TCL S5-Series 74.5" 2024 Review

It's a 75-inch TV for under $500. Manage your expectations accordingly. You're buying a big, basic screen, not a home theater experience.

The TCL S5 is a 75-inch 4K TV that's fine. It's the definition of a 'good enough' big screen for a low price. The one thing to know is that you're buying size and a Google TV interface, not a premium picture. It gets bright, it's 4K, and it turns on. For $480, that might be all you need.

We were surprised by how average everything is. The picture quality lands in the 43rd percentile, which is a polite way of saying it's perfectly middle-of-the-road. The HDR support looks good on paper with Dolby Vision and HDR10+, but the panel's brightness and contrast can't fully deliver on those promises. The gaming features are a bit of a head-scratcher, too. It claims a 120Hz Game Accelerator, but the panel is a native 60Hz. That means you're getting software trickery, not true high refresh rate performance.

For $480, it's worth it if your only metric is screen inches per dollar. You're getting a massive, functional 4K TV. Just don't expect it to wow you. It's a budget big screen, and it acts like one.

This sits in a crowded field. The Hisense U6 Series Mini-LED is a direct step-up competitor; for a bit more money, you get actual mini-LED backlighting for better contrast. The Roku Pro Series is smaller but offers a far better picture and gaming experience. And if you care about picture quality above all else, even a smaller 65-inch LG OLED like the C5 will destroy this TV in every visual metric except sheer size. The S5 wins on price and size, but loses on almost everything else.

If you're a cinephile, a serious gamer, or an audiophile, this isn't it. The middling picture and audio won't satisfy you. Go get a Hisense U6/U7 series Mini-LED or a TCL Q6/Q7 instead. You'll give up a few inches but gain a dramatically better picture.

We recommend the TCL S5 if you need a giant TV for a basement, guest room, or casual living room viewing and your budget is absolutely locked at $500. It's a utilitarian purchase. If you can stretch your budget by even $200-$300, you can get a significantly better picture from a competitor like Hisense without sacrificing much size.