The TCL 6 Series/R635 2020 QLED is a better option than the TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S535) because it has a faster response time and a very minimal input lag. It also manages reflections well, but it isn’t as bright as the TCL 6 Series/R635 2020 QLED. ..
TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S535) review: Design
The TCL 5-Series (S535) is a sleek and contemporary looking TV that is offered in four sizes to fit a variety of entertainment centers. The specs and features of the 50-inch model, which was provided to us for review, are otherwise unchanged. ..
This year, TCL added a cable management system to the back of the two hollowed-out legs on its 5-Series TV. Unfortunately, we discovered that the legs couldn’t support all four HDMI cables that we had running to the TV. However, people with fewer connections should have little trouble concealing cables. Speaking of cords, the 5-Series has four HDMI ports, four of which are HDMI 2.0b compliant, one of which supports eARC, and one pair of legacy RCA inputs. If your home entertainment system has many components, that last port enables you to connect an AV receiver or sound bar system and use one remote to control the volume and inputs. ..
The TV’s IR remote is a major flaw because it is impossible to use it for voice searches without built-in Bluetooth connectivity and line of sight to the IR receiver, which is situated on the bottom edge of the TV. The less-premium plastic IR remote is just another minor downside in comparison to the marginally more expensive TCL 6-Series, but it’s by no means a deal-breaker, and you can still use the Roku app if you want to use voice search on the TV.
Display
The TCL 5 Series 2020 is an improvement over the TCL 5 Series/S525 2019. The TCL S535 is a QLED TV with outstanding broad color gamut for HDR content, but it doesn’t become bright enough in HDR to deliver a real HDR monitor experience. Because of its exceptional contrast ratio and ability to display deep blacks in low light, it has a VA panel. It performs quite well overall and has a full-array local dimming feature that slightly boosts contrast. ..
The TCL 6 Series/R635 2020 QLED is a 60Hz TV that has a narrow viewing angle, lacks variable refresh rate (VRR) support, and has a fast response time. It effectively manages reflections but lacks the brightness to reduce glare. It does, however, eliminate 24p judder from any source.
TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S535) review: Ports
The 5-Series has a large selection of connections. Four HDMI 2.1 ports, including one with the audio return channel (ARC), are located on the back panel. This makes it easy to connect an AV receiver or sound bar to this connection. The only people who will be disappointed by the HDMI ports’ limited support for 4K at 60 Hz are die-hard gamers. A cable/antenna input, a USB 2.0 port, an analogue audio output jack, an optical audio output, and a mini-jack AV input are also located on the back.
The Roku remote and its own wireless speakers can both connect via Bluetooth, but not for headphones. Additionally, the 5-Series set incorporates an Ethernet interface.
Sound Quality
The TCL 5-Series does not have the sound quality to make it a good choice for those looking for an immersive experience. The Dolby Digital Plus format is the norm for high-end sets, and the competing Hisense 55H9G and TCL’s step-up model, the 6-Series, both support Dolby Atmos.
The TCL 5-Series TV has a small audio output and poor sound quality. The center of the screen appears to be the source of everything, and the soundstage is very small. The TCL 5-Series TV comes with a number of pre-programmed audio settings, including Big bass, High Treble, Music, Normal, Speech, and Theater.
The Theater mode on most TVs creates a evenly distributed range of high and low sounds, with speech attempting to concentrate on discourse by delivering dominant higher-end frequencies. However, if you want to use a sound bar or connect the set to a full-fledged surround sound system to fill a large living space with cinematic sound, we recommend doing so.
Picture Quality
The VA panel of the 5-Series is commendable for its quality, and its local dimming backlight system is an excellent way to keep the blacks deep while still providing a rich, dark color palette.
The 5-Series doesn’t provide a lot of peak brightness, which makes it difficult to see high-quality HDR images. Additionally, the contrast is strong but the peak brightness isn’t.
Quantum dots improve the color because they have a higher brightness potential than traditional LCDs. However, because quantum dots are smaller in size, they don’t produce as much color volume as traditional LCDs. Overall, we believe that the picture quality will be better than what someone might receive from a mid-range TV from say, four or more years ago. It’s a perfectly respectable TV, and we’d even say that it performs better than it costs.
TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S535) review: Performance
The TCL 5-Series’ performance is a bit of a mixed bag. Although there are some amazing aspects of the performance, such as how the full array local dimming system maintains low black levels, the TV suffers from a serious brightness issue that prevents it from being a truly wonderful experience. The TV’s lack of brightness, especially when viewing HDR content, is its most detrimental flaw. The maximum brightness level is 450 nits, which is roughly half of what other mid-range 4K HDR TVs can produce.
The TCL 5-Series’ obvious weakness in brightness means that color saturation suffers. While quantum dots do offer a wider color spectrum, you won’t get the best color saturation and you’ll lose a lot of vibrancy without a brighter backlight. Similar to downscaling, upscaling isn’t great either, which isn’t surprising given that the TCL 5-Series uses the AIPQ processor, which we found to be largely ineffective at up conversion on the TCL 6-Series. Its lower native refresh rate of 60Hz makes matters worse because motion processing isn’t nearly as good as the TCL 6-Series, which is just one level above it.
The Vizio V-Series from the previous year does a slightly better job than some of the 5-Series’ competitors at maintaining color saturation off-axis, but anything more than a few degrees seriously reduces the image’s fidelity. ..
The 5-Series’ sound is unremarkable and does not offer a great experience when compared to other gaming devices. A sound bar is absolutely advised to improve the 5-Series’ performance.
Price and availability
We have some complaints about the TCL 5-Series’ picture quality, but it’s difficult to be upset with the pricing. The smallest size, the 50-inch (TCL 50S535), starts at just over $400, while the largest size, the 75-inch (TCL 75S535), costs just under $1,000. The TCL 5-Series sits fairly precariously in the 2020 TCL TV portfolio, despite the fact that we have no qualms with the TV’s price.
The TCL 6-Series R635, which significantly improves the screen brightness, or the TCL 4-Series, which is incompatible with Dolby Vision can be a good option to spend an additional $250. Additionally, you can save $100 by switching to the TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S535) review.
Conclusion
The TCL S535 is an excellent TV that is great for watching movies and gaming. It has a VA panel with an amazing contrast ratio, which reveals deep blacks. It also has a rapid response time, which makes it great for gaming. However, it doesn’t have any additional features like VRR support, so it may not be the best choice for people who want to use virtual reality headsets.
The Panasonic TX-L65V8 Ultra HD TV has limited viewing angles and is not suitable for large-group viewing of television programmes or sporting events. A wide color gamut is displayed for HDR content, but it doesn’t get bright enough to highlight highlights in HDR.
