Excellent overall image quality with darker black levels, impressive brightness, richer contrast, and more accurate color than last year. Its Stop platform is the best available. The TV handles both HDR-10 and Dolby-Vision.
Weak brightness and video processing fall short of some of the more expensive TVs — no AirPlay or Apple TV app (yet).
The bottom line is excellent image quality, an affordable price, and best-in-class Roku TV smarts propelling the TCL 6-Series to the pole position of the midrange tv race.
Choosing cheap TV is easy – shop at a price. And selecting an expensive TV is relatively easy – get an OLED.
But a tough decision faces a large group of TV shoppers in between, who are willing to pay a bit more for an impressive 4K HDR image but don’t want to leave an arm and a leg on an OLED TV. Let me help you make that decision now.
The best pic quality for the money in 2019 is the midpriced TCL 6-Series. It is currently $ 800 for the 65-inch model and $ 600 for the 55-inch.
The TV I’ve tested outperformed in that price range, including the excellent 2018 version. And you can pay more for poorly performing TVs.
TCL has improved colour for 2019 for Quantum Dots – hence the mention of “QLED” in TCL’s marketing materials – and slightly enhanced the styling.
Otherwise, Chinese TV-makers stick to the same winning formula he used last year: superb picture quality with Roku TV.
The 6-Series has excellent contrast, brightness, and minimal blowing, making other great sets such as the Vizio M8 and Samsung Q70 in overall image quality.
And TCL’s built-in Roku, my favorite smart TV system, easily defeats those TV’s streaming systems.
If you want a better picture than this TCL, then your next stop in terms of price is the TCL 8-Series, Vizio’s P-Series Quantum X, or even higher, Samsung QLED.
I have nOt reviewed those yet, so I can’t say how much better their pictures will be, but I know how much they cost: hundreds more than a 6-series, close to the price of an OLED TV like LG’s B9.
I feel comfortable saying that none of those TVs will arrive at this TCL price proposition, and none of the cheaper TVs outperforms. This is why the 2019 TCL 6-Series earns the CNET Editors’ Choice Award.
The design
The TCL 6-Series certainly does not look cheap. The glass sheet that froze the screen has a clean, minimalist look at the top and bottom of the edges. The lower edges of the metal are thick and slightly shiny brown, which corresponds to the erect legs.
Viewed from TV is a non-rectangular rectangular slab, not a cabinet that is slowly concentrating on the contestants. The resulting 6-series feels chunkier and is slightly less modern than the off-angle.
Those stand legs are mounted on the extreme edges of the TV, another unusual step. You will need a nice wide tabletop or stand – a 57-inch wide 65-inch sample to review it. Of course, like any TV, you can also wall-mount the 6-Series.
Why Roku TV Rocks
I am a fan of Roko TV, for reasons that I have documented extensively in previous reviews. Here is a brief list of reasons to love it:
Constant updates and feature improvements.
Simple menu with quick responses.
Full customization, including input naming.
Input to a home page similar to the TV app.
More apps (and 4K HDR apps) than any other smart TV system.
The 4K Spotlight and 4K apps category make it easy to find 4K content.
The cross-platform search covers many services, allowing price comparisons.
The Antenna Program Guide shows more ways to suggest streaming.
An antenna source (and a USB stick) can intercept live TV.
Roku’s latest software has not yet come to version 9.2 in my review sample, but when there are some other nifty features, including voice-activated sleep timers and curated content “zones.”
