TCL 43" Class 4-Series 4K UHD HDR Smart Roku TV - 43S451

First of all, note that the claimed 31,000 reviews are for many different TCL models. Mixing all the reviews together is shoddy and it reduces the value of all reviews because you can't tell what's what. There are many reviews claiming the speakers sound awful but no particular model mentioned. My speakers sound as good as you can expect from any 50 inch TV but I did already have a full AV 5.1 amp system so I piped that in through an HDMI channel. The low price for this TV is in part due to the cheap leg kit included, there are many choices to upgrade to a nice stand. This model's back panel has all the mounting holes down low so any mount you use will tend to raise the height of the display higher than normal with older TVs. Knowing this, I selected a stand with height adjustments - the 'Perlesmith Universal Swivel Tabletop Stand' for under $30 is compatible with this TV's 200x200 VESA mounting holes. SIZE - this is considerably larger than my old Visio which was in the '50 inch class" but was actually about 48 inch diagonal. I barely had the room for this larger screen in my installation. The remote sensor is on the bottom front center edge. There is a tiny dim white LED there to indicate the TV has power and is ready. This can not be turned off in the menu like my old Visio but it is a pretty dim LED. This has all the features ROKU offers except RF remote and there is a way to connect to an antenna and scan for your local channels, accessed through the 'Live TV' option menu which also includes free streaming of live channels, a function you can turn off. Note that the remote is IR so if you were spoiled by the Roku RF remote tuner kit which has more features and needs no pointing towards the TV, this is a downgrade. But I believe that phone apps will give you an RF remote. It performed very well with no lag with my home wireless signal. I am replacing my ten year old Visio which was bought before 4K was a common feature. The picture on this is indeed more crisp but plan on taking time to set up the picture controls to your liking - out of the box, mine was very dim before adjusting. It took a lot of doing to get it right for my tastes. I am not happy with TCL's handling of power consumption data. The Walmart webpage says this uses only $10/ yr in power but I received a TV that has the yellow sticker saying it will use $25/yr and it is not energy star compliant. I found no sticker listing the power consumption in watts but I don't feel excessive heat coming off of it and it will go into low power mode when you let it sit unused. Another reason for my choice was the fact that the input plugs are on the right side for convenient access in my installation. It has all the inputs I could want and note there is no RCA jack inputs on this. My mounting stand did not block any of the plug access. I have no use for a smart phone so I won't be messing with all the connectivity and bluetooth features but I may buy bluetooth headphones at some point.

I've only used Fire Stick with a 10 yr old LG flatscreen. When it died (RIP) I needed something cheap %26 now ...Viola! The TCL • Roku TV for the bill. Luckily for thisiddle aged woman, it was very easy from the moment it powered up. Platform is intuitive, easily scroll the sidebar list to reveal the related contents (ie LiveTV, Rental or Buy, Free) settings are basic with a few fun personal anidotes which I really can't say the same for the Fire Stick. I'm not disrespecting Amazon, at all , they're just 2 different beasts. I'm thankful to have both plug-n-play options vs the headache and $$$$ involved with cable.