Should you buy a TCL TV?

[What Hi-Fi?]

We compare all the best TCL TVs on sale and find the cheapest prices on the most popular models.

Should you buy a TCL TV? : Read more

 

[hybridauth_Google_101888933069938064971]

What a misleading article! It doesn't answer the question and it doesn't give your verdict.

You haven't tested any of these TVs so don't know if they are any good.

This is just an overview of their range.

I have no object ion to you providing an overview of a product range. In fact they can be very useful for comparison purposes, but please be honest with what you are providing.

I expect higher standards of journalism from your (normally excellent) magazine/website. Please don't lower your standards to "click bait."

 

[LowFiWhat]

To be clear, TCL 6 Series is on the R625 model in the United States now. This seems like a copy/paste article from Jan 2018. The upcoming 2020 6 Series will have the mini-LED technology from the 2019 8-series to pair with quantum dots (available on 2019 R625 model). In this price range, few TV's offer the best bang for the buck.

 

[SMTIPS]

I've owned this 55R635 for less than a month. It was fine for a week. Then audio sync issues started no matter what I watch on it. Then I started researching and Roku forums are full of complaints about it. There are 11 pages of complaints. There seems to be no fix for it. This has been going on with Roku/TCL TV's for well over a year.
I spent HOURS last night trying to adjust and correct this, both through my new Denon 650H receiver and through the TV and through Prime Video/Firestick settings. There is no fix for it. The only possible fix I've seen is to completely disable all Roku by resetting and not connecting it to the internet and just using your own devices (Firestick, Streaming Box, DVD etc.).
This is really unacceptable. Half the reason I bought it was for the "cool" factor of the Roku built in to this TV and the high ratings of the Roku app. I could buy any TV but this one had what I wanted. And now in less than a month I'm extremely unhappy with it. To get proper audio syncing I have to disable the entire Roku feature of this!!
Reconsider your choice on purchasing this TV. Neither TCL nor Roku has offered any explanation or fix for this issue and it's been happening to many customers since at least 2018.

 

[philc]

I had a similar issue with one of my TCL unit, after much gnashing of teeth and some mild profanity I discovered the audio reset located at the back if the TV (requires such as a ball point pen) . I left the TV plugged in, used a ball point pen, pushed the reset in...sound reverted back to normal. I do not have cable hooked to the TV and am streaming from my wireless network. I also determined later that the issue may well have been created by my service provider which unbeknownst to me was, at the time, doing a firmware update..This may not have been the case in your situation but I am reasonably certain this was the issue with the audio problem that I had. Aside from that kerfuffle I have had no physical issues with this TV since I've had it, which is going on 2 years.

 

[rhdmsw]

Bought a 75 inch in 2000, the TV didn't last 2 years without problems. TV Video wouldn't work. Called TCL support and they ran me through diagnostics and troubleshooting. Still couldn't get the picture to come on. End answer was "sorry, your out of warranty".
Everyone needs to know what garbage TCL is putting out on the market. Stay away and buy something else.

 

[SMTIPS]

I had a similar issue with one of my TCL unit, after much gnashing of teeth and some mild profanity I discovered the audio reset located at the back if the TV (requires such as a ball point pen) . I left the TV plugged in, used a ball point pen, pushed the reset in...sound reverted back to normal. I do not have cable hooked to the TV and am streaming from my wireless network. I also determined later that the issue may well have been created by my service provider which unbeknownst to me was, at the time, doing a firmware update..This may not have been the case in your situation but I am reasonably certain this was the issue with the audio problem that I had. Aside from that kerfuffle I have had no physical issues with this TV since I've had it, which is going on 2 years.

This was not the issue. I had no TV provider, period. This was happening directly with a Gigabit wireless connection, I don't pay any provider. It happened on all channels on the Roku, and on the Fire Stick. This is a flat out blatant issue with Audio on TCL TV's, from my research anything Series 5 and above (does not happen at all on TCL 4 series, I've tested 3 of them I and my friends own).

