TCL C655K review: The exception that proves the rule

The low prices attached to the various screen sizes of the TCL C655K are very aggressive even by the Chinese manufacturer’s standards.

I’ve become happily accustomed to the idea that TCL is now a – maybe the – master of delivering good-quality, eminently affordable TVs. However, I had to triple-check that I’d seen the prices for the C655K correctly. I had, even though its feature list includes playback of all four HDR formats, an AI-informed processor, support for 120Hz gaming, a quantum dot colour system and Android TV smarts.

All of this raises one simple question as I set about putting the C655K through its paces: is it too good to be true?

TCL C655K review: Key specifications

TCL C655K review: Price and competition

The C655K is extraordinarily cheap for a TV boasting so many promising screen specifications and features. The 43in model costs £349, the same as the 50in, while the 55in reviewed here will set you back £469.

If you’re after one of the bigger options, the 65in model can be yours for £528, with the 75in, 85in and 98in alternatives priced at £709, £1,068 and £1,798, respectively. Yes, you read that right, you can pick up an 85in TV for around a grand. And, even better, the C655K is regularly on sale so sometimes, you can take home a 85in TV for under a grand.

These prices put the C655K up against full-on budget TV ranges that typically boast much less impressive feature counts. Among its most interesting rivals, though, are the Samsung Q60D and Amazon Fire TV 4-Series.

The former is around £200 more expensive where comparable screen sizes exist but uses dual LED technology for more contrast-rich pictures, while the latter is similarly priced. Amazon’s budget offering isn’t a great picture performer, but some may prefer the Fire TV smart system to TCL’s Android TV alternative.

TCL C655K review: Design, connections and control

The C655K’s build quality is pretty lightweight and plasticky. However, it wears its plasticky finish fairly well thanks to a reasonably trim frame around the screen, and a surprisingly heavily sculpted rear panel. The screen sits on a pair of rather plain-looking feet positioned a few inches from each bottom corner.

The C655K’s connections include three HDMIs (all with v2.1 features), a USB 3.0 port, an optical digital audio output, a 3.5mm audio output and an Ethernet port. There are also the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless options.

The C655K ships with a single remote control that’s a little plasticky and button-heavy, but feels comfortable to hold and is reasonably helpfully laid out. You can also control the TV using voice commands, via built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa systems. A variety of apps – Google Home, Google TV, TCL Home and MagiConnect – offer varying degrees of control over the C655K, too.

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TCL C655K review: Smart TV platform

The C655K uses the Android TV smart system to provide its video streaming services and wider game and information apps.

I’m not particularly fond of Android TV; its interface looks a bit overwhelming and feels more appropriate for a mobile device than a TV. It’s also prone to bugs and crashes, can be a little sluggish and isn’t as customisable as some rivals. Furthermore, it’s not as clever about recommending content based on your viewing habits and doesn’t typically carry all the video streaming services UK buyers are looking for.

TCL has fixed this latter point by onboarding the Freeview Play app. This umbrella service covers all the main terrestrial UK broadcaster catch-up apps so that they’re now available alongside the usual global streaming services.

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TCL C655K review: Image quality

The C655K talks a good game on the picture quality front. The range uses VA LCD panels (which usually deliver better contrast than their IPS rivals), direct LED lighting, TCL’s latest AiPQ video processor and quantum dot colours. Unfortunately, these on-paper charms don’t translate into winning pictures.

The biggest issue is that dark scenes tend to look rather grey and washed out. Perhaps due to the lack of any local dimming system, the sort of deep, consistent black colours delivered by so many other recent TCL TVs aren’t present on the C655K. This immediately makes dark scenes less convincing than bright ones – especially as the washed-out dark areas also end up losing a little shadow detail and, as a result, depth due to the milky veil hanging over everything.

Dark colours tend to look a bit rinsed of saturation, too, thanks to the infusion of low-contrast greyness, despite the C655K’s use of quantum dots.

Perhaps in recognition of the C655K’s black-level limitations, the set turns its LEDs off completely when a film or TV show deploys a fade to black. While this delivers a proper black colour, being able to starkly see the backlight turn off and then flick back on again is very distracting.

The C655K’s surprisingly underwhelming backlighting has one further flaw to contend with: it’s inconsistent in the purity of the light during camera pans. This is especially evident if a picture features a large expanse of a similar colour, such as the greens of a football pitch, or the smoky whites that surround Agent K as he checks out the tree outside Sapper Morton’s place in the opening sequence of Blade Runner 2049.

