Description
About this item 64GB of Storage: Create amazing videos and pictures anytime with ease. With the TCL 30 SE unlocked cell phone, you won’t run out of space – 64GB internal memory gives you enough space to download and install everything you wish to have on your phone. You can also add up to 512GB of memory with a microSD card (sold separately). 6.52″ HD+ Display Powerd by NXTVISION: AI optimization allows the screen to deliver more dynamic color and crisp clarity to immerse you in the subtle details. Eye-comfort modes have better protection against blue light and to feel less eye strain while using the TCL 30 SE. The adaptive display allows you to comfortably use the TCL 30 SE in dimly lit spaces as well as in bright daylight. Wireless Carrier Compatibility: Compatible with the T-Mobile and AT&T LTE networks. This device is currently not certified for use on Verizon, Straight talk,Tracfone, Spectrum, Xfinity, etc. For more carrier information, please refer to the compatibility chart or contact our customer support. 50MP AI -Powered Rear Triple Camera System: With TCL 30 SE android phone, you can capture fast-moving subjects or take clear photos in dimly lit environments. Gesture shooting entirely frees your hands and makes taking pictures even easier. Two-day Battery Life: The massive 5000 mAh battery allows you to worry less about your battery levels. The two-day battery life keeps you going and doing what you love, while the intelligent charging mode prolongs the battery’s lifespan. TCL 30 SE mobile phone does not support 5G, NFC, and 5Ghz Wi-Fi. US version with a one-year US warranty. About Screen Sensitivity: Our phones are set to a neutral screen sensitivity defaultly. If you find the screen unsensitive, please adjust the sensitivity level through settings ( Settings -> System – > Languages & input ->Advanced ->Pointer speed).Drag the slider right to increase sensitivity. Drag the slider left to decrease sensitivity.
Network
Compatible with the T-Mobile and AT&T LTE networks. Not compatible with Verizon, Spectrum, Xfinity, etc. For more carrier information, please refer to the compatibility chart or contact our customer support.
Note
* TCL 30 SE is single SIM mobile phone, does not support 5G and 5Ghz Wi-Fi.
* Wifi calling supported on these carriers: T-Mobile, Metro, simple, ultra mobile, mint mobile.
Information
Turn your great times into magical memories with a 50MP AI triple camera. Enjoy collecting memories with large storage of up to 64GB. Two-day battery life keeps you doing what you love, while a minimalistic design makes you live in style. The face key & fingerprint sensor provide access effortlessly.
Technical Parameters:
2G Quadbands : GSM 850/900/1800/1900
3G Bands : B1/2/4/5/8
4G LTE bands: B2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/26/28/66
Display: 6.52-inch Mini-notch HD+ 20:9 display (720 x 1600 pixels)
Screen-to-body ratio: 90%
AI Quad Camera: 50MP Main Camera+2MP Macro Camera+2MP Depth Camera
Front camera resolution: 8MP
Chipset: Helio G25
CPU: 4 x Cortex-A53 @ 2.0GHz+4 x Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz
GPU: IMG GE8320 650MHz
Memory: 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM (Supports micro SD card up to 512GB, SD card not included)
Dimensions:.6.50 x 2.97 x 0.35 inch
Battery: 5000mAh
Audio：One speaker + dual-mic noise cancellation
What’s in the box
1 x TCL 30 SE Mobile phone
1 x TCL 30 SE Mobile Phone Case
1 x Screen Protector
1 x Type-C Cable
1 x Charger (5V 2A)
1 x Sim Card Pin
1 x Quick Guide
Notes: Headphones, SIM Card and SD Card are not included.
John B. –
2.0 out of 5 stars
Overall a good phone but within 2 months of owning it have already had multiple issues.
My wife and I both bought the TCL 30se phones and overall really liked them. Has three cameras on it but only one of them seems to do anything for the picture. I’ve covered the other two cameras and it didn’t affect the photos either way. So I’m not sure if they’re for some kind of contrast or saturation or some kind of filter, but when I put my finger in front of them it did nothing to enhance the picture in any way. Two weeks after getting my phone it randomly blacked out and took 10 minutes or so before it would power back on, my storage is not full by any means on the phone. But it periodically blacks out and restarts for no reason. Overall I don’t have too many complaints with the phone. The picture quality isn’t as great as they say it is, but it’s still definitely pretty good, the flashlight is super dumb and hardly emits any light. My wife’s phone for some reason she has to have the Wi-Fi on, we don’t have Wi-Fi in our house, but she has to go to the setting and have it on otherwise the phone randomly loses service. Like I said we have zero Wi-Fi in our house she just has to have it turned on on the phone. So I’m not sure what the big deal is. But overall pretty good phones, however my screen will change brightness whether it’s on auto or manual. I’ve messed with all of the settings to try and fix the issue, but on night time mode when I like the brightness to be dimmer sometimes it’s still really bright and takes a couple tries of tapping the screen before it will finally dim. Not sure what the deal is with these phones. Maybe we just got two lemons. But so far I’m not too unhappy with them. But the microphones are horrible. A lot of the time I have to go back and type out by hand what I was trying to voice type. Does not help that the microphone is on top of the phone.
One person found this helpful
RobinS –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yes, get this one!
I’m ecstatic that I picked this one. 6 months ago I traded in my note 20 in an upgrade for iPhone 14. I couldn’t handle the iPhone came back to Android, this phone works 98% as good as my $1,000 Note 20. the only difference is it doesn’t have a stylus and this phone is 4G which 9 of 10 times is a moot point as the data / internet on this is very fast! I refuse to pay for overpriced phones any longer.. do yourself a favor, the reviews are true this phone is wonderful. also I’ve been on this battery charge for a day and a half -I’m still at 60% without using battery saver. this phone is a win-win!
6 people found this helpful
Elle S –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lagg
Phone was laggy but I guess you get what you paid for but other then that pretty good phone
One person found this helpful
James Aulestia –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine equipment
Great price, great phone.
Faith christine kelderhouseFaith christine kelderhouse –
4.0 out of 5 stars
This a NICE little phone!
