It’s not your average e-reader, but TCL’s NXTPAPER 60 Ultra offers such a paper-like experience that many of today’s dedicated readers feel positively quaint by comparison. Thanks to its eye-friendly display tech, a long-lasting battery, and the versatility of a full smartphone, it lands as the most compelling reading device worth carrying right now — even for people who swore they’d never abandon paper.
A Phone That Reads Like Paper With NXTPAPER 4.0
The NXTPAPER 60 Ultra is built with TCL’s newest NXTPAPER 4.0 treatment, a multilayer stack that neutralizes glare and adjusts color temperature automatically depending on ambient lighting conditions. It can also be easily converted thanks to the NXTPAPER Key, which enables you to switch modes in an instant. During the day, the display cuts back on reflections better than a regular OLED; at night, it can dim to about two nits with a warm tone modeled after aged paper so your eyes don’t get too sore during gaming marathons.
- A Phone That Reads Like Paper With NXTPAPER 4.0
- Reading Modes That Could Upend Everything
- Battery and Charging Advantages for Long Reading
- Special Features You Won’t Get on a Kindle
- Respect Science and Comfort in the Real World
- Performance, Price, and the Fine Print for Buyers
- Bottom line: why the NXTPAPER 60 Ultra stands out
Ergonomics help sell the illusion. At 7.2 inches, the device is around 7.5 millimeters thick — the heft of a paperback book with about 100 pages — and its accessories, including a MagFlip folio cover plus a detachable stylus, make it resemble an in-hand journal more than just another slab phone. You still get storage for thousands of titles, and you can read anywhere.
Reading Modes That Could Upend Everything
TCL’s reading-first approach rests on three profiles. Ink Paper mode turns the whole system into a monochrome, low-distraction interface — even colorful apps take on a sepia cast. Color Paper mode preserves the anti-glare and color tuning but adds back full color — good for comics and cookbooks. Max Ink is the hardcore choice — it restricts social apps and media consumption to help you get stuff done, and significantly extends your battery life.
This system-wide behavior represents the secret sauce. It’s not merely a filter for a reading app; it repositions the phone into one specifically built for reading without losing all the benefits that you gain from running Android.
Battery and Charging Advantages for Long Reading
It has a large 5,200mAh battery to last a long time. TCL claims up to around 26 days of standby, and Max Ink mode could squeeze real-world endurance into the multi-day reading space. When you do need a charge, 33W wired charging will fill around half the battery in half an hour — handy if you’re ahead of your flight — with many dedicated readers trickle-charging at just over 9W and taking several hours to refill.
Amazon’s product descriptions for its mainstream readers today still tout multi-week lifespans between charges, which qualify as a real strength for devices that only do one thing. But if you prioritize a speedier pit stop and something that does more when you’re not reading, TCL’s solution is simply impossible to ignore.
Special Features You Won’t Get on a Kindle
Because it’s a phone first, though, you still have IP68 water and dust resistance, NFC for tap-to-pay, and dual-SIM support — all things most dedicated readers do without.
The camera system is overkill for an e-reader use case, but it’s genuinely useful: a 50MP main sensor, a 50MP 3x telephoto, and specialty modes like Horizon Lock and Stage that will give you steadier video and cleaner low-light shots.
Zooming can be a bit of a crapshoot at the extremes (the headline-grabbing 100x is more gimmick than tool), but for scanning documents, grabbing notes, or framing up a quick scene while out on a reading walk, it’s perfectly serviceable. In other words, it’s a reader that never leaves you hanging when the mood requires something more.
Respect Science and Comfort in the Real World
E Ink panels are known for being daylight-readable and low-glare. TCL’s gamble is that a tuned LCD with anti-glare micro-etching, adaptive warmth, and lower luminance settings will deliver much the same kind of comfort while preserving at least some color, motion, and app compatibility. E Ink Corporation’s own documentation indicates that color E Ink continues to sacrifice some saturation or responsiveness; NXTPAPER does not, which is the reason comics and recipe photos “pop” without fatigue.
Pew Research Center surveys have shown the percentage of American adults who read e-books holding steady at around a third. Many of those readers are also cross-platform multitaskers who switch between their phones and tablets, with a hybrid device like this serving as an intuitive fit for how most people consume long-form content today.
Performance, Price, and the Fine Print for Buyers
A Dimensity 7400 processor with 12GB of RAM offers far more cushion than the average e-reader, making large libraries feel snappy and colorful magazines flow smoothly. The price undercuts small tablets from Apple and Samsung; however, Kobo provides more reader-first features. It’s worth pointing out that software support and band compatibility fluctuate by region; our reviewer friends in the U.S. should double-check carrier bands, and TCL tends to lag behind on updates compared with Apple or Google. There’s also a similar U.S. model with NXTPAPER 3.0, but it makes concessions on battery and charging, so waiting for the flagship version could be a good idea.
Bottom line: why the NXTPAPER 60 Ultra stands out
The NXTPAPER 60 Ultra gets the feeling of ink on paper right without sacrificing speed, color, and possible versatility that an ever-challenged group of readers have come to demand.
If you love the simplicity and month-long stamina of a dedicated reader, a Kindle still makes sense. If you want a machine that reads creamily and then also does double duty as your camera, notepad, and everyday phone, TCL has just made the strongest case yet for a robust e-reader replacement.
