capture more light in darkness with the TCL PLEX

A 16MP Samsung S5K3P9 provides a secondary wideangle lens, with 123-degree field of vision, an f/2.4 aperture and 1.0 micron pixels.

The third camera is a dedicated night-vision camera capable of night-vision video.

The 2MP Omnivision OV02K does this with 2.9 micron pixels, allowing for more light per pixel. On either side of the rear camera are single-tone LED flashes, designed to help illuminate scenes not covered by the night-vision camera.

The quality of both still images and videos shot with the Plex are good and are hard to differentiate from images shot on a more expensive smartphone or even a compact camera. The Plex’s front-facing 24MP f/2.8 camera takes good, and above all, sharp images at a higher megapixel than expected for a budget phone, which is why the image is so good.

As these images below reveal, you get an excellent choice of shots when it comes to wide vs. standard shots, and above all, shooting is easy with setting options coming up on the screen before you shoot.

TCL has opted for a punch-hole in the top left corner for the front selfie camera, extending the screen-to-body ratio to 90%, which is better than most mid-range phones.

I am left-handed and the punch-hole is on the bottom left. When I first went to shoot a selfie horizontally, I accidently covered the camera with my thumb.

Another big plus is that the Plex can be used to control a TCL smart TV or a Ffalcon TV, which is made by TCL and sold exclusively by JB Hi Fi.

This built-in software allows you to use the phone as a remote, as well as being able to cast content, including standard media (videos, photos, and music) direct to a TV screen. This is similar to the capabilities found in the $1,800 Samsung Galaxy Note or Galaxy 5G smartphone.