TCL S403 Review: An Ideal 4K TV for Gamers

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TCL S403: At First Glance

Founded in 1981, TCL (Telephone Communication Limited) is a Chinese electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. Moreover, this Chinese brand manufactures numerous products, including air conditioners, DVD players, mobile phones, and televisions.

Hence, as a means of expanding its television collection, the brand released the TCL S403 in 2017. This television is a smart television that offers a 4K display and the popular Roku TV operating system.

Besides, the television comes with a good number of ports and a low input lag which makes it suitable for gamers. However, as with most smart televisions manufactured by TCL, the S403 comes with one or two shortcomings.

With all that being said, let us get to know the TCL S403 even more in the subsequent sections below.

TCL S403: Design, Dimensions, and Weight

The TCL S403 comes with a decent design that is very similar to its successor, the TCL S405. To be more specific, the display of this television is surrounded by glossy-black bezels that are made of plastic.

Furthermore, these bezels are thin, and their glossy-black finish makes them quite shiny and attractive. Besides, there is a beautiful “TCL” logo with a white finish at the center of the bottom bezel.

That’s not all; you will also find a “Roku TV” inscription at the right corner of this bottom bezel.

Moving on, the TCL S403 comes with two upside-down V-shaped legs. Just like the bezels, these legs are quite thin and made of plastic with a glossy-black finish.

Moreover, don’t be fooled by the thinness and plastic build of these legs. This is because they are very sturdy and offer the television enough support to stand firm when placed on a desk.

Nevertheless, as with most televisions nowadays, these legs are situated very close to the edges of the television. Hence, if you are not planning to wall-mount the TCL S403, you will need a fairly large table to place it on.

What if you are planning to wall-mount the television? Well, the TCL S403 comes with four 100 x 100 VESA compatible holes on its back panel that allows you to mount it on the wall.

Speaking of the back panel, this television’s back panel is also made of plastic, just like the bezels and legs. However, unlike the bezels and legs, this back panel features a matte-black finish.

Sadly, the lower part of the back panel is somewhat thick due to the fact that it houses all the television’s ports and components. Hence, whenever you mount the TCL S403 on the wall, it might stick out a little bit and look odd.

To make things more complicated, this television lacks a cable management system. Hence, to ensure a neat setup, cables attached to the television must be manually arranged.

Having said that, let us quickly discuss the dimension and weight of the television. To start with, the 43-inch TCL S403 measures 972.8 x 73.6 x 563.8 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 7529.6 g.

Compared to the 43-inch Samsung NU7100, which weighs 14515 g, this TCL television weighs less. However, when compared to the 43-inch Hisense H6570, the television weighs significantly more.

To be more specific, the Hisense H6570 weighs just 6713.1 g.

In conclusion, the design of the TCL S403 is pretty decent, with an all-plastic build. However, the back panel of this television is somewhat thick and lacks a cable management system.

Thus, to end this design review section, I will be rating the TCL S403 an eight out of ten.

TCL S403: Display Features and Picture Quality

To start with, the TCL S403 comes with decent display features and performance. To be more specific, this television has a 43-inch LED display with a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution.

This LED display should be able to produce sharp, realistic, and well-detailed images thanks to its 4K UHD resolution. Besides, a 4K resolution display such as the TCL S403’s display is approximately four times better than a standard HD display.

Moreover, to add to its impressive 4K resolution, this television’s 43-inch display is made with a VA panel. Due to this VA panel, the display offers an outstanding 4162:1 contrast ratio.

Briefly, contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest white and the darkest black that a display is capable of rendering. Additionally, a high contrast ratio implies that the display will be able to render deep blacks.

Hence, with a contrast ratio as high as 4162:1, the TCL S403’s display should be able to render deep blacks. As a result, the TCL S403 is ideal for dark room viewing.

Also, thanks to its high contrast ratio, the television is good for watching movies with lots of dark scenes, such as horror movies. Sadly, because it is made with a VA panel, the TCL S403’s display comes with poor viewing angles.

As a result, the display’s picture quality and colors will lose accuracy when the television is viewed from the sides or off-center. Thus, to get a satisfactory viewing experience, I suggest you watch the TCL S403 directly from the center.

Apart from its poor viewing angles, the TCL S403’s display doesn’t support local dimming. This is quite common for VA panel displays because they tend to offer a good contrast ratio.

Basically, local dimming is a technique that involves dimming the backlight zones of a display to improve the contrast ratio and black level. Hence, with local dimming, blacks on a display will look darker and deeper than they would without local dimming.

Nevertheless, since it already has a high contrast ratio, the TCL S403’s display not supporting local dimming isn’t a major problem. However, a major problem that you really need to be concerned about is the display’s poor maximum brightness.

To be more specific, the display comes with a maximum brightness of 178 cd/m² (nits). Thus, with such a poor maximum display brightness, the TCL S403 isn’t suitable for usage in a bright room.

In fact, the television might struggle in moderately-lit areas. Therefore, for an adequate viewing experience, it is best you use the TCL S403 in a dimly lit or dark room.

On the bright side, this television’s display supports HDR (High Dynamic Range). HDR is a picture technique that boosts the brightness and color accuracy of a display when viewing HDR-supported content.

Hence, when watching HDR-supported content on the TCL S403, the picture quality will be more lifelike and realistic. Just so you know, HDR-supported content is mostly found on streaming apps such as HBO Max and Disney+.

That said, the TCL S403’s display offers an impressively fast response time of 6.3 milliseconds. As a result, the television is suitable for watching fast-moving content like sports and action movies.

