Best Review of TCL 6-Series 2020 QLED TV with Mini LED

A minute review

Although it replaces the latest 8K TV models, the new 6-Series models for the TCL 6-Series 8K TV (R648) and 2021 (R646), the older TCL 6-Series 2020 QLED (R635) still exist. Incredible value.

Priced at just $ 650, the TCL 6-Series R635 is a 4K Roku TV that uses a Mini LED – a technology that often triples the cost of a TV – as well as a Quantum Dot filter for more colors.

The result? The 6-Series is brighter, more colorful than before and there is not a single hint of halo or light bleeding. It’s a new features is included this TV and first TV to come with a THX certified game mode for 1440p / 120Hz games.

Yes, 8K TVs still have four times the brightness and pixel size, but if you’re buying a TV to watch Netflix heavily or stream Hulu, this is the 4K TV we recommend for you.

TCL 6-Series 2020 Price and Release Date

The TCL 6-Series R635 will be available from August 2020. Here in the US, it is available in three different sizes, including the 55 inch 65inch and 75 inch sizes, and is priced at $ 649, $ 899 and $ 1,399, respectively.

The 6-Series is so unique, despite its affordable price, making it an incredible value, sports features you can find on TVs that cost twice as much.

In terms of performance, this 2021 year TCL 6-Series is very same to the Samsung Q80T QLED TV and LG Nano90 TV, both of which use quantum dot variations for greater color accuracy, but the 6-Series R635 is $ 300. Cheaper than any other option, up to $ 650 uses an easy-to-navigate Roku TV.

In fact, remove it from TCL to TCL itself. The latest version of the smart TV released in 2021, the TCL 6-Series R646, has all the same features as its predecessor, but offers better local dimming for low bloom, two HDMI 2.1 ports for 4K / 120Hz games, and Google TV instead of Roku. If you want a more modern interface. Performance may not be as good as last year’s, but if the prices are the same, the new model is worth a look.

Design

There is a lot to be said about the design of the TCL 6-Series (see: that Mini-LED backlight), but it’s not a work of art like Samsung’s The Frame. It may feel like a potion, but for a 6-Series R635 LED-LCD screen it is quite solid and cannot touch the extremely thin profile of the OLED.

Although not incredibly thin, the bezel-less design of the TV is quite versatile. The legs of the TV can be placed close together to fit on a small table or stand, or they can be attached to the outside edge of the TV to provide more stability.

When it comes to legs, one tidy addition this year is the ability to weave cables through the legs, creating a less cluttered space without wires.

Rotate it around, then you can choose the strongest ports. These include Ethernet, four HDMI 2.0b ports, one with eARC support, and your standard compact (red-white-yellow RCA) input, USB, and AV In port for optical audio.

Of course, note that these are not HDMI 2.1 ports that can carry 4K / 120Hz or 8K signals – but 4K / 60 or 1440p / 120 are still quite possible here.

Performance

The area where you’ve seen the biggest improvement in this year’s TCL 6-Series comes with its functionality – most notably the black levels, the contrasts and the lack of haloing you’ve seen in previous models.

That’s all thanks to the new Mini LED backlight system, which uses thousands of LEDs instead of hundreds to achieve perfect black levels near bright lights.

The only drawback here is that the maximum brightness is actually a bit lower compared to other QLED TVs that do not use the Samsung Q80T or Samsung Q90T, Vizio P-Series Quantum X or TCL Game 8 Mini LED. -We measured last year’s maximum brightness over 1,300 knights.

The result is that the 6-Series is closer to OLED in terms of brightness and contrast, but has the benefit of using quantum dots like last year, which means you’ll see an amazing wide color.

To bring the TCL 6-Series across its speeds, we’ve tried tons of different content, from Night on Earth (available in Dolby Vision, no less) to local news, to see how the TV raises HD content to fill the 4K screen.

As there is still a shortage of 4K / HDR content, the 6-Series still relies heavily on its AiPQ engine to convert HD to 4K content. It does this using three algorithms – one for color, one for clarity and the other for contrast – and the results, so far, seem to be better than last year.

For those who really want to take TV’s picture tuning really seriously, TCL’s includes five default image settings, each of which can be further refined in the areas of color, contrast, etc. For our testing, we have done so far. While watching movies such as Spider-Man,Crood and animation movies the introduction of motion artefacts disrupted motion picture technology and attracted the general image processing.

The only problem with the AiPQ engine is that regardless of the model, we have seen that the processor can overheat areas that are too bright and turn them into a flat white. We’ve seen this on shows like Netflix’s Down to Earth or in the faded clouds of bright white buildings. When all the mini LEDs are activated only slightly in a specific area, the brightness of the display is effectively enhanced but the small details of the image are blurred.

For players, the 6-Series with Mini LED is a dual sword. On the one hand, it supports 120Hz cryptocurrency and variable refresh rate. The downside is that at 120 fps, the resolution is limited to 1440p and the TV does not support proprietary GPU technologies such as Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Freesync.

Sound

The sound of the TCL 6-Series is perfectly acceptable. You may not hear the subtleties of classical music or a spacious sound platform with a 5.1 surround system, but you have no complaints about the sound level.

In the frame you have two 8W speakers that emphasize the middle and top rather than the wall-swinging bass. It’s a little less than some other TVs that use 10W or 20W drives like the Sony X950H we reviewed a few months ago, but whatever the 6-Series’ sound was, we had little to complain about.

The best thing you can do with the money you save on TV is to invest in a Dolby Atmos soundtrack

Buy like …

You want a great 4K TV at an incredible low price

The TCL 6-Series R635 is an incredible value and certainly the best TV you can buy for less than $ 700. If you do not understand how to spend a lot of money on a TV but still want incredible performance, this is the TV you want to buy.

With streaming boxes and media players

Roku is not the snazziest smart platform on the planet, but it is one of the most reliable and frequently updated. It supports almost every major streaming service and its search algorithm is second to none.

You want the best of both OLED and LED-LCD

In the last few years you have had to decide between the difference between OLED and the brightness and color saturation of LED-LCDs. Now you do not need to – both TCL 6-Series R635 are available.