Audiovisual UX Connectivity This is the Smartprix review of the TCL C725 4K QLED TV. It is available in 50-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch variants. Mine is the middle one and let’s begin the review. Navigate this review Unboxing | Price and Specs | Design | Audiovisual | UX | Connectivity | Verdict | Buy or not? C725 appears minimal due to the extremely slim bezels on all sides except the bottom one. This silver-colored chin has a shiny TCL logo in the middle and an Onkyo insignia (for the integrated speaker) towards the right-side corner. The actual speaker outlets are by the bottom.

The monitor (with detachable power cord)Table top stands (2) with screws (4)Remote VESA wall mount framesExternal FHD video call cameraAV cableInstallation and user manual

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The TV isn’t that heavy but I won’t say it is built weak either. I felt this while lifting it off the floor and seating it on the table. There are two sets of holes to insert the base. As a result, you could fix the stand closer to the center or set it a bit spaced out. This means you shouldn’t have a problem positioning it on most table sizes. A thoughtful design choice by TCL. The company also bundles the VESA mount brackets if you intend to fix the TV on the wall. The attention to design is apparent from its slim side profile too. Yes, there is a bump by the back but it is smaller in size and is where the core machinery of the device stays. You’d find a large array of ports, the far-field mic on/off toggle, the power button, and the detachable charging cord here. The position of the latter is on the right (when you look from the back). This is different from most TVs I have seen. I also like the design of the remote. It is narrow, curvy by the back, and handy overall. It is long too but for good reason. There are plenty of buttons on it including a button for mute, input switch, Google Assistant, and a few OTT options. I only wish there was a dedicated button for Youtube or say a configurable button that can be mapped to a function of the user’s choice. But all in all, it is a well-designed TV set. Let’s see how it fares in presenting multimedia content. As mentioned already, this evaluation unit is a 55-inch model powered by AIPQ Picture Engine. It is a VA LCD 8 bit+ FRC panel with 4K resolution and supports premiere HDR formats like Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG. It covers 93% of the DCI-P3 color gamut which is good, the contrast ratio is only 5000:1, and brightness peaks at 330nits. I did watch loads of content and it was mostly bright and colorful. In some videos, the TV briefly intimates the HDR type it’s playing. Even SDR and 1080p content look nice on this screen. The TV also lets you easily switch between the various picture presets (as well as audio and other settings) by pressing the cog icon button. But, there is no standard mode. So, I was switching between Movie and Smart HDR mode mostly. Other modes are Sports, Vivid, and Low Power. One other shortcoming of this VA panel is its limited field of view. Unless you are looking dead on the TV, the viewing angles won’t be that great. I was watching Togo (2019, Disney+ Hotstar) and my dad who was sitting horizontally at a distance felt the scenes looked bland. So, I asked him to move towards the center. So you see, the visual experience is largely delectable but it isn’t without some downsides. As for gaming, you can play games at max 4K 60 frames per second as this is a 60Hz panel only. There are 3 HDMI ports, although only one of them is 2.1 (as noted in the official specs). There is no VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) as there is no point of it here. There are other HDMI 2.1 benefits like ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel). TCL claims up to 8ms GTG (Gray to Gray pixel speed) response time and up to 15ms of input lag. There is a 2x12W summing up to a 24W speaker setup on the C725. It is fairly loud and comes with Dolby Atmos support. I liked it in dialogue-heavy movies/series/podcasts as well as instrument-heavy music. Moving to other aspects of the user experience — TCL offers Android TV v.11 with goodies like hands-free Google Assistant, Alexa, Chromecast, and AirPlay. There are a few pre-installed apps. Some of them like MagicConnect, Netflix, and Prime Video were useful to me. And I don’t mind the rest as they can be uninstalled or disabled. But what I mind is the slow pace at which the TV moves and responds. This includes everything from the Google Assistant activation to latency issues while casting (on a 100Mbps connection), and general hiccup in navigation across the interface. Also, in the case of Google Assistant, there were few instances of uncalled triggers that interrupt an otherwise immersive experience. Now, on its website, TCL states Google TV is coming soon, but until that happens, the present situation is rather uninspiring. This feeling extends to the video call feature. It is appreciated that TCL gives a 1080p webcam (with a privacy shutter and front-facing mics) in the box that can be mounted atop the TV and connected over a USB-A socket. But, it works only with Google Duo at the moment and the quality is just average. Also, there were lags in the video during my test. The relatively weaker hardware inside must be the cause for all this sluggishness, I reckon. Under the hood, the C725 is packing a quad-core A53 CPU, Mali G31 MP2 GPU, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB storage. The latter two specs are standard affair but the processor and GPU are inferior to even some lower-priced TVs. Anyhoo, let’s check out the ports now. The array of ports on the C725 includes one HDMI 2.1, two HDMI 1.4, one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, one RF input, one audio output, one AV Input, and an RJ45 LAN socket. Indeed, a long spate of options. Wirelessly, you get dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, and Infrared. The remote uses the latter two and works fine for the most part. Occasionally, the key taps don’t work, meaning I have to point and click again for it to act. So having covered all that, finally, it’s time to conclude my thoughts on this TV. As a member of the QLED TV alliance, TCL is a big proponent of Quantum Dot technology. And compared to run-of-the-mill LCD screens, this produces richer blacks and popping colors on the C725’s screen. You also get to enjoy Dolby Vision and HDR10+ content backed by a reasonably loud Dolby Atmos speaker system. Now, this experience is delectable for the most part but has its downsides. For instance, the lack of full-array local dimming causes the dynamic range to be inadequate in some content. But, these cases are few and far between, and not something an untrained eye would ever pick. So in other words, the TCL C725 is sufficient for watching movies and shows with your family. And if you’re into gaming, you can get by a respectable 4K 60 frames per second with ALLM. Yes, I would’ve liked to have more HDMI 2.1 ports but for that TCL pitches the C728 model. The latter comes with better connectivity and screen specs like a 120Hz refresh rate. But, it would cost you slightly more. As for the titular C725, it is priced at ₹72,990 and for that, you are getting the aforementioned audiovisual experience, a generous connectivity suite, hands-free Google voice Assistance, Alexa support, a fairly usable webcam, a functional remote, a rather slick cum stable design, and a UI that isn’t smooth but serviceable. Regards Suresh Patel

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