This is due to the fact that there will be minimal to no blur trails when the television’s display is displaying such content. In case you’re curious, response time is the duration it takes a display to transition from one color to another.

Besides being suitable for watching fast-moving content, the TCL S403 is also good for playing games. This is because the television’s display comes with a low input lag of 14.6 milliseconds.

For your information, input lag is the duration it takes a display to register a signal input from external sources like a wireless PS4 gamepad.

In conclusion, the TCL S403 offers adequate display performance and specifications. Specifically, this television comes with a 4K display that supports HDR, has a high contrast ratio, fast response time, and has a low input lag.

However, the television’s display has some major drawbacks such as its poor maximum brightness and mediocre viewing angles. Hence, I will rate the TCL S403 a seven out of ten in this display review section.

TCL S403: Sound Features

For the sound department, the TCL S403 comes with a pair of 8-watt speakers. Although not extremely loud, these speakers are loud enough to fill a medium-sized room.

Sadly, the TCL S403 doesn’t have a subwoofer, so its speakers won’t be able to produce enough bass. As a result, I doubt you’ll enjoy watching movies with a lot of bass on this television.

Notwithstanding, if you really love bass-heavy movies or music, you can buy a soundbar with this TV. Obviously, that comes at an additional cost. 

On the plus side, the TCL S403 has various sound technologies that improve the sound quality and production of its speakers. To be more specific, this TCL television features Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus technology.

First and foremost, Dolby Digital is a type of digital audio coding that allows a sound device or speaker to produce a cinematic audio quality. Dolby Digital Plus, on the other hand, is an advanced audio enhancement technique that enriches the surround sound production of a speaker.

Thereby creating an illusion that sound is coming from different angles of your environment. Besides, thanks to these sound technologies, the TCL S403’s speakers are capable of delivering clear and understandable dialogue. 

If you are wondering, dialogue is the exchange of words between two or more characters in a film or television show. On the downside, either at a moderate or max volume level, the TCL S403’s speakers produce a noticeable amount of distortion.

As a result, watching loud movies on this television might not be enjoyable. For your information, distortion is the deformation of a sound system’s original frequency, resulting in the production of uncomfortable and unappealing noises.

Hence, to conclude this sound features review section, I will rate the TCL S403 a seven out of ten.

TCL S403: Ports and Connectivity Features

To begin with, the TCL S403 has a reasonable amount of ports. Moreover, some of these ports are located on the television’s left side, while others are located directly on the back.

Hence, if you eventually wall-mount the TCL S403, you might find it difficult to access the port directly on its back. With that being said, this television comes with three HDMI ports on its left side. 

It is important to mention that one of these HDMI ports supports Audio Return Channel (ARC). As a result, you should be able to connect an HDMI-supported soundbar to the television using that particular HDMI-ARC port. 

Aside from the three HDMI ports, you will also find a USB 2.0 port and an RF port on the TCL S403’s left side. That’s not all; there is also a 3.5 mm headphone jack and optical audio out on the left side of the television.

Meanwhile, directly on the television’s back, you will discover an Ethernet port and composite AV ports. However, for wireless connectivity, the TCL S403 features an in-built 802.11 ac (2×2) WiFi but lacks Bluetooth.

Moving on, the TCL S403 comes with a Roku TV RC282 remote control. This remote control has a plastic body with a glossy-black finish.

However, due to the compact size of the remote, it features a limited amount of buttons – the remote comes with a total number of 20 buttons. Obviously, with a total of 20 buttons, this television’s remote control lacks a full number pad.

Nonetheless, the remote features four dedicated buttons for quick access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and Sling TV. Besides that, the remote control also comes with a blue plus-shaped navigation button.

Uniquely, you will find volume and channel rockers on the right side of the remote control. Additionally, at the bottom of the remote, there are “TCL” and “Roku TV” inscriptions for brand identification.

Sadly, unlike high-end remote controls, the TCL S403’s Roku TV RC282 remote lacks a built-in mic for voice input.

Hence, to end this ports and connectivity review section, I will rate the TCL S403 an eight out of ten.

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TCL S403: Smart Features

For the smart department, the TCL S403 uses the Roku TV operating system. This operating system has a simple and user-friendly interface.

Furthermore, the operating system’s interface is extremely responsive, with no lag and a response time of 4 milliseconds. That’s not all; the operating system also offers a variety of streaming services and applications.

A few of these streaming services are HULU, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and Sling TV. Although these streaming services are paid streaming services, the Roku TV OS offers quite a number of free streaming services.

Some of the free streaming services that you will find on this operating system include CBS, Tubi, and Peacock TV. Besides, you should be able to stream/share content from your smart devices to the TCL S403 with the help of the Roku app.

Impressively, the Roku app is free for download and available on both the Google Play Store and App Store.

All in all, I will rate the TCL S403 a nine out of ten in this smart features review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The TCL S403 is a simple 4K smart TV with a lot of great features. Specifically, this TV boasts a superb contrast ratio, fast response time, and HDR support. 

Besides, the television also comes with a low input lag that makes it suitable for gamers. That’s not all; this TCL smart television also features a user-friendly OS that offers quite a number of free and paid streaming services. 

However, the TCL S403 has a few disappointing shortcomings. Some of these shortcomings include an average sound performance, mediocre viewing angles, and a lack of Bluetooth. 

Notwithstanding, if you think you can live with these shortcomings, I think the TCL S403 is a good option.

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