TCL 55US57 Review: How good is this TCL TV?

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TCL 55US57: At First Glance

TCL is a growing company that has been releasing TV models that compete with giants like Sony and Samsung. Although TCL is a newcomer in the TV market, they offer its users a strong set of features.

Truth be told, TCL is no longer a small brand that was traditionally known for basic models with limited features. TCL now produces good TVs like the TCL 55US57 that offer good quality pictures and a great smart OS.

Besides that, when it comes to price, the TCL 55US57 is available at a lower cost compared to most of its competitors. With a reasonable asking price of $597.96, you can get the TCL 55US57 along with all the features it has to offer.

Do you want to know more about the TCL 55US57? Then, read this article to the end.

TCL 55US57: Design, Dimension, and Weight

The TCL 55US57 doesn’t look very different from any other regular TCL TV. It looks just like its predecessors but with a few design differences that add to its sleek appearance.

Among the few subtle design difference on this TV is its razor-thin black bezels. These bezels are the most striking design feature on the TCL 55US57.

These thin bezels will definitely leave you staring because of how neatly trimmed they are. Another good thing about these bezels is that they won’t get in the way of your viewing experience.

Also, since the bezels of TCL 55US57 are razor-thin, they won’t distract you when you are viewing content on the TV.

All in all, these bezels majorly define the simplicity and sleekness of the TCL 55US57’s design. The other feature that makes the TCL 55US57 look more beautiful is its attractive legs.

Like most other TCL models, this TV stands on two sets of legs instead of the common foot most TVs stand on. Theoretically, the two sets of legs are a good idea since it sounds more reliable at preventing the TV from tipping over.

I can confirm that the stands under the TCL 55US57 are sturdy enough to provide firm support while it sits. However, the TV may still tumble if you poke at it with strong force.

Nonetheless, you can use these stands to effectively set the TCL 55US57 up on a tabletop or on top of any furniture with a flat surface. If you aren’t comfortable with the idea of placing the TV on the stands, you can take the stands off and mount the TV on the wall.

With the TV’s slim build, the idea of wall-mounting the TV is not bad at all. Its 1244.6 x 88.9 x 721.3 mm measurement means that it will fit nicely on your wall.

Besides, the TCL 55US57 is incredibly light too. It weighs just 14378.8 g.

Thanks to its lightweight, you will be able to conveniently place this TV on a wall without stress.

With all of these being said, we can conclude that TCL has done a good job with the 55US57’s design. Hence, the TCL 55US57 scores an eight in this display review.

TCL 55US57: Display Features

The moment you start up the TCL 55US57, you will be instantly wowed by its incredible display sharpness. Its 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution immediately jumps out in such a way that you will be stunned.

What makes the images the TCL 55US57 produces appear more pronounced is its brightness levels. If I haven’t mentioned it before, the TCL 55US57 is a Direct-lit LCD TV.

This means that the TCL 55US57 features direct backlighting technology where its LEDs are placed all over behind its panel. Hence, the TCL 55US57 can get quite bright.

Unlike most TVs, the TCL 55US57 doesn’t come with special HDR effects to help improve its display performance. Among the very few noteworthy technologies, the TCL 55US57 features include the 4K Creative Pro Upscaling Engine technology.

To be sincere, in the current TV world, where there are a lot of technological improvements, only the 4K Creative Pro Engine doesn’t feel good enough. It would have felt more reassuring if the TCL 55US57 had come with more features.

Nonetheless, it is encouraging to find out that the 4K Creative Pro Upscaler does a very commendable solo job on this TV’s picture quality. 4K contents on this TV look really sharp and vibrant.

In fact, apps and streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video that support 4K HDR look really good as well.

Even movie contents remain sharp and vivid with different lighting settings. The TCL 55US57’s ability to clearly and vividly show even the dark scenes in the Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice movie was very surprising.

This is even more surprising when you consider the fact that the TCL 55US57 doesn’t have the local dimming feature. However, with a contrast ratio of 5000000:1, it doesn’t seem like the TCL 55US57 is in need of one anyway.

This incredible contrast ratio the TV offers is one solid reason it is perfectly capable of producing deep blacks and bright. After all, that is what contrast ratio is all about.

To make it clearer, contrast ratio is the brightness difference between the brightest white and the darkest blacks a TV can produce. It determines how well a TV can display and offer a strong balance between dark blacks and bright whites.

Thanks to the 4K Creative Upscaler technology and its excellent contrast ratio, contents pop out and shine on the TCL 55US57. This makes it easy to forgive the absence of local dimming and other special HDR features.

You may also be wondering to know how well the TCL 55US57 displays in different viewing angles. Well, I’m glad to say that the viewing angles on the TCL 55US57 aren’t bad.

When you are viewing the TV from flat angles, there’s barely much color differentiation. You will still be able to see the contents of what you are viewing clearly.

This is a good thing if your room sitting arrangement is very wide. Besides, this TV’s 16:9 aspect ratio is another good news for your viewing pleasure.

If you are not aware of what the aspect ratio means, it is the ratio between the horizontal and vertical sides of a TV’s display. Aspect ratio is one of those things that help determine the quality and size of the images your TV can display.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a record of the color gamut space the TCL 55US57 is capable of offering. What we do know is that the TCL 55US57’s display can reproduce up to 16777216 colors.

Hence, it is safe to say that the TCL 55US57 can display colorful content.

In terms of motion content, the TCL 55US57’s 120 Hz refresh rate does the majority of the job to offer satisfactory motion content performance. If you are curious to know what refresh rate means, it indicates how quickly a TV’s display pixels can transition from one color to another.

Unfortunately, we were unable to retrieve accurate results of this TV’s response time and input lag performance. These test results would have helped us to accurately determine how well the TCL 55US57 can handle motion contents.