I bought my very 1st Apple phone. Get one! They said. You’ll love it! They said. I hate it! It’s the worst phone I ever owned. So I bought myself another android but I had to go with a budget phone. Enter TCL 30 Se ! It works well, easy to use, nice display (although not as crisp as a higher $$ phone) and lots of features! Fingerprint scanner works
2 people found this helpful
sandy –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very durable. Nice camera
While I wanted a Samsung, I am very pleased with this phone
One person found this helpful
John M. –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good value
This phone includes front and back protective covers and charging cord with plug. 128 gig of memory gives ample room for apps. It could be our carrier, but some apps work a little slowly with this phone. This phone will not work with Verizon but works well with ATT. A sim card is not included. Overall, it is a very good buy.
4 people found this helpful
MenAtTwerk –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very solid phone, especially at this price point
I have only had Android phones so I can’t speak to any iPhone comparisons, but for me this has been a great phone so far. I have had a series of LG’s for the last few years and they have all been pretty decent, but my latest LG (K51) was pretty unimpressive from day 1. Slow, laggy, unresponsive and prone to freezing, it mostly disappointed me. Decided to try this TCL based on other reviews and the fact that it works on T-Mobile and shares the same SIM card size as my K51. also got it on sale on Amazon for only 118$ so why not give it a try right? After a week it has been great, good battery life and very smooth and responsive UI setup. Haven’t taken a ton of pictures yet but the few I have taken seem decent enough. Face recognition works great as does Smart lock with trusted Bluetooth devices. Swapping SIMs worked no problem for me on T-Mobile, did not need to visit the phone store at all just switch and go. Based on a week of use I would recommend this very highly for the budget cell phone shopper!
6 people found this helpful
Powerrupp –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Cheap Android!
PROS:-we use this to mostly stream videos and it works GREAT with very few issues-Good weight (was expecting it to feel lightweight but it feels like a iPhone/Samsung quality weight)-comes with a phone cover-comes with screen protector-can play YouTube all day without having to worry about the battery-camera isn’t bad-screen display is good quality-set up was so easy if you are used to Android productsCONS:-cannot connect to my iPhone hotspot but will connect to Android hotspot** never had issues connecting other devices-weird app issues (having to restart some apps) -need to have screen cleaned more often or the touch screen gets a little messed up where you can’t click and it’s less sensitive.** issues are compared to iPhone 13 and Samsung 22 Ultra.-not enough cases (an issue if you drop your phone a lot because there are no military grade cases ANYWHERE)Overall for the price I’m so satisfied. I highly recommend!
4 people found this helpful
Carlos V. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
it’s got a good quality feel to it and it’s user friendly due to a clever operating system
i like the phone because it feels like a high quaity hardware build and it’s easy to use due to a clever operating system.
ScottyPB –
5.0 out of 5 stars
WOW on the battery life!!
Purchased this phone to use just for WiFi calling using a VOIP service app for work connected to my office phone extension so I don’t have a SIM card in it. The whole purpose was a remote office phone for when I’m at home and not at the office. Didn’t want the app on my regular cell phone. Works almost about like my Google Pixel phone does – just a little slower. One thing that is odd is the boot time for the phone takes a ridiculous amount of time. I’ve never seen any phone take as long as this phone takes to boot. Since it’s really only used for the VOIP app for work – I haven’t played games on it or done anything else really to test that. The batter life is absolutely amazing though. I’ve never seen an Android phone last this long even on standby.
2 people found this helpful
Chouch –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good phone and value.
Easy to set up and transfer data from prior phone (I used Wireless, as the wired option did not seem to work). I like the microSD option to expand storage. It comes with either 64 or 128 GB internal storage (I got the 64, which is adequate for me along with the added option of a microSD). There were quite a few unnecessary apps which are easy to uninstall. Someone complained about the SD formatting, but I did not encounter this issue (I had a 64 GB SanDisk card in my prior phone and formatted it before inserting). The phone charges well in a very reasonable time, though not super turbo fast mode and it holds the charge very well with a great battery life. The display is fairly good and crisp, and the volume/speaker is good as well. It came with a case and screen protector as a bonus. The case is a clear semi firm plastic with a good fit and is quite adequate. I will keep it as spare and bought a different closed folding case for better protection, namely for screen padding. The included screen protector, however, is totally worthless (Thin, soft, cheap adhesive plastic that leaves lots of bubble). I don’t hold this against the phone, and I threw it in the trash. I used a 9H tempered glass screen protector that came with the separate case I bought. Keep in mind pretty much all phones do not include a case or screen protector, and for that matter the newer pricey phones do not come with a wall charger either. I personally think it is stupid not to include a wall charger anymore. Who knows maybe new cars will start selling without a battery soon; They already took the spare tire, gas cap and CD away (Call me old fashioned). The phone takes slightly longer time to start when it is fully shut down/off, which is the only down, though not a major issue. As listed, it is not 5G capable, but still very functional. My initial impression of this phone is very favorable. Hopefully it will last. Thank you.
47 people found this helpful
john j. podson –
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great phone for the $$
A Great phone for the money. I bought 4… for friends in Costa Rica.
jessie murray –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great budget phone for the whole family
I ordered my phone in August 2022 I love the phone it done everything my Samsung Galaxy S10 done for me in the past and this phone has a better battery life than any of my Samsung phones combined (I was a straight Samsung Fan before I switched to TCL) I feel like I get more usage out of this phone for what I needed this phone for I am a heavy social media user, mobile gamer,and I also edit pictures/videos with this phone and the cameras are great and very detailed! I use TikTok alot and I am TikToker; I’ve ordered this phone twice and I am getting ready to order another again I’ve purchased it once for myself and thought it would be a nice upgrade for my parents too and they both are sharing one between them right now their older I wanted to make sure my Dad was able to progress on my mom’s phone I just bought before Christmas and he has showed decent amount of success with this phone. So; both phones are just extremely user friendly my mom and I both have eye problems and honestly the drop down menu is easier to get too the eye comfort settings better for us than most phones. This phone has a louder speàker and ringer my mom also have hearing problems and this phone makes the most sense for her and my dad too. He’s looking forward to his new phone too in January around his birthday as promised 😊.The only cons about this phone is the wifi-calling I don’t know why but that’s the only issue I’ve came across on both phones; it’s not a big deal! For us! We use T-Mobile as our carrier However might be for someone else. The other is the finger print scanner is sentive however if it gets dirty it won’t register your fingers at all must keep clean; I clean mine once a week to avoid reading errors. But once again great budget phones!Update! My Dad has his phone andWe’re very satisfied with all three phones.
