TCL R617 (2018) Series

Excellent black levels ; High brightness ; Punchy HDR picture ; Accurate, wide color gamut ; Roku TV OS is excellent

Vertical banding is visible in some units ; Vignette effect in corners

There is no clearly superior alternative in this price class. The Vizio P-Series TV – available in a 65-inch model for $200 more – is the closest competition, but our review of that unit is not yet complete. We’ll update this section of our review once...

Excellent black levels ; High brightness ; Punchy HDR picture ; Accurate, wide color gamut ; Roku TV OS is excellent

Vertical banding is visible in some units ; Vignette effect in corners

There is no clearly superior alternative in this price class. The Vizio P-Series TV – available in a 65-inch model for $200 more – is the closest competition, but our review of that unit is not yet complete. We’ll update this section of our review once...

Affordable. Excellent contrast and color. Plenty of streaming apps and services on Roku TV.

Power hog. Only three HDMI ports. No headphone jack in remote.

Bottom Line: TCL's 6-Series of 4K TVs is a worthy successor to last year's excellent P-Series, and stands as one of the best values currently available.

Very good color ; Roku operating system is very easy to use ; Very affordable for a true HDR TV

Noticeable motion artifacts (stutter, moiré) ; Noticeable defects in the backlight

In terms of color and HDR, the TCL 6-series punches impressively far above its weight class. A firmware upgrade that solves some of the backlighting issues would be welcome, although those appear rarely enough that they shouldn’t ruin the overall...

Very bright in HDR and SDR Excellent low input lag for gaming Good local dimming and native contrast produce deep blacks

Picture quality degrades at an angle Uniformity could be better

Very good TV for mixed usage. It is a versatile TV that is good for pretty much everything. There are some gray uniformity issues, which makes it a less good choice for sports due to the dirty screen effect, and the image degrades rapidly when viewed...

Very bright in HDR and SDR ; Excellent low input lag for gaming ; Good local dimming and native contrast produce deep blacks

Picture quality degrades at an angle ; Uniformity could be better

Everybody knows you can get a spectacular 4K/HDR TV for a few thousand dollars—at that price, it's kind of a given. But with TCL's 65-inch 6 Series, you're getting a really, really good one for $999. Where traditional (non-HDR) content is concerned,...

While the 65-inch R617 has a lot of dimming zones (120) for what you're paying, that doesn't mean it's perfect. Every now and then, you're bound to see flashlighting. The Netflix logo against a black background, or the occasional very bright HDR spot...

There are only a handful of reasons not to grab the 6 Series, that I can think of. If you're looking for a hyper-premium HDR experience (either 1,200+ nits brightness/OLED); if you're extremely sensitive to motion/judder issues during 24fps content; if...

Beautiful display ; Great 4K picture quality ; HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support ; Quick performance ; Great value for money ; Easy to use interface

Only 3 HDMI ports ; Roku OS interface seems slightly dated

The TCL 6-Series is a great 4K TV that has exceptional picture quality and value for money.

4K HDR10 and Dolby Vision support Wide Color Gamut capabilities Deep blacks via full-array local dimming with 120 zones Integrated Roku smart TV platform Industry-leading bang-for-your-buck pricing

Blooming/flashlighting visible in some content Not quite as bright as more expensive models Native 60Hz panel instead of 120Hz