The Good The TCL S325 series is one among the smallest amount expensive smart TVs you’ll buy. Roku TV delivers the simplest smart TV experience on the market, with an easy , responsive interface , thousands of apps and constant feature upgrades. Get more in TCL 43S305 43-Inch 1080p Roku Smart LED TV Reviews.
The Bad it’s a worse picture than Vizio’s E-Series TVs — but those are only available at 43 inches and up.
The Bottom Line If you would like a reasonable TV smaller than 50 inches, the TCL S325 series Roku TV should be one among your first choices.
TCL 43S305 43-Inch 1080p Roku Smart LED TV Reviews
The trend in TVs today is greater and larger screen sizes, and i am the primary reviewer to inform you get a bigger TV. For years my TV buying guide has included the subsequent line: “Bigger is better: quite the other ‘feature,’ stepping up in TV screen size is that the best use of your money.”
But what if money is tight? What if you cannot fit a 55-inch TV therein spot? What if a 32- or 40-inch TV — positively puny by today’s standards — is plenty?
If that is the case for you, start with the TCL S325 series, reviewed here along side its larger brother the S425.
Let’s get one thing out of the way first: Their picture quality is mediocre. they can not compete with costlier sets for black-level performance, contrast or pop. If you would like a home theater-worthy image during a budget set, start with the Vizio E-Series. Unfortunately, it isn’t available in sizes under 43 inches. Put another way: Don’t expect great image quality in any TV under 43 inches.
On the opposite hand, mediocre could be ok for you, especially if you’re buying a smaller set for secondary viewing otherwise you just want the most cost effective smart TV you’ll get. As long as you do not expect an excessive amount of , you would possibly be perfectly satisfied with a TCL 3- or 4-Series, especially for the worth . And if nothing else, I predict you’ll like its built-in Roku.
TCL 3- and 4-Series sizes and models – TCL 43S305 43-Inch 1080p Roku Smart LED TV Reviews
There are tons of various models in these series, so before we get into it, here’s a breakdown.
Even though the oldest TVs are from 2017, TCL told CNET that the sole difference between them and therefore the 2018/2019 models is in cosmetic design. they need an equivalent picture quality and features. (These models aren’t available within the UK and Australia.)
We’ve reviewed the S305 and S405 in 2017 and for this review we compared them with two new 2019 review samples, the 43-inch 43S325 and therefore the 50-inch 50S425. Yes, the cosmetics are slightly different, with the newer sets having black stand legs rather than silver, and slightly different frames round the picture. We also saw some minor differences in image quality (see below for details). But overall not much has changed in two years, and therefore the CNET ratings are an equivalent for all of them.
In other words, you’re fine buying the 2017 (S305 and S405) versions for as long as they continue to be on the market. TCL’s representative said they’d be slowly phased out and replaced by the newer models (S325 and S425) this year.
04-tcl-s325-s425-series : TCL 43S305 43-Inch 1080p Roku Smart LED TV Reviews
4K HDR in 40 and 43 inches: Not well worth the extra $$
Here’s where I mention that the S305 and S325 models have 720p within the 32-inch size, and 1080p resolution (aka full HD) within the 40- and 43-inch sizes, and that they can’t do high dynamic range (HDR). Meanwhile the S405 and S425 models have 4K resolution and HDR capability.
As you’ll see on the chart, for many sizes there is no overlap: The 32- and 40-inch sizes are HD only, while the 50-, 55- and 65-inch sizes are 4K HDR only. most of the people choose a TV size first, then worry about everything else, so there’s not much of a choice in those sizes.
Where sizes overlap (43- and 49-inch) there’s typically a $30 to $70 difference. for many buyers during this price range, i do not think it’s worth paying that difference. You’re more happy saving the cash and getting the 1080p, HD, non-HDR versions rather than the 4K HDR versions. Yes, you’ll see some improvement in image quality with some 4K HDR material, but it’ll be minor at the best . See the image quality section below for more.
The Roku TV remote is straightforward
Roku reigns
The best thing about the 3- and 4-Series TVs is built-in Roku. It gives you dead-simple access to only about every streaming app available, including Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Sling TV, Pluto TV and more.
Since the apps are inbuilt , you’ll get to them faster and more easily than via an external streamer, which needs switching inputs and doubtless juggling a second remote. in fact you’ll connect other gear (like game consoles or Blu-ray players) to those Roku TVs too, and that they have some cool features for people that use an over-the-air antenna to urge free TV.
