TCL 43C645K 43-inch QLED Television, 4K Ultra HD, Android Smart TV (Game Master, Dolby Atmos, Freeview Play, Motion clarity, Hands-Free Voice Control, compatible with Google assistant & Alexa) [Energy Class G]

I tend to do a lot of research when buying any kind of electronics or gadgets. This time was no different. I spent a lot of time looking at Samsung, LG, and all the other big players but found myself coming back to TCL time and again.Reading some of the reviews here didn't help; when a TV has lots of variants it means you have to sift through to find the ones that relate to the exact model you're considering. Not having Amazon reviews to go on, I had a look at T3 and a few other places I normally use to help me come to a decision.I'm pleased to say that I couldn't be happier with the TV. It was set up and ready to go less than 20 minutes after being delivered. The TV is super-light and I was able to put it all together and carry it all by myself.The new Google TV software is flawless, with none of the stuttering and delay others have mentioned about previous models. All the apps pick up on Dolby Vision and Atmos, where appropriate too. I've barely had to adjust anything on the TV as it comes pretty much configured out of the box.As a gamer, I plugged in my Xbox Series X and got a flood of green ticks when it calibrated and immediately changed to 4K UHD at 120hz. Games immediately picked up on the Dolby Vision and Atmos automatically, just like the apps.Can't say I had heard much of TCL before I started reseraching, but they'll definitely be on my radar for any future tech purchases moving forward.

Got this to replace a 65" tv as, well, a bigger tv is always good!!Very helpful delivery guys who brought it into the house - the box is massive and whilst not overly heavy is very awkward to move due to its sheer size.Excellent packaging system which means you can easily get the tv out of the box without damaging either (handy in case there were any problems) - took two people to move it about and get the legs on - there are two positions for the legs so if your table isn't large enough there are a couple towards the centre for smaller tables.Plugged it in, went through setup which was straightforward, and as expected the picture quality out of the box wasn't great so spent an hour or so trying different settings and now it is fantastic!I run sound through an external amp so don't know what the onboard sound is like (although there is a large sub-woofer speaker on the back so its probably quite beefy) but the picture is fantastic. Watching 'Aliens' in UHD is awesome and I am noticing loads of background details I had previously missed as the screen is now so much bigger, definitely worth the upgrade from 65 to 85".I am very pleased with the tv, little options such as being able to choose which apps show when you are on the tv section is great as it then doesn't get clogged up with things I would never watch. The remote is good, the UI could be a little snappier but I haven't found a tv yet where it is super-smooth, but it's certainly good enough for me.Having bought it, would I choose this set again? Yes, definitely. The only downside was getting rid of the packaging to the dump - the cardboard used is heavy and dense and you will need a large car to get rid of it all, but I guess that will be the same for most tvs of this size.

Had this more than 3 months now, so can give some feedback on all my findings.Picture quality is decent.Good contrast levels with blacks etc. Upscaling works well from SD for my satellite channels (not so good for Digital Terestrial channels, which must be of even lower resolution).But some minor artefacts in a particular scenario - when something is moving across a strobed background, eg a picket fence, you may notice a halo of blurring around the moving object. It's not glaringly obvious, but you'll notice it if you are looking for it.The bezel is very narrow, but the picture does not extend all the way to the edge of the bezel (as the images in the item description would like you to beleive). There is about a half centimeter gap.Software / Chipset lets it down a little.I have the C645K Android TV version, it uses a Realtek RTD2851M - 4x A55 @ 1.3GHz, and 2GB RAM.This is a bit worse spec than a Chromecast with GoogleTV 4k stick. And there is an amount of TCL bloatware shipped with the tv. So out of the box, the UI is a bit laggy - navigating the home screen etc.But this can be remedied if you are willing to get technical - I enabled developer mode, to disable HW overlays, and set background process limit =1. This had an immediate effect in making the tv more responsive. I also removed some of the bloat using ADB tool (especially the TCL Guard software, that takes up cpu).Software updates are tricky. There is a "Network Update" option in the settings, but this does nothing, as TCL are not running a server for this in UK.Instead I had to dig through XDA forum, and TCL run Telegram (like Whatsapp) channel/bot, until I could get hold of a firmware file. And apply as a local update via a USB.You can switch from the Android TV interface to Google TV by update. But even the latest updates are on Android 11, which is getting pretty old now.(More recent Android versions would have been available at the time the tv was released even, in 2023. But I don't think TCL have any plans to offer upgrades. From what I see, they stick with the same Android version for the lifetime of a given tv model).My UK model included FreeviewPlay, which I find quite useful - with an EPG that can switch to the tuner for live tv, or open the relevant app to play programs in the future/past.(I know that others will have a different opinion on this, seeing it as yet more bloatware, as it takes control of the free-to-view tv apps like BBC iPlayer etc).I'm a bit of an Android fan, and happy to tinker. So very happy with the tv.Otherwise, if I wanted something more user friendly, I would opt for the 2024 4-series 4k FireTV, for the same money.