TCL has very much established itself as one of the major players in the TV market, particularly at the budget end of things, where it competes with the likes of Toshiba, Insignia, Amazon and Hisense. But are TCL TVs good?
As with those brands, TCL offers a wide range of TVs at different sizes and price points with different technologies and features. But its TVs are usually cheaper than equivalent sets from big brands such as Sony and LG.
Whether you’re in the UK or the US, TCL’s ranges of television run the gamut, and while being able to pick out the display tech of your choice or the smart platform you like the best might be useful, it can make deciding on a TCL TV quite complicated.
So, to help you figure out which TCL TV might work the best for you, we have outlined the primary TV ranges that TCL sells in both US and UK, as well as what they offer and how they stack up against the many competitor brands out there in the budget TV space.
We’ve reviewed some TCL TVs at What Hi-Fi? – such as the Award-winning C845K – though even the ones that haven’t passed through our test room doors can tell us a lot from their spec sheets. So, sit back, strap in, and keep reading to learn everything you need to know about TCL TVs and whether or not you should be keeping an eye on this brand…
Should you buy a TCL TV? The short answer…
Across the US and the UK, TCL TVs are serious competitors in the budget TV space – especially during peak shopping periods. Then, these already competitive TVs can be discounted massively. You’ll often find TCL TVs with competitive features and specs sold at some of the lowest prices around.
If you’re in the market for a reasonably cheap TV but don’t want to get stuck with a tiny display running at a low resolution, TCL is there for you, offering up a slew of 4K TVs that’ll get the job done when it comes to streaming whatever content you could want on a budget.
TCL TVs may not be the best for gamers, largely opting out of supporting features like VRR or 120Hz, but this is often the case across brands at this price. High-end gaming features usually come with higher-end price tags, while TCL TVs will have no trouble with casual gaming, especially if you’re still playing on PS4 or Xbox One.
In general, premium TCL TVs that run up into the thousands and support Mini-LED tech or 8K might be harder to justify when you can alternatively opt for sets from established brands like Sony or LG that come with the popular and proven OLED display, or Samsung QLED TVs. But the budget and mid-range TCL TVs on offer are usually tough to beat in terms of value.
What do US TCL TVs offer?
While TCL US is a budget brand, first and foremost, the company does offer quite a range of sets – from tiny, cheap 720p TVs with barebones features to big-screen Mini-LED sets that can cost thousands of dollars. Whether you want a Google TV over a Roku TV or you want 8K over 4K, TCL has you covered.
However, TCL’s most popular lines of US TV are on the cheaper end, so we’ll be focusing on three core lines of TCL TV: the 3-Series, 4-Series and 5-Series TVs. If you’re looking for 8K or Mini-LED tech, check out TCL’s 6-Series, though if your budget is over a thousand dollars, know that the competition gets a lot wider and your choice harder.
TCL’s flagship Roku TVs have a lot of commonalities between them, each coming with a 60Hz refresh rate, Dolby Digital Plus audio, HDMI ARC (or eARC) connections, and typical features like VESA mounts and an included remote. At their core is the Roku OS – a portal to streaming apps – though you can opt for Android/Google versions of these TVs over Roku if you prefer.
As you make your way up TCL’s lines, TCL TVs will offer HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, gaming-focused features like ALLM and VRR, and even QLED panels. The 6-Series will even offer up Mini-LED support and 8K support, too. Unsurprisingly, the more features you want, the more money you’ll be spending.
TCL TVs start out at under $200 for the HD 3-Series and top out at over $1000, while 6-Series TVs can scale up to thousands of dollars depending on size, and whether you’re looking for 8K on top of Mini-LED support.
In general, pricing on TCL TVs is extremely competitive, especially when it comes to its more budget and midrange offerings. Sometimes, you’ll find sets with similar features for similar prices, but TCL TVs oftentimes offer up some of the best value out there, especially on sale, so these TVs are definitely worth keeping an eye on if you’re looking for a deal.
Should you buy a TCL 3-Series?
- Sizes: 32-inch, 40-inch, 43-inch
- Display type: LED
- Resolution: 1080p
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: HDR10
- Audio: Dolby Digital Plus
- HDMI: ARC
TCL’s 3-Series is the brand’s most basic flavor of US TV. These sets come in three sizes: 32-inch, 40-inch and 43-inch. They're outfitted with LED panels, 60Hz refresh rates, HDMI ARC, and Dolby Digital Plus audio, while HDR10 is the sole format of HDR that's supported.