43 people found this helpful
😊 –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly beautiful
I’m writing this a bit early but I’m very very smitten with this phone right now. This setup was totally easy! It’s sleek and very pretty and if the battery holds out this phone’s a keeper! Will re-edit this review if things go south but so far so good!
One person found this helpful
Alex S. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Budget smartphone that meets all my needs and more!
This phone replaced my older LG phone and I am so glad I bought it. This phone’s newer Android version supports all the apps I need unlike my old phone that was running an older version of Android. It has a great battery life and not a lot of bloatware installed (I was able to easily uninstall most preinstalled apps that I didn’t want).It has several options available to unlock the screen including pattern, face recognition, and fingerprint (face recognition and fingerprint are optional, they do not have to be enabled to use this phone).I like that many of the standard apps (messaging, contacts, call, etc.) are Google apps. I am not a hardcore gamer, so I basically needed a phone that could make calls, text message, web surfing, and watching YouTube videos, this phone does all this without a problem. This phone is plenty of fast for my needs. I love the amount of emojis and GIFS available on the messaging app, I might be over doing it with the emojis now.Do Not Disturb feature can be found under Settings and then under Sound & Vibration. Do Not Disturb can be customized to not receive calls on a certain days of the week and time. Also allows you to pick who you receive text messaging and calls from during times that you enable the Do Not Disturb feature (you can allow calls and/or messages from: Anyone, From Contacts Only, From Starred Contacts Only, or from None).There are plenty of instructional videos on YouTube which help you customize this phone to your liking (removing or adding any phone feature is very easy).I enabled the Battery percentage display next to the battery icon (my preference). Here are the steps: Go to your Settings, click on Display, scroll down to Status Bar & Notch, click Battery Percentage, and then it gives you three options (Do Not Show, Inside Battery Icon, or Next To Battery Icon).I did have an issue with not receiving notifications from some apps like several News apps. This was easily remedied by going into the Smart Manager app, clicking Auto-Start, and then clicking off Automatically Manage.Overall extremely happy with this phone, I was hesitant of buying a TCL branded phone because I had never had any experience with them but so far I am very satisfied. Thanks TCL, keep up the good work!!!p.s. For just a little more money, I would definitely go with the 128GB version of this phone instead of the 64GB. Much better storage space with the 128GB version.
26 people found this helpful
pam –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good phone for the money I’ve looking phone
Nice looking phone and one of the easiest to set up. For the price it’s great. However it does seem to lag a bit. So far it isn’t a problem but everytime I load a new app it lags a bit more. So far so good. For the price you can’t complain too much. Plus it came with everything you need… charger case glass protector. Very happy with it.
Amazon Customer –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the money
Works good however not all apps compatible with phone
vic poirier –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Using it now
No problem with this phone. Works well
M. Rousseau –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dated but decent low-cost phone for high risk use, international travel
I bought this phone as we are spending most of the year traveling for early retirement. I wanted a device that I could use abroad on GSM phone networks with a local SIM card. I wanted decent battery life, readable screen, and a low cost in case it got pickpocketed or broken. My idea was to keep a travel phone without any of my lifestyle apps, including PII and financial information. My “real” phone has too much stoff that I can’t allow to fall into the wrong hands.This phone has been pretty good. I wish that the Umidigi F3 Pro 5G had been on discount, when I bought this. That would make a much more interesting and useful phone. But, it was more than 2x the price at the time. I got this phone on a Lightning Deal, and so it was compelling enough to buy. It seems like a new version of the Google 3XL (now unsupported). Good dedicated HW fingerprint reader on the backside. Comes with case and screen protector, which was great. Limited to 4G and 3.4GHz WiFi (boo!). No 5GHz WiFi in 2023 sucks. Did you even save $1 eliminating that?TCL has apparently already abandoned this phone. No updates, no ability to unlock the bootloader and install a custom, modern OS ROM. Very disappointed in the lack of security or OS updates for a one year old phone. I won’t be buying another product from TCL if this is how they support their products.For uder $100 I would say it is a modest buy, if you need a temporary or kids’ phone. That money could probably be better used on a higher end phone that hits a good sale. Effectively, this is a 2018 phone being sold today.
8 people found this helpful
Venessa –
4.0 out of 5 stars
I good purchase
I am using the phone now to wright this review. If you are clumsy like me get a really good screen protector and phone case. It’s a good phone.
2 people found this helpful
LiveWithTechLiveWithTech –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Budget full-fledged phone with all major features you would need at this price!
The media could not be loaded.
