Not sure if this is the correct forum to post this. What are members thoughts on Roku UHDTVs? Are they a good invest investment for our pockets?
The TCL brand Roku are often seen as decent “budget” options - though prices are up right now.
I like this site for tv reviews and comparison: rtings.com
Rtings are pretty high level testing so sometimes you have to give it the perspective from folks invested in “good” vs “good enough” for the ratings themselves but if you dig through the text of the reviews you’ll get good context for more real-world comparison.
Rtings regularly gives TCL and HiSense as brand recommendation for “budget” TVs with Hisense being bit better bang for the buck for image quality over TCL but Hisense is usually Android and TCL is usually Roku (depending on region - though that’s changing a bit now) so sometimes that can change your preferences there (I prefer Roku myself… though AndroidTV having a “dumb TV” mode is interesting if you plan on using an external set-top box). I think TCL has a few more gaming friendly features than Hisense if that’s a factor.
Consumer Reports and TheWirecutter regularly give TCL Roku TVs pretty good “budget” ratings for their 5 and 6 series as well. Though I take Wirecutter with a grain of salt these days, but they do a decent job of presenting info for research\consideration as “good for most” types of reviews. CR and Rtings have membership so they are less influenced by ads\affiliate options.
The current TCL 6 series model is common recommendation as a good budget option but the prices have gone way up; the current 55" 6-series used to be on sale for $600-$650 but is now $900.
I’ve been shopping for a new TV lately and like having Roku so been keeping an eye on it. I would like one of the nicer Samsung and LG TVs as they are definitely nicer TVs but can’t really bring myself to spend that money (plus no DTS passthrough on either anymore … not a big deal overall but for some reason that annoys me as “cheaping out” on top end models).
Edit: TCL and Hisense both have screen uniformity issues so I recommend giving them the 100hrs of playtime to break them in and then check it and purchase the TV from someplace with an easy to process return… it’s easier to return it and spin the wheel again than to deal with warranty process (though I think both aren’t bad about warranty repairs). The more budget TCLs suffer from this more than the higher level ones but… you can get oddities.
Also, the Roku TVs don’t update as regularly as the Roku boxes. Fixes\updates that came to my Ultra took a few months to get to the TV.
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I have both individual Rokus, and a RokuTV. I feel like I prefer separation of church and state, as over time, the TV hasn’t felt as easy to use as the individual boxes. It feels clunky, and often requires full power down/restarts to operate properly.
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Really? I could have sworn that both Roku stick and Roku TVs are both Android? that’s a shocker! I have two Samsung TVs, one 3D, and the other standard 1080p. I love them both. However, like you said, Samsung does not update frequently. As a someone who actually uses technology in my everyday life, security is important to me. Had I realized this about Samsung, I would have never purchased the two (to be honest).
If I’m not mistaken, a few years back I saw some TCL (55 inch) models for a little less than $400 a unit. I’ve been reading a lot about new emerging technology that specifically improves color depth. To be honest, I’m not even sure how the f***k you can improve an UHDTV any better? My jaw drops sampling even the cheapest of UHDTVs. One thing I could say, they’re still significantly cheaper now than when 1080p first hit the scene. I really think that UHDTVs should be cheaper, as most cable companies are still transmitting in 720p. Even with streaming services, we’d often have to pay double for UHD, and that is if you’re lucky enough to find one that offers it. The only one I can think of off hand is Netflix, but their movie collection sucks now. The only other site is VUDU.
For the most part security is fine on Smart TVs - not much going on there overall … privacy is a joke. Consumer Reports and Rtings both have a score for that as well.
There are ways to help account for that though (and Roku - box, stick or TV - is one of the worst in that regard actually) - but that’s a bit beyond this forum thread. 
TCL and Hisense both sell different tiers of their TVs. Roku does Series number (so 4 is cheaper and less feature packed compared to 5 and again to 6, etc) and my main TV is actually an older Roku 4 series 4k with HDR support (though not great HDR support). It was a 55" TV for $350 bucks on sale and it was “good enough” for me. Had some issues after the first year but nothing distracting so it works fine but I’d like some a little nicer these days so I’m looking at the TCL 6 series. I’d prefer an LG OLED but that’s double the price typically.
I’d say people are talking about color accuracy and HDR features in most cases. With newer displays that can use the HDR (High Dynamic Range) coding you can get some great images where the bright colors in one part of the scene don’t wash out the dark or deeper parts of the same scene… think star fields in sci-fi movies with each star a BRIGHT pinpoint with maybe a color rich daylight planet in the foreground still with deep empty blacks between the planet and each of the stars… think of the opening of ST:A New Hope. That’s typically where improvements beyond resolution come into play and where OLED TVs have a very definite advantage as well.
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Just bought a Roku TV for my garage, perfect for that application. the TCL/roku one on amazon, I think 32"? on amazon for two hundred. I tell you for that price it’s a deal. One plug, for power. 1080p, Plex/others on-tap is great. A funny thing, it somehow sync’d the removed active “channels” with our other roku, so i had to re-add them in the other room lol, so use caution.
Recommend a plug timer type thing, one button press for 6 hours of power then cuts power to it. Prevents vampire electrical load and any internet tomfoolery from either TCL or Roku. Boot time is fast, so this works great.
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Thanks!! 