While the response time represents how fast a TV can display the signal it receives on its screen, input lag checks how fast a TV can react to input signals.

Since we were unable to get results for these tests, we can’t say for sure how well the TCL 55US57 will be able to handle fast-motion content. Neither can we attest that it is a good TV for gaming.

Nonetheless, if its refresh rate is anything to go by, the TCL 55US57 is worth the shot. Theoretically speaking, the TCL 55US57 should be able to fare well with motion contents since it has a refresh rate of 120 Hz.

Based on the facts we have been able to establish about the TCL 55US57’s display features, it offers a good performance for a budget TV.

You will be able to enjoy vivid, bright, and colorful content on this TV. Due to all of these reasons, the TCL 55US57 scores a seven in this display features review.

TCL 55US57: Sound Features

The TCL 55US57 uses two sets of 8W speakers to produce sounds. Aside from a few flaws, these speakers offer a good sound output. 

These speakers are capable of producing good dialogue sounds when the TV displays movie or dialogue content. To clarify more on dialogue, it is a conversation between two or more people. 

It keeps you on track with what is going on in movies and other on-screen content.

Remember I said there are a few flaws in the TCL 55US57’s sound performance? These flaws are mainly in the sound details of the TCL 55US57. 

What I mean by sound details is the complex properties of a sound. The most common sound details in TVs are frequency response and total harmonic distortion.

In simple terms, frequency response is the measure of how accurately a TV sound system can reproduce each frequency of sound content.

Meanwhile, total harmonic distortion is a measure of the disturbance in a sound signal from the source to the time it produces the sound.

That being said, the TCL 55US57 has a low-frequency response which means that the TV doesn’t give any thump or rumble. This is a good thing since you will get a good sound frequency when you are listening to audio content on this TV.

Unfortunately, the TV doesn’t get very loud. One of the reasons for this is the TV’s average distortion performance. 

Since there’s a lot of disturbance to this TV’s sound production, it barely has an adequate punch to the bass sound it produces.

On a bright note, the TCL55US57 comes with Dolby digital features which is an audio technology that is used for cinema and broadcasts. This feature helps the TCL 55US57 to recreate a cinematic sound experience when you are viewing content.

The Dolby digital technology makes up for most of the TCL 55US57’s shortcomings in the sound features it offers. As a result, TCL 55US57 scores a seven in this sound features review section.

TCL 55US57: Ports and Connectivity Features

The TCL 55US57 comes with 4 HDMI ports. Only one of these ports supports the audio return channel (ARC).

You may be wondering what ARC means. Well, the ARC helps to connect your TV to an external audio sound system with a single high speed.

Thus, you can connect a soundbar or subwoofer to this TV using an HDMI port. 

Furthermore, the TCL55US57 also offers one USB 2.0 port, 1 composite input, and one RJ-45 Ethernet port.

The composite input serves as a label on a connector to a receiver. It generates audio and visual signals. 

Meanwhile, the Ethernet port enables you to connect your TV to the internet via a cable connected directly to your internet router.

For wireless connectivity, the TCL55US57 comes with Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, this TV doesn’t feature Bluetooth.

As for the remote, the TCL55US57 remote is a Roku tv RC 280 dark and portable remote with a limited number of buttons. This remote control doesn’t have voice control and requires a direct line of sight to the TV for you to input commands to the TV.

Overall, I will rate the TCL 55US57 a six in this ports and connectivity review section. This is because of the limited number of features it offers in this aspect.

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TCL 55US57: Smart Features

Nowadays, the brightest and the most colorful of all TVs could end up being worthless if it doesn’t have a vast library of content. Fortunately, TCL makes sure that it has contents is covered with its ROKU TV OS.

One thing I’ve discovered and come to love about the ROKU OS is that it doesn’t care to know which particular streaming app you favor. Rather, it aims to offer you the majority of the content streaming platforms in the most affordable way possible.

It does this by using a general search function that is capable of scanning up to 30 platforms like Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, and HBO Now for the lowest price.

Overall, the Roku platform offers more than 3,000 channels. It also offers live TV services, like Sling TV, as well as music channels, like Pandora and Spotify.

Another feature I find interesting in this TV’s smart platform is its 4K Spotlight Channel. This feature serves as host to the compiled list of all the movies available to stream in Ultra High-Definition.

Aside from the already curated content provided by the Roku TV OS, the OS also allows you to create your own content list in Roku Feed. You can use this feature by searching movies, either new or old, and adding them to your curated list.

When the movies you have gathered get added to platforms like Netflix or HBO, you’ll receive an alert on your TV and Roku app if you have it installed.

As for the ROKU app itself, it is extremely easy to navigate. The interface the ROKU TV offers is very smooth. 

You will barely experience any lag in operation when you are navigating around the platform.

However, like the TCL R617, the TCL 55US57’s interface is often crowded with ads. Most times, you will be disturbed by ads on the main interface page.

Unfortunately, these ads cannot be disabled, and there is no way for you to opt out.

Aside from these flaws, the TCL55US57 ROKU smart TV OS is user-friendly and flexible.

All things considered, I will rate the TCL 55US57 a seven out of ten in this smart feature review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The TCL 55US57 is a good television that comes with a 4K UHD display. Thanks to its excellent display, this TV is capable of offering decent picture quality.

In addition to that, the TCL 55US57 offers an excellent contrast ratio. Hence, the TV is good for dark room viewing.

Unfortunately, the TCL 55US57 doesn’t come with a local dimming feature. The local dimming feature could have helped to further improve the quality of the deep blacks it produces.

Regardless, this television is affordable, and it is worth the features it offers. I recommend you get this television if you are looking for a good and affordable option.

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