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TCL 40FS3800: At First Glance
First, a word about TCL, a brand that few people in North America are familiar with. TLC is a massive corporation with a $4 billion panel manufacturing plant in China.
They also claim to be the world’s third-largest TV manufacturer, with a research unit in Silicon Valley. TLC has been manufacturing televisions for a while now, and they are popular for the affordability of their TVs.
One of TLC’s affordable television is the TCL 40FS3800, which this article is all about. The TCL 40FS3800 is a basic television with average picture quality.
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Additionally, the TCL 40FS3800 comes with the outstanding ROKU TV OS, just like other TCL smart television. However, the TCL 40FS3800 features some significant flaws such as its poor sound system.
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Having introduced the TCL 40FS3800, let’s get into more details about the TCL 40FS3800.
TCL 40FS3800: Design, Dimension & Weight
As I hinted in the last section, the TCL 40FS3800 looks very basic and plain. The television’s display is bordered by thick bezels that have a glossy black finish.
In addition to that, the bezels are slightly inward to look more like a picture frame. Moreover, there is a silver-colored accent running along the bottom bezel.
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These legs are made of plastic and they feature a black finish. Also, as expected, the legs are sturdy enough to hold the television in place.
However, these plastic legs are very close to the edges of the TCL 40FS3800. Therefore, necessitating the need of placing the TCL 40FS3800 on a fairly large table
Moving on, the back of the TCL 40FS3800 is made of plastic, just like the television’s bezels. However, the television’s back is fairly thick, so, the TCL 40FS3800 will look awkward if wall-mounted.
Now to the dimension and weight of the TCL 40FS3800. The TCL 40FS3800 has a dimension of 991.8 x 96.5 x 520.7 mm and weighs 7057.8 g.
Comparatively, the TCL 40FS3800 is fairly heavier than one of its 40-inch rivals, the Hisense 40H4F. Specifically, the Hisense 40H4F has a dimension of 904.2 x 81.2 x 518.1 mm and weighs only 5805.9 g.
In conclusion, the TCL 40FS3800 isn’t the premium-looking television most people would love, but it has a moderate design. However, the television is fairly thick.
Hence, the TCL 40FS3800 scores an eight out of ten rating in this design review section.
TCL 40FS3800: Display Features
The TCL 40FS3800 features a 40-inch LED display. This display comes with a screen resolution of FHD (1920 x 1080).
Impressively, the TCL 40FS3800’s display has a 3,589:1 contrast ratio. For readers that might not know what a contrast ratio means, let me explain.
A display’s contrast ratio is the relationship between the display’s brightest white and blackest black. Additionally, the contrast ratio of a display is essential in determining the black level of the display.
A display’s black level is how well or how deep/dark the display can produce blacks. Therefore, with an impressive 3,589:1 contrast ratio, blacks on the TCL 40FS3800’s display will be deep and accurate.
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For that reason, watching films with plenty of dark or shadowy scenes on the TCL 40FS3800 won’t be a problem. Although the TCL 40FS3800’s display has an impressive contrast ratio, it doesn’t support local dimming, which would have enhanced its black level.
Local dimming is a method to enhance the contrast ratio in dark scenes on LED displays by decreasing backlight zones. This improves the overall picture quality of the display by making blacks appear deeper than they would be without local dimming.
Furthermore, the TCL 40FS3800 also doesn’t support HDR. The acronym, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range.
If you’re wondering, HDR is a technique for improving the brightness and color accuracy of contents displayed on a display screen. Therefore, HDR-supported televisions are often bright, colorful, and crisp.
Unfortunately, the TCL 40FS3800 doesn’t support HDR nor local dimming. Moreover, these features would have greatly enhanced the picture quality of the TCL 40FS3800’s display.
Moving on, the brightness performance of the TCL 40FS3800’s display is sub-par. The display has a peak brightness of just 273.84 cd/m2.
Moreover, the TCL 40FS3800’s display poor brightness is due to the display’s lack of local dimming and HDR support. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend using the TCL 40FS3800 in bright areas.