You can pick up a 32-inch 3-Series for just $140, a 40-inch for $160 and a 43-inch for $200. Of course, you’ll see these TVs for less if you can find them on sale, too. Naturally, in this day and age, Full HD TVs aren’t really the best value, considering how cheap 4K sets have gotten, but these TCL TVs make a decent case.
Compared to other budget HD TVs currently available, these TCL TVs are oftentimes the cheapest option. Insignia will sell you a 32-inch Full HD TV for $120, while Roku's equivalent costs $150. TCL's sits right in the middle of them.
If you’re just looking for a cheap set to put in your kitchen or you use to only watch content that’s exclusively in HD, a nicer set with a higher resolution may not matter all that much to you, and for the price, it’ll generally be pretty tough to find a 4K/HDR set. In terms of saving money on a smart TV in 2023, TCL’s 3-Series is hard to beat.
Should you buy a TCL 4-Series?
- Sizes: 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch, 85-inch
- Display type: LED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG
- Audio: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus
- HDMI: eARC
TCL’s 4-Series is the brand's flagship mid-range US TV. For most, if you’re looking a budget TV from TCL, the 4-Series is where you’ll look. Accordingly, this line has almost every size of TV you can imagine, and it comes with LED panels, 4K support, and HDR.
You’ll be getting HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG alongside HDMI eARC instead of just ARC; plus, you’ll get the Google TV platform and virtual assistant support, too. All told, this is about what you’d expect from a relatively basic, modern 4K TV in 2023, but you might not expect the 4-Series’ pricing.
TCL’s 4-Series starts off at just $250 for the 43-inch model, $280 for the 50-inch model, and $300 for the 55-inch model, while it scales up to $1000 for the 85-inch model. In terms of the larger budget TV market, these are just about the best prices you can find on 4K TVs today without nabbing something on sale.
For example, Insignia’s 4K sets start at around $270 for a 43-inch set, Toshiba starts at $280 for a 43-inch set, and Amazon Fire TVs start off at $250 for a 40-inch set.
Accordingly, if you’re looking for a modern 4K smart TV that won’t either break the bank or sacrifice too many features, the TCL 4-Series is a good choice. Unless you find a strong sale on another similar TV, you probably won’t be beating the price, and unless you care a lot about image quality or gaming performance, you might not find spending more worth it.
Should you buy a TCL 5-Series?
- Sizes: 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch
- Display type: QLED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision
- Audio: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos
- HDMI: eARC
TCL’s 5-Series is a major step up over the 4-Series without too much of a major price bump. These TVs come in four different sizes, and they all manage to pack in QLED displays – that should mean a substantial increase in image quality over the traditional LED displays of the 3-Series and 4-Series TCL TVs.
On top of QLED panels, the 5-Series also gets HDR10+ and Dolby Vision as well as Dolby Atmos support for all the spatial audio fans. For gamers, the 5-Series adds in VRR and ALLM support, too, though it’ll only do 4K/60Hz. All told, the 5-Series upgrades image quality, audio, and gaming performance in key areas over the 4-Series.
What’s more, though, is that a 5-Series starts off at $400 for the 50-inch and $430 for the 55-inch, while the 65-inch will run you $550 and the 75-inch goes for $1500. In terms of pricing, TCL’s QLEDs are quite competitive, beating out other budget brands even without sales.
For example, the 5-Series outclasses Toshiba’s F50 QLED Series TV, managing to add in HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and VRR/ALLM for the same price, and this TCL QLED is much cheaper than Amazon’s Fire TV QLED line that starts at $530. In general, TCL’s QLED TVs are about the cheapest you’ll be able to regularly find.
If you’re a big gamer, you’ll definitely be well served by VRR and ALLM, but you might want to spend a little more and go for a 4K/120Hz 65-inch Toshiba M550 set for $600; however, you will be getting an LED display as opposed to a QLED display. So, if you’re just looking for a cheap QLED set, TCL’s 5-Series is tough to beat.
What do UK TCL TVs offer?
Much like TCL’s US side, TCL UK offers up a slew of budget TVs with different features at different price points. From 720p TVs to 4K Mini-LED sets that cost thousands, UK TCL TVs run the gamut as well.
Accordingly, if you’re looking for a Roku TV or 144Hz support or anything else, you can find it within TCL’s many different UK TVs on offer; however, for the purposes of this guide, we’ll be focusing on TCL’s flagship, lower-cost TVs with the most mainstream appeal.
