The TCL 4 Series 2019 is an alright overall budget TV with built-in Roku TV. It delivers decent picture quality and displays deep blacks thanks to its VA panel's outstanding contrast ratio. Although it has decent reflection handling, it doesn't get very bright and isn't suitable for a well-lit room. It lacks a wide color gamut, and due to its low HDR peak brightness, it can't deliver HDR content with vivid colors and bright highlights. The response time is fast and it displays fast-moving content with very little blur trail. It offers a responsive gaming performance thanks to the low input lag, but unfortunately, it lacks advanced gaming features like FreeSync.
Our Verdict
The TCL S425 is an alright TV for mixed usage. It has decent picture quality but can't get very bright, so it's more suitable for dim rooms. It has decent motion handling and a fast response time that leaves only a small blur trail behind fast-moving objects. It has a very low input lag, and it's very responsive, making it suitable for gaming or use as a PC monitor.
- Outstanding native contrast ratio.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Great response time.
- No local dimming.
- Doesn't get bright.
- Fails to display wide color gamut.
The TCL S425 is an okay TV for watching movies. It delivers deep blacks in a dark room thanks to its high contrast ratio but lacks a local dimming feature, and black uniformity is just decent. There's no motion interpolation feature and unfortunately, the TV can only remove judder from native 24p sources. On the upside, it upscales 1080p content, like from Blu-rays, with no artifacts.
- Outstanding native contrast ratio.
- Decent black uniformity.
- No local dimming.
- Can only remove judder from native 24p sources.
The TCL S425 is an alright TV for watching TV shows. It's more suitable for an average-lit room as it can't get very bright, but it can handle reflections fairly well so a few more lights won't be an issue. Unfortunately, it has narrow viewing angles so you have to sit in front to get an accurate image. The Roku TV smart interface gives you access to a large number of streaming channels.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Upscales lower-resolution content well.
- Doesn't get bright.
- Narrow viewing angles.
The TCL S425 is okay for watching sports. It has a great response time, so fast-moving content has minimal blur trail. Unfortunately, it doesn't get bright, but it has decent reflection handling. Also, it has poor viewing angles, which isn't ideal if you want to watch the big game with a group of friends. There's also visible dirty screen effect in the center, which is distracting during sports.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Upscales lower-resolution content well.
- Great response time.
- Doesn't get bright.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Visible dirty screen effect.
The TCL S425 is a good TV for playing video games. The input lag is very low and you should enjoy a responsive gaming experience, while the response time is fast and delivers crisp motion. Unfortunately, there's no support for any advanced gaming features like FreeSync that more serious gamers are usually looking for, but there's an Auto Low Latency Mode that's great for casual gaming.
- Outstanding native contrast ratio.
- Great response time.
- Low input lag.
- No VRR support.
- No BFI feature.
The TCL S425 is mediocre for watching HDR movies. It delivers deep and fairly uniform blacks in a dark room where HDR is meant to be watched, but there's no local dimming support to improve performance. When in HDR, the peak brightness is low and since the TV can't display a wide color gamut either, HDR content doesn't display the vivid colors and the bright highlights it's supposed to.
- Outstanding native contrast ratio.
- Decent black uniformity.
- No local dimming.
- Doesn't get bright.
- Fails to display wide color gamut.
The TCL S425 is decent for HDR gaming. This is mainly due to the very low input lag that makes it very responsive, and the fast response time that leaves only a small blur trail behind fast-moving content. The HDR performance of this TV isn't very good as it can't get very bright and it doesn't have a wide color gamut, so it lacks the means to deliver a great HDR picture.
- Outstanding native contrast ratio.
- Great response time.
- Low input lag.
- Doesn't get bright.
- No VRR support.
- Fails to display wide color gamut.
The TCL S425 is a decent TV for use as a PC monitor. It has a very low input lag, and it responds immediately to your actions. It has no risk of permanent burn-in and the response time is fast and leaves only a small blur trail behind a fast-moving object. Unfortunately, the viewing angles are poor, and there are some uniformity issues on the sides of the screen.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Low input lag.
- Displays chroma 4:4:4.
- Doesn't get bright.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Visible dirty screen effect.
Changelog
- Updated Mar 01, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.6.
- Updated Nov 11, 2020: Updated review for accuracy and clarity.
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 43 inch TCL 4 Series 2019 (43S425). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 49 inch (49S425), 50 inch (50S425), 55 inch (55S425), 65 inch (65S425), and 75 inc (75S425) versions. The S421 variant appears to be sold at Walmart only and the S423 is nearly the same, except the feet are silver. If you find any performance differences in the S423 or S421, please let us know in the discussions.
| Size | Standard Model | S423 | Walmart | VESA Mount |
| 43" | 43S425 | 43S423 | 43S421 | 100 x 100 |
| 49" | 49S425 | - | - | 200 x 200 |
| 50" | 50S425 | 50S423 | - | 200 x 200 |
| 55" | 55S425 | 55S423 | 55S421 | 200 x 200 |
| 65" | 65S425 | 65S423 | 65S421 | 400 x 200 |
| 75" | 75S425 | 75S423 | - | 300 x 300 |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their TCL S425 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests, such as gray uniformity, may vary between units.
The unit we tested was manufactured in January 2019.
Popular TV Comparisons
The TCL 4 Series 2019 is an okay TV that can deliver decent picture quality and is equipped with great smart features. It's a cheap option that's available in a wide range of sizes. Also see our recommendations for the best budget TVs, the best Roku TVs, and the best smart TVs.
The TCL 4 Series 2019 is better than the Toshiba Fire TV 2019. The S425 has better contrast and response time, can remove judder from some sources, and has significantly lower input lag. The Toshiba is brighter and has an optional motion interpolation feature.
The TCL 4 Series 2019 is slightly better than the TCL 4 Series/S435 2020. They're very similar TVs, but the 2019 model has a much quicker response time and lower input lag. However, the 2020 model removes judder from native apps and has much better out-of-the-box color accuracy.
The Vizio V Series 2020 and the TCL 4 Series 2019 are very similar. The Vizio has better reflection handling and color accuracy, and it gets brighter to combat glare. However, the TCL has a much faster response time and a higher native contrast ratio.
The TCL 4 Series 2019 is better than the Hisense H6570G. The TCL has a much quicker response time, much lower input lag, upscales native 4k content properly, and the built-in Roku interface is easier to use. However, the Hisense gets brighter, has better color accuracy, and removes judder from 24p sources via native apps.
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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