On a positive note, the TCL 40FS3800’s black uniformity is good. The ability of television to display black consistently throughout its display screen is referred to as black uniformity.
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Thankfully, the TCL 40FS3800 has good black uniformity.
However, the TCL 40FS3800 has average gray uniformity. Gray uniformity refers to a television’s ability to display a single, consistent color on the screen.
Moreover, when watching content with large areas of the same color, such as sports, having a TV with good gray uniformity is essential. Additionally, a good gray uniformity is important if you are using the television as a computer monitor.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchMoving on, the viewing angles of the TCL 40FS3800’s display is very poor. Therefore, you are better off viewing the TCL 40FS3800 directly from the center.
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Furthermore, the TCL 40FS3800’s display’s reflection handling is also poor. Even though the display features a semi-gloss coating, the TCL 40FS3800’s display still can’t retract reflection.
Therefore, the TCL 40FS3800 can’t be used in a bright room. However, the TCL 40FS3800’s display should be able to handle reflection in a moderately lit room.
I would have said the TCL 40FS3800 is ideal for gaming because its display has a 120 Hz refresh rate. However, refresh rate isn’t the only factor that determines if a television set is good for gaming.
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Another essential factor for determining if a television set is great for gaming is the television’s display having a low input lag. Unfortunately, the TCL 40FS3800’s display doesn’t have a low input lag.
Instead, the TCL 40FS3800’s display has an input lag of 27.2 milliseconds, which is reasonably high. An input lag is how fast it takes a display to register an input.
The lower the input lag, the better. Therefore, with a 27.2 milliseconds input lag, it is fair to say the TCL 40FS3800 isn’t suitable for gaming.
In conclusion, the TCL 40FS3800’s display’s performance is pretty average if not poor. The display doesn’t get bright and doesn’t support HDR nor local dimming.
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TCL 40FS3800: Sound Features
TCL televisions are not really known for having great sound systems or features. In fact, just a few of their televisions have an impressive sound system.
As stated in the “My Initial Thought” section above, the TCL 40FS3800 has a poor sound system. Therefore, don’t expect much from the TCL 40FS3800 in this sound features review section.
Specifically, the TCL 40FS3800 features a pair of 8-watts speakers. These speakers aren’t loud and they generate weak audio.
Furthermore, bass is totally omitted on these speakers. Therefore, you won’t enjoy watching bass-heavy movies or listening to music with lots of bass on the TCL 40FS3800.
Moreover, the distortion performance of the TCL 40FS3800’s speakers is poor. It is important to mention that the distortion isn’t really audible if the television’s speakers are in low or medium volume level.
However, once the volume level is increased above 80%, distortion will be very obvious. Moreover, this claim was proven through a THD test.
THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) is a measurement that determines how much distortion a speaker or sound system can generate. Additionally, THD test scores are typically generated in percentage.
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Also, if a speaker’s THD score is below 1 percent, it means distortion isn’t audible on the speaker. In other words, the lower the THD score, the lower the amount of distortion the speaker produces.
Unfortunately, the TCL 40FS3800’s speakers’ THD score is way above 1%. Specifically, the speakers record a THD score of 4.227%.
Therefore, you can’t listen to loud music or watch loud movies on the TCL 40FS3800 without noticing distortion.
Overall, the performance of the TCL 40FS3800’s speakers is poor. The speakers lack bass and they also generate a lot of distortion.
Hence, the TCL 40FS3800 doesn’t deserve a rating of not more than six out of ten in this sound review section.
TCL 40FS3800: Ports & Connectivity Features
The TCL 40FS3800 comes with a decent amount of helpful ports. However, the only issue I have with the TCL 40FS3800 concerning its ports selection is the lack of an Ethernet port.
The ports on the TCL 40FS3800 are all on the rear of the television. However, the ports are separated into two sets.
Some ports are on the left side of the TCL 40FS3800’s back. The remainder of the ports, on the other hand, are down-facing on the back of the TCL 40FS3800.
