Although flagships are the big eye-catchers, it always pays to take a look at the sub-toppers such as this TCL 65C835. These models often deliver excellent performance for a very competitive price. So it’s time for an extensive review.
TCL 65C835
Price: 1,499 euros
Screen size: 65 inches (165 cm)
Connections:
– 4x HDMI (2x v2.0 (18Gbps), 2x v2.1 (48Gbps), eARC/ARC, ALLM, VRR, HFR 4K120
– 1x composite video + stereo cinch
– 1x optical digital out
– 1x USB
– 1x Headphone
– 2x antenna
– WiFi (802.11ax), bluetooth
Properties:
– HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ
– Google TV (11), AirPlay 2, USB/DLNA media player
– DVB-T2/C/S2, CI+ slot
Dimensions: 1,447 x 867 x 320mm (incl. foot)
Weight: 26.3 kg (incl. feet)
Consumption: SDR 136 (G) / HDR 300 watts (G)
Website:
https://www.tcl.com
9 Score 90 
- Pros
- Excellent local dimmed delivers nice contrast
- High peak brightness and wide color gamut
- Beautiful HDR images
- Supports Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+
- HDMI 2.1 connections with many gaming features
- Beautiful audio performance, Dolby Atmos
- Negatives
- Additional login required with TCL account
- Google TV is less easy to personalize
You should not look for groundbreaking designs in this category, but they are often beautifully finished. The C835 is not a hyper-slim TV, although you might have hoped that given the name “miniled”, but the dark titanium-coloured finish, the subtle frame and the sturdy base provide a handsome appearance. We also notice the Onkyo logo at the front, and a large woofer module at the back, so we are already looking forward to the audio performance.
TCL is certainly not more economical on connections than competitors. Of the four HDMI connections, two provide the full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth of 48Gbps. They support ALLM, VRR (HDMI VRR and AMD Freesync Premium) and 4K120, and have a low input lag of 17.2 ms (in 4K60) and 7.6 ms (in 2K120). TCL has placed the ARC/eARC function on one of the HDMI 2.0 connections. That is a smart approach, because that way you do not lose an HDMI 2.1 connection when you connect the soundbar. We’re surprised that competitors don’t.
The list also includes one USB connection, a composite video and stereo cinch audio input, optical digital output and a headphone output. Ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth are of course also present. The C835 has a single TV tuner, and keep in mind that you can’t record to USB hard disk or pause live TV.
A small note: the power cable is placed quite close to the edge. We prefer to see it a little deeper behind the device so that it is not accidentally visible beyond the edge of the screen.
Impressive contrast performance
With OLED models becoming cheaper, more than ever the most important task for an LCD TV is to present good contrast. For this, TCL relies on a VA panel and miniLED backlighting with local dimming. The backlight is divided into 24×12 (288) zones that are individually controlled by the TV.
That seems relatively few compared to other models that use the direction of 1,000 zones, but the C835 still shows surprisingly good results. TCL thus shows that it is not only the number of zones that is important. First of all, the VA panel itself already has excellent contrast, the best we’ve ever seen. In addition, the TCL controls the backlight in 12 bit, giving it very fine control over how much light it emits in each zone.
Those two factors together, combined with a smart algorithm, deliver really impressive results. Not only does the TV succeed in hiding zone boundaries almost completely, it also shows a lot of shadow nuances in dark images. And light accents in dark images are not clearly dimmed. Only in HDR, when you really push the screen to the limit, such as fireworks against a night sky, can you vaguely see the zone boundaries.
Also take the viewing angle into account. If you are not centrally located in front of the screen, you can see contrast and brightness decrease somewhat, but color is well preserved.
Bright and colorful
But contrast is certainly not the only strong point of this TV. Those miniLEDs can also generate a lot of brightness. The TCL easily hits the 1,500 nits, and that in a well-calibrated image mode. That is an achievement for which we had to look at a top model two years ago. Even on a completely white image, it still achieves about 640 nits. For a wide color range, TCL relies on quantum dot technology, the result of 93% P3 is more than sufficient for impressive HDR images.
