‑glare AMOLED phone. Unlike the glossy anti‑glare treatments on devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, this matte finish reduces fingerprint smudges and oil marks.
Polarization and blue‑light reduction
As a Nxtpaper device, TCL touts an improved polarization rate, delivering a 43 % increase in light‑emission efficiency over preceding models. Blue‑light emission has been reduced to as low as 2.9 %, lessening eye strain, especially at night.
While the phone demonstrated was a concept—some functions like the Nxtpaper Key were not operational—the company is confident the technology will eventually reach the market.