While these limitations are disappointing, there are of course some good things to report, too. The C655K gets good value out of its native 4K resolution, delivering crisp, detailed pictures with both native 4K images and, more surprisingly, upscaled HD sources. Except for where the black-level shortcomings hide a little shadow detail, anyway.

The C655K’s SDR images can also look brighter than I’d expect to see from such an affordable screen. Tests using Portrait Displays’ Calman Ultimate software, G1 signal generator and C6 HDR5000 colorimeter reveal the C655K capable of hitting brightness heights of around 520cd/m2. While the set doesn’t push SDR images up to that sort of level in its most sensible picture presets, the Standard mode certainly makes them look brighter and punchier than they would on the vast majority of similarly affordable TVs.

While colours in dark scenes can be affected by the grey wash issue, in general, SDR colour is handled effectively, with the measurements proving that the screen is capable of covering 99.9% of the REC 709 and sRGB colour gamuts.

The greyer look to dark HDR scenes can also make such content feel a bit flat (as well as meaning that even in Movie mode the C655K doesn’t track HDR grayscale standards very accurately). While the raised black levels mean that the C655K can reach further into HDR’s expanded light range than most, if not all, similarly cheap rivals, the actual range of light it covers is diminished by the black level limitations. So the resulting images are more a case of higher brightness than a truly expanded light range.

The distracting effects of the screen turning the backlight fully off and then back on again for fade to blacks are exaggerated with HDR viewing too. On top of this, the extra brightness of HDR playback made me slightly more aware of judder when watching 24p films without motion processing. With motion processing engaged, I picked up on some slight glitching over small movements.

One final HDR glitch to mention is a bug with Dolby Vision playback from external sources. Bizarrely, this finds the C655K adjusting its backlight output too early as it responds to changes in the brightness of incoming Dolby Vision signals. So, if a Dolby Vision image features a cut from a dark to a light shot, you can see the dark shot lighten up considerably slightly before the cut happens. And if there’s a cut from a bright shot to a dark one, the bright shot dims abruptly just before the cut happens.

TCL is aware of this bug now and is working on a solution. But until a fix is confirmed, Dolby Vision from external sources is pretty much unwatchable.

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TCL C655K review: Gaming

Despite only sporting a native 60Hz panel, TCL’s nifty Game Accelerator technology can deliver a credible, if slightly resolution-compromised 120Hz experience. This is accessed via a dedicated Game Master menu in the System menus and supports variable refresh rates right up to 120Hz.

Gaming images feel smooth and responsive – especially as the screen only takes an outstandingly low 9.6ms to render incoming 60Hz image data when running in its Game mode.

The C655K provides a low latency mode for Dolby Vision sources as well as standard SDR and HDR feeds, and unless you happen to be playing a particularly dark level or horror title, game sources tend to bring out more of the positives of the C655K’s image quality than video feeds do. In short, the C655K is one of the best-featured gaming TVs I’ve seen at its price point.

TCL C655K review: Sound quality

The C655K uses a combination of 2 x 10W main left and right speakers and a 15W integrated subwoofer to deliver a much better audio performance than you’ve any right to expect for so little money.

The subwoofer, in particular, instantly catapults the C655K’s sound to a mid-range rather than budget level by pumping out low-frequency sounds with much more depth and presence than I’ve heard from any other TV in the same class. Moreover, it does without suffering crackling, chuffing or drop-out distortions with all but the most bombastic movie soundtrack moments.

The bass doesn’t just drone along, either; it’s lively enough to shift its presence up and down quite nimbly in both depth and volume terms. This ensures it always feels properly attached to the main mid-range sound being produced by the TV’s other two speakers.

These main speakers produce a surprisingly open, expansive sound for such a cheap TV, and manage to hold their clean, rounded presentation together even when playing very loud, shrill treble sounds. What’s more, while the speakers are sensitive enough to bring out plenty of subtle detail in a sophisticated movie mix, they’re also tuned well enough to ensure that details always appear with the appropriate balance and weight.

The C655K’s sound isn’t loud or projected enough to fill a really big room but that’s to be expected of a TV this cheap.

TCL C655K: Verdict

The TCL C655K is ridiculously well-specified for the money. Its direct-lit, VA LCD panel is surprisingly bright and supports an impressive roster of cutting-edge gaming features thanks to a little processing and backlight trickery. The built-in sound system is more powerful and dynamic than you’ve any right to expect, while the Android TV smart features available are comprehensive, especially now Freeview Play is in the mix.

But sadly, the C655K’s pictures are disappointing by the high standards we’ve now come to expect from TCL. If they were up to scratch, this would be a formidable TV but as it is, it’s difficult to recommend.