It was the first time I’d seen a TCL Nxtpaper screen in person, and if I was told it was a normal OLED screen, I would have believed it. That’s how far this relatively new tech has come, and why you should now start to pay attention. I was handling the new TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper smartphone and Nxtpaper 11 Plus tablet at MWC 2025, and they’re both coming to the U.S. later this year. Here’s why the screen tech is so exciting.
Using the TCL 60 XE
TCL’s Nxtpaper screen is really unusual. It’s designed to reduce eye strain, lower blue light emission, and cut down on glare, and it can switch between a full color mode called Color Paper and a full monochrome Max Ink mode with an e-paper-like look, plus there’s a new in-between mode called Ink Paper which shows some muted colors. In the past modes were switched by digging through the Settings menu, making it a slow process and lowering the chances of you using it.
This has changed on the TCL 60 XE. There’s a handy Nxtpaper key on the side of the phone, which can be configured to instantly change between two modes, or to show the menu allowing you to choose the screen type you want. When you flick the switch, the screen morphs in front of your eyes, and the way the color blooms or fades away is rather magical. I know I’d end up doing it just to see the animation.
The simplicity means you can take full advantage of the Nxtpaper’s efficiency. When you switch to the monochrome mode, the battery life is immediately extended, and the phone is still perfectly usable for text-based activities. Perhaps even better is when you are in full color mode, the screen looks and operates just like a normal OLED. Video looks good, the screen has a wide viewing angle, and it has a 120Hz refresh rate so it’s easy on your eyes.
Using the Nxtpaper 11 Plus
The TCL 60 XE smartphone uses the third generation Nxtpaper screen, but the Nxtpaper 11 Plus tablet has the fourth generation version. It’s hard to immediately spot the differences, but when its side-by-side with the phone, you can see it has better contrast, strong blacks, and a hint more vibrance. The phone can suffer with some blurring when watching fast-paced video, but it was harder to spot on the tablet.
The tablet has the same screen modes as the phone, but TCL has used the Nxtpaper 4.0 screen to introduce two new features, Screen Eye Comfort Mode, and Personalized Eye Comfort Mode. The first adjusts everything from the brightness and contrast to the color temperature and refresh rate of the screen according to the environment and usage, while the Personalized Eye Comfort Mode uses a series of test images to optimize the screen for your vision.
Oddly, TCL hasn’t used a switch on the tablet to change between screen modes. Instead it has added another function to the already overloaded power button, and it’s less intuitive. The button copes with single, double, and long presses, and can call up AI features and be assigned to apps. It does have a nice glowing light ring around it though, so you can at least see it has recognized you’ve pressed it, even though it doesn’t always do what you expect.
TCL 60 XE and TCL Nxtpaper 11 Plus specs
I loved the way you can now switch so easily between modes, and the Max Ink mode looks so paper-like, and the tablet screen in particular has a lovely low-glare matte finish, I could tell I’d be happy to read on them for hours. This is why I came away impressed. TCL’s Nxtpaper screen now looks almost as good as an OLED, but transforms into an e-paper screen in one, single action. The Amazon Kindle better watch out.
The screen is what makes the TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper special, and the rest of the specification is solidly mid-range. The 6.78-inch screen shows Android 15, which is relatively free of any interference from TCL, and it’s powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ processor with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage space. There’s a 50-megapixel main camera, a 5MP wide-angle, and a 2MP depth camera on the back. There are a couple of unusual features for 2025, such as a MicroSD card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack though.
The phone is 8.1mm thick and 195 grams, making it an easy phone to carry around with you. The Nxtpaper 11 Plus tablet has an 11.5-inch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, showing Android just like the phone, and it’s powered by a different MediaTek processor, the Helio G100. Inside is a massive 8,000mAh battery, and 256GB of storage space. It’s compatible with several accessories, including a case and a stylus.
Why buy one?
What I liked about the Nxtpaper screens is the convenience. Few of us want to carry multiple devices to make sure all our requirements are met. I saw the TCL devices in Barcelona, Spain at MWC 2025. In my bag, along with my phone and laptop, was a Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. I prefer reading on an e-paper screen, but because my time is limited for reading when I’m away for work, not taking it would have been preferable. TCL’s Nxtpaper 11 Plus tablet could realistically take the place of my Kindle and my laptop, depending on what I needed to do.
I like that versatility, and because the screen doesn’t appear to have major drawbacks, it wouldn’t feel like a compromise. However, I haven’t spent any meaningful time with the tablet yet, and the phone’s camera and overall performance is also an unknown. But as a technical showcase for the Nxtpaper screen, both are extremely impressive.
TCL intends to release the TCL 60E in the U.S. around June 2025, and the price is expected to be between $250 and $300. The tablet will come around the same time, and cost a reasonable $250.
