TCL 10 Pro And 10L Review: Sleek, Budget-Friendly Androids
TCL 10L And TCL 10 Pro Camera Performance And Image Samples
TCL gave the 10-series quad rear cameras, with the 10L boasting a 48MP f/1.8 0.8-micron main shooter (Samsung S5KGM1), 8MP f/2.2 1.12-micron 118-degree ultrawide, 2MP f/2.4 1.65-micron macro lens, and a 2MP f/2.4 1.65-micron depth sensor. In front, there’s a 16MP f/2.2 1-micron selfie camera. The main shooter captures video up to 4k 30fps and 10x zoom (stabilized), while the ultrawide and selfie cameras max out 1080p 30fps. There’s no 60fps support, but you can record slow-motion video at up to 1080p 120fps and 720p 240fps.
For the 10 Pro, TCL bumped the specs up a notch with a 64MP f/1.79 0.8-micron main sensor (Samsung GW1), 16MP f/2.4 1.0-micron 123-degree ultrawide, 5MP f/2.2 1.12-micron macro lens (with AF), and a 2MP f/1.8 2.9-micron low light shooter (with AF). A 24MP f/2.0 0.9-micron selfie camera rounds things up. Video recording tops out at 4k 30fps and 10x zoom (stabilized) with the main shooter, plus 1080p 30p with the ultrawide, selfie, and low light cameras. While 60fps capture is missing, slow motion is included up to 1080p 120fps and 720p 960fps.
By default, both main shooters bin (combine) groups of 4 pixels into 1.6-micron super pixels for an effective resolution of 12MP (10L) and 16MP (10 Pro), but can also take pictures at their native 48MP (10L) and 64MP (10 Pro) resolution. While neither phone can record video with the macro lens, the 10 Pro’s 2MP low light sensor can only capture video, and this automatically kicks in when necessary. The 10 Pro also offers a separate night mode which outputs 12MP stills. Other modes include portrait, panorama, stop motion, and light tracing.
The resulting photos are pretty nice, considering these aren’t flagships. Both main cameras take pleasant, detailed pictures, with decent dynamic range, balanced colors, and accurate exposure. Anything beyond 3x zoom quickly turns into a mess, though, with the 10 Pro exhibiting more “oil painting” artifacts than the 10L. The 10 Pro also randomly blows the shadows in some images (as you can see here). On the other hand, the 10L’s ultrawide often blows the highlights in HDR shots, and struggles in low light.
Next up: audio, performance, and battery life...
