TCL Rolls Out New Phones and Smartwatches at IFA

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TCL may not be top of mind for smartphones and smartwatches, but they’re hoping to be with a new smartphone and a smartwatch aimed at seniors, both debuting at IFA this week!

First up, the TCL Plex smartphone captures all of TCL’s talent in screen technology in a pocket-sized device. It’s going to be rocking a 6.53in screen, with three different modes for reading, eye comfort, and viewing experiences. In addition, there’s a triple camera setup to make your pictures absolutely pop, especially in low light/nighttime settings. Bonus, if you own a TCL tv, they’re including a feature called T-Cast that lets the phone double as a remote for the television. Speaking as someone whose child went through a two-year period where remotes were hidden away to be used later as toys, anything that can save you from the never-ending remote hunt is a win. The Plex is going to be available in Europe this fall starting at €329, running Android Pie with a future OTA update to Android 10.

TCL also sees an opportunity with their MOVETIME family watch, a smartwatch focused on senior citizens. It offers video calling, step tracking, “safe zones” and geolocation so that family members can help keep track. It’s a cool idea, but I do wonder what the target age and demographic is…a younger-skewing audience could be fine with a regular smartwatch, and an older generation might struggle with the whole concept. Alternately, I could be totally wrong and I’m just biased because my grandma thinks my iPhone voicemail is some sort of all-house answering machine, so I dread thinking what sort of missed video calls I’d get if we strapped a smartwatch to her…in any case, if you or a loved one lives in Europe and might be a good fit, they’re rolling these out starting at €129 this fall.

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About the Author

Zek
Zek has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to their first PDA (a Palm M100). They quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. They love writing about ebooks because they combine their two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?