Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2018
Hi all. Full disclosure before I go into the review - getting this TV from Amazon was a huge drama. There were shipping issues along with once I got the two 65” models I ordered one of them had some dead pixels and some power management issues (turned off by itself). Truth is, I did set it up to return both of these on the 10th of May and went with a single 65” OLED instead. That said, if I didn’t get the OLED on sale I would have exchanged the defective model I got and bought another of these. I didn’t even open the second one I bought (was supposed to replace my 55” OLED in the bedroom) because of the QA issues and drama I dealt with getting these shipped. Amazon was WONDERFUL in their entire process and I can’t thank their team enough for the hard work they did to get these to me as quickly as possible. They also provided fantastic return service as well. You may read this review and say, “Well, why are you returning these then?!” I got a great deal on a 65” OLED on eBay, brand new, so I couldn’t pass it up. I decided to keep the 55” OLED in the bedroom and just get one 65” OLED for the living room. Bottom line is this - I posted an honest review below on AVSForum and wanted to share it with you guys that may be thinking about getting this TV. In TL;DR fashion, the TV is fantastic if you keep your expectations realistic. That said, here is my take on the TV and the review I wrote prior to deciding to ship these back and stick with OLED:
Ok folks, I've had some time to play around with the new 65" 6 Series and here are my basic impressions - again, I need a ton more time with this thing to really determine what it is capable of. That said, for reference, the TV that this replaced was a 2015 Vizio M70-C3 series TV, 4K NON HDR.
HARDWARE
* The TV is truly all metal save for a small part on the lower back of the television that houses most of the components. It looks sleek and svelte.
* The power button on the front is not distracting at all (the flashing blue/white light). It is small on the 65 inch, so do not expect it to be distracting or in your face or anything like that.
* All of the hook ups for everything (except the power cord - that's on the left) are on the right side of the TV (as you are facing it) and are extremely easy to get to. This is a huge plus so you can hook things up after it's been wall mounted relatively easily.
* Viewing angles are not amazing. They are ok. Looking at the TV dead on the center, the picture is like O_O wow. Going 30 or so degrees in either direction... colors get washed out a bit. This is prevelant with movies and games. Sitting on a couch, three people can easily enjoy the picture, but anything more than that or wider angle... yeah no. Granted, we have to reposition this TV tonight on the wall mount and lower it about 12-18 inches as it is way too high on the wall. This may make a difference, but for right now I can't say the viewing angles are great. The Vizio M70-C3 seemed to be about the same. The OLED I have upstairs, of course, has perfect viewing angles and looks amazing no matter where you sit.
* My unit came with zero dead pixels, good screen uniformity, no banding issues as others have stated (which leads me to believe if you exchange it you should be good if you are experiencing these issues). The only thing about the screen I'm not a huge fan of is that in the very top and bottom of the corners it is a tad dark. It's not distracting, but it is there. Other than that, it's great.
* I got the Amazon unit with the enhanced voice remote. It works well, is local WiFi based so you don't need to point it at the TV. No headphone jack (which is a bummer), but the app on my phone does the exact same thing, works perfectly with headphones, tested today.
* Was able to set it up with a VESA wall mount and mount it - had a slight issue with needing to install a spacer as the way the TV is designed they make it just shy of a perfect fit. Putting in spacers fixed the problem so yes, you can wall mount without issue.
* 3 HDMI Ports (people say HDMI 3 has lowest lag, but honestly we use a PS4 Pro on HDMI 1 with Game Mode and Dynamic Contrast set to on/high and it is perfect - I am feeling zero lag when I play games).
* Ethernet port works fine for streaming - was worried with it being 10/100 it would be slow, but I used both the 802.11ac WiFi and the Ethernet to test - both seem relatively equal in terms of speed. Content loads quickly.
* HDMI ports all come with their settings set to AUTO. When I spoke to TCL they said I should change this to HDMI 2.0 if I am going to be using 4K HDR sources. I updated all of them to reflect this in the TV menu.
