TCL 40S65A review: Best budget Android TV?

With me working from home for almost a year now, I couldn’t resist the urge to move out of a crowded city with so many opportunities to a calm location that could afford me similar perks but in a remote area.

Moving out would mean one thing, I needed an office for myself. I luckily got one.

When furnishing the office, a TV was one of the priorities and having used an Android TV for quite some time, I needed one for the office; a good display, an okay screen and some functionality but on a budget.

I settled on the TCL 40S65A after doing my research. Having had it for about two months now, I can confidently share my thoughts about it.

The TCL 40″ S65A Series delivers the highest performance for the best price. This LED TV produces a stunning image when watching TV shows, movies, or playing video games, and it exceeds many TVs that cost much more. The TV’s built-in Android TV streaming platform is simple to use, and it comes with all of the capabilities you’ll need today and in the future.

Out of the box and set up

A sleek all-black TV greets you when you open the package. It isn’t quite as thin. It’s lightweight, and the stand is simple to assemble. It’s rock-solid, incredibly useful, and stylish.

A RC802V remote control, an operation handbook, and an AV cable are also included. The remote is ultra sensitive and I recommend you keeping it far from the couch you are seated on as you enjoy your shows or gaming.

Display

The TV has a full-Screen design that gives you an unexpectedly wide field of vision for the most immersive watching experience possible.

This TV’s HDR functionality improves picture contrast, enhances image details, and brings vibrant colors to life. It’s a step forward from the present TV signal standard.

The TV panel lighting is automatically changed and lowered using a proprietary algorithm to raise the peak brightness of on-screen objects, resulting in a significantly broader brightness range.

Wide angle viewing is not particluarly bad on this but could prove as tiring at the end.

The TV also features a Micro Dimming feature, which analyzes the content of the TV in hundreds of different zones and adjusts the brightness and darkness accordingly.

The image quality is improved, and I now have a superb viewing experience with excellent contrast, particularly in low light. But with me moving from a 4K TV, I could feel the difference.

Audio

This television has Dolby Audio for better sound. It has perfect clarity, easy-to-understand speech, a lot of detail, and a realistic surround sound.

However, for music lovers, I feel that you will need a soundbar for this one.

AI-IN

This TV is equipped with TCL AI-IN, the company’s AI-integrated platform that uses hardware and software to provide multi-scenario services. TCL AI-IN allows customers to deliver voice commands to smart home devices to conduct a variety of tasks while maximizing their TCL TV’s audio and video capabilities.

I have barely used this feature as this is my office TV.

Android TV

This TV runs on Android O. There are scarce details on when this series gets the new Google TV UI, one of Android TV’s biggest interface update in years.

As you undoubtedly already know, Android TV is a customized version of Google’s Android mobile operating system for televisions.

Android TV has access to the Google Play app store, which has thousands of apps created expressly for Android TV’s 10-foot experience, so you won’t have to struggle to see tiny text or navigate apps that only work when you swipe with a finger.

The Google Assistant is built into every version of Android TV, giving you voice control over your TV content as well as all of your smart home devices. Chromecast is also included, which allows you to cast videos and start screen sharing from compatible smartphones, browsers, and apps.

Currently, the apps I mainly use on this TV are Netflix, DStv, YouTube and Spotify.

The experience is great with zero glitches.

Outputs

The TV comes with USB 2.0 port, a LAN port, two HDMI ports, and Audio IN adapter and a headphone jack.

It also has an antenna port and a S/PDIF port that allows you to transfer of digital audio signals from device to device without needing to convert to an analog signal first.

My take

The TCL 40S65A is an all-in-one solution. It not only provides excellent picture quality in a stylish package, but it also provides an excellent overall experience and more inputs. It’s a forward-thinking TV that supports every HDR format imaginable. The price is what nails it, at just Sh 33,000 from the great gents at Plugpoint Kenya. You can talk to them on Twitter too.

However, the overall audio should have been better, and updates should be more often.

If you want the 4K experience and more functionality, you could just top up Sh 3,000 and go for the stunning 43″ TCL P725 frameless TV.