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TCL 55R617 Review

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Updated January 25, 2022
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8.8
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The TCL 55R617 provides you with an amazing picture quality with a native contrast ratio of 5182: 1 and even wins against many TVs with an IPS panel when it comes to performance. Featuring the Dolby Vision technology which enhances the brightness and contrast while simultaneously providing you with a wide color volume, the TV also has a decent local dimming capability. This paired with a lower response time and its newly introduced motion interpolation technology, the TCL 55R617 also surpasses the TCL 65S517 from last year. And thus standing out with all of these amazing features with a price much less than half that of its competitors, the TCL 55R617 can be considered to be the best 4K TV for the money. Pricing at under $1,000, it’s far more affordable than the $3,000-5,000 price point found in our LG 65ef9500 tv review. Keep reading to see how this TV stacks up against some of the best TVs around.

Why We Like It – TCL 55R617

Having a price less than half of that of its competitors, the TCL 55R617 brings you Ultra HD features, local dimming and a whole lot more. It has premium metallic finish, making its build quality stand out even among more expensive products. In this TV review we go over how all that paired with Dolby Vision and the Roku TV platform, make the TCL 55R617 the editors choice for the best TV for a budget.

Pros
  • Less than half the price of its competitors
  • Premium build quality
  • Low input lag
Cons
  • No cable management
  • Poor viewing angles

Performance

With the iPQ engine in the 6 series, the TCL 55R617 has precise colour replication which is complemented by the HDR Pro Gamma feature, enhancing HDR performance in any setting. And thanks to the full array local dimming or in other words the TCL Contrast Control Zone tech, the image on the LED LCD screen is optimized across 120 dimming zones. Although the local dimming is only decent and the peak brightness (672cd/m2) falls behind the Samsung Q7F, the TCL 55R617 has excellent picture quality for the price, with deep black levels and no blooming.

Related: Also check out our TCL 55S425 review.

However, the screen does fall behind many IPS displays in certain areas due to its poor viewing angles and bad a dirty screen effect. This makes it a bad pick for those who watch sports matches with a group of people, as only the person sitting directly in front would have the best view. But, for anyone else the TV is a great pick for watching movies and other HDR content thanks to its HDR real scene peak brightness of 840cd/m2 and the Roku TV platform which provides you with a wide selection of streaming services, which is on par if not much better than many other TV platforms. Additionally, it is also a great choice for gamers with its low input lag of 17-20 ms which could be as low as 15ms in its game mode. Finally, the TCL 55R617 is also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant.

Design

Finished with metal borders, and a semi-gloss finish on the screen gives the TCL 55R617 a pretty premium look while minimizing the reflections on the screen respectively. The TV also comes with a pretty nice stand which is wide and also can be inverted if the table happens to not be long enough. This along with the inputs pointing out towards the side from the back allows for easy accessibility. Speaking of the inputs we have 3 HDMI ports, a single USB input, a composite video input as well as a Headphone jack, ethernet output and an optical digital audio output. The TCL TV itself has a power button on it, while the remote has a simple design and is a voice remote as well.

Related: Also check out our TCL 50S535 review.

All of this does allow you to connect the TV to your Xbox One, Playstation or even your cable box to make the most of the picture settings, but it does come with a downside. Unlike the Samsung Q7F it has all the inputs directly connected to the TV which doesn’t allow for cable management and thus may cause a clutter depending on the number of devices you use. The TV itself is a bit bulky so it might stick out if it is wall mounted.

Moreover, the TV TCL remote also allows you to easily browse through the platform and access anything mentioned in the Roku TV review.

Value

The TCL 55R617 falls a little behind the Samsung Q7F when it comes to performance, it also falls behind the Sony XBR-A1E when it comes to both sound and picture quality. But let’s take in the fact that it has a price less than half that of these products, a wide color gamut, and makes up for these downsides with amazing accessibility thanks to TV Roku and its Roku Mobile app, which allows you to listen through headphones connected to your phone. And so, with a great HDR performance it is one of the best TVs you can get for the money.

Bottom Line
Performance
8.7
Design
8.7
Value
9.1
Reader Rating0 Votes
0
What We Liked
What We Didn’t
8.8
Expert Rating