Modern phone screens, including the best OLEDs, are not perfect. They flicker, usually with low pulse-width modulation (PWM) rates, and this can be irritating or downright painful for certain people. They also aren’t ideal for use in direct sunlight, as their shiny glass coverings can experience glare, limiting visibility. If you want to use your phone as an e-reader or limit distractions, most flagships lack the paper-like visual effects needed for the best experience.
There’s one company trying to address all of these issues, TCL, but the brand’s phones rarely make their way into the U.S. I went out of my way to buy the TCL 60 XE NXTPAPER 5G, a low-end model that actually was available stateside, and had to deal with slow speeds, a meager camera system, and budget-caliber build quality. At MWC 2026, TCL showed off the NXTPAPER 70 Pro, which is a much stronger offering finally coming to the U.S. next month.
Most devices try to keep your attention as much as possible, sucking you in with vibrant colors, constant notifications, and an abundance of distractions. By comparison, TCL’s upcoming phone has a dedicated slider that lets you cut out the noise in an instant.
An underrated part of NXTPAPER phones is their built-in matte glass display covering. Most phones are glossy, and this finish attracts fingerprints and adds unwanted glare. You could fix that with a matte screen protector, but doing so usually means compromising with a plastic film version, which isn’t ideal. With this solution, you get the premium feel and durability of glass while still receiving the anti-smudge and anti-glare benefits.
For the average user, the standout feature is the NXTPAPER key. It cycles through four color modes: full color, Color Paper Mode, Ink Paper Mode, and Max Ink Mode. It’s important to note that this is not an e-ink display, it simply simulates that effect using an LCD. However, it does an excellent job at that. Color Paper Mode makes your phone look like a Kindle Colorsoft, with a paper-like appearance and muted colors, while Ink Paper Mode does the same in a black-and-white environment.
Max Ink Mode is the really cool part. This mode not only enables a paper-like black-and-white viewing experience, but also limits the available apps and notifications. The idea is that you can use your phone as an e-reader without being distracted by other apps, like social media or messaging apps. It’s like having a minimalist phone that can turn into a full-fledged Android flagship with the flip of a switch.
Aside from improving your focus, Max Ink Mode is incredible for battery life. TCL says you can get seven days of battery life out of the NXTPAPER 70 Pro when using Max Ink Mode for reading. On standby mode, the phone can survive a whopping 26 days. We’ll have to confirm these claims for ourselves, but based on my time testing Max Ink Mode on other NXTPAPER phones, I believe it.
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For those that suffer from PWM flicker sensitivity, the fact that this phone offers a truly flicker-free experience will feel like a breath of fresh air. The phone uses DC dimming and the brightness can be lowered down to 1 nit. It’s also designed to try and block blue light, and meets a few eye-friendly standards:
- Low Visual Fatigue A+2.1 SGS certification
- Dim-Light Eye Protection SGS certification
- Flicker Free TÜV Certification
It’s everything except the eye-friendly display that matters here, because typically, buying a NXTPAPER phone in the U.S. meant compromising in every other area. In this case, you get a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 processor, a 5,200mAh battery, and up to 512GB of storage. The primary camera is a solid 50MP sensor, and it’s complimented by an 8MP ultrawide lens. On the front, you’ll find a 32MP selfie camera.
The design of the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro is also excellent, although it kind of looks like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge from the back. It looks more premium than old U.S. models that substituted fancy metal and glass for plastic.
The one thing we’re waiting to hear about the NXTPAPER 70 Pro is its U.S. pricing. We know that it will start at €299 with an optional €359 configuration in Europe, which comes out to $347 and $417 after conversions. That means we could be looking at $399 and $499 price points in the U.S., with availability starting April 2026 stateside.
I still want TCL to give us more NXTPAPER phones
The hardware in the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro is no slouch, and between the MediaTek processor and refined build quality, it’s definitely entering flagship territory. However, I would like to see TCL bring even more higher-end smartphones to the U.S. market. This is the first “Pro” phone with NXTPAPER tech to arrive, but I’d like to see an “Ultra” model debut sometime soon.
