Review: TCL’s Note A1 NxtPaper Disappoints

Opinion by Ralph Grabowski

It’s a hybrid, a better-than-eboook-reader note-taking device that runs Android apps. Kind of.

Note A1 NxtPaper from TCL, with its stylus and optional keyboard

In today’s world of undifferentiated phones and tablets, TCL tries to stand out by promoting a paper-like interface for screens. Using its stylus feels like writing on paper (it doesn’t, I feel). The image displayed by its screens has the matte, neutral appearance of paper (it doesn’t, I found).

Early in 2026, TCL announced the Note A1 NxtPaper, where ‘Note’ refers to its note-taking capability, ‘A1’ to the model number (not the metric paper size). and ‘NxtPaper’ to its display technology. ‘A1’ kind of looks like ‘AI’, and TCL boasts the new tablet also has many AI functions, in which I have no interest.

Some of the Competition

In my men’s reading group, one guy proudly showed off his new Amazon Kindle Scribe, and we guys expressed our awe at how skinny (0.22”) and light it was (15 ounces) for having such a big (10.3”) screen. So svelte! It looked it could break in half.

I lusted it. But I didn’t want a Kindle, because I use Kobo.

Scribe from Amazon Kindle

With the 11” Note A1, TCL took the 11” Scribe as its inspiration. It has the same look, same weight (5.5m), and same thickness (500g) as the Kindle, but at a lower list price, $509. The Scribe is $550, but has no keyboard available and storage is 4x smaller, 64GB vs 256GB [source].

There are other ebook-style note takers, too, like reMarkable and Onyx Boox. TCL’s Note A1 displays images in full color and has no dedicated monochrome mode, unlike earlier TCL models. The good news is that this display lacks the ghosting and load time lags found in typical E-ink displays.

To whip up excitement, TCL did what some other established companies have done: Post the new product on Kickstarter, with discounts for early supporters [source]. Never mind that TCL is a $24-billion-dollar-a-year corporation rich enough to be a sponsor of the recent winter olympics.

Kickstarter showing Note A1’s fundraising page, still the only place to purchase it

I had been looking for a large non-Kindle ebook reader — and the Note A1 was attractive to me, because, apparently, it ran Android, which ought, in theory, to let me, I was supposing, run my favorite apps on it.

’Twas not to be.

But here’s the weird thing: At the same time as TCL was fundraising to see if it would build the Note A1, It was promoting videos from influencers wow’ing themselves over the new product — that did not exist yet?

Video reviews of a product apparently not yet manufactured

Never mind. I pre-ordered the full meal-deal: The Note A1 (comes with stylus, extra nibs, and a slip case), plus the keyboard-case, all for $500 — effectively a 38% discount taking into account the free shipping and no tax. I waited for it to arrive.

The Unboxing

When, after two months, the brown shipping box arrived, I was uneasy at the heavy weight. I unpacked parts from many black boxes. The keyboard was awkward to attach, because it’s also a two-part wrap-around case. As Jason Bayton put it, “The keyboard case requires fundamental knowledge of origami to get set up.” The keyboard-case-stand adds much weight, nearly doubling the total.

The user interface looks like a sheet of paper, with areas for pre-determined tasks, like a to-do list and handwritten note-taking.

Note A1 showing its home screen, in horizontal orientation

The list of installed third-party apps is too, too short (only five) and only six more downloadable from a TCL Web site. Third-party apps come from Microsoft mostly, and include Edge, Swiftkey, Hotmail, and Office modules like Word and Excel. The last two require subscriptions, so I gave them a miss, because I can use cDox in the Web browser at www.cdox.ca. The “apps” for Google Drive and Dropbox do not sync files.

You access apps, file manager, and settings from a slide-out sidebar. You display it by swiping from left to right.

Slideout sidebar giving access to file manager, apps, and settings, in vertical orientation

Given the dearth of Android apps on this device, my solution to the famine is running equivalents in the Web browser. For instance, here is the 3D parametric CAD program SolveSpace from solvespace.com/webver.pl in the Edge browser:

Edge browser running 3D CAD program SolveSpace on the Note A1 tablet

I was able to side-load the Opera Web browser. You would use a Backup App app on an existing Android device, copy the APK [Android package] file to the Note A1, and then open it to install it, ignoring the warning messages. [See Update below.]

