TCL 75S425 Review: An Average But Expensive Television

TCL 75S425: At First Glance

TCL TVs are best renowned for offering high-quality viewing experiences at incredibly low prices, with a few exceptions. Moreover, I am pretty sure TCL wowed most of us with its latest 6-series lineup of television.

However, what most people don’t know is that TCL’s 4-series lineup (the TCL 75S425 is among) is the predecessor to the 6-series lineup. TCL’s 4-series is the company’s entry-level 4K television lineup that uses the same feature-rich ROKU TV OS as the 6-series.

However, despite the fact that most of the TCL 4-series televisions are inexpensive, the TCL 75S425 is pretty pricey. The TCL 75S425 had a price tag of $1,175.32 as of the time I wrote this review in November 2021.

Probably the TCL 75S425 is that expensive because it is the largest television in the 4-series lineup. However, with such a massive price tag, would the TCL 75S425 be able to meet the expectation of potential buyers?

Let’s find out!

TCL 75S425: Design, Dimension, and Weight

As far as TV designs go, the TCL 75S425 looks very simple and similar to other TCL TVs. The television is mainly made out of plastic and doesn’t have a premium look to it.

Furthermore, this television features the standard black bezels, which borders its display. However, these bezels have a glossy finish and are pretty much thicker than bezels on televisions in the TCL 6-series lineup. 

Specifically, the sides’ bezels measure 0.5 inches while the bottom and top bezel measure 0.8 inches and 0.4 inches respectively. Moreover, a small strip of textured black plastic can be found on the television’s bottom bezel.

This strip gives the TCL 75S425 a little bit of elegance. Additionally, in the center and right corner of the bottom bezel, there are silver TCL and ROKU TV logos.

Moving on, the TCL 75S425 stands on top of a pair of V-shaped legs. These V-shaped legs are made out of plastic and they have a matte-black finish.

However, the legs are very close to the edges of the television. As a result, you will need a relatively large table to place the TCL 75S425 if not mounted on the wall.

Although the legs support the TCL 75S425 pretty well, the television wobbles a bit if puked with force.

Rotating the TCL 75S425 to the back, you will be greeted by a matte-black panel. The top part of this panel is metal while the bottom part is plastic.

Interestingly, the top part of the television’s back panel is adorned with a row of tessellated triangles. However, these are just decorative elements that have no functional purpose.

Furthermore, the bottom part of the TCL 75S425’s back panel is thicker than the top part. This is because the bottom part houses all of the television’s ports and components.

However, the bottom part isn’t too thick to the extent of making the television look odd if wall-mounted.

Measuring 1678 x 88.9 x 965.2 mm, the TCL 75S425 isn’t too large for a 75-inch television. However, with a weight of 33520.4 g, the television is pretty heavy.  

Nonetheless, the TCL 75S425 is still lighter than most 75-inch televisions like the Samsung QN75Q60RAFXZA and Sony XBR – 75X850F.

Specifically, the Samsung QN75Q60RAFXZA weighs 38918.2 g. The Sony XBR – 75X850F, on the other hand, weighs 38900 g.

In conclusion, even though the TCL 75S425 doesn’t look premium, it has an impressive build quality. Additionally, the television is lighter than most of its competitors.

All things considered, I will rate the TCL 75S425 eight out of ten in this design review section.

TCL 75S425: Display Features

For display, the TCL 75S425 makes use of a 75-inch LED display. Performance-wise, this display offers crisp, colorful pictures and contents all thanks to its 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution.

Well, as we all know, 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution is one of the best, if not the best, resolutions available. Moreover, a 4K display is about 4x better, sharper, and clearer than the typical HD resolution display.

Moving on, the TCL 75S425’s display has an outstanding contrast ratio of 6,054:1, as expected. I mentioned “as expected” in the last part of that sentence because the TCL 75S425’s LED display is a VA display.

To clarify, VA displays, also known as Vertical Alignment displays often come with high contrast ratio. So, I wasn’t surprised when I found out that the TCL 75S425’s display has such an outstanding contrast ratio.

Although what does a display’s contrast ratio mean? You are about to find out!

