As far as mid-range TVs go, the TCL C855 is right up there with the best. From watching sports to playing video games and kicking your feet up with the latest TV shows, it’s a true jack-of-all-trades.
If you’re holding your breath for me to follow that up with “master of none”, you’ll be waiting a while. This Mini LED TV is all most people need. Sure, you don’t get the pixel-perfect precision of an OLED display, but the bright and colourful images you do get – at this price – are undoubtedly impressive.
For someone like me, who plays a lot of video games, the high refresh rate yields satisfyingly smooth motion no matter what I’m playing. Good for sports and everyday TV watching too, dimly lit movies are the only opponent the TCL C855 struggles with. And even then, the criticisms are minor.
In terms of where the TCL C855 sits in the Australian TV market, it directly opposes the Hisense U8NAU. Both are 4K Mini LED TVs on the upper end of the affordable scale, backlit by tiny rice grain-sized LEDs that produce a bright image.
On paper, the TCL C855 claims a slight advantage due to its higher peak brightness and increased number of dimming zones. In practice, TCL’s TV is great for everyday viewing, although there is room for improvement. Mind you, it’s one of the better Mini LEDs you can find before paying substantially more for something like the excellent Samsung QN900D.
TCL C855 review
- First impressions
- Specs and price
- Picture quality and brightness
- Gaming
- Remote
- Operating system
- Who is it for?
First impressions
I reviewed the 65-inch model and setting it up really does become a two-person operation when you get to this size. Make sure you have a friend on hand to help safely install the TV without damaging the panel – or any nearby furniture.
Once set up, the TCL C855 is a pretty nice-looking TV; its bezels aren’t overly thick, nor is the panel, so it sits quite nicely on a TV cabinet. I found the panel to be a bit glossy and reflective, which is offset by the TV’s high brightness levels.
Thanks to the Google TV operating system, it’s one of the easiest televisions I’ve set up in recent times. It’s just a matter of logging in with your Google account – it’s not a requirement to log in, but it does streamline the process.
Out of the box, the TCL C855 produces a sharp and clear 4K image. Like most TVs – especially mid-range and budget models – the picture does skew towards over-saturated colours, like someone activated a kaleidoscopic Instagram filter. I prefer a more natural look with slightly warm colours, like what you see when turning on a display’s cinema mode.
Unlike the picture wizards on Samsung and LG TVs that quickly step you through the picture calibration process, I had to spend a decent chunk of time manually adjusting settings until I was happy with the output. Thankfully, the TCL’s settings are fairly comprehensive, letting me tweak the brightness, contrast, and colour balance levels to my preferences.
I won’t spend much time talking about audio quality because I firmly believe that every TV benefits from a soundbar. For what it’s worth, before I connected my old soundbar to the TCL C855, my partner mentioned that the dialogue clarity through the TV’s built-in speakers was better than other TVs out of the box.
TCL C855 specs and price in Australia
| Resolution | 4K / 3840 x 2160 |
| Backlight technology | Mini LED |
| Native refresh rate | 144Hz |
| Dimming zones | 1,344 (65-inch model) |
| Peak brightness | 3,300 nits (65-inch model) |
| HDR formats | HDR10+ Dolby Vision IQ IMAX Enhanced |
| Picture Modes | Vivid Low Power Smart HDR Sports Movie PC |
| Gaming features | Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) Freesync Premium Pro |
| Processor | TCL AiPQ Processor 3.0 |
| Operating system | Google TV |
| Connectivity | 2 x HDMI 2.1 2x HDMI 2.0 1 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 RF input Optical audio Wi-Fi 5 Bluetooth 5.2 Chromecast Apple AirPlay |
| Price (RRP) | 65-inch: $2,999 75-inch: $3,999 85-inch: $4,999 98-inch: $9,999 |
| Warranty | Three years |
| Official website | TCL Australia |
Picture quality and brightness: Bright and bold
As I’ve already alluded to, one of the TCL C855’s biggest attractions is its use of Mini LED technology. Even though its screen is a bit reflective, it’s barely an issue once the TV comes on and the bright pictures overpower any glare.
This means the TCL C855 is well-suited to living rooms, like mine, that catch a lot of sun late in the day. Sports-mad households won’t have an issue tuning into the footy or test cricket during daylight hours – all you need to do is bump the brightness up. At night, I can easily get away with setting the panel brightness to 20 out of a possible 100. Any higher than that and it’s too bright for comfortable evening viewing.
As bright as the TV gets, it does remarkably well at limiting blooming, or the “halo effect” surrounding bright images on dark backgrounds. This is largely thanks to the C855’s decent local dimming technology.
Armed with roughly 1,300 dimming zones, the 65-inch model does its best to ensure it doesn’t light up more of the panel than it should. It’s not quite as precise as an OLED TV, which lights up each pixel individually, but it’s still pretty good. Consistent with similarly priced Mini LED TVs, the best viewing angle is straight-on – you start to lose colour detail and lighting precision when on an angle.
When set to the maximum setting, the local dimming is slightly too aggressive, however. Mainly visible when subtitles or small white objects appear on the screen, I noticed the TV slightly cut the edges off. As if to prevent blooming, the TV faded the corners of subtitles, while the middle of the text remained intact. It was still readable but definitely noticeable that the lighting was inconsistent.
