The era of the best budget phones is over, and you can blame AI for that. Due to the rising cost of chips, even the best phones feel under pressure. And that’s why, when TCL finally brought the NXTPAPER 70 Pro to the US, I was pleasantly surprised. The phone costs just $199, about half the price you’d pay in other markets.
Yes, the phone is exclusive to T-Mobile, but for $199, the NXTPAPER 70 Pro feels something else. 6.9-inch 120Hz display, IP68 water resistance, 5,200mAh battery, 50MP camera, and TCL’s NXTPAPER 4.0 display technology, unlike anything else at this price. Naturally, I wanted to compare it to phones in the same price range to see if I could get a better deal.
So, I went looking for alternatives at the same price and found three to compare: Samsung Galaxy A17 5G, Motorola Moto G Power 2026, and Pixel 10a. None of them can beat the TCL for price, performance, or features, and I conclude that there is no reason to choose any other phone over the NXTPAPER 70 Pro right now. Let me show you what I mean.
But first, a quick comparison of specs
| Clarification | TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro |
Galaxy A17 5G | Moto G Power 2026 |
Google Pixel 10a |
| Show | 6.9 inches, IPS LCD, 120Hz (1080 x 2340 pixels) | 6.7 inches, Super AMOLED, 90Hz (1080 x 2340 pixels) | 6.8 inches, IPS LCD, 120Hz (1080 x 2388 pixels) | 6.3 inches, P-OLED, 120Hz (1080 x 2424 pixels) |
| The processor | Mediatek Dimensity 7300 (4 nm) | Exynos 1330 (5 nm) | Mediatek Dimensity 6300 (6 nm) | Google Tensor G4 (4 nm) |
| Cameras | The main thing: 50MP, f1.9, 24mm Width 8MP ultrawide (120˚) A selfie 32MP, f/2.0, 28mm |
The main thing: 50MP, f1.8, 24mm Width 5MP ultrawide A macro 2MP A selfie 13MP, f/2.0 |
The main thing: 50MP, f1.8 Width 8MP ultrawide (119˚) A selfie 32MP, f/2.2 |
The main thing: 48MP, f1.7, 25mm Width 13MP ultrawide, f2.2 (120˚) A selfie 13MP, f/2.2, 20mm |
| Battery | 5200 mAh | 5000 mAh | 5200 mAh | 5100 mAh |
| Price | $199 (T-Mobile) | $189 (T-Mobile), $199 (unlocked) | $189 (T-Mobile), $299 (unlocked) | $499 (open) |
Is there any competition at this price?
The Samsung Galaxy A17 5G is the first obvious comparison. It’s Samsung’s best-selling budget phone, and for good reason. You get a solid 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display, a triple camera system, and an impressive six years of software updates.
It’s a reliable, passive phone that does the basics well. But it runs on the Exynos 1330, a chip that has been called underpowered. Compared to the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 that powers the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro, the Exynos 1330 is slower in all CPU, GPU, and battery performance. Check out these comparisons below:
It also has an IP54 rating, which means it’s splash-proof but not submersible. The NXTPAPER 70 Pro, in comparison, has a better chip, a better display, IP68 water resistance, and a more interesting feature set. The A17 retails for around $175 to $199. Simply put:
Same price. There is no competition.
The Moto G Power 2026 offers the same 6.8-inch LCD display and a 5,200mAh battery, but the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 inside is a step down from the NXTPAPER 70 Pro’s Dimensity 7300. The Dimensity 7300 uses the new 4comspaity 6 (Dimensity 0 6nm) process and delivers better performance up to at 67%. Check out the performance stats:
There are several features that work for the Moto G Power (2026). It features better Gorilla Glass 7i protection and IP68/IP69 dust and water resistance, but that’s about it. In all other respects, the NXTPAPER 70 Pro offers equal or better features. The Moto G Power 2026 costs $189 on the same T-Mobile contract and $299 on Amazon without a contract, so there’s no price advantage.
As you can see, the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro beats the Samsung Galaxy A17 and Moto G Power 2026 in many areas at the same price.
What about the Pixel 10a?
This is where it gets interesting. At $499, the Google Pixel 10a is not the phone I should consider in this comparison. But it’s a really good phone, the gold standard of mid-range Android, and I won’t pretend otherwise.
It features a 6.3-inch OLED display, a 48MP camera, seven years of updates, the most powerful Tensor G4 chipset, and Google’s AI features baked deep into the software.
But the Pixel 10a doesn’t have a bigger battery and doesn’t support expandable storage. Also, the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro costs $199, and the $300 gap does a great job of lifting. And in all our comparisons, we never touched the outstanding feature of TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro: the NXTPAPER 4.0 display.
That display is what really makes this phone special. NXTPAPER 4.0 for TCL is not a night mode software or a cheap filter. It uses hardware-level adjustments, including circular white light, DC dimming that eliminates screen flickering, and a filter that reduces harmful blue light.
The phone is certified by TÜV and SGS, independent bodies that check these things rather than taking the name of the company. A dedicated NXTPAPER key on the side quickly switches between full-color mode, Ink Paper Mode, and Big Ink Mode, allowing you to use it as a regular phone or as an e-reader. In Max Ink mode, the battery lasts for seven days.
None of the other phones on this list offer these new display options. This feature alone makes the NXTPAPER 70 Pro worth buying. But even if you ignore it, you can see that the NXTPAPER 70 Pro offers better features for prices compared to all other phones in its price category.
If you spend hours staring at your phone at work, school, or studying, no phone at this price comes close to what TCL offers. At $199, the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro isn’t a budget phone that asks you to compromise. It’s a really great phone with features that no one has seen so far. That makes it a very easy recommendation.