Got this budget phone to use as my secondary phone and also to put an international mobile sim in it. Didn’t want to spend a fortune as my primary phone is one of the latest iPhones and hence decided to go for this after a friend’s suggestion. Overall I am very satisfied with the phone for the features it offers at this price. Comes as a complete package including a case and a screen protector too. I would recommend this phone for this price and if you are fine with the cons mentioned below.Here is my take after owning this phone for a week:Pros:- This phone is compatible with all US carriers mentioned in the description. I tried it with a T-Mobile connection and it works great- It has a good microphone and the sound is clear overall during calls- Screen resolution is good (6.52″ HD+ display with 720×1600 resolution & 20:9 aspect ratio) and usable for most of the needs- Screen is bright and even usable outdoors in sunlight- It has a loudspeaker overall and does the job for most of the needs. Audio works great- Comes with 64GB ROM, however, around 30% of the storage is being used by the operating system itself. But, the SDcard slot lets you expand the storage by 512GB further- It is an android phone and hence supports all the apps that you can imagine (email, MP3, GPRS, FM radio, touch screen, GPS navigation, video player, Internet browser, Google map, etc.). This phone does everything that any smartphone should do. Full-fledged features at this price point- Touch screen is surprisingly good and responsive too. Attached is a video with my attempt to use it- Phone is handy enough to operate. I was skeptical initially thinking about the size of the phone- Comes with the latest android version loaded in it. Hopefully will have the updates also available when the new one comes- Has both fingerprint and face unlock options. Fingerprint unlock is fast enough- The camera quality is good enough for basic needs & especially at this price- Has 5000 mAh battery and should give 2 days of use after each full charge- There are literally no additional apps pre-installed on the phone and come clean from bloatware out of the box. Very user-friendly software- Build quality is nice overall & the phone looks elegant overall- Phone is lightweight overall and handy to use- It is very reasonably priced for the features it offers- Power adapter is included in the package to charge this phone, however, it is not a blazing fast charger- They do bundle a clear case and a screen protector in the package- Comes with 1 year of manufacturer warrantyCons:- It only has the 4 GB RAM and of which 1.9GB is already occupied by the Android system, hence does not leave so much room for heavy applications or games. I wish it had 6 or 8 GB of RAM- Slow charging speed with 15W as per current market advancements- Does not support 5Ghz Wi-Fi network and hence you will be limited with WiFi speed at 2.4Ghz- This is not a 5G phone and hence not future proof- Camera is overall good but picture quality can’t be compared to iPhone ones- Not compatible with any CDMA networks. The buyer should consider this before purchasing it- Only 1 year of guaranteed software updates and that could be a big concern for a few picky customers- No IP ratings for water or dust proofing
124 people found this helpful
Joshua Murray –
4.0 out of 5 stars
UPDATE – unbelievably great customer service, was only 1 start. Thank you, Elena!
UPDATE: Original post below.In what I would call unbelievable customer service, TCL reached out to me themselves and offered to make this right. I did not make it easy for them as I was very very unsatisfied, but TCL customer service went above and beyond what I would have expected a company to do to make their customers feel good about their experience. Truly outstanding. My experience with the phone was 1 star. TCL customer service is 5 star. So, I adjusted. Now I’m happy with the phone I have and TCL still has me as a customer.Original post:I have to give this 1 star, and it’s because it turns on.Sounds like it will be great. Transferred all my apps, got everything set up. Storage is only have full. I’m ready to go.Nope.Nope because of all of the following:Auto brightness doesn’t work.Any custom ringtone, notification, alarm spontaneously resets to factory default.Apps ranging from a game to just going into your Google account settings will freeze and crash.Won’t load graphics in games like Marvel Snap, a card game, let alone anything graphic intensive. Forget about that.Consistently drops wifi and phone signals. Also, only connects ti 2.4 ghz wifi. So slow speeds all around….when it connects. I drop wifi between 12 and 20 times a day, every day.Phone calls on wifi are impossible because it’s always garbled, even when sitting right next to the router.Tapping the screen? Expect a 3-5 second delay most of the time.The camera? It loses focus. It has zero stabilization. Fuzzy pictures. It says 50 MP camera. You can take one picture, then have to go back in and set it to take another picture. The lesser resolutions are just so bad. I can’t use them for work at all.The display is only 720p, which is ridiculous. Who doesn’t put in at least 1080I have a friend with a $75 dollar prepaid phone. His works way better than this phone.I love TCL. I have them all over my house. High quality stuff from them.This is not that. This is really the most regrettable purchase I have made in at least 3 years.Avoid at all costs, because it’s not worth what they’re asking, not even close.I wish someone from TCL would read this so they know how bad their product is… Because I sure didn’t when I bought this.But now you do. Do yourself a favor and get something else… Anything else.
28 people found this helpful
Jennifer Faye –
4.0 out of 5 stars
I got a new phone for my mother and a friend wow
Beautiful phone. Nice size screen , but phone volume is too low. Even at highest Volume
2 people found this helpful
Sierra N.K. Kahawaii –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome phone!
I got this for my my mom, who is the least tech friendly person I know lol. We were able to set up her phone in about 20 minutes or so and she has figured out how to use it within the first few days. Picture quality is great, hardly can tell the difference between her phone and my new galaxy. The screen is quite large compared to her old pixel 2 and the phone size is easy for her to grip and find in her bottomless pit of a purse.Overall if you’re looking for a phone with good quality without breaking your bank, this would be a good contender!
RM. –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Battery Swelling
I’ve had this phone for a year now and about a month ago I noticed it was getting hot whenever I used the camera. I’ve since discovered that the heat is coming from the battery and after 11 months of excellent use, the phone now has battery problems and the back of the case is not protruding so the phone does not sit flat anymore.Everything I’ve read online says to stop using a phone immediately if the battery swells. They say this is a fire hazard.I should have bought the extended warranty, but my guess is they they would not have covered the battery either. You would expect that no matter the price point, the battery should last longer that 11 months.I’d love to buy another TCL phone, but this battery issue is forcing me to go with another brand.
