Gadgetory

hi I'm David Katz Meyer from CNET and this is the TCL Roku TV that's right this little TV here it's a 48 inch or it's also available in the 55 forty and thirty two inch size this TV right here basically as a Roku box built into it it is a brand new Smart TV that includes the Roku operating system for its smarts it's actually our favorite operating system compared to all the others out there better than apple TV better than chromecast all the other ones we've tested and definitely better than any other Smart TVs we've tested overall look is fairly standard for an LCD TV it looks a lot like the current vizio is with a very thin bezel the bottom edge is a little bit snazzy-looking with a slight chrome strip here in this sort of glass stand base the stand does not spoil but the glass does lend it a slightly step-up look compared to some of the other TVs out there so when you turn this TV on it's exactly like you're turning on a Roku box it's even got the standard roku homepage which we really like it's a very simple layout consists of this grid of tiles the main difference between this and a Roku box is the presence of a couple of extra tiles at the top that denote the input so when you plug something into this television actually ask you what it is whether it's a ps3 or cable box something like that instead of naming it HDMI one it actually calls it what it is which is a really cool addition like any other app tile like a Netflix or an Amazon Instant you can actually move one of these inputs around you can also rename it later so again we really like the simplicity of this interface beyond that it's pretty standard Roku you have the ability to access its 1700 apps which again far outweighs any other app store we've seen that's a massive selection apps including some of the very best like HBO Go which isn't available on any other Smart TV platform aside from Samsung you also get Netflix YouTube pretty much every other app you can think of there's actually an app on this TV that is designed to stream your local videos and files which is simply roku hasn't done well in the past you can also plug a USB stick into this guy and get videos photos in music that way speaking connectivity around the back there's three HDMI ports that USB port as well as at RF and a standard analog input which you won't find on the back however is an Ethernet port another thing to call it here is the very simple remote it looks a lot like Roku's remotes on their boxes there's no numeric keypad or any other extra buttons you find on most TV remotes one nice real cool feature from this TV is the headphone jack on the remote we've been told that some future TVs might have it but this TCL does not on the downside this TV doesn't have nearly as many picture settings as most other TVs we weren't able to hone its picture quality especially color quite as well as we'd liked and that's kind of the Achilles heel here the TCL is saddled with relatively mediocre picture quality including relatively light black levels that inaccurate color and pretty standard video processing so all told you're going to get a lot better picture quality if you mate a Roku box with a better TV of course the real strength is the integration of the Roku experience without the box right into the TV itself so again if you want that simple look especially for a secondary TV the Roku TV is certainly worth a look and it's also very inexpensive that's a quick tour the new Roku TV by TCL I'm David Katz mark mancina's