TCL 20 SE Hands-on

We recently gave you our initial thoughts on the TCL 10 5G. This time, we’re checking out the entry-level TCL 20 SE, packing a 6.82-inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 chipset, quad-rear cameras, large battery, and a sub PHP 9K price tag.

One of the first things that caught our attention about the TCL 20 SE is its design, as it has the size, looks, and feel of a premium mid-ranger. Although it has a plastic frame in the middle, it’s got glass on the front and back.

The front houses the large 6.82-inch screen with HD resolution with noticeable bezels, especially at the bottom. Found in the notch are the 8MP selfie camera and the earpiece that also doubles as a secondary but weaker speaker.

On the right, we have the power/lock and volume buttons. They’re made of plastic but tactile and silent. The buttons are placed at the upper portion of the frame, so you might find the need to readjust your grip just to reach them.

On the left, we have the textured smart key button and the card tray for two nano-sized SIM cards. There’s also a slot for a microSD card but in a hybrid setup.

Up top are the secondary microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

At the bottom are the main microphone, USB-C port, and loudspeaker.

At the back, we have the quad-rear camera module that houses the 16MP main, 6MP ultra-wide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth cameras. Right in the middle is the fingerprint scanner.

From here, you can also notice the two-tone design with ray-like patterns that shimmer depending on the angle. Since the back is mounted with glass, it’s prone to fingerprints and smudges, so you might want to use the protective case included in the package.

The TCL 20 SE is a pretty tall device at 172mm but relatively narrow, at 77mm, so you can still grip it. It is quite chunky and hefty, though, at 9.1mm and 206g, but that’s understandable considering the battery.

Powering the TCL 20 SE is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 SoC with Adreno 610 GPU, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a large 5,000mAh battery, and TCL UI based on Android 11. Given the configuration, it’s an entry-level device designed for heavy social media and multimedia consumption. We ran AnTuTu, and we only got a score of 131,017.

The TCL 20 SE is priced at PHP 8,990USD 153INR 12,987EUR 146CNY 1,116. We’ll know more about the device’s capabilities and performance in our full review, so stay tuned.

TCL 20 SE specs:
6.82-inch V-notch HD+ display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 460
Adreno 610 GPU
4GB RAM
64GB, 128GB storage
Quad rear cameras:
• 16MP F1.8 (main)
• 5MP F2.2 (super wide-angle)
• 2MP F2.4 (macro)
• 2MP F2.4 (depth)
8MP front camera
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 5.0
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS
FM radio
3.5mm audio jack
USB Type-C
Face unlock
Fingerprint scanner (rear-mounted)
TCL UI (Android 11)
5,000mAh battery
172.08 x 77.14 x 9.1mm
206g
Aurora Green, Nuit Black