TCL 43S425 43 Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart ROKU LED TV (2018)

I'm a Sony guy and, given the right opportunity and place, would select an authentic OLED Sony screen to hang onto a wall. But currently I find myself marooned and cash-stressed in a one-room apartment. Necessity can be the mother of serendipitous surprises, such as the discovery of this 55-inch "overachiever" from TCL, going for one-tenth the price of my desired Sony.It comes with two tripod legs (which are all I require in my quiet, sedate setting), though it's light and thin enough (though thicker, of course than an OLED) for hanging on a wall. I'm happy to place my screen in front of the big dresser mirror, where it blocks from my view the strange freak I find staring at me each morning. I've found that 55-inches is enough to cover the entire width of the mirror and falls just 4-5 inches short of reaching the top.More importantly, without an A-B side-by-side comparison, this picture satisfies me as much as the Sony and Samsung sets I've owned since 2015--a year in which all makers' hi-def sets were given a huge boost because of the pervasive use of LED lighting (previously used to illuminate only the edges of the picture). Moreover, the AUDIO is the best I've heard from any TV set (If you're "bass-challenged," buy the subwoofer). Listening to the Lincoln Center Orchestra play the music of Miles Davis (on Youtube), I could hear and notate every note from the acoustic "walking" bass without need of plugging into a high-end stereo-system.You'll notice that this is a "4 Series"--or #55S45, meaning 55-inch 4K Hi-Def Set with HDR. If you're willing to spend $50 to $250 more, you may wish to look into TCL's 5 series (55S55) or 6 series (55S65). The latter will bring you some metal to complement the plastic in the picture frames of the 4 series. And with the 6 you'll have bragging rights to more sophisticated circuitry, giving you control over, say, black levels of one small portion of the screen (great for viewers who have OCD and enjoy endless fiddling). Also, "gamers" may be willing to pay more for a TV promising faster, more efficient processors.I remember the days when we argued vehemently about the best-sounding loudspeaker. Now, all the attention is not on sound (have you heard today's, uh, music?). Confession: last year I installed a 32" TCL with Roku in our kitchen. It was so good, I couldn't wait to use my treadmill (placed directly in front of the TV) on a daily basis. Besides cable I had access to Prime Video and Netflix--all of it accessible on the TCL twice as fast as the Sony and 5 times faster than the Samsung.After duping the American public into believing that 4K was so revolutionary we all needed to trash our existing TV sets, "Consumer Reports" has become more honest and even a bit apologetic. The only difference the naked eye will see, according to the latest claim, is not in the sharpness of 1080p vs. 4K resolution, but in the quality of "depth" in the picture (the part referenced by "HDR").Conclusion: my research and personal experience tell me that this TCL 4-Series offers a fully competitive picture at an amazing price. Moreover, in addition to two sets of legs, you will receive a full-featured remote control (including batteries!) as well as older pin plug adapters (1 video 2 stereo) and an instruction manual. All you "might" need for optimal versatility is an HDMI cable. Most consumers by now are wise enough to know that a high-priced $40 cable will not provide a picture that's 4X better. Check out the prices of Amazon cables. I purchased a 20-footer for $10, and it performs as well as a $50 cable. (It arrived a day later than the TV.)

I bought this TV brand new in 2019 and it’s still has an excellent picture with great colors, clarity and dynamic range. It was easy to setup with a little bit of trial and error, but not much work, as any smart TV requires some type of setup.Realize that I paid only $219, but that was 5 years ago. So, it was well worth the money.It’s an economy TV, yet I have had no problems with it. I have it connected to my cable box, and I can watch any of the various streaming services that are available without any issues.The only caveats that I have in hindsight are that it lacks UHD, so some of the streaming services that offer movies and TV series in UHD are watchable, but lack the clarity of HD. However, everything from my Xfinity cable provider is in HD and loos fantastic. The other caveat is the refresh rate: the only time it’s a problem is when I pause a sporting event or a show that has fast action where I see motion blur. So, at 60HZ it’s fairly slow when compared to the speed of more current TV models. Yet, when I watch fast action without pausing the show, then I don’t have any problem with motion blur.I bought it directly from Amazon, so I don’t know anything about the current seller.

I seriously cannot believe this thing for the money. I ordered two of these for my desk (don't laugh, I have a big desk), expecting that I would probably return them. I was thinking there's no way they would be good enough to run 4k clearly 3ft from my face, and low latency at 60Hz 4:4:4, and have deep enough blacks in a dark room, and produce great color. I've never been so happy to be wrong. It met all my requirements and then some. The only problem I'm currently having is finding a display port to HDMI adapter or cable that can handle 4k@60Hz, 4:4:4, HDR and HDMI 2.0a but that's not the fault of the TV.Is it something you would use for photo editing or perfect color and contrast for movie watching? Of course not, but you will be hard pressed to find anything in this price range that will even come close. I attached some pics for your viewing pleasure taken with my Gs9 at 4032x2268, although Amazon my compress them...Edit: Almost 2 months in and still very pleased with these. The panels were not identical in color in both sets, but that's not uncommon. I had to calibrate them and now they look almost identical. Unless you're getting two to sit side by side like I did, it should not be an issue. My office is dimly lit most of the time and these settings work well for me. Picture mode Normal, Backlight 75, Brightness 50, Contrast 100, Color 50, Tint 0.Edit 09/21/19: Figured I would update this post. Both displays are still going strong. No issues whatsoever. Still very happy with my purchase. These are true 4K displays and work great for gaming. As one of the comments mentioned, they are not going to compete with gaming displays and I have had overpriced small gaming monitors. I much rather play on this, and they have 100s of hours of gaming on them with no issues. Extremely sharp, and they work great as monitors. If you have a different experience, it needs to be calibrated. I spent a good few hours getting these dialed in, and it was worth it!Edit 03/16/21: One of my panels just went dim a couple days ago. Still keeping the rating as is because I've put thousands of hours on these panels and this one partially slipped off my desk a couple of months ago and fell into a cabinet behind it. Going to by a 2021 model to replace it. Will write a review there once it comes in and I have it next to my other 2018 model.