The problem was never solved. My only solution was to stop using channels through the TV, plug my fire stick directly into my Denon receiver, and use any channels I want through it. This solution completely bypasses the audio processing on the TV and puts it directly through the receiver. I feel bad for people with a sound bar or some small speakers they can't plug devices directly to.

I will re-iterate, do NOT buy a TCL TV if you want a trouble free experience. These guys have done nothing to improve this, for your entertainment just do a search for "Audio Sync issue TCL" and you will find many many people with exactly the same issues. It can't be blamed on a service provider.

 

[Mjj]

This TV suddenly blacked out. I can hear it but no screen whatsoever. TCL has this issue with their tv’s right around the 2 year mark. Don’t bother calling them because they refuse to fix it, or acknowledge this is a tv defect and then they resort to the robot mode where they just repeat the same thing over and over again that the warranty is over until you hang up. This company sucks, their tv’s suck and if you don’t believe me do a quick google search thousands of people have the same issue. Will never buy TCL again.

 

[Deleted member 197450]

Looks like these TVs are crap then, probably why they gave 1 and 2 year warranties in the first place.

 

[simontompkins]

Hi, I think the points about providing an overview of TCL but not answering the question are well made. The piece comes across as a marketing piece for TCL TV's - not necessarily an issue but is there not some way of drawing a distinction between genuine reviews and more marketing minded pieces?
For me, one of the major issues with the piece is my issue with all 'reviews' across What HiFi - the impossibility of comparing reviews because of the way that you score TVs.
A TV costing £1000 gets a five star review, a TV costing £2000 gets a five star review. If a consumer only took cost into consideration when making a decision then it would be easy enough just looking at reviews within one's budget and then picking a TV.
What is really challenging, under the current rating system is when cost is not an issue. Let's say for example you want a TV under £3000. How are your reviews supposed to help a consumer decide if a TV's extra cost is justified? You could just go for the most expensive TV but why spend so much more money if the more more expensive TV is twice as expensive but only 5% better. I give the twice/5% as a possible example because it's just the type of metric you don't provide on What Hi Fi.
There's another issue with taking cost into consideration in that as TV's come down in price presumably their scores would change. Yes, you do go back to republish a review but under the current rating system I feel it doesn't have a level of granularity that would help the consumer more.
My suggestion is therefore:
Pick five to ten elements of what a TV can do and then mark each out of ten based solely on what the TV can do and make them without taking cost into consideration.
Have a single score for 'value for money' based on how much TV you consider a consumer is getting for their money. This can be easily updated as the TV falls in price.
Most of all pick a reference TV, for example at the moment the Sony A95l would seem a good pick. As reviews of picture quality can be somewhat subjective - if all TVs were rated in comparison to a reference TV a consumer would get a far better idea of how a TV compared to competitors and a far better idea of how much the extra money they might spend would get them 'more' TV. I don't think consumers would necessarily be put off by finding out that for doubling their budget would 'only' get them an 10% of TV (for example). Some people are less swayed by price because they want a TV to last for say seven years and so, up to a point want a TV that they won't update for many years to come.
Having a reference TV would make it far easier to make an informed choice as to which TV is worth buying. As technology improves, presumably more of the scores would get higher and closer to a reference TV (like the Sony) and so would would be an increasing reason to justify a TV purchase.
People with a more limited budget, may think that rather than spending a large amount of cash on a TV to last for many years, instead would more have a budget that they can spend every three years and so would be looking for the best value this year and then update every three years.
Which is all to say that I'd like What HiFi to consider an overhaul to its ratings system. I find the prose of your reviews excellent but at present the salient points of the each section of reviews are not (in my view) transposed as effectively as they could be into a numeric rating system.
Perhaps What HiFi would consider opening a thread on the present forum asking readers for their thoughts on a new rating system.
In any case, thank you, as ever for the time and effort you make into your reviews, it not helps me make my decisions but has given me many happy hours of reading.