If you have $99 to spare and need a new Android phone, you may want to check out the new TCL 50 XE 5G, now available from Verizon Prepaid. This newest offering from TCL offers productivity and good performance while remaining accessible to everyone at a very low price.
The TCL 50 XE 5G has a 6.56-inch HD+ display powered by TCL’s NXTVISION technology. This means that color, contrast, and clarity are optimized for users in real time, providing a screen that probably looks a lot better than what you’d expect at this price. Like other TCL phones, the NXTVISION app provides users with multiple settings for optimal visuals, whether they’re watching videos, playing games, or reading.
The TCL 50 XE 5G’s display has a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. Though it’s not quite as good as 120Hz on other phones, 90Hz will still provide relatively smooth scrolling and animations, and gaming sessions will have decent screen responsiveness. Plus, for a $99 phone, anything above 60Hz is an unexpected treat.
TCL packed a MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ MT56835 chip inside, along with 4GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. You can expand that storage up to 2TB with a microSD card. It ships with Android 14 out of the box and has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor with face unlock. With these specs, the TCL 50 XE 5G should have enough power for the average person. It also has 5G connectivity for high-speed downloads and streaming.
For photos and video, the TCL 50 XE 5G has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 2MP depth camera, a 5MP ultrawide camera lens, and an 8MP selfie camera. Although the megapixel counts for the depth and ultrawide cameras aren’t particularly impressive, getting this many camera sensors on a $99 smartphone is pretty cool.
There is a 5,010mAh battery inside the TCL 50 XE 5G that should be able to last all day and then some. You also have the TCL Smart Manager app that can extend that battery life even further with Battery Saver mode and other optimizations. The phone supports up to 18W USB-C fast charging.
The TCL 50 XE 5G won’t be the absolute best phone out there, but for $99, it doesn’t look too shabby at all. You can buy it now from Verizon Prepaid.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.