TCL 30 XE 5G coming to T-Mobile and Metro for under $200

TCL might not be the most popular smartphone maker around, but the company has had moderate success in the budget market for a few years now. The TCL 30 XE and TCL 30 V were both revealed earlier this year at CES 2022, and about a month after the TCL 30 V showed up at Verizon, the other phone is finally arriving in the United States.

The TCL 30 XE is yet another budget 5G smartphone, in roughly the same category as the Samsung Galaxy A32 (which will soon be replaced by the Galaxy A33) and OnePlus Nord N200. It seems like a decent phone on paper, with a large 6.52-inch 90Hz display, MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset, and 4GB RAM. There’s even a headphone jack — take that, Galaxy S22 Ulta.

Specification	TCL 30 XE 5G
Build	“Shadow Black” plastic
Dimensions & Weight	6.46 x 2.95 x 0.335 inches 164.3 x 75 x 9.1 mm 195g
Display	6.52-inch 1600 x 720 90Hz refresh rate 180Hz touch sampling
SoC	MediaTek Dimensity 700
RAM & Storage	4GB RAM 64GB internal storage microSD card slot (up to 512GB cards)
Battery & Charging	4,500mAh battery 18W wired charging
Security	Rear fingerprint sensor
Rear Cameras	13MP main camera 2MP depth sensor 2MP macro camera
Front Camera	8MP camera
Port(s)	USB 2.0 Type-C 3.5mm headphone jack
Audio	1W speaker
Connectivity	LTE and 5G support Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth 5.1 USB 2.0 Type-C
Software	Android 11
Other Features	VoLTE VoWiFi 18W charger included in box

However, ongoing software support is still an open question. The TCL 30 XE 5G ships with Android 11 out of the box, and TCL did not say if (or when) the phone would receive Android 12. Verizon also still sells the older TCL 10 5G UW, which shipped with Android 10 in 2020 and never received Android 11, which isn’t a good sign.

The TCL 30 XE 5G will be available in the United States starting February 25. It will be priced at $198.00 on T-Mobile, and $199.99 at Metro by T-Mobile.