Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Bottom line: I would judge this set to be a very good value for the $400 I paid Amazon for it.This TV was a Mother's Day replacement for a CRT 25 inch in our bedroom which was well past its prime. We chose a new 4K model rather than an older, cheaper 1080p TCL model the same size because we wanted future 4K compatibility as well as better picture quality. We were not disappointed. I am nearsighted but the picture is big enough to see clearly from my bed on the other side of the room without my glasses. Sound quality is adequate. Despite its large screen size, it is very thin and relatively light. One-person setup was easy: Remove from the box, attach the two plastic foot supports with the supplied screws, plug in the power cord and signal inputs and turn it on. The Roku setup instructions on screen, including the wifi connection procedure, were easy to follow. I was impressed with the extensive selection of Roku apps. The most tedious chore was registering the paid Roku apps (HBO, Starz, etc.) for free use via my cable TV subscription. While overall my wife and I are very satisfied, the TV does have some shortcomings and there is some important and useful information missing from the written instructions. 1. Bottom clearance: When mounted on its support feet, the bottom of the TV is just 2" above the supporting surface, which is not enough room for our cable TV box. We had to place the box just behind the TV, which allowed the cable remote to work, but the cable box display was not visible except when we looked at it while lying down in our beds. TCL, if you are reading this, please supply in the box an alternative set of foot supports that provide more bottom clearance, or better yet, make the existing supports height adjustable. 2. Many cable TV users like to use the unified remote provided by their cable company to control both the cable box and the attached TV. It is possible to do this with the TCL units, but the instructions supplied for this in the manual are incomplete. They provide the necessary code settings for the cable remote to control the TV for only a few of the major cable suppliers, and they do not mention a necessary change in the TV's default settings necessary to make using the cable remote practical. By default, when the TV powers on, you get selection of possible programming sources, including the cable TV box signal and the installed Roku apps, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. You have to select the source you want before you can watch it full screen, but many cable box remotes are not capable of issuing the necessary instruction to the TV to do that. You have to go back to the remote that came with the TV to select the signal source (a pain in the neck). TCL customer service gave me a practical workaround for the problem. In the TV's power settings, you can instruct it at power on to go automatically to the cable box input and show it full screen. With the TV power-on options set up that way, as long as you are only watching cable, the cable remote has all the necessary control functions, including power, volume and changing channels. TCL if you are reading this, please include full information on the cable TV remote settings in the instruction manual or, better yet, in the onscreen initial setup routine. 3. Signal inputs. This is one area in which the TCL is weak. As others have noted, 3 HDMI inputs are not enough for someone who wants to use this as the main display for a sophisticated entertainment center. The absence of component video inputs, and the inclusion of just a single a/v input jack for composite video and stereo audio signals is a major compromise. The absence of component video inputs on this TV means that the signal from older video sources, including game boxes, which do not have HDMI outputs can only be shown at the lowest resolution, and will result in a noticeably fuzzy picture. (Note: Even with an HDMI connection, cable reruns of an old TV series such as the original Startrek will also look fuzzy on any 4K or 1080p TV because they were originally shot with a picture quality that was often not much better than that of the low resolution TVs of their era.) 4. Audio: It would be more convenient for private watching if TCL had put a headphone jack on the front of this TV, or better yet, included a bluetooth audio option. Roku offers a private listening option requiring the use of its cellphone app, but it is less convenient and doesn't work listening to the cable TV signal. 5. Roku remote: The Roku remote included with the TV is very small, with a minimum of buttons, some of whose functions are not immediately obvious. Using this remote takes some getting used to, but you don't have much choice because the manual control buttons, located on the bottom of the TV, are not visible from the front and are inconvenient to use. The remote does include some "express" buttons to launch a few of the streaming services available through Roku apps, including Netflix, Sling, Hulu and Starz. However, the Amazon Prime Video streaming app, which is part of the standard Roku setup, does not have its own remote button. Another reason why we chose this TCL model was its enhanced Roku remote with a voice search capability. It will find and display available choices for streaming a movie or TV show that you request verbally by name. However, Roku's voice search lacks the versatility of the Alexa voice activated intelligent assistant built into Roku's competitor, the Amazon Fire Stick, which will also respond to voice requests for such things as the local weather forecast or news reports. 6. Conclusion: This 43-inch TCL 4K TV is a pleasure to watch, and its Roku capabilities greatly expand the entertainment options it offers. Taken together, it is an attractive package at a lower price than its competitors, but a few enhancements, which should not have added much to its cost, would have enhanced its convenience and versatility. TCL, are you listening?