You can tweak the local dimming settings but lowering them then introduces blooming. It’s then a matter of preference as to which visual quirk you can deal with. During the day, for example, you could probably get away with reducing the local dimming intensity, as you wouldn’t notice blooming as much in a well-lit room.
I know I’m nitpicking here, which ultimately serves to show the difference between mid-range TVs and premium models that can cost thousands of dollars more.
Gaming: Smooth as silk
It’s also a great gaming TV, as my many hours of gameplay can attest. The TCL C855 supports a native refresh rate of 144Hz, easily surpassing the maximum 120Hz of consoles like the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve played plenty of Fortnite with my friends, in addition to single-player games like Metaphor: ReFantazio and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. While I can’t claim that Fortnite’s smooth performance on the TV helped me play any better, it sure looked nice. The same goes for Metaphor and Dragon Age; both games are visually striking, with the TV depicting their deep and vibrant colours superbly.
Booting up a gaming console automatically activates TCL’s gaming mode. This enables a low-latency mode and AMD’s FreeSync Premium Pro technology, both of which combine to reduce input lag and screen tearing. If you’ve been fortunate enough to avoid the latter while gaming, it’s a particularly nasty effect that creates an unpleasant visual juddering effect during motion. Fortunately, TCL’s tech seemed to do the trick because I didn’t notice any such adverse effects.
Another wrinkle to TCL’s gaming mode is the ability to toggle between different picture modes tuned to different genres including first-person shooters and RPGs. Being the person that I am, I just stuck with my custom-calibrated settings for the sake of consistency. There’s also the option to overlay a virtual crosshair or a frame rate counter if you so desire.
Despite its gaming credentials, the TCL C855 only has two HDMI 2.1 ports. Its other two HDMI ports are limited to 60Hz at 4K resolution. Limited HDMI 2.1 ports are a recurring trend among budget and mid-range TVs, and one I lamented when reviewing last year’s Hisense U7KAU.
It’s a bit frustrating because it limits the amount of high-refresh-rate devices you can connect at the same time. Although perhaps an extreme use case, I recently connected my Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 to the TV’s HDMI 2.1 ports. However, I then had to unplug one of them when connecting a gaming laptop or relegate one device to one of the 60Hz ports, which isn’t ideal. Having a soundbar that supports 120Hz passthrough eases some of the burden, but I’d really like to see four HDMI 2.1 ports as standard on mid-range TVs.
Remote: Simple yet effective
Bundled with the TCL C855 is a fairly standard no-frills remote with a full array of tactile buttons. There’s no gimmicky motion controls, strange curvature or uncomfortably glossy finish. It’s nice and simple – just the way I like it.
I’m not one to use voice controls, but the remote does support voice input if that’s your thing. Along the bottom is a range of buttons from the highest bidders so you can quickly access the likes of YouTube and Netflix. I don’t mind them though, they’re out of the way and relatively unobtrusive.
TCL’s remote does rely on AAA batteries, however, not joining the recent trend of solar-powered remote controls. Chuck in a couple of rechargeable batteries, like those from Paleblue, and away you go.
You don’t need to point the remote directly at the TV but it’s not perfect. Sometimes, I had to press buttons a couple of times to get the TV to register an input. More often than not though, I liked the back-to-basics approach of this remote – it feels good to hold and the buttons are easy to reach.
Operating system: Google TV versatility
One of the few TV brands (alongside Sony) to use the Google TV operating system in Australia, TCL’s user experience is the best I’ve had with any review TV unit. If you’re familiar with Chromecast or the more recent Google TV Streamer, you’ll feel right at home here.
Like a lot of major TV brands, the home screen is littered with recommendations, ads and sponsored content. Compared to other TVs, however, I felt it was less obnoxious and easier to dismiss in favour of finding your chosen content.
Thanks to using the Google platform, the TCL C855 has a huge range of locally available streaming apps. Kayo is by far our household’s most-used app, and it was easy to place prominently on the home screen.
Broad app support is great, but the platform-agnostic connectivity is even better. Despite being a Google TV, the TCL C855 supports both built-in Chromecast and Apple AirPlay. In the unlikely chance the TV doesn’t have an app you want, it’s easy to cast it from iPhone or Android devices to the big screen. My partner watches a lot of Dimension 20 and Critical Role via Dropout and Beacon – a couple of taps on her phone cast it directly to the TV on command.
Encouragingly, more TV brands are opting for open platforms that favour neither Apple nor Android. LG confirmed its support for Chromecast earlier this year, for example, alongside its existing AirPlay support. This is one advantage TCL has over Hisense; the latter only currently supports built-in AirPlay, meaning you need an additional device to enable Android casting.
Who is the TCL C855 for?
I like the TCL C855 a lot, for many different reasons. It’s a great gaming TV for starters, putting its 144Hz refresh rate to good use (albeit with only two HDMI 2.1 ports). Anything you play on it looks bright, colourful and responsive.
It’s sensational value too, further blurring the line between mid-range and premium TVs. Built-in support for both AirPlay and Chromecast is a rare boon at this price bracket, making it a great pick for platform-agnostic households.
Put simply, the TCL C855 is an excellent TV that suits all but the most discerning viewers. You may not get the wide viewing angle or precision of an OLED, but you potentially save thousands in the process. Keep an eye out for sales too; the 65-inch model regularly goes for less than $2,000.
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