A display’s contrast ratio is the ratio between the brightest white and darkest black the display is capable of producing. Additionally, a high contrast ratio is a preferred aspect of any display because it determines how deep blacks are going to appear on the display.

Therefore, with a contrast ratio as high as 6,054:1, the TCL 75S425’s display will be able to produce richly deep blacks. As a result, picture quality on the TCL 75S425 when viewing movies with plenty of dark scenes will be extraordinary.

However, despite having such an impressive contrast ratio, the TCL 75S425’s display isn’t bright at all. To be more specific, this display has a maximum brightness of just 168 cd/m², disappointing right?

Well, this display brightness gets even more disappointing when considering the television’s expensive price tag. As a result of its poor brightness, you won’t be able to use the TCL 75S42 in well-lit rooms.

On a positive note, the TCL 75S425’s display supports High dynamic range (HDR) in HDR 10 format. However, it doesn’t support other HDR formats like Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG.

Unfortunately, the TCL 75S425’s display doesn’t support local dimming, which improves a display’s black level. However, that isn’t particularly important since the television’s display already has an outstanding contrast ratio.

Moving on, the TCL 75S425’s display has bad viewing angles, which is something to expect from a VA display. As a result, you will lose picture quality and accuracy rapidly when viewing the TV off-center.

Therefore, it is best you view the TCL 75S425 directly from the center. However, if you need a similar television with better viewing angles, you can check out the LG 75UK7050PVA.

On a plus side, the TCL 75S425’s display handles reflection decently. Basically, the display has a semi-gloss coating that limits the amount of light reflected on the display.

Furthermore, this television’s display also has an impressive response time. Specifically, the display has a response time of 12.1 milliseconds.

Response time can be defined as the time it takes a display to change from a particular color to another. Therefore, with such impressive response time, blur trail will be minimal when the TCL 75S42’s display is viewing fast-motion contents.

Moving on, the TCL 75S425’s display makes the TV an ideal television for gamers. Two aspects of a television’s display are very crucial in determining if it is ideal for gaming.

These aspects include refresh rate and input lag. Thankfully, the TCL 75S425’s display excels in both aspects.

Specifically, the TCL 75S425’s display has a refresh rate of 120 Hz. A display’s refresh rate is the times per second the display is able to refresh/draw a new image.

For example, the TCL 75S425’s display’s 120 Hz refresh rate means the display refreshes a new image 120 times per second. Overall, how smoothly motion appears on a display is determined by the refresh rate.

As we all know, motion is a major aspect of gaming.

Moreover, I also hinted earlier that the TCL 75S425’s display excels in terms of input lag. To be more specific, the display has a low input lag of 12.9 milliseconds.

A display’s input lag is the amount of time it takes the display to register a signaled input. The lower the input lag the display has, the better the gaming experience.

In conclusion, asides from the display’s poor brightness and disappointing viewing angles, the TCL 75S425’s display have a decent performance. Therefore, I will rate the TCL 75S425 eight out of ten in this display review section.

TCL 75S425: Sound Features

The audio quality of the TCL 75S425 is one area where it falls short. Specifically, the television features a pair of 10-Watts down-firing speakers that produces some rather weak sounds.

Unfortunately, the bass production of these speakers is really bad. As a result, you can’t get a decent audio quality when watching bass-heavy movies.

On a positive note, the television’s speakers can get adequately loud. However, the speakers aren’t loud enough for a fairly large room or noisy environment.

Moving on, the TCL 75S425’s down-firing speakers produce crisp and clear dialogue. Dialogue is the sound generated when two a more characters are having a discussion in a movie.

Furthermore, the distortion performance of the television’s speakers is really impressive. Specifically, you won’t hear any sound distortion when the television is at a moderate volume level.

However, when you increase the television’s volume to the maximum, distortion may be a little bit audible. Although, that depends on the type of content you are watching.

Besides that, not everyone may hear the distortion.

Overall, the TCL 75S425’s speakers may not be particularly impressive, but I believe they are adequate for casual viewing. Moreover, the speakers’ minimal distortion makes them comparable to most speakers found on high-end televisions.