3 people found this helpful
Cynthia Castillo –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Almost as good as a previous genration Google Pixel (3 or 4)
While I do plan to go back to Google Pixel in the future, I will say I have mostly very positive things to say about the phone. I will go into detail about the flaws I noticed. I am using the Google Pixel 3 as reference as that was my last phone before I had to rush to buy this one due to having it stolen.First off, let’s start with the pros:PROSGreat Battery life – way better than on the Google Pixel (3).Has a solid build and feel to it – Not quite rugged phone level (unless you get the right case for it.) but it has a sleek design that looks simple but very appealing.Able to uninstall pre loaded apps with no issues.Works with the listed carriers, including way more as long as they fit the requirements. (I am on US mobile and it works fine on there.)Options to save the battery – My pixel had battery saving mode but the one on this phone is extreme and if you keep it on there, it’s similar to having a rugged phone with a large battery size. It’s pretty nice.Transitions are smooth unless a LOT of apps are running – a tiny (And I mean tiny) bit of lag here and there, but it’s to be expected.Headphone jacks – you can use an SD card on this phone – the camera is almost as good as the Google Pixel 3 or 4 (HDR mode) – And of course it comes unlocked.Now we will go to the cons. Keep in mind that I have been rocking the google pixel series phone for almost 4 years. I always compare any phone that I need short term or considering for long term before making a choice. As of this time, I will keep this phone long term until I can afford the latest Google Pixel phone.CONSGames (Raid is one example) must either be set to MED. or below settings or (Like Pokemon Go) the game assets (basically EVERYTHING in the game) would need to be pre-downloaded beforehand. I am only pointing this out because there are a number of gamers that due game on the android platform. From what I notice, sometimes the FPS dips a bit when there are too many things on screen. Very noticeable animation lag. On 2D or simple games, this is NOT an issue. But keep this in mind.Slower download/upload speeds – You will notice it when trying to load a page with a lot of content, or say the reddit app. Even on Wifi, while loads faster, still slower.SLOW CHARGING – I am putting this in caps so that way people know. So this does NOT have fast charging. This is something that I actually miss from my pixel. Now, I do not know if I would need to get a different type of charger or cable but from what I read and have seen, it does not fast charge. It charges a bit slowly, it could be due to the larger battery. But just something to be aware of.Speakers are at the bottom of the phone – This is a con for me. But something to be aware of.Only a year of updates.BOTTOM LINE: If you need an new phone, with *almost* the same performance as a google pixel 3 or 4 if it’s just to get you by until you buy your main phone, your kid, your parents, etc I highly recommend this phone. With a good hybrid case, you have yourself a rugged phone that is better than 90% of the “rugged phones” that are out there. With a normal thin case, it feels light and slim. It’s a very solid option. I just hope they can put in a more powerful chip or even throw on more ram so that way it runs games and apps a lot faster.
58 people found this helpful
wannabe perfectionist 💬wannabe perfectionist 💬 –
5.0 out of 5 stars
impressive Android phone at even more impressive price
My wife, 3 children and I all use iPhones and have various different models. My parents use Android phones because they preferred Samsung phone over Apple iPhone. They are now so used to using the Android phone, they don’t want to switch over to iPhone but my dad recently dropped his Samsung phone on a hiking trip and his phone cracked opened and needed to get a new one so I got this as his replacement Android phone until his current AT&T contract ends for new promotional upgrade. I told him to give it back to me once he gets a new phone later because I can use this as a backup phone incase one of my kids lose or break their phones but he actually loves this phone so much that he might just keep it permanently. We all have AT&T family plan and this TCL 30 SE worked fine with AT&T service and should work with any other GSM carriers.I helped my dad replace the nano-sim card from old broken phone to this TCL 30 SE then set up his Android phone. I was so impressed with this phone, I played around with it to compared with my iPhone and how they are different from each other.WHAT I LIKE:[+] 6.5″ HD screen is really clear and crisp. The colors look beautiful on the screen.[+] The package comes with the screen protector AND a phone case! I always had to buy screen protector and phone case separately for all our family’s iPhones…[+] There are 3 cameras on the back and the main camera is 50MP while other 2 cameras are used for macro and field depth function. Yes, 50 megapixels wow…[+] I love the biometric finger print reader on the back of the phone, perfectly placed for the index finger. You can just hold the phone and touch the reader with your index finger to unlock and turn on the phone screen. Very simple and hassle free.[+] It also has phone unlock feature with face recognition using front camera as well as PIN code. Front camera is 9MP and is also very impressive in picture quality.[+] Comes loaded with the latest Android version, which is version 12.[+] I love that internal memory space can be increased with micro-SD card up to 512GB! This is something you would never, ever see with Apple’s iPhones… so jealous[+] The phone feel solid and sturdy when holding, while it’s not too big like Apple iPhone Pro Max[+] Great battery life so you don’t have to charge every day.[+] Fast and responsive screen and touch.[+] Price! It’s a fraction of the cost of iPhone or Samsung phones.WHAT I DON’T LIKE:[-] I’m so used to using iPhone so I’m very confused when using Android OS so this is not specific to this phone as Android OS is made by Google. Same reason why my dad can’t switch from Android to Apple since he’s now so used to using Android OS.[-] It does not support 5G network but this is not a big deal for my dad who mostly uses his phone for calls and always uses WiFi at home.BOTTOM LINE:Easily 5 out of 5 stars. I am very impressed with the camera and love taking pictures and video with this phone as I use my iPhone to take pictures of my kids all the time. I still can’t believe it has 50MP camera and pictures come out crisp and beautifully. You rally can’t go wrong with this Android phone for the price. Highly recommend it to any Android phone users.
125 people found this helpful
Leah –
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty, but SLOW and basic
Two stars because it is attractive looking, sleek lightweight design and clear, sharp vivid screen. The battery will last 10-12+hours with heavy use, longer with less usage, charges quickly. Screen seems fairly durable with a basic case, but I’m not hard on my phones so maybe that’s why. Has a lot of storage space and the camera is decent, but not impressive.Otherwise, it’s not worth it. Spend a little extra and get a quality phone. It doesn’t do anything well except make calls and texts. It is VERY SLOW, slow to load, slow to run and slow to function. The screen lags and freezes frequently and often doesn’t recognize touch so it is frustrating. The keyboard moves slow, lags, freezes and misses letters creating alot of errors. It can only process one thing at a time, so no apps will run in the background. The speaker is low and quiet, so any media, notifications, ringtones, alarms or calls have to have max volume to be heard. The screen has a terrible glare even with brightness turned up, so useless in bright light, OK in low light. No NFC, no casting to other devices, no tap to wake, limited and slow Bluetooth and wifi.. it’s just very basic and very slow.. it was a great deal for Prime Days.. should have known it was cheap for a reason which is a shame since it has such potential, but it’s just a fail
One person found this helpful
Kenesha S –
3.0 out of 5 stars
I like tcl but Not to happy with this one
Its nice looking but it is too laggy and slow
Tony Miller –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best phone i’ve ever had!!!!!
