TCL 55RP620K
All the apps and most of the performance too from this barnstorming third UK Roku TV
TCL’S Roku TVS have finally arrived in the UK and the TCL 55RP620K is at the tip of the spear. It’s a 4K HDR TV that sits firmly in the affordable category of TVS, but don’t be fooled into expecting something that’s feature-light. This is a Roku TV and they’re nothing if not smart.
Until now, the only TVS featuring the Roku platform available in the UK have been from Hisense, and they’ve certainly been good, with two five-star reviews on the bounce. The 55in TCL 55RP620K offers something one step closer to mid-range, though, with a greater bit-depth in terms of colour processing and Dolby Vision support too.
For those after an app-happy and exceedingly user-friendly experience, and a good panel size without having to spend too much, this TV from TCL and Roku looks a winning combination.
An excellent platform
There are no prizes for design here, but there’s little to bear issue with either. The frame around the edge of the screen is easy enough on the eye at just over 1cm on three sides and 2cm at the bottom. It’s not exactly thin in profile, at over 8cm, but all par for the course at this price.
Around the back is a healthy choice of four HDMI 2.0 ports and a single USB 2.0. There’s also a headphones socket and an optical out, as well as ARC support from one of the HDMIS.
The 55RP620K’S features are largely set by the Roku system, and it’s an excellent platform. More Apple than Android, Roku’s appearance is customisable, but part of its success is that it’s the same experience no matter your device. It has a clean UI that’s very straightforward to use. It rarely takes more than one guess to find the menu or setting you’re after, but neither does it feel oversimplified.
The Home page is a tile-based experience with a grid of your favourite streaming services (‘channels’ as Roku calls them) and all your hard-wired video inputs too. You can rename those inputs to match the appropriate device (eg: ‘Blu-ray player’ instead of just ‘HDMI 1’) and then head to the Roku Channel Store to add new streaming and game options.
There are no app gaps from any of the top tier services, with Dolby Vision and 4K support on Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and Apple TV. Better still, you’ll even get to use the pay-as-you-go Sky Store – not an app you’ll find on many smart TVS or media streamers – which plays host to a number of exclusive HBO shows as well as Sky’s own programming.
It may not have HDMI 2.1 inputs for all the latest gaming standards but the Auto Game Mode claims a 15ms lag time.
If you don’t have a ton of streaming service subscriptions, and accompanying bank account littered with direct debits, fear not. The Roku Channel brings you a taste of premium film and TV content for free, as well as over 30 Roku Originals, many of which are well worth your time.
Live TV is taken care of by a Freeview tuner with a full plate of Freeview Play catch-up services on board.
Roku doesn’t begin and end with your TV, though. The mobile app is something of an essential. You can use it as a decent soft remote control (including TV voice commands), search content and streaming channels, mirror photos and videos, and opt for some quiet viewing by plugging your headphones into your mobile and setting your TV sound to output on your handset instead of the screen.
A way with colours
The TCL 55RP620K occupies quite a happy spot for price between two excellent budget TVS. The 55-inch Samsung UE55TU8000 – one of its best non-qleds from 2020 and a five-star winner with the What Hi-fi? team – is about £100 more expensive. Below the TCL, by £150, is the 55in version of the UK’S only other Roku TV for 2021, the Hisense R55A7200GTUK. While we haven’t tested that particular variant, the 50-inch model is another What Hi-fi? five-star recommendation. There’s certainly a big enough performance gap for another TV to sit between the Hisense and the Samsung, and the TCL 55RP620K fills it perfectly.
Watching Blade Runner 2049 on 4K Blu-ray, it’s obvious that this TCL Roku TV has a way with colours that’s beyond that of the cheaper Hisense. The clothes of the call girls in the market scene are more vibrant, richer and truer. The TCL also has a slightly better way with contrast too. With a marginally finer control of panel lighting, it’s able to shade and sharpen to create better textures in Mariette’s Mohair jacket and a shine to her lip gloss that the Hisense can’t quite recreate. The fact that the TCL can get that little bit blacker helps here too.
With The Rover on HD Blu-ray, we get a very different kind of post-apocalyptic vision. It’s a paler and more coarse palette for this TV to get its teeth into. Even without the HDR to help out, it still does an excellent job. The thin cloud in the bright outback sky is rendered in a fairly similar array of whites as the Hisense, but there’s more definition and dynamism to the finer details such as the gravel road and the parched plant life.
In some respects, the TCL rivals even the more expensive Samsung TU8000 with this level of source material. While the Samsung offers more vibrancy, the TCL’S more natural approach should be applauded. It captures skin and the desert scrub with realistic tones that are hard to match at anywhere near this budget. Similarly, it’s streets ahead of the Hisense for colour complexity at HD, with so much more nuance to the browns of the dying soldier’s camouflage fatigues. The cheaper set can paint these scenes only with a much broader brush.
We’d advise using the Bright setting across all content types, with the Dynamic Contrast processor switched off and Colour Temperature set to Normal. Beyond that, be wary of pushing either the Backlight or Contrast values too close
to their maximums – between 70 and 90 for both will be in the right ballpark
As with the Hisense Roku TV, there’s no adjustable motion processing to speak of but fortunately the native look and feel to the on-screen movement is more than satisfactory. Like the cheaper TV, it flirts with a blur and a smear on occasion but never to a point that’s off-putting. Trading up to the Samsung would give a more controlled motion performance.
The TCL‘S picture performance is good, but this is still a budget TV. It can’t match the Samsung for outright black depth and it’s quick to grow pale when you move to off-axis viewing angles. It’s also missing a level of dark detail, even compared with the Hisense, but we don’t expect TVS to have it all at this price.
Consistent and clear
Switching to Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 on 4K Blu-ray, it’s clear from the get-go that there’s not much on offer at the bottom end on this TCL TV. Neither the Marvel fanfare nor the opening two tracks of the film really offer much weight at all and that automatically removes some of the cinematic feel when watching more action-based content.
Fortunately, what remains in both the treble and particularly the midrange is rather good. The 2 x 8W sound system offers enough power to use the vast proportion of the 0-100 volume scale on the TV and it takes until well up into the 80s before the audio becomes noticeably distorted. Leave the sound mode set to Normal – there are no DTS or Dolby Atmos modes – and you’ll find a performance that’s both consistent and clear.
The presentation is more organised than the bassier Hisense. Listening to ELO’S Mr Blue Sky in the Guardians credit sequence, neither is blessed with expressive dynamics but what marks the TCL out as the better performer is its clarity. Voices are much less muffled and the greater precision helps to pick out sound effects a little better.
Naturally, there’s not much in the way of a broad soundstage. There’s very little movement of the audio as we watch the “massive space battle” at the beginning of chapter 3 but, again, it’s important to have realistic expectations at this budget. Save change for a cheap soundbar and you’ll have yourself an excellent budget home cinema combo.
We weren’t sure that TCL was going to be able to offer something so obviously worthwhile with its first Roku TV for the UK but it has absolutely nailed it. It might not be the AV equivalent of fine dining but it’s more sophisticated than the chips and gravy of Hisense’s even cheaper Roku TV – and just as tasty.
Roku makes another compelling case as the go-to TV platform for those on a tight budget. It’s now three for three five-star reviews of UK Roku TVS. So long as there’s a gap in the market, this TV is evidence that Roku has the right partners in both TCL and Hisense to go and fill it.