GoKawiilTCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus is a budget Android tablet with a paper-like matte display that's genuinely a differentiator. Add in the bundled stylus and excellent build quality, and you've got a slate that punches above its price point. Performance is modest, and transparency in software updates is lacking, but for readers, students, and note-takers who want something more than a generic gray slab, this is an easy recommendation.
I just got done reviewing two of the best, yet most boring, budget Android tablets from Samsung (the Galaxy Tab A11 Plus) and Lenovo (the Idea Tab Plus). They were both perfectly competent devices that did almost everything I expected, but there was nothing particularly exciting about either.
So when an offer to test the TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus ($249.99 at Amazon) came up, I expected more of the same. I’d already formed my opinions on what a $250 Android tablet is. But this was also my first chance to properly experience TCL’s much-talked-about “paper-like” display, so I set those expectations aside. Three weeks later, I’m glad I did.
A great first impression
Rushil Agrawal / Android Authority
The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus has the best unboxing experience I’ve had with any budget Android tablet to date, and I’ve tested a fair few of these now. While most affordable tablets barely include anything beyond the tablet and a USB-C cable, TCL gives you a stylus pen in the box, and if you opt for the bundle for $369, you also get a folio case. The tablet itself also looks and feels better than I expected.
Both the Samsung and Lenovo tablets I mentioned earlier came in that dull gray color that budget tablets seem to default to (the Samsung technically has a silver option too, but it’s no more inspiring). The NXTPAPER 11 Plus, meanwhile, comes in a matte black that looks, frankly, gorgeous.
The all-metal build feels noticeably more premium than its price tag suggests, and the matte finish on the back has that same satisfying, luxury-metal feel that some of the HTC phones from back in the day used to nail. The circular camera module placed at the back center also adds just enough character to make the tablet stand out from the sea of anonymous gray rectangles in this category.
Rushil Agrawal / Android Authority
At 490g, the NXTPAPER 11 Plus isn’t exactly feather-light, but its 3:2 aspect ratio makes it wider and more square compared to the typical 16:10 tablets in this range. It sounds like a small thing until you pick it up and realize how much better-balanced its weight feels when you hold it in both portrait and landscape orientations.
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