All things considered, I believe the TCL 75S425 doesn’t deserve anything more than a seven out of ten in this sound review section.

TCL 75S425: Ports and Connectivity Features

Port selection on the TCL 75S425 is adequate but it is nothing special. Essentially, all of the television’s ports can be found on the left side of the television back.

The only exception to this is the power connecter which sits on the right side of the television. The ports on the TCL 75S425 include a USB port, an antenna/cable connection, an Ethernet port, and three HDMI ports

That’s not all, the television also has optical and 3.5mm audio outputs. Also, there is a 3.5mm composite video input as well as a 3.5mm-to-composite-RCA dongle.

It is worth noting that a small Reset button sits above all the television ports. Additionally, it is also important to mention that one of the television’s HDMI ports supports ARC (audio return cable).

Therefore, you should be able to use the ARC-compactible HDMI port to connect a soundbar or any other supported external speaker.

For wireless connectivity, the TCL 75S425 comes with an inbuilt 802.11ac (2×2) 2.4GHz & 5GHz WIFI. However, TCL decided not to include Bluetooth on this television, which I think is a very terrible idea.

I said that because of the television’s expensive price. Besides that, which modern “expensive” television doesn’t include Bluetooth?

Well, the answer to that is few to none.

That’s said, now lets talk about the included remote control. Specifically, the TCL 75S425 comes with a ROKU TV RC280 remote control.

This remote looks very much like other ROKU TV remotes. It has a very small stature, which makes it fit into your palm nicely.

Additionally, the remote has a navigation pad that is plus-shaped with blue color. Also, there are four dedicated buttons on the remote for quick access to some streaming apps.

These streaming apps include HBO Now, Netflix, Sling TV, and HULU.

However, the remote doesn’t have an inbuilt microphone; therefore, it doesn’t support voice control features. On a bright note, you can use the voice control feature through the free ROKU TV app downloaded on your smartphone.

In summary, the ports on the TCL 75S425 should be adequate for most users. However, the omission of Bluetooth may make potential buyers look elsewhere.

Hence, I will be rating the TCL 75S425 a seven in this ports and connectivity review section.

TCL 75S425: Smart Features

I guess it should have been clear now that the TCL 75S425 uses a ROKU TV smart TV operating system. However, if it isn’t clear yet, the TCL 75S425 employs the ROKU TV OS for its smart department.

Moreover, TCL has long been making use of the ROKU TV OS for its smart televisions. I am pretty sure this is because of the straightforward, user-friendly interface that the operating system offers.

Additionally, thanks to the ROKU TV OS, the TCL 75S425 can access thousands of movies and TV shows through streaming apps. Major streaming apps on this operating system are Netflix, Disney+, HULU, HBO, Amazon Prime Video, and so on.

However, as most people know, most of these streaming apps aren’t accessible for free. To clarify, you have to subscribe to a particular plan monthly to have access to them.

This is a huge blow to those who don’t have the financial capabilities to subscribe monthly. Thankfully, the ROKU TV OS comes with quite a number of streaming apps that are free to access.

These free streaming apps include PBS, Tubi, CW, Crackle, BBC iPlayer (for UK viewers), and so on.

Furthermore, with the help of the ROKU app, you should be able to stream content from your mobile device to the television. For Android users, you may download the ROKU app from the Google Play Store.

iPhone users, however, may download the ROKU app from the App Store.

In conclusion, a smart television can never go wrong when using the ROKU TV operating system. Hence, the TCL 75S425 deserves a nine out of ten rating in this smart feature review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Despite being so pricey, the performance of the TCL 75S425 is pretty much average. The most noticeable features of this television are its 4K display’s outstanding contrast ratio and impressive ROKU TV OS.  

However, besides those two features, this television is basically one cheaply made smart television. This television has poor display brightness and the most annoying part is that it doesn’t even have Bluetooth.

However, I think gamers will appreciate this television due to its impressively low lag time and 120 Hz refresh rate. As for me, with a $1,175.32 price tag, I wouldn’t recommend this television to anyone except gamers.

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