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Awkwardly, all three of the TCL 40FS3800’s HDMI ports are among the down-facing ports on the back of the television. On a more positive note, one of the HDMI ports supports ARC, which you can use for connecting a soundbar.
In my opinion, TCL should have included at least one HDMI port on the left side of the TCL 40FS3800’s back. I am saying this because as most people know, left-facing ports are easily accessible than down-facing ports.
Furthermore, other down-facing ports on the TCL 40FS3800’s back include a 3.5mm headphone jack and an antenna connector (RF port).
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As stated at the beginning of this section, the TCL 40FS3800 doesn’t feature an Ethernet port. This is a surprising omission because it is unlikely of TCL not to feature an Ethernet port on its television.
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Probably the TCL 40FS3800 doesn’t feature an Ethernet because it is an old TCL television. The TCL 40FS3800 is about six years old (as of 2021 when I published this review).
The TV was manufactured back in 2015.
The TCL 40FS3800 might not feature an Ethernet port for wired internet connectivity. However, it features an 802.11 (2×2) WIFI for wireless internet connectivity.
Unfortunately, just like the TCL 40FS3800 lacks an Ethernet port, it also lacks Bluetooth.
On a positive note, as expected, TCL offers a Remote Control for the TCL 40FS3800. This remote control is just like the others TCL offers most of its Smart Televisions.
To be more specific, the remote control is a ROKU TV remote. Furthermore, the remote control has a pill shape with a black finish, and it is moderately small.
Also, the remote features a blue plus-shaped navigational button with “back” and “home” buttons above it. Furthermore, there are playback buttons below the navigational button.
Also, the remote offers dedicated buttons for quick access to streaming apps like Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, Vudu, and Rdio. One odd feature about this remote is that its volume and mute buttons are on the side.
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Hence, the TCL 40FS3800 will get an seven out of ten rating from me.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.TCL 40FS3800: Smart Features
As a TCL ROKU TV, the TCL 40FS3800 offers the ROKU TV operating system as its smart TV operating system. This ROKU TV operating system has a genuine smart interface that is straightforward and easy to navigate.
Furthermore, the ROKU TV operating system will frequently update itself to fix bugs. However, the OS can only do this as long as the TCL 40FS3800 is connected to the internet via WIFI.
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Additionally, unlike the Android TV operating system, the ROKU TV operating system doesn’t feature ads.
Moving on, the ROKU TV operating system offers an endless supply of streaming services and applications. All the major streaming services are also available, like Netflix, HULU, Amazon Prime Video, Twitch, YouTube, and so on.
Additionally, the ROKU TV OS offers free streaming services like Crackle, Pluto TV, and the well-known Roku Channel. Furthermore, the TCL 40FS3800 supports control from the Roku app, which is free for both iOS and Android.
The Roku app enables you to use your mobile device as a remote control, to input text and commands. You can also use the Roku app to stream movies, music, or view pictures from your mobile device to the TCL 40FS3800.
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Therefore, I will rate the TCL 40FS3800 a nine in this smart features review section.
Frequently Asked Questions
They most definitely do. TCL produces all of the parts for its televisions in its factory plants. Moreover, the screens for their televisions are manufactured at the China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. factory.
This factory, which creates display screens for TCL televisions, is owned by TCL.
Yes, they are. TCL televisions offer good picture quality and a variety of features at a reasonable price. However, most of their televisions don’t feature a good sound system.
TCL Industries Holdings Co., Ltd. owns TCL.
TCL TVs can survive up to seven years if used responsibly and properly configured. However, the real lifespan of a television set is determined by how it is used.
Both TVs provide a considerable number of features and good picture quality at a fair price. Hisense TVs, contain more features, such as strong speakers and numerous TV ports.
TCL televisions, however, are more long-lasting and less expensive.
Conclusion
The word “Average” is the best word for the TCL 40FS3800’s performance. The only impressive feature of this television is its ROKU TV operating system.
This ROKU TV operating system comes with a nice interface and a lot of streaming apps. However, the other features of the TCL 40FS3800 are pretty much average.
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