TCL S546 (2021) Series

VA panel with high contrast ratio. Quick response time for smooth motion. Wide color gamut. VRR support. Gets bright in SDR. Removes judder from 24p sources. Displays chroma 4:4:4 with 1080p and 4k signals. Displays 720p, 1080p, and 4k content well....

Mediocre peak brightness in HDR. Uniformity issues with dirty screen effect. Limited to HDMI 2.0 inputs. Narrow viewing angles. Can't properly upscale 480p content, like from DVDs. Local dimming raises the black level and causes blooming.

The TCL 5 Series is a good TV for most uses. It's great for gaming because it has VRR support, a quick response time, and low input lag for responsive gaming. It's very good for watching movies in SDR or HDR because it displays deep blacks and has a...

QLED display with local dimming for excellent HDR performance ; Great color quality and smooth motion ; Google TV is a serious upgrade from Roku ; Affordably priced

Limited viewing angles ; Audio is good, but not great

But for the best smart TV experience in a TV under $1,000, it's hard to deny that the TCL 5-Series Google TV (S546) is a solid contender. That’s thanks almost entirely to the improvements that come with Google's new TV platform, which outshine the...