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TCL 406
essential ?

TCL 406 Battery test

We put the TCL 406 through our rigorous DXOMARK Battery test suite to measure its performance in autonomy, charging and efficiency. In these test results, we will break down how it fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases.

Overview

Key specifications:

  • Battery capacity: 5000 mAh
  • 10W charger (not included)
  • 6.6-inch, 720 x 1612, 60 Hz, LCD display
  • Mediatek Helio P22 (12 nm)
  • Tested ROM / RAM combination: 32 GB + 3 GB

Scoring

Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.

TCL 406
TCL 406
87
battery
100

221

106

195

95

198

70

224

78

212

108

205

73

194

Key performances

Charging Time
2 days 11h
Battery life
Charging Time
2h02
80% Charging time
Charging Time
3h13
Full charging time
Quick Boost
1h20 autonomy
after 5-minute charge

Pros

  • Good autonomy with almost 2.5 days in moderate use
  • Decent autonomy when using the camera
  • Low consumption during nights

Cons

  • Very long charging time, taking more than 3 hours to a full charge
  • Low autonomy recovered after a 5-minute boost
  • Poor autonomy when streaming videos and music and when gaming
  • Poor autonomy on-the-go when scrolling social apps, calling and using GPS navigation
  • Extremely high discharge currents when streaming videos, gaming and scrolling social apps

The TCL 406’s overall battery score places the smartphone near the bottom of our entire database.

When use moderately, its large 5000mAh battery lasted nearly a good 2.5 days, mainly due to very low consumption when the device was idling with screen off (nights). On the contrary, testing individual usages showed poor autonomy performances. The autonomy was particularly low when streaming videos and music, scrolling social apps and gaming, but decent when using the camera.

On the charging side, the experience was extremely poor. The TCL 406, with its low 10W charge, took 2 hours to reach 80% of the battery capacity and 3 hours and 13 minutes to a full charge, which was very long. Moreover a 5-minute boost provided only 1 hour and 19 minutes of autonomy on average, nearly the weakest autonomy gain we have measured so far.

In terms of efficiency, the device drained very little power when in idle mode and the screen off, indicating almost no background activity. Discharge currents of all tested usages were high overall, especially when streaming video, gaming and scrolling social apps, meaning that the device is not well-optimized.

Compared with other devices from the Essential segment (<$200), the TCL 406 was the worst device we had tested so far. Its poor autonomy and efficiency scores were the worst in this segment and its weak charging experience was not enough to save the day.

Test Summary

About DXOMARK Battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests over a week-long period both indoors and outdoors. (See our introductory and how we test articles for more details about our smartphone Battery protocol.)

The following section gathers key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyses performed in DXOMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations under the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.

Battery Charger Wireless Display Processor
TCL 406 5000mAh 10W
(not included)
- LCD
720 x 1612
MediaTek Helio P22
Samsung Galaxy A14 5G 5000mAh 15W
(not included)
- LCD
1080 x 2408
MediaTek Dimensity 700
TCL 40R 5G 5000mAh 15W
(not included)
- LCD
720 x 1612
MediaTek Dimensity 700

Autonomy

99

TCL 406

195

Honor X7b
How Autonomy score is composed

Autonomy score is composed of three performance sub-scores: Home / Office, On the go, and Calibrated use cases. Each sub-score comprises the results of a comprehensive range of tests for measuring autonomy in all kinds of real-life scenarios.

Light Usage
90h
Light Usage
Active: 2h30/day
Moderate Usage
59h
Moderate Usage
Active: 4h/day
Intense Usage
35h
Intense Usage
Active: 7h/day

Home/Office

100

TCL 406

221

Honor X7b

A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a set of touch-based user actions during what we call our “typical usage scenario” (TUS) — making calls, video streaming, etc. — 4 hours of active use over the course of a 16-hour period, plus 8 hours of “sleep.” The robot repeats this set of actions every day until the device runs out of power.

Typical Usage Scenario discharge curves

On the go

106

TCL 406

195

Samsung Galaxy M51

Using a smartphone on the go takes a toll on autonomy because of extra “hidden” demands, such as the continuous signaling associated with cellphone network selection, for example. DXOMARK Battery experts take the phone outdoors and perform a precisely defined set of activities while following the same three-hour travel itinerary (walking, taking the bus, the subway…) for each device

Autonomy for on the go use cases (full charge)

Calibrated

95

TCL 406

198

Samsung Galaxy M51

For this series of tests, the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and our robots repeatedly perform actions linked to one specific use case (such as gaming, video streaming, etc.) at a time. Starting from an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have expended at least 5% of their battery power.

Autonomy for calibrated use cases (full charge)

Charging

74

TCL 406

218

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
How Charging score is composed

Charging is fully part of the overall battery experience. In some situations where autonomy is at a minimum, knowing how fast you can charge becomes a concern. The DXOMARK Battery charging score is composed of two sub-scores, (1) Full charge and (2) Quick boost.

Wired
Wired
20%
in 30 min
2h02
0 - 80%
3h13
Full charge

Full charge

70

TCL 406

224

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)

Full charge tests assess the reliability of the battery power gauge; measure how long and how much power the battery takes to charge from zero to 80% capacity, from 80 to 100% as shown by the UI, and until an actual full charge.

Power consumption and battery level during full charge
The charging curves, in wired and wireless (if available) showing the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the power consumption in watts during the stages of charging toward full capacity.
Time to full charge
The time to full charge chart breaks down the necessary time to reach 80%, 100% and full charge.

Quick boost

78

TCL 406

212

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)

With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), Quick boost tests measure the amount of charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes. The chart here compares the average autonomy gain from a quick 5-minute charge.

Average autonomy gain for a 5 minute charge (wired)

Efficiency

83

TCL 406

154

Oppo Reno6 5G
How Efficiency score is composed

The DXOMARK power efficiency score consists of two sub-scores, Charge up and Discharge rate, both of which combine data obtained during robot-based typical usage scenario, calibrated tests and charging evaluation, taking into consideration the device’s battery capacity. DXOMARK calculate the annual power consumption of the product, shown on below graph, which is representative of the overall efficiency during a charge and when in use.

Annual Consumption TCL 406
4.4 kWh
Efficient
Good
Bad
Inefficient

Charge up

108

TCL 406

205

Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro

The charge up sub-score is a combination of four factors: the overall efficiency of a full charge, related to how much energy you need to fill up the battery compared to the energy that the battery can provide; the efficiency of the travel adapter when it comes to transferring power from an outlet to your phone; the residual consumption when your phone is fully charged and still plugged into the charger; and the residual consumption of the charger itself, when the smartphone is disconnected from it. The chart here below shows the overall efficiency of a full charge in %.

Overall charge efficiency

Discharge

73

TCL 406

194

Apple iPhone 14 Pro

The discharge subscore rates the speed of a battery’s discharge during a test, which is independent of the battery’s capacity. It is the ratio of a battery’s capacity divided by its autonomy. A small-capacity battery could have the same autonomy as a large-capacity battery, indicating that the device is well-optimized, with a low discharge rate.

Average discharge current

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