Three lines of TV make up TCL’s most recent, budget-oriented TVs: the C64K Series, the RC630K Series and the C745K Series. These TVs scale up in terms of price and features like HDR, QLED displays, Dolby Atmos, and more.
When it comes to operating systems, TCL hedges its bets. One each of these three TVs runs Android TV, Google TV and Roku OS. Across all of them, you’ll get familiar features like VESA mounting, HDR, Dolby Audio, virtual assistant support, and more.
All three are QLED models, as TCL has been vocal in its support of the technology over OLED. And the C74K Series is focussed on gaming, with 144Hz support (120Hz on consoles), Motion Clarity Pro, AMD Freesync Premium Pro and HDMI 2.1 unlocking ALLM and VRR.
One other TV is worth mentioning – the C845K. At over £1000, the 65-inch model isn't exactly budget, but it is stunning value considering its performance. It won a 2023 What Hi-Fi? Award, it's that good. And sales regularly bring it under the £1000 mark.
In general, TCL’s UK TVs are competitively priced, and you’ll be able to find some of the best value around when it comes to budget TVs. Sometimes, you may find better deals elsewhere, but TCL TVs are almost never bad value.
Should you buy a TCL C64K Series?
- Sizes: 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch, 85-inch
- Display type: QLED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
- Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual:X
TCL's C64K Series is one of its cheapest new ranges – the 43-inch model starts at £330. It spans a huge range of sizes, going all the way up to 85 inches, and offers 4K visuals and the Android TV platform.
You get a lot of TV for your money. There are multiple HDR formats, Dolby Atmos audio, and the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice assistants for hands-free controls.
The 43-incher is very competitively priced, being £20 cheaper than a similar-specced Hisense at the same size. And that's before any discounts are applied – remember, TCL is usually front of the queue come sales time, so look out for a healthy discount.
And it's not even the cheapest decently-specced TV that TCL makes...
Should you buy a TCL RC630K Series?
- Sizes: 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch
- Display type: QLED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: HDR Premium
- Audio: Dolby AC4
The RC630K is cheaper than the C645K – the 43-incher starts at £279. But it's similarly specced, and spans a similar range of sizes.
One of the biggest differences is that it runs the Roku OS operating system, which has a different layout to Android TV, but many of the same apps. It's another QLED TV – hardly surprising, given TCL's enthusiasm for the technology – but has more basic audio-visual technologies.
While it has a game mode, serious gamers will want to spring for the more expensive C745K below.
Again, the RC630K is competitively priced. It's again cheaper than a similarly specced Hisense equivalent at the same size, and gives you a lot of tech for not very much money. It doesn't go as big as some TCL TVs though, with the range topping out at a 65-incher that costs £549. Which is still very reasonable.
Should you buy a TCL C745K Series?
- Sizes: 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch
- Display type: QLED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 120Hz/144Hz
- HDR: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ
- Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual:X
TCL UK’s C745K Series is one of the budget brand’s more premium TV offerings, and it's built with gamers in mind. As well as a refresh rate of 120Hz (or 144Hz for PC gamers), it has a wealth of gaming features built-in, like Gaming Master 2 aiming aid, shadow enhancement, gaming picture mode, VRR and ALLM.
It has other features we would only expect of a much pricier TV, too. IMAX Enhanced gives you cinema-style visuals, while Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual:X provide immersive audio.
And how much do you pay for all this? Not as much as you would think. The 55-inch model starts at £649 – certainly not cheap, but for a QLED TV of this size, with these specs, it's very reasonable. It's around £50 cheaper than Hisense's closest alternative, a Mini LED of the same size, and about £100 cheaper than the equivalent Amazon Omni Fire TV.
Should you buy a TCL C845K Series?
- Sizes: 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch, 85-inch
- Display type: Mini LED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 120Hz/144Hz
- HDR: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ
- Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual:X
TCL's flagship set, the Mini LED-powered C845K is a truly impressive TV. It's the brand's highest-end model, offering flagship screen tech and specs to match. Built for gamers and movie fans alike, it utilises a Mini LED panel to deliver a dazzlingly bright and punchy picture.
It won us over in our review, earning itself five stars and a subsequent What Hi-Fi? Award as a result, due to its sheer performance per pound proposition. Its contrast-rich and vivid colours secured it the win, making a case for opting for this cheaper model over the more expensive OLED sets on the market.
So how much is this TV exactly? Well, at £1049, it's a fair bit more expensive than some of TCL's other models, but that still undercuts many other brand's flagships. It's occasionally available with a decent discount, too.
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