We bought this to use with an Apple TV 4K in our dining/gaming room. There were a couple surprises, but no actual problems. We’re very happy with this, especially at this price.
The TV has only one button. You push it multiple times to pick an input (or power it off) as indicated on the screen. I don’t see a way to control the volume that way, but admit I didn’t look long.
I kind of hate the remote, but never intended to use it, so that makes no difference to me. If you intend to use the Roku features, it might be fine. I really don’t want my TV to be smart, just a monitor for my Apple TV, so the buttons on the remote for specific streaming services are an annoying waste of space, and some day will refer to service that don’t exist or are called something else now.
I used my Roku account to set the TV up. I’m not sure you can avoid that.
I was able to get the TV to power on with a specific HDMI input selected, and let the Apple TV control the TCL TVs power and volume. Now we don’t need the Roku remote at all.
The TV has AirPlay support built in. None of my other (older) TVs have that. That would be very useful if I wasn’t already using this as a monitor for an Apple TV. It also seems to have HomeKit integration. I can turn it on and off via HomeKit (separately from the Apple TV). I haven’t looked to see if it supports any other actions.
The sound is OK. I didn’t expect much. We don’t really want booming theater sound in this room anyway. I haven’t connected any external speakers to this (probably never will), so can’t comment on how the ARC function works, and if all the volume and power control signals get passed to the external audio device or not (our other TV didn’t reliably turn off its sound bar via HDMI). I expect it will work. The software in this seems to be pretty good. IDK if that’s due to TCL or Roku. Someone seems to know what they’re doing.
The only problem is that now that I’ve seen 4K HDR my “good” TV doesn’t look so good to me anymore.
| Brand Name | TCL |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 15.1 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 11.8 x 44.2 x 27.8 inches |
| Item model number | 50S435 |
| Batteries | 3 AAA batteries required. (included) |
| Output Wattage | 8 Watts |
| Color Name | Black |
| Special Features | High Dynamic Range Technology; Easy Voice Control works with Siri, Alexa, and Hey Google; Advanced Digital TV Tuner with Live TV Channel Guide |
| Speaker Type | Built-In |
| Item Weight | 15.1 Pounds |
| Standing screen display size | 50 Inches |
| Voltage | 120 Volts |
| Wattage | 75 watts |
