TCL 505

The TCL 505 has a 168.3 mm tall and 76.7 mm wide body that measures 8.3 mm in thickness and weighs 190 g, giving it a volume of approximately 107.14 cm³. It is a standard candybar-style handset with no folding mechanism and no rugged build certification, and it carries no water resistance rating of any kind.

The TCL 505 uses a 6.75″ IPS LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 720 x 1600 px and a pixel density of 260 ppi, paired with a 90Hz refresh rate and a typical brightness of 400 nits. The panel delivers a contrast ratio of 1500:1, though it does not support HDR10, HDR10+, or Dolby Vision, and there is no Always-On Display mode or secondary screen. The display also lacks branded damage-resistant glass.

The TCL 505 is driven by the MediaTek Helio G36 system-on-chip, built on a 12 nm process and featuring an octa-core CPU configuration of 4 cores at 2.2 GHz and 4 cores at 1.8 GHz across 8 threads, with big.LITTLE technology and multithreading support. Graphics are handled by the PowerVR GE8320 with a base clock of 650 MHz and a turbo speed of 680 MHz, supporting DirectX 12, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 1.2. The chip includes integrated LTE, an NX bit, and ARM TrustZone, and it supports 64-bit processing. The device ships with 4 GB of DDR4 RAM running at 1600 MHz across 2 memory channels, offering a maximum bandwidth of 13.9 GB/s and a maximum supported memory amount of 8 GB, while the 128 GB of onboard eMMC 5.1 storage handles local data. Benchmark results place the AnTuTu score at 138,000, with Geekbench 6 recording a single-core result of 229 and a multi-core result of 842.

The TCL 505 features a dual-lens rear camera pairing a 50 MP sensor at f/2.4 with a 2 MP lens at f/1.8, backed by a CMOS sensor and a single LED flash, though neither a BSI sensor nor optical image stabilization is present. Autofocus options include phase-detection and touch autofocus for stills as well as continuous autofocus during video, while laser autofocus is not available. The main camera supports video recording at 1080p and 30 fps with slow-motion capability, but does not support HDR10 or Dolby Vision recording, nor 3D or 360-degree panorama capture. Manual controls cover exposure, ISO, focus, and white balance, though manual shutter speed is absent, and additional shooting modes include HDR, burst, timelapse, and in-camera panorama; RAW output is not supported. The front camera offers a 5 MP sensor at f/2.2 in a single-lens setup with no front-facing flash and no under-display placement.

The TCL 505 runs Android 14, a free and open-source platform that supports multi-user operation, voice commands, offline voice recognition, on-device machine learning, and device tracking. Privacy tools include clipboard warnings, location privacy options, camera and microphone access controls, and the ability to block app tracking, though cross-site tracking blocking and Mail Privacy Protection are not available. On the customization side, the OS offers dark mode, dynamic theming, theme customization, widgets, and customizable notifications, while focus modes and Wi-Fi password sharing are absent. Productivity features cover split-screen multitasking, Picture-in-Picture, full-page scrolling screenshots, a media picker, sharing intents, Live Text, and the ability to play games while they are still downloading; app offloading and PC mode are not supported. Battery health check and an extra dim mode are included, but Quick Start and direct OS vendor updates are not part of the feature set.

The TCL 505 is equipped with a 5010 mAh rechargeable, non-removable battery that supports fast charging at 10W, and a charger is included in the box. A battery level indicator is present, while wireless charging is not supported.

The TCL 505 includes a 3.5 mm headphone jack, stereo speakers, and a built-in radio. On the wireless audio side, none of the advanced Bluetooth codec options are supported — aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, and LDAC are all absent.

The TCL 505 supports Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.1, and NFC, while 5G is not available — the device operates over a cellular LTE connection with download speeds of up to 300 MBits/s and upload speeds of up to 150 MBits/s. It accommodates two SIM cards and includes an external memory slot for storage expansion. Wired connectivity is handled via a USB Type-C port running USB 2.0, and there is no HDMI output. For location, GPS and Galileo are supported, while a compass, gyroscope, and barometer are all absent; the accelerometer is present but motion and optical tracking are not. Security options include a fingerprint scanner, though 3D facial recognition and an iris scanner are not featured. Satellite SOS, crash detection, ANT+, a heart rate monitor, an infrared sensor, a built-in projector, DLNA certification, and a stylus are likewise not part of the feature set.

The TCL 505 includes a video light, while the display is flat and standard — neither a curved panel, sapphire glass, nor an e-paper screen is featured.