TCL’s Note A1 Nxtpaper at CES is a notes-first tablet

TCL showed the Note A1 Nxtpaper at its CES suite in Las Vegas as a notes-first tablet aimed at productivity, positioned alongside devices such as the ReMarkable Paper Pro and Kindle Scribe Papersoft and running a highly custom build of Android. The device uses an 11.5-inch Nxtpaper Pure panel with a matte finish and a flatter color spectrum rather than a user-selectable mode switch.

TCL said the display runs at 120Hz, includes a 3A Crystal Shield Glass layer to reduce glare, and presents a more muted look compared with previous Nxtpaper products. The chassis is thin and light with a wider bezel and an integrated home button placed where users typically grip the tablet.

TCL ships the T Pen Pro with 8,192 pressure levels and a rear eraser; the pen snaps magnetically to the side but the magnetic pull felt light in the demo. Writing felt closer to pen on paper, with some texture and a slight glide. TCL built a narrowly focused Android interface that hides typical Android elements such as the notification shade and quick settings; the only obvious Android element was the PIN unlock screen.

The home button is programmable and a long press launched recording with live transcription in the hands-on demo, and a split-view workflow for recording, transcription and note-taking was highlighted. Handwriting conversion appears on TCL’s spec sheet but was not present on the unit shown; TCL said the team is still working on that feature.

Key Topics

Tech, Ces, Nxtpaper, Android, Nxtpaper Pure