This TCL smart phone is simply AWESOME! I can not believe all the capabilities and features this phone has. Only Con I can see so far, is a slight lag in page loading. Other than that it’s simply an awesome smart phone. It was a great price and has a big viewing screen. All the apps I can dream of, holds TONS of photos and video. I’m just blown away. For those people who spend all this money on smart phones, that’s your choice. I personally think this is pretty much all you need.It has great face recognition, thumb print unlock, pattern code unlock. Tons of memory!! Again, the speed is a slight lag, but not a super lag at all.TCL did a great job with their Smart Phones.If you want a great and good looking smart phone, this is definitely a great option.It will save you money too that you can use for something else you want.
10 people found this helpful
Michael –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointed phone setup lockups,but I kept trying and it works
I’ve had cell phones for years and I never experienced the problems that I’ve had just setting up this phone. Continuously locks up into a black TCL logo screen, even in the middle of the setup. I should have listened to the reviews. Returning to Amazon asap. To bad thought I like the styling and features. Update :I was prepare to return this TCL 30se phone back to Amazon for a refund. I have the return bar code on my phone and just needed to drop it off at kohl’s department store. I decided to try setting up the phone one last time. This time I didn’t install the sim card or the SSD memory card. I did a clean install without using the cable to transfer my files from my old phone which is a LG premier pro with Android version 10 to the new phone. I manually programmed every step in the setup process and the phone started working. I installed the sim and SSD card everything connected then I started to delete the unnecessary apps and updated the remaining ones. I loaded the remaining apps I needed from Google play store. I’ve been using the phone the past several days and I still have 20 days of my 30 days warranty left to return the phone. I don’t think the phone is slow at all. But I never had a expensive phone before.
15 people found this helpful
PJ Neeley –
3.0 out of 5 stars
It would be an ok budget phone if it didn’t randomly restart while it’s charging
Not a horrible phone but the one I got likes to randomly restart while it’s charging. I got the same model for my dad and he hasn’t told me of any issues with his. Screen quality seems nice, camera isn’t horrible but there are other odd things with it. If I try to connect my Aux cord to listen to music in my car, it only produces sound on the left side speakers and the volume is really low, even when you get the little warning about “using headphones at high volume is dangerous” and accept the “risk”. The screen protector seems to make the touchscreen less responsive as well, so if you use it, you have to understand that is a side effect and you have to try several times to get things to work (seemed fine without it). Just, it’s a cheap phone so quirks are sort of to be expected, but these are beyond just quirks, especially the restarting issue. Netflix looks pretty decent on it at least.Battery life is average at best if you’re using it for much more than phone calls and texts, but at the price point, I didn’t expect extra long battery life when actually using it to stream, play mobile games, etc.So, if you don’t need the most responsive device and can find work arounds to the various quirks (my car audio seems to work ok with a bluetooth adapter plugged in instead of the aux cord, but volume is still reduced but not nearly to the same degree and at least all speakers are getting signal) then hey, for just over $100 it’s worth it…maybe? It’s only been about a little over a week using this phone, so I may have more serious issues pop up.
3 people found this helpful
Lasts all day –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great on space
Takes great pics
One person found this helpful
K.Milby –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Old phone dropped in water
I refuse to pay thousands of even hundreds of dollars for a cell phone. Come on who has that kind of money to waste when you are retired? Anyway I messed up my previous TCL phone which worked well BTW. So luckily Amazon has more phones priced somewhat reasonable. This one is an upgrade from my TCL 20. It’s nice but my old one was bigger. I like a bigger screen as it’s easier my my old eyes to see but it’s a nice phone which works well so far. Just gotta keep it from water!!! I can get on internet, calls sound crisp, I have noticed YouTube gets distorted after awhile not sure why, zoom works fine too.
7 people found this helpful
Bill Dobbs –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Value
When I purchased this smartphone earlier in the year I got it at a little better price then it currently sells for. It is not the top of the line but for what I paid and what I got am quite pleased. I think it is well worth even the current price.
3 people found this helpful
PastorCheryl Barnes –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as many settings as needed
Good size but needs to be able to adjust things like larger print. I wanted to get my husband one the size of NY note 20 but he needs more adjustment choices. Good phone for basic needs.
One person found this helpful
Sacha –
1.0 out of 5 stars
This phone has been giving me nothing but problems.
The touch screen stops responding, it occasionally starts randomly calling people, and as quickly as i hang it up, it immediately calls them back repeatedly and i have to turn the power off to get it to stop. It also randomly opens up web pages and then the screen flickers and i can’t close the page until i restart the phone. Then yesterday, for whatever reason, it suddenly didn’t know it had a SIM card in it, and it was saying Emergency Calls Only, unknown carrier, no service, etc. until i took the SIM card out and then put it back in. I bought this phone because I’ve never had a TCL and i wanted to see if it was any good. I don’t know if TCL’s just suck, or if it was because this was a refurbished phone (i THINK it was a refurbished phone… I HOPE it was a refurbished phone with it acting like this just two weeks after getting it), but i am NOT happy with my purchase at all. I don’t know if i can request a refund now or not, since I’ve already been using it and I’ve got all my information on it. The only thing I like is that it’s got a better camera than my old phone, which was Motorola Moto G Power. But that phone was a great phone, and it lasted a couple of years before it finally started going weird on me. Oh, the speaker on it is also very quiet, and the speaker on the phone when you are talking on it is pretty muffled. It’s hard to hear or understand what the person you’re talking to is saying. Oh!! And when I’m listening to Spotify, it just randomly stops playing the music. Like, the music is still playing, there’s just no longer sound coming from it! THAT is probably what pisses me off the most about this phone, because i put one of my earbuds in while I’m at work (I’m a dishwasher at a big arena) and I’ll be jamming out (because at least my earbuds have amazing sound quality), and suddenly the music stops and i have to fish my phone out of my pocket, try to open up Spotify with wet hands, just to see the time on the music still going up, but no sound coming from the earbuds. So then i think maybe my earbuds got disconnected somehow, so still with wet hands, i try to bring down my settings bar, click on Bluetooth, connected devices – and i see that my earbuds are still connected… So i disconnect them to see if they are what’s not working, but no – it’s the damn phone that has suddenly lost it’s ability to produce sound. I replaced my phone with this one because my onscreen keyboard had quit being able to keep up with my typing speed, but I’m still using my old phone in addition to this one (and actually still using it MAINLY) because if i try to use this one alone, I’m going to end up throwing it into a lake or something.
