Quite frankly, I was very, very unsure as to whether I should purchase this TV. It is a ridiculously good price, says it has HDR (HDR10), it has some local dimming type qualities and is under $400â¦Itâs also from a manufacturer that, quite frankly, I am not very sure of as I am not familiar. What pushed me over the proverbial âedgeâ to buy this was two-foldâ¦First, it is quasi suggested by Amazon, the price is great and I know it has a Roku built in. This is the third (I think) generation from TCL and Roku and the first to boast 4K and HDR. There are some outstanding features on this television and a couple cons that I can live with. Iâll outline them below.
I wanted to buy a new TV for my bedroom and the 49â was cheaper than the 43â. Also, in my humble opinion, if you want to get a 4K TV with HDR, it is best experienced with a larger TV screen. I wanted to get the 55â version that has Dolby Vision HDR (because it can use Dolby Vision or HDR10 standards for HDR) but it was cost and size prohibitive.
I saw a LG tv for a similar price but they are still using a RGBW pixel setup for their budget TVâs and it really does not do blacks well nor does it perform well with some contrasting. The reviews, research and data specs I found for this TV all outweighed going with a more familiar brand. Plus, Amazon is awesome and Prime has great benefits to protect us. I mention that as buying a TV online is a bit scary to me as I worry it might arrive broken but this was packed so well it would be malfeasance to arrive broken (or intentional).
After it arrived, I checked to make sure it was in one piece. After I found it was, I set it up. The first thing I noticed is that it weighs less than half a 46â Sony TV from 2010 that it replaced. This thing is LIGHT!! I can pick it up and turn it in my hands by myself without worrying about dropping it. Be careful though.
Concerning Picture:
This has HDR and the colors really âpopâ and look outstanding. The version is HDR 10 and the TV has a 10 bit panel. Be weary of TVâs that tout HDR but only have 8 bit panels as they cannot show the full color gamut (aka not really show much of the benefit of HDR). The ones you really have to check are budget Samsung (I love Samsung but the budget ones have some critical reviews; which I urge you to check yourself) and LG. Now, the premier models (aka, flagship) for Samsung and LG are absolutely AMAZING but they also cost a lot more. Nonetheless, the screen is very, very good for the cost and I am thrilled at the price and performance. Setting up HDR is easy but make sure you press the â*â key on the remote for each input to access the settings to change the HDMI setting. It took me a bit to figure that out.
This TV has a refresh rate of 60hz but some internal hardware bumps it up to 120hz but does give it a bit of a âsoap operaâ effect. Some love it, some loathe it. I am the latter. Either way, in Sports mode it was able to keep up with fast NFL action in 4K and some other programming on Directv (NFL not in 4K but the upscaling was great!). From what I read, I wouldnât calibrate this TV as it didnât really help. This is different as calibration usually makes the tv show itâs best picture but that doesnât seem to be the case here. Oh well, easier for me to setup.
Sound:
The volume gets QUITE loud! What I love about this is an option to use to have âSpeechâ mode so language in movies, shows, etc, is clearer without having to turn the TV up in general to loud levels. My former TV lacked this. Nice addition. The stock speakers donât sound âtinneyâ or bad at all to me. Keep your expectations in check though; this is a budget TV.
Other Features, etc:
SD content and content from streaming is upscaled very well.. That is extremely important, in my opinion, as there is not a ton of 4K material and HDR but it is growing rapidly. Most of the HDR and 4K content out there to stream, you need about 30Mbps download speeds (which rules me out as I can only get DSL). HDR adds another 3Mbps required with 4K.
Breakdown
It has HDR (HDR10 and it looks great for the price)
Great up scaling
Screen cast
Roku remote and User Interface
Simple, fast and easy to use User Interface
Good apps/thousands of channels because it is a Roku
3 HDMI (All can do 60hz 4k at 4:4:4 or 4:2:2)
Headphone/speaker out
OTA Tuner
Component input
Great Sound for a budget TV
1 ARC HDMI
1 MHL HDMI
As wide as my 2010 Sony 46â TV (small bezel on this)
Inexpensive
Full LED backlight array, it seems, with local dimming. It doesnât perform as well as much more expensive TVâs but it performs well at this price point
Wifi â True Dual Band AC and have had ZERO drop outs thus far
Some cons are:
Needs another HDMI input
No 3D (if that is a con)
Could use more than 1 USB port
I would recommend taking advantage of the 2 year warranty available so you get the 1 year manufacturer one and 2 after that.
Overall, I cannot dispute the value this brings to the table; itâs amazing