The TCL 6 Series/R625 2019 is a good budget 4k TV that delivers a great HDR experience, with a picture quality that can rival other high-end TVs on the market. Its VA panel's high contrast ratio is supported by a full-array local dimming feature, resulting in deep and inky blacks. However, its response time is a bit slow and there are visible duplications of the image when using its black frame insertion feature. For gamers, this TV has a remarkably low input lag, but there are no advanced gaming features like FreeSync. Luckily, the TV runs on the Roku platform, which is very user-friendly and gives you access to most popular streaming services.
Our Verdict
Overall, the TCL 6 Series/R625 2019 is a good TV for most uses. It has a high contrast ratio and displays deep, uniform blacks in a dark room. Its low input lag makes it a good choice for playing games, but its slower response time causes a bit more motion blur. Although the TV is suitable for a bright room thanks to its high brightness levels, the image loses accuracy at an angle, which isn't ideal when watching sports with a group of friends or doing chores while watching TV shows.
- Outstanding low input lag.
- Deep, uniform blacks.
- Excellent wide color gamut.
- Noticeable motion artifacts.
The TCL 6 Series 2019 is an excellent TV for watching movies. It has outstanding contrast, a good local dimming feature, and excellent black uniformity, making it a great choice for dark rooms. It can remove judder from all sources without introducing the soap opera effect, and lower-resolution content is upscaled well. Unfortunately, there are noticeable uniformity issues, and the image degrades at an angle, so it isn't great for a wide seating area.
The TCL 6 Series 2019 is a good TV for watching TV shows during the day in a bright room. It can get very bright and its reflection handling is not bad, so glare shouldn't be an issue. It has a very large number of apps and it upscales lower resolution content well. Unfortunately, the image loses accuracy when viewed from the side, so it isn't great if you do chores while watching TV.
The TCL R625 is a decent TV for watching sports, but it's best-suited for watching the game with only a small group of friends, as it has disappointing viewing angles. Its reflection handling is not bad and it has great peak brightness, but its response time is just okay, so some motion artifacts and duplications can be seen in fast-moving content. Unfortunately, there's vignetting at the corners and some visible dirty screen effect that can be very distracting.
The TCL 6 Series 2019 is a good TV for playing video games. It has an excellent contrast ratio and outstanding black uniformity, great for dark-room gaming. Its input lag is remarkably low, but its response time is just okay, which results in more motion blur in fast-moving scenes. Also, it doesn't support any variable refresh rate technologies like FreeSync.
The TCL 6 Series 2019 is a great TV for watching the latest movies in HDR. It has excellent contrast and outstanding black uniformity, resulting in deep, uniform blacks, and it has a good local dimming feature. It has great HDR peak brightness, so small highlights stand out, and it can display an excellent wide color gamut. Unfortunately, its gray uniformity is just okay, and some banding and dirty screen effect can be seen in some content.
The TCL R625 is a good TV for gaming in HDR. It has an excellent contrast ratio, it can display a wide color gamut, and it can get very bright to bring out small highlights. Unfortunately, some motion artifacts can be seen in some content, including duplications in fast-moving content.
The TCL 6 Series R625 is a decent TV for use as a PC monitor. It has a remarkably low input lag to provide a responsive desktop experience, and it displays chroma 4:4:4 properly, which is important for text clarity. Viewing angles are sub-par, so images look washed out at the sides if you sit up close. On the upside, its VA panel is immune from permanent burn-in, so you won't have to worry about static desktop icons being always in the same place.
Changelog
- Updated Jun 17, 2020: We corrected a minor mistake in our BFI scoring.
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Oct 16, 2019: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 65" TCL 6 Series 2019, and we expect our review to be valid for the other available size, the 55" 55R625.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their TCL R625 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Size | US Model | Dimming Zones |
| 55" | 55R625 | 100 |
| 65" | 65R625 | 120 |
The 65R625 we reviewed was manufactured in July 2019.
Note: Some retailers list a 75" 2019 model of the 6 Series. This is actually the 2018 6 Series R617, but it was released later than the other sizes. There is currently no 75" model of the 2019 6 Series R625.
Popular TV Comparisons
The TCL 6 Series 2019 is a great 4k TV at a low price. It's one of the best budget TVs on the market, and in many ways outperforms many premium models from other brands, but it isn't without its flaws. See also our recommendations for the best Roku TVs, the best budget TVs, and the best 65 inch TVs.
The TCL 6 Series/R625 2019 is very similar to the TCL 6 Series 2018. The R625 has a more premium design and a much better local dimming feature, but the 6 Series 2018 is brighter and has better reflection handling. The R625 has a higher backlight flicker frequency, but a slower response time, and motion doesn't look as good.
The TCL R635 is slightly better overall than the TCL 6 Series/R625 2019. The R635 model performs much better in well-lit rooms because it has improved reflection handling and it gets much brighter, so it combats glare easily. It also has a faster response time that makes motion look smoother in video games or when you watch sports. However, the R625 version is a better choice for dark room viewing since the local dimming feature is much better; there's a lot less blooming, and it has significantly better black uniformity, but this may vary between units.
The TCL 6 Series/R625 2019 is a much better TV than the TCL 4 Series 2019. The R625 looks a lot more premium, has much better picture quality thanks to its local dimming feature, significantly brighter screen, better black uniformity, and better viewing angles. If you watch a lot of HDR content, the R625 is a much better choice thanks to its much higher HDR peak brightness and wider color gamut. While the 4 Series has a much faster response time, the R625 has a significantly better black frame insertion feature and less noticeable on-screen flicker, giving it better motion handling overall. On the other hand, the 4 Series may represent better value for some people.
The TCL 6 Series/R625 2019 is slightly better than the TCL S535. The 6 Series 2019 gets much brighter, has a better-performing local dimming feature, and better black uniformity. However, the S535 has better contrast ratio, response time, color accuracy, and reflection handling.
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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