The TCL C6K isn’t the cheapest TV around, nor does it have the best design, picture quality, or feature set. But it does more than ‘just okay’ in almost every way while still coming in under R15k. If that’s not worthy of consideration, what is?
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Design
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Performance
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Features
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Value
It’s never been easy to wade through the countless budget TV offerings and find something that balances price and performance effectively. When TCL launched its new range of TVs earlier this year, including the C6K, it became even harder.
TCL sent us a review unit of the C6K to find out if a R14,000 TV is worth your time and money. Thankfully, it doesn’t take that long to set up, and that’s not even the only reason why the C6K is worthy of your consideration.
It’s more about the internals
The phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ often accompanies entry-level devices. While it isn’t true for the entire C6K package, it definitely is for the build and audio quality. That isn’t to say the C6K is built badly, but its mostly-plastic construction is to be expected. There are only so many ways to build a cheap black rectangle that holds a 65in screen.
The same can be said of the C6K’s built-in speakers. They provide passable audio, and that’s about all. If you have any hope of properly enjoying the Dolby Atmos content the TV supports, you’ll want to pick up an external soundbar at the very least.
It probably won’t wrap the sound around you like the marketing material wants you to believe, but the sound stage will be wider, dialogue clearer, and low-end thumps will be tighter.
You want features? You got ‘em
TCL didn’t leave many feature boxes unticked for the C6K. The 65in panel, which is made in-house, boasts a 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160px), a native 144Hz refresh rate, which can boost to 240Hz, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support with AMD FreeSync Premium, support for a wide range of HDR formats, and an impressive picture quality.
It also uses a mini LED backlight layer, which TCL says has “up to 512 local dimming zones.” The 65in model that we got has roughly half of that, about 242 dimming zones. Still, some local dimming zones are better than none.
A low number of dimming zones relative to the screen size can mean the overall brightness suffers, along with the picture quality, but we were actually surprised by the brightness we got from the C6K, considering where it sits on the price spectrum. It will handle itself well in bright rooms, even when watching dark content.
All the colours you could need
Together with the mini LED backlight layer, TCL has included a Quantum Dot layer for better colour accuracy. The result is a decent picture quality across most types of content.
We kept our unit in Filmmaker Mode for the review period so movies would look their best, but even sports and older content managed to look good. We noticed a vivid, punchy colour palette in both SDR and HDR content.
Despite the mini LED backlight layer, we found the C6K struggled a bit with blooming around bright objects in dark scenes and a bit of black crush (where the darkest parts of a scene lack detail) in some cases.
The TCL C6K proved rather capable as a gaming TV, as its spec sheet alludes to. The high native refresh rate (and VRR support) means you shouldn’t have to deal with screen tearing. It also supports ALLM (auto low latency mode), so it shouldn’t feel like you’re trying to control the Mars Rover. Its latency wasn’t the lowest we’ve had, but it also never felt like it got in the way of our enjoyment. Just make sure you’re using one of the two HDMI 2.1 ports for the best experience.
No surprises
The TCL C6K runs Google TV, so you should know what to expect by now. The interface is just okay – it can be customised, but only to change the order of one row of apps.
Still, you get a broad app ecosystem to play in that should offer more than enough for most folks. Navigating around might take some getting used to, especially if you’re switching from an older set, but it’ll come.
TCL C6K verdict
TCL has done a good job with its C-series mini LED TVs if the entry-level C6K is indicative of the rest. What makes this TV easy to recommend is just how much you’re getting for the R14,000 price. It won’t blow you away with its relatively lightweight yet sturdy and functional design, decent picture quality and motion handling, or feature set in isolation. But when you add them all together, you get a competent package that should leave you with enough dough in your account to add a soundbar without feeling like you’ve been cheated.
