I tried a phone with a matte display, and it didn't exactly go as expected
If digital wellbeing is a concern for you, then you need to take a look at the €550 TCL P80 Ultra.
TCL's P80 Ultra has an matte OLED display for less eye strain. | Image by PhoneArena
Our phones have these beautiful, shiny, smooth, glossy displays that make everything look so lush and vibrant.
However, have you ever wondered what would happen if a modern smartphone came with a matte display, similar to how many desktop monitors are still made?
I'll be honest – I've never liked matte displays and have famously despised the fact that 99.9% of monitors out there are matte. Thankfully, the latter is now not quite as true as it used to be, thanks to modern OLED monitors, some of which arrive with proper, glossy coatings. (Sidenote for the uninitiated: matte display coatings are grainy, don't have clear whites, and reduce contrast and color vibrancy.)
So, I went into this hands-on session with the TCL P80 Ultra expecting to see yet another budget TCL phone with a matte display that I don't love looking at. But after playing around with the actual device a little bit, I found that there may be more to it than simply "a phone with a matte display."
The P80 Ultra is Alcat... TCL's new flagship phone. And over the last few years, TCL established its NXTpaper tech (matte displays) as its main differentiating factor.
Images by PhoneArena
TCL has primarily churned out highly affordable phones, but it's beginning to look like the company is now slowly trying to move upstream. The P80 Ultra, which I had the chance to check out at IFA 2026, features a 6.8" OLED display, 256 GB base storage, 50 MP main camera, 50 MP 3x telephoto camera, and an 8 MP UW one. It's also powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Elite processor, and these specs alone make it reach towards the upper mid-range. The price of EUR 550 agrees with that statement.
Design-wise, the TCL P80 Ultra is a fairly conservative affair, somewhat reminiscent of a mid-range Moto phone. The signature feature is the matte NXTpaper display that has three modes: a full-blown color mode, color paper mode, and full-on black and white ink mode. You can switch between the modes with the press of a dedicated button, and transitioning to the color paper mode immediately makes the display so much cleaner and less busy. It becomes easier both on the eyes and the battery as well.
Switching further to the black-and-white ink mode obviously makes everything that much simpler and even easier on the eyes and battery. It basically starts looking like an e-book reader, sans the slow refresh rate.
This functionality alone is cool, however, there are some extra software touches that further enhance the P80 Ultra's digital wellbeing focus. For example, while you're using the phone in normal color display mode, the leftmost page of the homescreen is, as usual for an Android phone, dedicated to your Google Discover feed. However, once you switch to black-and-white mode, the leftmost page becomes your bookshelf, which is super cool.
Switching between the three NXTpaper color modes | Image by PhoneArena
In this way, the TCL P80 Ultra makes the work-play-relax transition more seamless, with smart integration of hardware and software features. Because the software itself adjusts to the display mode you've picked, it's like you have two distinct devices in one.
This is what I meant when I said that it's not just a phone with a matte display. Instead, TCL is building on its unique hardware proposition with smart features that further shape the P80 Ultra as an upper mid-range smartphone with a digital wellbeing bent. If this is your cup of tea, at EUR 550, I think it definitely deserves your attention.
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