50S425 50 Inch 4K Smart LED Roku TV (2019)

The picture is clear, setup was easy, and streaming runs smoothly. Looks sleek and works perfectly for everyday use. Definitely recommend.

Hello everyone, I'm sharing my experience with the TCL 50S425 50 Inch 4K Smart LED Roku TV. These days, it’s not exactly difficult to find a budget TV with a good picture for a reasonable price; the question is which one—there are so many options that it can be overwhelming. First, I’ll talk about what you can notice visually (after all, that's the main thing in a TV): the picture is bright and vibrant, no complaints here. Sure, the folks in the technical review section will look for pixel brightness, true black color, measure brightness, viewing angles, and so on, but in terms of feel, everything is just excellent. Yes, the viewing angles could be wider, but please tell me, do you really move around the room while watching TV? It supposedly has 120Hz support, but visually, that’s not noticeable. The built-in speakers lack bass, but again, that’s perfectly normal for built-in speakers and TVs in this class. Just keep that in mind. The TV could perhaps be a bit thinner, but again, for this price, that’s absolutely fine. I won’t describe the Roku operating system and ports. Navigation is simple and intuitive, and you can easily see the ports in the photos (HDMI). My verdict: The TCL 50S425 is an excellent budget 4K TV.

My son bought this TV about a year ago, the 55 inch size, and has really liked it. I recently needed a new TV for my bedroom so bought the 43 inch version. I have been using it for a couple months now and really like it. I use it strictly for streaming (don't have cable), and it was easy to set up. Wifi connection has been great, though every once in a while it will take about a minute to connect upon turning the TV on rather than its usual connection within seconds. It can use 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wifi signals. I did have some issues at first with some backbleeding and spotty/pixelated dark or black scenes in shows and movies. My son had the same issue when he first got his TV, and after he messed with the picture settings on and off over several days, he corrected the issue. I wrote down his settings and changed mine to match and now the issue is resolved on my TV also. As a tip, these settings are not part of the initial setup of the TV which just has rather simplistic/basic settings. The user manual lays out how to access the "advanced" picture settings - you must be actively watching something, example a show on Netflix, hit the star button on remote and it will bring up several different TV settings, scroll down to picture settings, click on it, and then you will see the more indepth picture settings - backlight, brightness, contrast, color tint, etc., which you can adjust to your liking. In addition, there are a few different settings for sound you may want to check out. For example one option is to make the speaking dialog "pop" out over background noise or music. Speaking of the sound quality, it is okay. It's not bad but nothing outstanding either. My son bought a soundbar to use with his TV, but the built in speakers work just fine for my use. All in all, I'm very happy with this TV, and I feel it is very good quality for the price.

I bought this TV at the end of 2019, and now almost 6 years later its on its last legs. The audio has become like a vibrating tin-can, and the backlight has failed at the top of the screen causing a very dark picture. It was a great tv while it lasted, but after seeing other reviews about it dying after a few years, beware that if you are looking for a long term tv, this likely isn't the one for you. Meanwhile my 15 year old flatscreen is still going strong... If you don't mind replacing the tv after a few years, it's still a great device. Easy to set up and use with multiple streaming services ages game consoles. It's fast to start up and has kept up with all app updates like netflix or youtube just fine, and works without lag. The 55 inch screen perfect, and makes all content display beautifully (when its working unlike mine lol).