TCL - 50" Class 5 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Roku TV

My husband and I just rearranged our living space and couldn't get our LG 55" TV to fit where it needed to be. So, like anything that costs a chunk of my hard earned dough, I started researching TVs in my price range that were 4k with smart features. I watched a lot of reviews on rtings.com, and I was heavily comparing other TCL models to Hisense H8F and Vizio M Series. However, I was on the fence about TCL after I went to Walmart and randomly browsed the TCL models on display... I was not satisfied with how they looked. TCL just looked dull compared to Vizio and other cheap Samsung models. I had no intentions of buying a TCL after seeing them in the store. Then, this TV was released late August. No reviews or videos were posted regarding the quality, except for the other review here on Best Buy. The TV went on sale for $330 and I couldn't resist that price, plus it appeared to be a different series than the other TCLs I had seen, so nervously bought it sight unseen. I LOVE this TV, and I didn't think that would happen. I use it for gaming, blu ray on my Xbox, "antenna" tv, and typical streaming services. Pros: Interface - I prefer this to the Vizio smart tv I have in my bedroom. It's fast and has many apps to choose from (even though many require paid subscriptions). I have used Apple TVs as well and greatly prefer this interface. I've never used Fire TV so I'm not sure how it compares to that. Picture quality - Contrast looks AMAZING! Blacks are so deep. Colors are vivid and bright. There's many settings to calibrate the picture quality and even more options on the Roku phone app. $330 TV... and it looks the same if not better than other Samsung models. Not as good as a LG OLED, but enough that I am beyond happy. I really didn't expect anything near this good for this price. I have basic standard HDR streaming and it is STILL crystal clear. The refresh rate on this is excellent. My husband said football games on live TV broadcast feels like you're there, it's so good. I don't know specific details on the refresh rate but literally everything just pops on this TV and there's no lag when gaming. Viewing angles are also excellent. My living room has lots of natural light, and this TV still manages to be bright enough. Appearance: I love how the TV button lights up when you hit the remote buttons. Just a nice touch. Also this TV has the smallest bezels ever. Such a clean, minimal design, it looks way more expensive than it is. And it's light weight! Winner winner. Cons: Remote: I feel like I'm doing yoga with this remote for it to respond appropriately. First world problems but I don't want to raise the remote above my head for long periods of time when my husband/me is being indifferent about which show to watch! I also expected the remote to have voice capabilities but it does not. I downloaded the Roku app to use as an alternative remote and it's way more responsive. Glare: In super bright lighting conditions, there is a noticeable glare on the screen. It's a very glossy screen so I expected something like this, but it's easily corrected by changing the picture settings. Soundbars: This TV must need a bluetooth only kind because I have a soundbar that needs connected to the optical port and it won't work with the provided RGB cable. So that's been a pain, since my sound bar apparently isn't compatible and it's an insignia model. The TV settings to switch to a soundbar are also very confusing. The TV's audio is like any typical flat screen; kinda puny but could be worse. Overall this is the best purchase I've made in awhile. It's better than any other 50'' model TCL makes let alone what other brands have on the market.

We have bought 4 TCL Roku TVs for our home and my mom's home. This the 5th. They are all working great! This 5 series has a beautiful picture and works pretty fast. We cut the cord some time ago and I love that I have options with Roku. I truly enjoy the benefit of being able to control all my tvs from my Roku app and and added benefit is that I have some control with Alexa and Google Home as well. I am totally pleased with my purchase!

You can’t go wrong with TCL. The price for the quality is unmatched. TCL is the only brand I own, and all series are superb.

The advance settings for picture and sound are missing. On the specifications listed here in Best Buy for Motion technology it’s listed as 240hz the native refresh rate is 60hz but where the heck is the action smoothing options? I’ve gone through two TVs so far. I bought a 50” Vizio V series V505-G9 didnt like how you can’t download apps but it did produce good HDR but I wasn’t impressed and exchange it for the 50” Samsung 7 series Crystal UHD this tv produced pretty good blacks the Smart TV powered by Tizen was very laggy, the colors were too inaccurate and the viewing angle wasn’t that great. Has very thin bezel Overall it’s a mediocre tv. I returned it and got the TCL 50S525 5 series 4K. By far this is the best of both worlds HDR was slightly better than the Vizio v series and the 4K content was very good, the colors are good And produce pretty deep blacks just like the 7 series Samsung it sports a very thin bezel. The roku OS feels kinda cheap but it’s fast enough and faster than Samsung tizen OS. Solid tv so far I really wanted to get the Hisense HF8 but it’s sold out. If a TCL support can read this where is the action smoothing option for this model!

This Tv has an excellent crisp clear picture I love it .

When I bought this tv, it looked better then many of the more expensive tv’s at the store. Up to this point I have ever only bought Samsung Tv’s. Given this was just going in my bedroom I had little to loose. Pros: Great picture quality. Smart tv ready. Apps load fast. Light weight. Easy to mount. Cons: The glass is very reflective to ceiling light. So I never watch with my ceiling lights on, only bed side lights on. I use Amazon cube and when ever I am using it the tv always recommends I can start over watching on its roku set up. This just seems unnecessary. It’s chunky. Tv audio is poor, but honestly I can not fault them. All tv’s have horrible audio. That’s why sound bars exist. All and all, this is a really good tv for the price and I would buy again.

The picture is okay. The problem with this tv is the software. It is always laggy and randomly stops working all the time. I have to unplug the tv multiple times a week for it to work correctly. I heard great things about TCL , which was the reason I bought it. All I can say is dont buy into the hype. There is a reason this brand is cheaper.

What really caught my attention was the increased processor speed! It is lightning fast compared to my other Roku smart TV which seemed to lag a bit when switching menus and channels. No lag with this one. ...and for the price, you really can’t beat this 4K picture. Oh, and the speakers are actually pretty nice for a thin TV! I replaced my 40” Roku with this new 50” Roku smart TV. These new TV’s are lighter than ever, allowing me to use the existing mount from the previous TV!