- Cheryl Tan
CES 2021: TCL Unveils Mini LED, 8K TVs… And Yes, A Rollable Phone Too
Updated: Aug 20, 2021
Update 13/1/2021: Added information about new products that were showcased at TCL’s Global Product Spotlight session at the bottom of this article.
TCL might not be one of the first brands you think of when you think about the big tech brands, but that’s not to say that they aren’t at the forefront of things. Case in point, they’re actually launching their new Mini-LED TV technology this year, and they’ve even teased a rollable phone similar to the LG Rollable that was shown in the LG press conference earlier. Let’s take a look at what’s been announced today.
1. Mini-LED technology
Credit: TCL
Boasting TCL’s OD Zero tech with tens of thousands of mini-LEDs, thousands of local dimming zones and “zero” space between the mini-LED backlight and LCD display, TCL claims their Mini-LED TVs offer superb contrast, accurate images and deep blacks.
With the general distance between the backlight and display around 10-25mm, the zero millimetre distance in TCL’s OD Zero tech means that their Mini-LED TVs are able to be much slimmer. We can expect to see this appearing in more Mini-LED TVs from TCL this year.
2. 8K TV
Credit: TCL
TCL has also announced the addition of 8K TVs to their 6-Series, which will be rolling out later in 2021. The 6-Series 4K TCL Roku TVs will still continue to be available. There will be 4K TVs and 8K TVs taking advantage of the new OD Zero Mini-LED technology coming to market in 2021.
TCL isn’t showing all their cards at once though, they’ve also revealed that they’re going to keep some “exciting” TV models for an announcement in June, so stay tuned.
3. Rollable displays
TCL actually announced more than just a rollable display; they also announced a scrolling display, and here’s what we know. The rollable display is a 6.7-inch AMOLED display seemingly to be used in a phone, that can be rolled out to a 7.8-inch tablet.
The scrolling OLED display seems to unfurl from the end like a map, and can go up to 17-inches in size. While this is definitely a new form factor, we’ve seen similar tech in LG’s rollable OLED TVs, so this is somewhat alike, just scaled down into a tablet.
It’s actually incredibly cool to see the technology in action, although of course, there are always going to be concerns about its longevity and durability.
That being said, let’s just enjoy how cool these products are, while waiting for them to hit the market one day.
4. Google TV
Credit: Google
TCL has also announced that their first-ever TVs with Google’s new Google TV software will be coming to market in 2021, but there’s no information yet on which models will be running Google TV. That being said, Google TV has a revamped user interface and is said to be much better than Android TV, so this is definitely a welcome move.
5. TCL 20 5G Series
Credit: TCL
TCL introduced their mobile brand at CES 2020, and this year, they’re building on that with the new TCL 20 5G series, which even includes an affordable mobile offering that supports 5G. Two new phones were shown off, the TCL 20 5G and TCL 20 SE.
The TCL 20 5G is reasonably specced on paper, with a 6.67-inch LCD Full HD display, Snapdragon 695G processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, 4,500mAh battery and a triple-camera array on the rear.
Credit: TCL
Coming in with just 4G connectivity, the TCL 20 SE has a slightly bigger screen at 6.8-inches, a quad-camera array on the back, 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage, along with an even bigger 5,000mAh battery.
That’s not all that TCL is showcasing though. There’s another Global Product Spotlight on 13 January, so stay tuned for more exciting products to be announced.
TCL has just held its Global Product Spotlight on 13 January, with more home appliances and gadgets that weren’t mentioned in their press conference. The main focus of the spotlight was to highlight TCL’s home appliance offerings that work together to form a smart home ecosystem, with TVs, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners and more.
Credit: TCL
The brand has now added an air purifier to their home appliance lineup, the Breeva A3, which utilises UV-C and an ioniser to get rid of bacteria and airborne microbes.
There’s also the new TCL Ocarina air conditioner which can connect to smart TVs, mobile phones or other compatible devices so that it can be easily controlled via the TCL Home App or Google Assistant.
It really is a shame that TCL has decided to only bring in their televisions to Singapore. By offering a whole range of affordable home appliances, Singaporeans might be more inclined to have smart connected homes. That being said though, TCL is definitely offering excellent value with their TV offerings.
Written by Cheryl Tan