TCL TV

Long-term owners

Try TCL. I just got a second one after 6 years with a previous model of theirs

Dec 2025 · comment

What hackers pick instead

• LG smart TVOwners praise the picture quality and say the TV works well when kept offline; the most common caveat is intrusive software and data collection.57recommend
• Samsung TVRecommended for picture quality, simple remotes and long life, especially used offline as a dumb display. Common caveat: ads, data collection and forced updates.37recommend
• Sony Bravia TVOwners say the TV keeps working well for many years, especially when never connected to the internet. Critics agree the smart interface has ads, lag and no security updates.19recommend
• Roku TVRecommended for its clean, ad-free interface and working as a plain display offline. Critics mainly cite slow startup and a sluggish interface.14recommend
• Samsung Frame TVRecommended for its matte, art-like look and casual TV watching. Main caveat: it shows ads in the app bar.10recommend

Every quote

The 32 most detailed of 34 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Try TCL. I just got a second one after 6 years with a previous model of theirs

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options”

2. google TVs (like my TCL tv) let you use them in dumb mode, which is what I do

   Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “An ad-free Android TV”

3. I've noticed that older TCLs are a bit laggier than Samsung smart tvs.

   Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Nearly Half of LG Smart TV Apps Contain Residential Proxy SDKs”

4. I’ll take a cheap TCL panel with all the latest bells and whistles

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “LG says we're fake news [video]”

5. they actually are much better if you have a limited budget

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby”

6. pleasantly surprised to find it has a basic TV mode

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “I own a relatively new (2025) Samsung TV. I kept getting weirdly targeted ads”

7. It's just better quality for the price.

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Samsung to exit China home appliance sales amid shrinking market share”

8. I have a TCL that I'm happy with.

   Recommends · Nov 2026 · in “Ask HN: Which TV do you recommend for privacy?”

9. I am very happy with my TCL tv

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]”

10. there is noticeable input lag when connected to a pc, whereas if I switch it to "pc", the lag is basically gone

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Stranger Things Creator Says Turn Off "Garbage" Settings”

11. Some TCL TVs will refuse to work unless you connect them to a network with access to the home base

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Nearly Half of LG Smart TV Apps Contain Residential Proxy SDKs”

12. On my TCL TV, you have to connect it to read the Google policies you are agreeing to.

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “The Smart TV in Your LivingRoom Is a Node in the AIScraping Economy”

13. TCL I believe was doing this, and I've read scattered reports of that behavior.

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “LG to Ban Residential Proxies from Smart TV Apps”

14. Some TCL TVs will refuse to work if you don't connect them to the Internet.

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Nearly Half of LG Smart TV Apps Contain Residential Proxy SDKs”

15. They all use Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) and collect profiling data

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby”

16. finding open wifi access points and exfiltrating data without my consent

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]”

17. forces you agree to Google's terms and conditions

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options”

18. the input lag becomes horrible

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Stranger Things Creator Says Turn Off "Garbage" Settings”

19. due to the reported backdoors

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Sony Hands Its Bravia TV Reins over to Tcl”

20. My TCL TV runs Android/Google TV, wakes from standby in 2s while also waking the surround in ~3s via HDMI CEC

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids”

21. a recent firmware update actually fixed up some Arc power settings and a few other things

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “LG says we're fake news [video]”

22. I've never seen that come up on the five or six TCLs that I've owned

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby”

23. At least my TCL TV has a physical switch to disable the microphone

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'”

24. All we have is Samsung/LG and Chinese vendors like TCL/Xiaomi.

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Honey, I shrunk the TV”

25. I would never switch back to 4k, however.

    Recommends · Nov 2025

26. even tvs like TLC are a great brand

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “LG to Ban Residential Proxies from Smart TV Apps”

27. the only time it bugs out is if you use Chinese brands (looking at you, TCL) that write horrid firmware

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Valve: HDMI Forum Continues to Block HDMI 2.1 for Linux”

28. it’s warning is very short leading to shutdown if you don’t pause quick enough to reset it

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]”

29. I had a TCL TV unrelated to the programming language, and the ghosting was awful.

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “LG to Ban Residential Proxies from Smart TV Apps”

30. Sounds like a great reason to return a TV. It isn't like you must have a TCL TV.

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “The Smart TV in Your LivingRoom Is a Node in the AIScraping Economy”

31. it's a lot of the brands: Hisense, LG, Samsung, Sony, TCL

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “I didn't realize my LG TV was spying on me until I turned off Live Plus”

32. There was some "demo" mode though, but it was useless.

    Criticizes · Nov 2026 · in “Ask HN: Which TV do you recommend for privacy?”