TV giant TCL wants to launch smartphones before July despite pandemic

TCL, the Chinese TV maker also known for making Blackberry phones, says it plans to release the first two smartphones of its new series this quarter in North America, Europe and Australia -- and they retail for less than US$500.

The US$449 TCL 10 Pro sports a 6.47-inch curved AMOLED display with an in-screen fingerprint sensor and a teardrop notch for the 24-megapixel selfie camera. Just like the other two phones in the series, it has four back cameras, including a 64-megapixel main camera. The cheaper TCL 10L, retailing for US$249, has a slightly larger 6.53-inch LCD display and a 16-megapixel front-facing camera.

The lineup also includes a 5G phone that will arrive in some regions “later this year” at €399/£399 (between US$430 and US$490). That’s cheaper than many 5G handsets currently in the international market, in line with expert forecasts that prices will drop as the technology becomes more widely adopted.