Lots of light, lots of color, and good contrast, the basics are there. But a TV must also manage that in the right direction to get the best HDR images out of it. With support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, you’re already set for the best HDR formats. But the TCL also performs well for HDR10.
Not only does he take the HDR10 metadata into account, but thanks to “Dynamic Tonemapping” he can also estimate how he can still improve the image. This way you get very vivid HDR images with a lot of shadow nuance, white detail and intense colors. During the test, the TV lost some contrast due to dynamic tone mapping, but a software update has solved that problem.
In the Movie image mode, the calibration is very good in both SDR and HDR. The minor deviations are all within acceptable limits. In HDR, the image is a bit too bright and the color temperature tends to a somewhat cool result. If you want to have the TCL calibrated, you can even do this automatically via Portrait Displays Calman.
Image processing with a pinch of AI
Every manufacturer is now using AI-based algorithms. TCL does that too, and with good results. The upscaling removes a lot of detail from the image, but as long as you leave the sharpness at zero, the image seemed a bit too soft to us. So give the sharpness a push up to five.
Noise cancellation works fine except for MPEG noise. That’s the blocking you see in heavily compressed video. The processor can’t do much about that. A remarkably good point is that the TCL also eliminates color bands in soft color transitions quite well. The 120 Hz panel provides very nice motion sharpness that only hides the finest detail because moving objects have a slightly blurred edge.
A Black Frame Insertion technique is available to show that last detail, but the image then has an annoying flicker. Those who like to make the pan images as smooth as possible can activate motion interpolation, but the processor cannot always eliminate the stutter.
Onkyo is responsible for the audio
Onkyo chose a 2.1 setup for this TCL with two times ten Watt downfiring speakers and a 20 W subwoofer at the back. Too bad, last year’s model had a more prominent forward-facing soundbar below the TV. Nevertheless, the performance remains excellent. The TV gets a lot of volume from that configuration, more than enough to let your movie soundtracks fill the room.
It supports Dolby Atmos, but does not have upfiring speakers. So you do hear a nice spatial effect, but you are not really in the middle of it. There is enough bass to give the sound some spice. For more ordinary music enjoyment, it is better to switch off Dolby Atmos.
With Google TV
During the installation of Google TV, TCL not only asks for a Google account (necessary for the Google Play store, of course) but also for a TCL account. Although the latter offers little or no added value (you can use the TCL Home app), it is mandatory. We would have preferred to see that optional in the context of privacy and freedom of choice.
The interface navigates very smoothly and apps launch quickly. Google TV provides a very extensive range of content, which also allows you to navigate based on genre. The TCL is also equipped with Airplay 2, and is Google Stadia Certified. Gamers get a handy Game Bar to quickly check and adjust settings. For PC gamers, the panel even supports 144 Hz refresh rate. A multiview function is also a nice extra if you want to combine an image from the TV with an image from your smartphone. But unfortunately that only works with TCL phones.
The new TCL remote works via bluetooth. It is a lot simpler than the old remote (which you will also find in the box) and a lot more convenient for a modern TV viewer who regularly uses streaming services.
Conclusion
We think this TCL is a remarkably good all-rounder that is also well priced. It delivers excellent contrast, an important point now that OLED TVs are getting cheaper. But he also combines that with very clear images and rich colors. This means it performs excellently for movies and TV series in almost all viewing conditions.
Sports and gaming fans will also be delighted with this performance. They also get a 120 Hz panel with good motion sharpness, and the HDMI connections are equipped with all the necessary features for gamers, PC gamers even enjoy a 144 Hz refresh rate. Onkyo provided the TV with a powerful audio solution and Google TV gives you access to almost all streaming apps and features you could wish for.
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