TCL at CES 2022: 30 V 5G, 30 XE 5G, Project Chicago, NxtPaper 10s

Project Chicago foldable/TCL Flex V hands-on review

Unlike the TCL 30 series of phones, which is right around the corner and coming to US carriers soon, the Project Chicago foldable is still a concept device. One that TCL was kind enough to show us but couldn't share any details about since it is just way too early to say anything with certainty.

That being said, as far as early concept devices go, the unit we saw was in a surprisingly complete state. It had no obvious dummy components and was running a seemingly functional Android OS. In fact, most of the ID fields in its about pages even seemed populated with actual data, rather than what you typically find on things like engineering samples.

Curiously, this included a "TCL Flex V" moniker on the About Screen, which could very well turn out to be the phone's eventual market name, as well as a model number - T850Y_EEA. This particular unit was more than happy to share some of its other specs as well. It was running on the Snapdragon 765G chipset, alongside 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. The reported battery capacity was a respectable 3,545 mAh - a bit more than that on Samsung's Z Flip3 5G.

As per the software, the TCL Flex V has a 48MP plus 16MP main camera setup, which we, unfortunately, didn't get to check out. Presumably, those are a Quad Bayer main camera and an ultrawide. On the selfie side - a 44MP snapper inside a rather reasonably-sized display punch hole. The particular unit was also reportedly running Android 11 with TCL UI on top. All of these details, of course, are not final or confirmed in any way and are subject to change. Still, we can assume that at least some aspects of the hardware, like the battery capacity, are likely to remain the same.

We've been tiptoeing around the topic of the display long enough. Unfortunately, we don't know its diagonal, but it has a 1080 x 2400-pixel resolution. That makes it less tall than both the original Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and the current Z Flip3 5G. We kind of like the less "skinny" look and feel, to be honest.

Beyond that, we can only assume that the actual foldable OLED panel comes courtesy of Samsung. In person, it both looks and feels quite familiar in most aspects. The folding mechanism appears to be quite similar in a structural sense to what Samsung has going on, though the panel itself appears to close at a tighter curve, leaving less of an air gap. One is still present, but it is smaller to our eye, which likely hints at a newer generation on panel tech.

The way the Flex V's display creases down the middle also appears to be slightly different. While there is unquestionably still a crease present, it seems to be spread out on a larger surface area, which is both a good thing, since it blends more when looked at from a distance, but also not ideal since the smoothness of the surface to the touch has been compromised a bit more.

TCL Flex V

There's nothing particularly remarkable about the overall construction and layout of the Flex V. Yet again, we don't have any official info on the bill of materials, but the frame and hinge cover felt like metal to us and the two back panels - some sort of glass. There is still a plastic protective rim around the front of the display, but that's a bit of a given.

Overall, the Flex V feels really premium and well made. The hinge itself is linear and tension-based, which means that you can freely leave the clamshell half-open at any given angle. One-hand opening and closing should also be possible with a bit of practice, just like on Samsung's clamshell foldables.

The selection of colors and the overall silhouette of the phone look very modern and "fashionable". TCL seems to be targeting the Flex V more towards a female crowd.

Finally, a few words about the small secondary display: again, we can't say exactly how big it is, but a current Xiaomi Mi Band or other similar wearable feels about the same size and general aspect as it. We like how well the little display has been blended with the rest of the design by extending the camera island. In terms of functionality, we can confirm that the screen can be used as a camera viewfinder for selfies with the main cam, you can access some quick toggles from it, like the flashlight, and you naturally get things like notifications for incoming calls and texts and a watch. There might well be more features planned for it beyond that as well, but TCL wouldn't really say.

Like we said, Project Chicago or potentially the TCL Flex V is still a concept device, so we have no idea if and when it is coming to market. TCL representatives did, however, mention that price-wise the ultimate goal was to get as close to the $600-$700 price range, which could be decently competitive.