TCL 50" Class 5-Series 4K UHD Dolby Vision HDR Roku Smart TV - 50S525

This 43” 4K TV was just what I needed. Great picture, solid sound, and setup was a breeze.

I'm writing this review from the perspective of someone whose last TV was 11 years old (40" LCD flat screen)That means absolutely everything is better than my last one. I'm not a pixel peeper, so instead I'm going to talk about the value and address some concerns from the point of view of someone who isn't comparing this TV side-by-side with like-priced models.Let's get one thing straight: I gave this TV 5 stars because it is a terrific value. I honestly don't know how this level of experience is delivered for this low of a price and I can only hope its durability is such that it will last many years.Display:If you're looking for your friends to be absolutely wowed by the picture on your TV I hope you don't think you can get away with spending $350. More likely is they'll be shocked when you tell them it was only $350!I was concerned because I saw a bunch of reviews say the viewing angles were terrible. I honestly don't know what they're looking at or what their expectations are, but I wouldn't want to watch a whole movie at more than a 45 degree angle from the screen, anyway. (A note: I have a 500sqft apartment so the 55" TV is dominating in size and there's limited seating)Sound:It's not offensive, but it's not great. However, I suspect that anyone buying a 55" TV for a living room already expects to provide supplementary speakers.I will say I have an old set of computer speakers w/ sub-woofer and they provide great sound even just plugged into the headphone jack on the TV, so this needn't be an expensive or high tech endeavor.Remote:This is the worst part of the whole experience. Prior to buying this TV I had a Roku Streaming Stick+ and the TV remote is made of cheaper plastic, it's a flimsier build, the play/pause button is smaller, and it doesn't have the rubberized coating of the SS+ remote. It may also be IR(?) whereas the SS+ remote is all RF, so you have to point the TCL Roku TV remote at the TV for it to register input.I strongly advise spending the $20 or so to replace the default remote but it's not as high of a priority as the speakers, probably. (Personally I was able to pair my Roku SS+ remote with my new TV so that is what I use)Roku:As a smart TV platform this is the best I can imagine. It's the most widely supported TV/OS platform on the market and therefore nearly every app will be developed for and available on your TV. This means you'll likely not need to buy or install any additional streaming devices in your HDMI ports (I have a Chromecast installed but I already owned one).Antenna use and Live TV Pause:The antenna reception is excellent. There may be a sizable internal antenna helping out here because I get way better reception on this TV even when using my old antennaLive TV Pause of antenna use is available. I haven't tried it, but it says if you put a 16GB or larger thumb drive in the USB port the TV will provide up to 90 minutes of buffer for pausing live TV over antenna. That's neat and something I didn't see advertised.In summary:Whatever shortcomings there are here are appropriate and acceptable for a $350 55" TV in 2020. Those shortcomings are overcome-able and for minimal additional cost. All of the structural things that you can't change or upgrade are solid (mainly the display and TV platform).

We've had a 32" 720p Vizio Smart TV for several years now. At the time it was the biggest TV we ever owned. It's been flawless, aside from the slow menu response and you can't really add apps for newer streaming services. When we moved to a house with a larger living room, it felt quite small, and when I wanted to play games I always felt like I had to sit closer to the TV in my office chair...at which point I might as well play on my PC.Anyway, Black Friday rolls around, as it does. While casually browsing, I was astounded by the prices of TVs. A 50" 4k Smart TV for $300? That's crazy. I remember when HD TVs cost thousands. This isn't even the cheapest model, as the 50S425 was priced at $249. I did some research though, and found that this model, the 505525 had a significantly brighter screen and better viewing angles. One of the complaints I noticed about the 50S425 was it's low maximum brightness. There were some other factors such as the four vs three HDMI ports and t hat the panel on the 505525 is also supposed to have more vibrant colors and higher dynamic range. Plus, I liked the design of this one, with the front mounted power button the just out below the frame. Reminded me of the very first TCL I looked at when I was shopping for a 32" 720p TV (although ended up buying the Vizio). With that in mind, I opted to spend the extra $50 on this one.So far, I don't regret it. The image quality is beautiful. I'm sure higher end Samsung's are better, but compared to the 720p TV we have, it's a night and day difference.I really like the Roku OS. It's fast and intuitive, and you can add an array of apps to it (even VRV, which thoroughly impressed me). Has no trouble streaming. The Grand Tour looked fantastic playing on it. Sound quality is pretty good. Not mind blowing, but not bad. I plan to get a sound bar to enhance the experience though.On thing worth noting, is if you have a smaller TV cabinet like me, the legs on this TV are very far apart. The were close to a foot wider than the TV cabinet was . Because there's a window directly behind the TV cabinet, an aquarium on one side, and a brick wall on the other, wall mounting wasn't an option. I opted for an aftermarket stand (USX MOUNT TV Base) that solved the problem.The funny thing is: I don't watch TV or play games much, but on the occasions when I do, this is a real treat. Bumblebee looked terrific playing on it.I'll update if anything goes awry, but for now I'm very happy with my purchase.

This is my first smart TV. I cut cable about 5 years ago and have been on a combination of antenna/streaming since then, but have had "dumb" tv's with either a Roku or Firestick attached. In my area, I get about 30 channels via antenna which isn't bad.This tv has a lot of pluses. Beautiful picture. Easy to set up. Clean, easy Roku interface. Reasonable price. And I was surprised to find that when I attached the antenna, the smart features of the tv make it look as if I'm on cable. You get a tv listings menu, the show description etc -- all very nice.The problem is that the tv sometimes loses antenna channels and a simple scan won't recover them. My guess is that it is something to do with the software...there's some glitch when it is updated. I contacted TCL and they provided a trouble-shooting list. Unfortunately, it seems the only way to recover the channels is to do a factory reset and basically set up the tv all over again (which includes connecting with my Roku account, selecting streaming channels, putting in passwords for streaming services, etc). It's a little annoying. I suspect there could be a setting somewhere in my Roku account or even in my internet which provides location information, but can't seem to find it.Anyhow, this has happened twice in two months and I suspect it will happen again. It's the only disappointment in an otherwise terrific television.