* Connecting a soundbar was a bit confusing, even through HDMI-ARC. I had to call TCL and even they couldn't figure it out. In the menu under System there is a section about CEC. You need to scan your equipment once it is plugged in to the HDMI-ARC port and it will find the soundbar. Once it does that, everything is gravy. Just don't go to the Audio menu and beat your head against the table figuring out why the soundbar doesn't work. It will work, you just need to run the scan for it under System --> CEC.
SOFTWARE
* Newest Roku OS Platform. If you've used Roku's OS then you know what you're getting. Works fine, but be advised it is not as fluid as the newest Roku Ultra. It is very similar to the Roku Streaming Stick+ in terms of how it moves, navigates, etc. Relatively smooth, but definitely can lag up a bit (not a lot, but it is there).
* As another reviewer said, the apps themselves all look a bit pixelated when navigating them. NOTE - The CONTENT looks fine - but the app navigation, etc. especially up close looks pixelated. Be aware of this as you are using the Roku OS. I have not tested if I use a different box (like a Roku Ultra) if it looks better/worse/etc. I can confirm it does not look as smooth as it could be. Perhaps a content patch could be dropped that updates the OS to always be in HDR (like Apple TV 4K does).
* Gaming - Honestly, I believe this to be the TV's strongest feature. WOW. I was blown away by God of War with HDR turned on. I tried FarCry 5, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart, Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy XV, and a bunch of others. All around, gorgeous, no input lag, etc. NOTE - Be sure to turn Game Mode ON and Dynamic Contrast to high (local dimming). Huge difference in picture quality/fluid motion/etc.
* Movie streaming in 4K HDR - in one word, stunning. Truly stunning. It's gorgeous. I've tried 4K/4K HDR content from Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, Fandango, 4K Spotlight, and YouTube. Every source looked beautiful. Blacks are DEEP, contrast is very well done. People were saying that it isn't bright enough - um, are you sure? Watching the movie "Bright" (ironic, I know) on Netflix I found in scenes where it was dark and all of a sudden flashlights came on or a huge explosion happened I squinted because it was so bright. I find it is very acceptable. My one callout is as this is a FALD TV, the black letterbox top and bottom can get a tad cloudy when a lot of white contrast shows up on the movie you are watching. It's subtle, but it's there. Light years better than the Vizio M70-C3, but it is not an OLED where it is always black in the letterbox top/bottom.
* Movie streaming in 1080p (HDX) - I streamed Wonder Woman in HDX on Vudu and felt it looked very good. Is it as crisp as 4K? No, it's not. Will I buy the film again in 4K? I mean, maybe, but I tried like six different 1080p movies and it looked like I was watching a regular HD movie. It was the same as on other sets to be honest.
* Movie streaming lower than 1080p - I have not tested this yet, and honestly I don't really watch content that is less than 1080p for movies so I can't really comment on that.
* The Roku mobile app - A necessity for this TV. Unlocks many of the special TV features (like setting gamma, etc.) so be sure you download it. Simple, easy set up, and can use private listening/voice/etc. with it.
* Television streaming through YouTube TV and Philo - This is the one I was a bit surprised by. Maybe it's the engine that upscales, but I found the quality was not as good as my Vizio M70-C3 or my LG55 curved OLED. It looks acceptable, but definitely not as smooth, a bit more jagged in places, etc. I watch a LOT of streaming TV so this may be something to consider. I am going to buy another Roku Ultra box or Nvidia Shield and see if this holds true when watching through a different source. It may be the Roku OS itself, but I need to test further. This shouldn't dissuade you from buying the TV as the apps work fine - just not quite as smooth.
* Television streaming through Hulu Plus - Mixed - kind of like I said for YouTube TV and Philo, it looks not quite as smooth, but for some programs it looks awesome (like Bob's Burgers, for example, it looks perfect).
* I connected a 4K HDR switcher to HDMI 2 for my XBox One X, Nintendo Switch, Super NES Classic, NES Classic and all worked just fine. No degradation of picture whatsoever, 4K HDR worked fine w/ the XBox. I have my PS4 Pro in HDMI 1 and Soundbar in HDMI 3-ARC.