5 people found this helpful
AKT –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent customer service from TCL
UPDATED: TCL reach out to me and refunded me for the device. Whatever issues you have with your device, TCL will take care of you. Excellent customer service.The phone was easy to set up and you get a charging brick, headphone jack, and phone case. No other phone company does this in 2023. The phone UI is slow, whenever I restart the device it takes about 5 minutes from when I press the power button to log in screen. Must be a lemon. Please pass on this phone there are better options in the new and used market for the price.
4 people found this helpful
Terry sitto –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good
Good for money but slow
StrykEagle –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Order at your own risk
EDIT:(October 21, 2023)Being late than never, I bumped my original 1 star to 4. I was contacted by the seller not long after my initial review and they were very easy to deal with. They asked what the issue was and I told them as per my review.They told me that they will send a new unit and a shipping label to return the one I initially purchased. I told them I no longer have the box of the nonfunctioning one, and they said no problem. The new unit is still working to this day and holds its charge quite well might I add.Original review below:I ordered this on August 24, 2022. It is now dead and will not charge. When I plugged it in to charge two days ago (November 8, 2022), it did its usual slight vibrate to let you know that it is connected to a power source. But the battery level icon and charge circle never appeared. I disconnected it and tried it again, no luck. The second time it didn’t even vibrate to confirm it is connected to a power source. I tried other cables, and even another charging block. No luck! I also plugged in my tablet to the charging block and USB cord the phone came with. The tablet received the cable and the charge icon appeared no problem.Now the window for return has since expired. I am now stuck with a shiny paper weight. I guess I really cannot complain much, since this phone wasn’t at all expensive. It is indeed true of the saying, “You get what you pay for.” Buyers beware, you have been warned. Stay away from this cheap brand.
3 people found this helpful
jkf7676 –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Had to return but…
I liked this phone very much. Great value. I want a cell phone to count my steps fairly accurately. This phone didn’t so I returned the next day. But other than that connection to wifi and tello were very good. Everything about the phone was good for my purposes. I was surprised at quality for the price. Good value.
One person found this helpful
Deirdre –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great phone for the price
I like how it feels in my hands…. Still getting acquainted with all the features… Camera is awesome… can’t figure out how to stop Glide Typing especially on media apps… Quick response even at 4g…
Amber –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works well!
Have been using this phone for months and haven’t had any issues with the phone. I was able to get this phone connected to the intended phone line without any problems.
2 people found this helpful
Eric Miguel De Oliveira –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Buen precios
Bueno pero podría ser mejor
ReBecca Morales –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fraudulent do to resolving for a refund.
Still perplexed and learning, TLC company lack of refund department is fraudulent practice. I purchased this phone in good faith, that it would do what it claimed to do. However this phone has shut itself down on multiple occasions. This has occurred while being on the device, utilizing it for calls, emails, telehealth, calendared appointments, mapping directions, messages, voicemails, urgent calls, and many other vital situations. This is very important tool that is utilized on a daily basis for for quality of life, not just for myself, along for my Elders. I followed the directions in how to maintain this device and it has failed. In speaking with a representative for this company I was given two options. One have them trouble shoot the device or pay twenty dollars for the label and send it in for physical repair. Do to the problems this phone has occurred, I was not eligible for the first offer. This means I would have to comply with the second offer. Not only be that I would have to pay for the shipping, I would be without a phone for seven to ten business days. This is unfortunate and unexceptable. I would like to please have a complete refund. If you can not comply with this request. Than I truly would like you take heed before allowing this company to be on your platform.Thankful for you and all of your hard work.
Diane Carter –
4.0 out of 5 stars
I love it. Easy to use.
The only thing I disliked about the phone is even though it is unlocked my carrier said no. Make sure your carrier provides service for this model.
2 people found this helpful
THATSWHATSHESAID –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best battery ever. Longer than iPhones. Really impressed so far!
Never heard of this brand…just needed a reliable cell phone with basic apps etc… SO far…I love this phone. Bought 2. Christmas gifts for friends in Ghana..and I had to open one box and use the phone bc mine died from battery during two power outages during Christmas. I had charged both phones and gift wrapped so friends would have fully powered phones when then arrived. Then the snowstorm and outages started. Finally had to unwrap one and use for communication and to find out what/when caused outage, updates, etc. Phone started up with short start up…the battery has lasted almost 7 days without charging. I check the battery every day and it’s barely showing any use. Used briefly to take some photos and make a few calls. Can not believe how long the battery is lasting. This is a better phone so far than my iPhones, androids that cost several hundreds to thousands. I will definitely buy again. Paid 129 US per phone.
11 people found this helpful
myriam beniamin –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent phone
Excellent phone does the purpose without paying crazy amount of money !
2 people found this helpful
Natalie S. –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good
Bought for my Mom. Good for someone who doesn’t use a smart phone to it’s fullest and isn’t gentle with their phone. I didn’t want to pay a lot for a phone that she might end Up braking like her old one. Took a star off because I was able to transfer the SIM and contacts but it wouldn’t call out. Ended up having to take it to Metro PCS they changed $25 to set it up. It works with Metro for sure and she likes it.
7 people found this helpful
KingRelex –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing battery life!
This phone will still have 60% battery life at the end of day after a full day of use. This is so much better than any iphone or other android I’ve ever had. Only bad thing is the computing power isn’t that great. The lag in some games when there’s lots of action is VERY bad, to where it bogs down to like 1 FPS. Otherwise, it’s an amazing phone for under $100.
One person found this helpful
Lorin G. –
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too many things don’t work right.
