TCL has been making its E Ink-inspired Nxtpaper phones for years, but it’s taken the company until now to realize that parents are a likely demographic for it. That’s finally been remedied with the Nxtpaper 5G Junior, a kids phone launching in Europe with a focus on eye health and screentime, which arrives alongside the more mainstream Nxtpaper 60 Ultra.
The Nxtpaper 5G Junior has been announced at the IFA trade show, but it won’t go on sale in Europe until December and will cost £159 / €249 (around $250). It will also include a protective case. So far, there are no plans for a US launch.
Like other recent Nxtpaper phones, the key selling point is a dedicated button that activates Max Ink Mode, which switches the matte display to a monochromatic mode that looks a lot like E Ink and is easier on the eyes for reading. The appeal to parents will be an extra way to manage screentime: not just a binary on / off, but an in-between option that’s better for kids’ eyes and not particularly well-suited to playing Fortnite. It extends the device’s battery life, too.
The phone includes a variety of parental controls powered by Google’s Family Link, along with a “Digital Detox” mode to encourage healthy phone use. TCL has also created a range of cutesy characters called the AI Genius Squad, which look like they’ve been lifted from a slightly subpar Pixar movie.
One immediate downside is that this is a pretty big phone. With a 6.7-inch screen and the included case, this will be a bulky, heavy device that might be a little tricky for smaller hands. It comes with 256GB of storage — enough for plenty of apps and games — and dual rear cameras.
TCL is also launching the Nxtpaper 60 Ultra, the first phone to ship with the latest Nxtpaper 4.0 tech, with reduced glare and display flicker. It’s even bigger, with a 7.2-inch display and has a triple rear camera, including a 50-megapixel telephoto lens, plus optional stylus support. It’s launching today in Europe from €449 (around $525), as well as Asia and Latin America.
