TCL’s New Paper-Like Tablet Has a Bunch of AI in It

Sometimes you have to go high-tech to get that low-tech feel, and TCL’s newest device is proof. The Note A1 Nxtpaper is TCL’s latest tablet-like device to use the company’s Nxtpaper technology. Nxtpaper, for the uninitiated, is TCL’s paper-like display tech that applies a matte texture to an LCD screen, reducing glare and blue light. It’s like a screen, but you know, slightly less obnoxious and easier on the eyes.

While Nxtpaper has been around since 2021 and has made its way into TCL’s phones and tablets, this is the first time that the company is bringing the tech to a dedicated notetaking device. With Nxtpaper’s evolution, there are also a bunch of (drum roll) AI features. As tired as some of you may be of seeing AI features shoehorned into your favorite gadgets (seriously, like so many), TCL’s AI offerings do seem pretty useful in the context of notetaking and the like.

Among the features are potentially useful things like handwriting-to-text conversion or real-time transcription, which is helpful if you’re using the Note A1 Nxtpaper in meetings. There’s also an increasingly standard array of AI tools like translation, summarization, and writing assistance, as well as “handwriting beautification,” which is a nice way of saying the notetaker will clean up your inscrutable chicken scratch. This last tool would be huge for me personally, since my handwriting tends to look caveman-like at best.

There are also more advanced AI tools like “handwriting one-stroke formation,” which TCL doesn’t elaborate on, but I assume is some kind of shortcut mechanism for quickly jotting down words or phrases. There’s also something called “inspiration AI,” which I can only assume is some kind of generative AI feature for producing writing or pictures that I personally would want nothing to do with, but to each their own.

Like every device with an E Ink or paper-like display, it’s just as much about how things look and feel as it is about what the device does. On that front, TCL says its Note A1 Nxtpaper has a 120Hz display, shows full color, and comes with a stylus that TCL says has around 5 milliseconds of latency, making it (theoretically) suitable for sketching as well.

One major advantage that the Note A1 Nxtpaper has over competitors is storage. TCL says its notetaker has 256GB of total storage compared to comparable tablets like the ReMarkable Paper Pro, which has 64GB. Are you going to need that much storage for taking notes? Probably not, but it’s nice to have just in case. It also has an 8,000 mAh battery, but TCL doesn’t say what that equates to in hours/days/weeks.

If any of this sounds appealing to you, the TCL Note A1 Nxtpaper will retail for $549 and is slated to launch in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific at the end of February.