Roku TV’s main competitor is Amazon’s Fire TV Edition sets by Toshiba and Insignia. Amazon has its advantages, especially when it involves voice control with Alexa. But I still just like the Roku platform better overall because its menu system is more neutral — it doesn’t force-feed you Amazon Prime TV shows and films .
As usual with Roku devices, navigating the menus was quick and responsive and apps loaded quickly. The exceptions came once I encountered a “loading” screen, which usually occurred with less frequently used apps or during first launch. sometimes it could take a short time — Amazon Prime video took around 10 seconds to load initially — but then initial load, the app would typically launch during a second or two. Overall Roku still provides one among the snappiest, easies-to-use streaming experiences around.
Roku continues to update its system and add new features, which I won’t enter here (and didn’t retest for this review). They include:
- Google Assistant voice control with a Google Home or other compatible smart speaker
- Voice search and personal headphone listening options via the Roku phone app
- More ways to observe feature suggests streaming shows, including from the antenna program guide
- Can pause live TV from an antenna source (requires a USB stick)
- Free, ad-supported streaming video options including the Roku Channel and, new in 2018, Featured Free
- Works with Roku Wireless Speakers for a wireless stereo alternative to sound bars
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Connectivity is solid, with everything you will probably need. The S425 has an Ethernet port while the S325 doesn’t . Both have dual-band (5GHz and a couple of .4GHz) Wi-Fi, but only the S425 has 802.11ac. Both series offer:
- 3x HDMI
- Composite AV
- USB
- Headphone jack
- RF antenna
- Optical digital audio
- Is a ‘good enough’ picture ok for you?
- As i discussed at the beginning , don’t expect any of those TCLs to perform like champs, but do expect to feel satisfied for the worth .
For this review I compared the 2019 TCL 50S425 and 43S325 side by side with two 2017 TCL 4-Series sets — the 55S405 and therefore the 43S305 — also like the 65-inch Vizio E-Series. I didn’t put them through my usual TV review process and measurements, but I did some basic measurements, and saw enough to convince me the TCLs are still “good enough.” None was nearly as good because the Vizio, however.
Comparing black levels within the dark parts of Harry Potter and therefore the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 and Black Panther , the Vizio showed a transparent advantage, with deeper, more realistic letterbox bars and shadows. The difference was also obvious in brighter scenes, where the improved contrast of the letterbox bars and richer colors paid dividends and therefore the Vizio showed much superior pop.
Between the 2 larger TCLs, the newer, 50-inch version looked better, with deeper black levels and more saturated, accurate color. The difference wasn’t overwhelming, however, and therefore the Vizio still looked quite bit better than the 50-inch TCL. There was little visible difference between the 2 43-inch TCL models.
Light output on the TCLs was mediocre, as you’d expect from a less expensive TV, and within the least accurate settings the Vizio E was brighter. But within the accurate settings I’d recommend — Movie/Brighter for the TCLs and Calibrated for the Vizio E — the TCLs outshine the the Vizio significantly, 272 nits (on the 50S425) to 186 (on the Vizio in Medium local dimming).
Screen uniformity wasn’t great, with test patterns showing brighter areas and backlight structure on all of the TCL samples at various brightness levels. The Vizio was far better as compared .
As I’ve seen from many inexpensive TVs, the Rokus didn’t introduce much input lag for gamers. The S325’s Game mode measured a healthy 26ms (1080p), while the 50S425’s measured 31ms (1080p) and 29ms (4K HDR).
These are all 60Hz TVs despite TCL’s fake “120Hz CMI effective refresh rate” specification, and tests indicated as much: They delivered only 300 lines of motion resolution and there is no smoothing or serial effect option.
Like many HDR TVs that lack local dimming, the TCL S425 showed little advantage displaying 4K HDR content rather than standard HD SDR. I watched Altered Carbon from Netflix, which has a number of the foremost impressive HDR effects I’ve seen, in both 1080p SDR and 4K HDR, swapping back and forth. On the S425 and S405 the differences were adequately subtle that i might have a troublesome time telling them apart.
Performing an equivalent comparison on the Vizio, the advantage of HDR was a touch more apparent, with somewhat more dimension and pop to the image (thanks mostly to raised black level) and slightly better color. Overall HDR looked better on the Vizio than on the TCL, but the advantage wasn’t as great like SDR. It’s no surprise that brighter sets with more local dimming zones, like Vizio’s M-Series or TCL’s 6-Series, do a way better job showcasing HDR than either the TCL 4 or the Vizio E.
Picture setup tips: For the foremost accurate picture, just use the Movie preset and toggle the Brightness setting to taste or room lighting. during a dark room you will get the simplest contrast and black levels by using Darkest, while for brighter rooms or HDR use Brightest.