Ebook Reading

This tablet is good for reading ebooks. TCL says, “Installing third-party book AKPs, such as Kindle etc”. There is the Kindle app (for Amazon customers), Libby (for borrowing ebooks from libraries), and KOreader, an open source ebook reader with a clunky interface.

I buy ebooks through Kobo and use pCloud for online storage. Until both are supported by TCL, my workaround is to read purchased ebooks through readnow.kobo.com and access my half-a-terabyte of stored files from myte.pcloud.com, all through Edge.

The Note A1 does include a generic ebook reader that I found works well for free ebooks; it opens PDF, ePub, and maybe other ebook formats.

UX

A bright spot for me is that screen grabs are easy: Drag three fingers down the screen. Other motions:

• Big Home button: Press it to return to the home screen; double-press to go to Notes app; long press to record voice notes

• Sidebar panel: Swipe a finger from the left edge to the right to access apps, file manager, and settings

• Back “button”: Swipe finger from right edge to left

• Taskview window: Swipe finger up from bottom edge to switch between apps

• Status panel: Swipe finger down from top edge

Other quick notes. Positives — USB-C port for charging, data transfer, and headphones. 2.2GHz CPU with 8GB operating RAM. 8 microphones and two speakers. Dual-band a/b/c/g WiFi at 2.4Ghz/5GHz, with WiFi hotspot, WiFi direct, and WiFi display. Bluetooth handles multiple devices, so I was able to connect and use a different (lighter) external keyboard and a mouse and the stylus.

Negatives — Keyboard is not backlit. No LED status light. No microSD slot, so no storage expansion. No physical volume button. Just one 13-megapixel camera that takes acceptable-not-great pictures; on the back, so no video conferencing.

No Stylus, No Go

Normally, I don’t use a stylus; touch screens on my Windows and Android devices work well with a finger. (Sad that Mac users can’t experience the UX freedom of touch screens.)

The Note A1 comes with a stylus that attaches magnetically to one edge of the tablet, and is recharged wirelessly that way. The top end of the stylus is a digital eraser. A vibrating motor is supposed to give the sensation of writing on rough paper, but it does not work, yet.

Stylus showing (left to right) eraser end, non-functioning pocket clip, side button, and end nib

For a time I misplaced the stylus, and found that a number of operations do not work without the stylus, such as the sketching program and handwriting recognition. So don’t drop it between the couch cushions, as I did.

Dismal Support

I was disappointed by the Note A1’s Android limitations, enough to write TCL to ask to return the unit. It replied, saying its support email is meant for tech support, but nevertheless asked me for details. I gave the info requested.

Days later, I received the same support email, and I repeated the answers. Couple days later, the same email arrived, and I gave up. When the inevitable “Tell Us How Great We Are Doing” email landed in my Inbox, I gave 0 ratings to survey questions. Two days later day, I was asked to tell TCL how great it was. Two days later... — you get it.

In between this, TCL announced that, as I had not responded, it considered the case closed. In any case, purchases made through Kickstarter do not get refunds.

What Ralph Grabowski Thinks

I do like TCL’s Note A1 for reading ebooks. Perhaps its 2200x1440-resolution screen with 120Hz refresh has something to do with that.

As well, it is interesting to toy around with — as a secondary or tertiary tablet. It does not replace the usefulness and wide-openness of Android tablets, especially as we cannot reuse our beloved apps from Google Play.

[Update: The zero ratings may have had their impact. Days before this article went live, TCL sent a “Addressing Your Concerns” email (source), promising to integrate Google app store and to implement fixes like reducing handwriting latency.]

If you buy it, I recommend excluding the TCL keyboard, and using a lightweight folding one, such as from ProtoArc [source].

With the documentation being too minimal, it’ll take you time to play around with the Note A1 to figure out all the ways it works, which can be fun for people like me. As this product is brand-new, I am hopeful its short-comings will be removed by future updates.

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• Home page for Note A1: www.tcl.com/global/en/tablets/tcl-note-a1-nxtpaper

• Roadmap for Note A1 updates: trello.com/b/aq5VN4QQ/tcl-note-a1-nxtpaper-software-roadmap-2026

• Two user guides for the Note A1: https://trello.com/c/LiBSslyL/47-user-guide

• Here is where you can read read much, much more detailed specs than what TCL lists: www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/9b086690

• Jason Bayton’s tech-oriented review is here: bayton.org/blog/2026/03/tcl-note-a1-nxtpaper-first-impressions

• I paid for all products mentioned here. Prices are in US$ equivalent.

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