TCL Picks Up Where the LG Stylo Left Off

After LG decided to stop selling smartphones, it left a huge gap in the “this phone is kinda weird” market. Most notably, the death of LG Stylo meant that only Motorola would sell affordable stylus-equipped smartphones. But the universe is correcting itself with the launch of TCL’s Stylus 5G.

At just $258, the TCL Stylus 5G is actually slightly cheaper than the 4G-only Moto G Stylus. It features a 6.81-inch 1080p display, a MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G chipset, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Notably, it runs on Android 12 (rare for a phone at this price) and features a 26-hour battery life with a 4,000mAh capacity.

Camera-wise, we’re looking at a 50MP main camera, a 5MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro lens, all complemented by a 2MP depth sensor. The front of the phone packs a 13MP selfie camera. These are some decent camera specs, but when it comes to budget phones, a bevy of cameras is often a bad sign.

TCLOh, there’s also the integrated stylus! TCL packed a few premium apps in this phone to make use of the pen, including MyScript Calculator 2 and the AI-powered Nebo note-taking app, which can automatically turn handwriting into printed text.

The TCL Stylus 5G certainly falls flat in a few areas, most notably the processor. While the MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G is certainly a capable chipset, the Moto G Stylus 5G runs an actual Snapdragon chip. (To be fair, the standard 4G-only Moto G Stylus also uses a slower MediaTek processor.)

You can order the TCL Stylus 5G at T-Mobile or Metro for $258. If you open a new line, T-Mobile will give you the phone for free. The phone is exclusive to T-Mobile and Metro, unfortunately.