TCL 55C6US
A BUDGET TV COMPANY SHOOTS FOR THE PREMIUM TIER.
LAST BUT NOT least, we have TCL, a company that is much like Hisense in that it first came to our attention as a more economical brand, but that now offers extremely high-end sets in the Australian market. 2018 sees a huge range of new sets from the company, ranging in price from a stratospheric $19,999 all the way down to $269 for their tiniest sets.
The king of the range is the new flagship X range, with the 85-inch X6 retailing for 20 grand. It’s based on Quantum Dot technology that Samsung and Hisense use, and initial reports are that this is a breathtaking wallstretcher. Helping a little to take the sting out of the price is the fact it comes with a 12-channel Harman Kardon sound system. With a slightly less eye watering price, the X4 set comes in both 65- and 55-inch sizes, and uses the same QLED tech. All of the X Series have support for HDR Premium 800, which is a new term for HDR we haven’t heard before. They all run on Android TV, which is rapidly becoming the OS of choice for Smart TVs, which means they’ll run all of the streaming services on the market.
Next in the range is the mid-market C6 QUHD series, and we reviewed the TCL C6 55-incher. Though the tech specs are rather light on detail, it appears to use an IPS-style LED display, as it has the same 178° viewing angle of all IPS screens. At $1,699, we were very impressed with the image quality. While it obviously didn’t have the rich blacks and incredible contrast of OLED, or the blinding brightness of QLED, the colour accuracy is excellent. This is largely thanks to its official support for HDR10, and we were amazed at how thin this screen is, measuring a mere 7mm at its thinnest point. That’s astonishing for an LED-based technology.
Surprise, surprise: this is another TV using Android TV in combination with Google’s Play store, offering access to a massive amount of applications, including every streaming and catch-up service commonly used by Australians. Finally, it appears that the entire market now offers support for every app available Down Under. Voice search is included, and we had much better luck using it on the C6 than Kogan’s offering.
There are several more ranges featured this year, with the P6 being the next rung down the ladder after the C6 range. It has HDR Premium, which appears to be a custom version of HDR created by TCL, and not an official standard approved by industry groups.
Those on the tightest of budgets will be most interested in the S6500 Full HD Smart TV series, which drop 4K support for 1080p, and will be priced at $999. Considering Kogan is offering 4K TVs at this price, we’re not sure how well TCL’s lowest tier offerings will go.
We’re itching to see the X series in action to see how it compares to Samsung’s fantastic revamp of the tech this year, thanks to improved backlighting, but until then we’ll have to settle for the C6. And we’re quite happy to, as this range offers excellent image quality considering the price, making them a great option for those who want a quality experience without blowing the bank.