Our Verdict
The TCL C807/C803 is decent for a mixed usage. Its contrast is good, and it features a wide color gamut for HDR. Unfortunately, though, its motion and uniformity of the blacks leave a lot to be desired.
- Sturdy, nicely finished design
- Roku smart platform is both simple and quick
- Could be brighter for HDR
- Poor black uniformity
- Picture quality degrades at an angle
Mediocre TV for movies in a dark room. The TCL C803/C807 does have a good contrast ratio, but its poor black uniformity and lack of local dimming cause letterboxes to look cloudy and distracting.
Decent TV for watching series or broadcast TV in a bright room. The TCL C Series' brightness is decent, and its Roku smart OS gives very easy access to content. Unfortunately, though, it's not great at handling reflections.
The TCL C Series' sports watching capabilities are average. It's relatively uniform, so green fields or ice rinks don't look dirty or blotchy, but its narrow viewing angle and mediocre motion handling reduce the viewing experience by a significant margin.
Better than average for playing video games. The TCL C807's impressively low input lag keeps inputs and gameplay responsive. Its motion blur could be a bit better though.
Mediocre TV for HDR. While the TCL C807/C803 has a wide color gamut and can reproduce smooth gradients, it cannot get bright enough to create a good HDR effect.
Decent HDR gaming capabilities. The TCL C807's input lag does not change depending on the type of input, so even HDR games are responsive. The wide color gamut helps make lush environments vibrant as well.
Passable PC Monitor. The C Series's low input lag and support for chroma 4:4:4 is good, but its slow pixel response time and narrow viewing angle make it less suitable for use as a PC monitor.
Changelog
- Updated Mar 12, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Mar 12, 2018: There is a problem with how the Xbox One, Xbox One S and Xbox One X detect the audio passthrough capabilities of TCL TVs; a workaround is detailed in the Additional Review Notes.
- Updated Aug 28, 2017: Review published.
- Updated Aug 26, 2017: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" (55C807). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 65" (65C807) and 75" (75C807).
The 55C803 sold at Costco and a few other retailers is the same TV as the variant we've reviewed, but it comes packaged with a simpler remote which lacks voice control and a 3.5mm jack for private listening. These features can still be used with the virtual remote of the Roku app available on mobile devices.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their TCL C807 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.
| Size | Model |
| 55" | 55C807 |
| 65" | 65C807 |
| 75" | 75C807 |
Popular TV Comparisons
The TCL C807 is a decent 4k LED TV, but it doesn't offer much beyond its nice design compared to competing TVs.
The Sony X900F is much better than the TCL C Series/C807 2017. The X900F performs better in a dark room, as it has better black uniformity and a full-array local dimming feature. The Sony performs better in a bright room as it is brighter, and has better reflection handling. Motion looks smoother on the X900F thanks to the faster response time, and it can interpolate content up to 120Hz, further improving motion smoothness, although this effect may bother some people.
The TCL P Series/P607 2017 is much better than the TCL C Series/C807 2017. The P607 has a full-array local dimming feature that improves dark room performance and helps small highlights in some scenes in HDR to pop out better. The P607 also has a faster response time, so motion looks better with less blur trail.
The TCL 6 Series 2018 is much better than the TCL C Series/C807 2017. The 6 Series is brighter and also has better dark room performance thanks to the full array local dimming feature and better black uniformity. Motion looks crisper with less blur, thanks to the faster response time, and the better black frame insertion feature can further improve motion clarity.
The Vizio P Series 2018 is much better than the TCL C Series/C807 2017. The Vizio P Series has better dark room performance thanks to the full array local dimming feature and much better black uniformity with less clouding. The P Series 2018 has better motion handling; it has a faster response time that produces less motion blur, and it can interpolate lower frame rate content up to 120Hz. The P Series 2018 also has a better black frame insertion feature that can further improve motion clarity.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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