I bought this phone to replace an older Motorola which was still working fine, but it was limited on storage space. This new phone had much more storage, and supposedly, a five times higher megapixel camera then the one I had, yet the photos were worse. Whenever I was talking to a friend in Australia on messenger, there was such static and feedback and echoing, that it was almost impossible to talk to her. None of that happened on my previous phone. There were other people that complained of the static as well. When I was online on messenger, my face would change from normal color to bright orange, and back to normal again, which was very frustrating. I couldn’t transfer files as easily as on my old Motorola, and had to go some convoluted way to ever get them sent. It wouldn’t share video to Facebook. For some reason, it showed all my orders that I had made on Amazon, but not on eBay. My other phone never had a problem with either. When I tried to record audio, there was a lot of static in the recording. Overall, this phone was a great disappointment, and I do believe it was probably defective. I was just wanting a decent phone, with a better camera, and adequate memory. The memory was there, but the camera and all the other features that I really wanted on this camera, did not do very well. I have recently purchased another Motorola phone, and the camera has slightly less megapixels, but the photos are 10 times better, and the color rendition is so much more accurate. It’s my understanding that static and feedback on phones is usually a failure of filters within the phone that are supposed to remove that kind of problem. So overall, I would not suggest buying this phone. If you do buy it, try it on Amazon so you can return it, and try it out as much as you can right away to see if it’s going to work for you. One other thing I need to mention is that customer service at TCL is not very good. I spent 35 minutes on the phone on my first attempt to get through, with no contact other than hearing classical piano music, saying someone would be with me as soon as possible. I tried one additional time, and spent almost an hour waiting for an answer and response, and nothing happened in that instance either. That is when I made the decision to return the phone to Amazon.
One person found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
4.0 out of 5 stars
B-
Does what I need it to do. The only downside is there doesn’t seem to be a way to make it not send replies to everyone individually in a group chat instead of just the group thread.
2 people found this helpful
James –
4.0 out of 5 stars
The only problem with this phone is the camera’s quality
The TCL phone did a phenomenal job on copying over my information from my other phone. I bought this phone and a Motorola at the same time to see which I prefer. The Motorola barely copied anything, the Motorola just copied the information that was with Google. . The TCL copied all my texts, phone logs, and basically everything that was on my old phone. The Motorola was infuriating because they got rid of the back, home screen, and app running icons. There was a lot I liked about the TCL phone. Although I took a picture with both phones, and the Motorola blew the doors off this phone. Which was too bad, there is a lot I don’t like about the Motorola. I probably would have kept the TCL phone if the camera wasn’t so bad.
8 people found this helpful
Phillip C. Walker –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wanted to like it, but….
Battery life is very good. The Google Fit App doesn’t work properly on this phone. For some reason, the permissions for the body sensors do not work. It doesn’t come anywhere close to accurately counting the steps. I can walk about a mile and it will only have 39 steps counted. I tried two other Apps and still, it doesn’t count the steps. The camera only zooms in at about 4X. Since I have my phone on silent, the only way I can tell if I have a call or text is to pull down the notification bar. I called Tech Support, either he didn’t understand what I was talking about or I wasn’t clear. Not very happy about this phone. When in Bluetooth mode, if I pause a song and then unpause it, sometimes it can’t be done from the headphone. I have to go to the app.
3 people found this helpful
Drew –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Really good features, just needs some optimization love.
For starters, this is an entry level device. With that said, it’s a wonderfully feature packed device with very little in terms of bloat ware. The camera optics are very good, fingerprint scanner is very fast, but it does have some flaws.Mainly software related, but nonetheless, the device seems choppy at times even for a Helios chip, which shouldn’t happen. The UI is nice but heavily gesture based (you can change it though) so that took some time to acclimate to.App usage is sooth for the most part, however some apps either stop responding or just will stop working mid use. Recently Spotify does this, and will lock up and freeze if the phone is allowed to go to sleep while playing. Stuff like that, (which I’m 98% sure is just a software thing) holds this device back. It has a lot of potential, sleek design, and a beautiful display, but it does need some optimization from Google and TCL’s side. 3,5/5. Not bad.
One person found this helpful
StormTrackerJay2 –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good smartphone from TCL
It’s been awhile since I last had a TCL smartphone….a few years & it died suddenly. I have now had this TCL 30 SE smartphone for a couple of months now & so far, not too bad.Pros: Good battery life, decent-sized 6.52″ LCD screen, seems to run fast enough & not very laggy for the most part, rear fingerprint lock/unlock feature, enough internal storage space [128gb] for apps, pictures, videos, music & so on, decent quality video playback on its screen, decent video recorder & 4GB of RAM for light gaming. Cons: Not so good still photo qualities indoors and only fair photo qualities outdoors. Also, hard to find protective cases for this phone. Overall, it’s a pretty good semi-basic smartphone that is nicely sized that should suffice for basic use such as phone calls, texting and looking thru apps. It’s not a gaming phone for sure, but mild games will work most likely on this phone. I ordered another one but the 64 GB storage version that otherwise is identical to this version for my other phone I have. 5 stars I rate this phone
8 people found this helpful
Pamela C –
3.0 out of 5 stars
If you like a Google take over of everything…
This was meant to be an upgrade to the TCL that I already had but it wasn’t really, except for space. I wanted a bigger screen for better text size reading and it wasn’t that. Google asks you on and on and on to give permission for their take over and don’t explain what you are getting into. SOME Google is okay, but this is a take over. Has some nice features if you can wade through all the permissions and managing you! I want a phone that feels like mine and not a company’s! Phones are getting too complicated to be useful! I want to be in charge of my own life, not turning it over to a take over company who wants to milk you for all they can, and DO because you don’t realize what you are getting into. I was greatly disappointed because I liked my earlier TCL. And the magnifier on there was a hassle to use, because it was narrow and time consuming to use. Older people spend money too! And some are vision impaired and still need a phone. We’re not stupid at all, just need a little help for seeing!
6 people found this helpful
Tia –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for calls, text and social media, but not camera
Only thing I have concerns about is, it freezes once in a while. All I do is restart it and it’s fineI’m not a fan of spending too much money on cell phones, so this one is perfect for me.
3 people found this helpful