Quality for a budget price
Console gaming has come a long way in over the years and I have reviewed many of them. Now I am tackling one of the most important parts of console gaming, the display you play them on. Yes reviewing a TV is weird, and there are sites out there that go into some in-depth analyses that I cannot begin to fathom. Instead I am approaching this review from a consumer perspective in the sense that how does it stack up price wise? Does it offer the features that work well with console gaming, and how easy it is to set up. Sure I will go into some details on resolution, refresh rate, and gaming functions, but I won’t be digging into white levels and proper settings, those are yours to decide. Instead let’s see how TCL’s 5 Series stacks up to other TVs I have recently used.
Let’s kick off with setup. We were sent the 65 inch model for review. Currently I was using a Vizio in the setup area (same size) so this was set to replace it. Taking it out of the box is pretty standard at this point. I have unboxed enough TVs to know how this works. The box included the TV, feet to mount, and of course the standard instructions and remote. The included remote is a standard Roku remote as this TV has built-in Roku functionality, more on that later. Everything went smooth and within 30 mins I had the TV on its stand, plugged in, and ready to go.
MSRP: $599.99
Price I’d Pay: $599.99
The first step is always plugging in all devices before powering on. This is to make sure the TV recognizes what is plugged in and sets them up automatically. I already had a Roku account so it was as simple as entering my email and password and it downloaded all my apps and even logged in to some of them automatically. Roku is a really streamlined service. Then downloaded a TV update and we were up and running within an hour altogether. It was time to dig into the features and set up our gaming console.
The TCL 5 Series is a 60Hz panel, which is expected for this price range. For these tests I hooked up an Xbox Series X and PS5 to the panel. While the TV doesn’t take full advantage of the 120Hz, it does in fact support VRR. I was able to test this with Xbox a little better as it runs across the board on every single game. Switching back and forth with it on and off showcased that the TCL TV handles the feature quite nicely. Frame drops were less apparent on games that showed them with the feature off. This is a nice addition considering the TV doesn’t support all the features these consoles can deliver.
Plugging in both consoles the TV automatically recognized what they were and set the inputs accordingly complete with clean icons and setting each one to game mode. I appreciate this as a lot of people don’t take the time to adjust these settings and therefore are not getting the most out of the features of their TV. The default picture settings are pretty good, but I did have to make some adjustments for the HDR picture as it was a tad dark at times. The TCL doesn’t get super bright like my current Samsung QLED, but it was a bit brighter than the LG OLED I was currently using. I am a fan of bright and vibrant pictures and the 5 Series comes in around the middle of my comparisons. The viewing angle is a bit off though, so if you have a wide viewing area, this might not be the best set for you.
Image quality during gaming is sharp. I really like how the colors popped on games like Overwatch and Ori and the Blind Forest. The HDR colors are really vibrant and it looks like a premium set. I had my wife test it out to see if she could really notice the downgrade from more advanced sets and for the normal viewer this one is great. The one issue we had is the sound is a mixed bag. We went through multiple settings to try and get it to sound just right with little luck. The features in the menus for sound are not very intuitive. There wasn’t a setting that really helped iron out just what was wrong. I recommend getting a sound bar, even a cheap one as your sound quality will improve immensely. This is one of the more disappointing default sounding TVs I have used in recent memory.
For regular content the TV is nice. Movies and TV shows look really nice at 4K resolution. One thing the TCL has issues with is upscaling 480p content. Older content just doesn’t scale as nice as newer content. I noticed a lot of noise and artifacting with some older shows and movies. This isn’t a deal breaker as most people don’t bother with older content, but if you do it is worth noting. Again the viewing angle comes into play if your setup has off angles. The drop is noticeable even at a small angle. I recommend picking up one of these cheaper sets only if you plan to view it directly from the front.
Picture quality is excellent though and the TCL does some stuff better than similar models such as Vizio and HiSense. For example the contrast ratio is excellent. Watching movies in a dark room really pops the black levels. They look fantastic. The brightness is also excellent when compared to other similar models. The SDR brightness is right where I want it, but I was a bit disappointed by the HDR content when it comes to brightness. I had it on the brightest setting and it felt like it needed a little more oomph in this category.
Roku is a perfect setup for a TV. The service is fast and supports almost any app you could possibly want. We have multiple Roku devices in our house so it was easy to adjust. One thing I am not a fan of is that the advanced settings of the picture are hidden away within the app. So if I wanted to tinker with white balance and gamma I had to dig into the app. This is not ideal for most users and certainly not for my wife who hates having more than one remote. So I had to play with all those settings and it makes some of the cooler features of the TV out of line for standard users.
Alright time for breakdowns. The TV features 4 HDMI inputs which is excellent. Input lag for gaming is incredible. I barely noticed any drops and it is on par with even higher-end models. It supports all the HDR language including Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR+, and HLG. It also supports CEC control, but I cannot for the life of me enjoy this feature. It seems to turn on and off things I don’t want when I don’t want it to happen. I almost always disable this feature. It also supports ALLM (auto low latency mode) for gaming, which both Xbox and PlayStation support, which is always a bonus.
Overall the TCL 5 Series is one of, if not the best TV in its price range. When compared to models from Vizio and HiSense it beats them in some areas and matches them in others. The only gripes I have are the lack of 120Hz, HDR brightness, and viewing angles. These are all things that the others struggle with as well. I have been a fan of TCL for a while and now have two models in my home out of the three TVs I use on a daily basis. For the price you simply cannot go wrong. It is packed with features and the picture quality is excellent. Definitely worth picking up if you are on a budget.
Review unit provided by TCL.
