TCL 55 C 715 in the test: Smart TV with QLED for a small price

Dhe sounds promising: a TV in the popular 55-inch format with a screen size of 140 centimeters, sharp UHD resolution, the latest Android operating system and Google Assistant, with all the important connections and a stylish metal frame – and all this at a very attractive price. The new TCL C715 offers even more: it is equipped with a so-called QLED screen. The Q stands for “Quantum Dots”, for microscopic particles that give the screen stronger colors. Even when the image brightness is very high, the colors remain strong and do not fade.

So far, there are mainly Samsung QLED TVs, but at least one class more expensive than the TCL. Is it just as good? Not quite. In the test, the color splendor typical of QLED technology was pleasing: it reproduced a remarkable 92 percent of the colors found in cinema films (color space DCI P3). Other cheap LCD TVs only get a little over 70 percent, the image impression is correspondingly paler. The color mix was also right, the TCL C715 reproduced all colors very correctly. The only drawback: he did not show really deep black, which made the pictures look a bit flat in a dark environment. In addition, a rather strong jerky picture was annoying. However, the picture was okay for the price range, especially since such colors are otherwise only available on significantly more expensive televisions.

thanks to the UHD resolution with 3840×2160 pixels (often called “4K”) makes the individual pixels so tiny that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. In other words, the large television is suitable for comparatively small rooms – three meters away from the viewers is perfectly fine. In order to scale up normal TV programs with lower resolution to UHD, TCL claims to use algorithms developed using artificial intelligence (AI). They lead to rather soft images without any noticeable re-sharpening – a good thing. With its colorful QLED technology, the TCL C715 is ideally suited for HDR films, such as those that are increasingly being offered by streaming services. TCL buyers don’t have to worry about different HDR formats such as Dolby Vision and HDR10 +, the C715 masters them all. He adjusts the colors and range of brightness practically perfectly to the possibilities of his screen, so that no details are lost in very bright image areas. This is by no means a matter of course in this price range. However, the TCL is not dazzlingly bright with HDR films; its radiance with a maximum brightness of 335 candelas per square meter is rather in the lower range.