WHO IS THIS TV FOR? Guys, be realistic in your expecations. This TV is a very large, very capable 4K Dolby Vision/HDR10/HLG television for $999 (in some cases with a Best Buy coupon 10% less, or if you experienced shipping issues from Amazon, possibly even less if Customer Service takes pity on you). This TV for $999 is an absolute steal if you understand it's not perfect. It's very CAPABLE, but not perfect. Is it better than an OLED? No. It's just not. Some films look very similar, gaming looks great on both, etc. but for upscaling of TV content, etc. an OLED or a more expensive LED will be a better way to go. If you can get past those things, and are within a specific budget, you cannot go wrong with this TV.
WILL I BE KEEPING THE TWO I BOUGHT? At this point, I am not sure if I'm being totally honest. I was going to sell my 55 OLED in the bedroom for the 65" TCL 6 that I bought, but as of today I am not sure. I need to play around with the TV I have hooked up for the weekend and decide. The Vizio P-Series Quantum is probably what I am going to ultimately get for the living room later on in the year. If I find a 65 OLED for below $2000 then I may consider putting that in the living room (Massdrop had one recently but I was waiting for this one to come out so I hesitated). At the end of the day, what is most important to you? If an amazing deal with all flavors of HDR is most important, then GET THIS TV. You will NOT be dissapointed. If you are more like me, and are spoiled by OLED already, you may find it difficult to go back to LED, even with FALD. Ultimately, you need to determine what is best for you.
If you are coming from a 1080p set, or a set that just had 4K but no HDR, this set will blow you away. If you have a solid 4K HDR TV already (like the X900E or an OLED), you may not be too keen to switch. Whatever choice you make, be sure it fits in your budget and you keep your expectations in line with your wallet :-).
NOTE: After I started having hardware issues with the TV I wrote this addendum to my review on AVSForum. It is listed below:
I wrote a review a few days ago on this TV and that was before I noticed any of the issues it had. Just because I had issues, or others on here had issues, that should NOT take away from the fact that this TV is, for lack of a better term, badass. It truly is. There are some nit picky things I know I didn’t love with it, but that’s with any TV. The truth is, I game a lot and this TV absolutely has the chops to compete against something like an OLED. The dynamic contrast truly does look that good. 4K movies, 4K content, etc. look BRILLIANT on this TV. Like wow brilliant. Truth is, my favorite kind of TV is an OLED TV and, I am sure most would agree, if you could afford one you would probably get that. That is the main reason why I returned these TVs and decided to keep my existing OLED and upgrade the living room to a 65 inch OLED. If I was unable to find that sale for the 65 inch for $1799 shipped and tax free, I would never have returned these and just exchanged it / hooked up the other one, etc. For me, the main gripe was with the way non 4K content looked, and honestly if what the other person posted fixes the issue with pixelization (turning off the noise reduction), then I will report back and let you guys know.
Right now I am watching my spouse play God of War as I’m sitting at the dining room table and the TV is all the way across the room. I can make out every single thing going on and it looks truly brilliant. Do not let a handful of people saying they had issues stop you from getting this TV. It is simply an amazing television value for what you get for the price. Go out and buy this TV :-). Sure, maybe your are in the 1% like us that have some issues, but TCL is quick to get things fixed. Yes, Amazon had some massive problems with shipping for many people - this is true - and already frustrated many people. I can say from personal experience, though, after taking my time, reaching out to them, emailing my complaints, etc. they completely resolved the issues I had and then some. They atoned for what happened and that’s the mark of a great company.
Basically, what I am trying to get at here is simply this: The TCL 65 inch (can’t speak for the 55) 6 series is an amazing piece of tech. If you can get past the little bit slower Roku interface (coming from the Ultra), the slightly pixelated menus / Live TV streams (again, may be remedied with a simple interface update in the Roku mobile app, changing gamma to 2.2 and turning noise reduction from HIGH to OFF), you cannot go wrong with this TV - you just can’t. Those were my gripes, all hardware issues aside (e.g. dead pixels, panel uniformity, dark spots in the corners, shipping damage, etc.). Taking all that out of the mix, when you get a panel that is awesome, it cannot be beat. So, what are you waiting for - stop seesawing and go buy this lol . Enjoy!
