# TCL 4K Ultra HD TV 50P615 any good?



## P4-630 (Mar 5, 2021)

TCL 4K Ultra HD TV 50P615 | BCC.nl
					

TCL 4K Ultra HD TV 50P615 kopen? Bestel voordelig online, snel en gratis bezorgd en altijd met de beste service | BCC.nl




					www.bcc.nl
				











						TCL P615 4K Android TV - TCL Thailand
					

TCL 4K UHD Android TV P615 มีจำหน่ายแล้วที่ TCL Thailand คลิกเพื่อเรียนรู้เพิ่มเติมเกี่ยวกับคุณสมบัติของระบบปฏิบัติการ Android ของ TCL P615




					www.tcl.com
				




I'm looking at 50" 4K Tv's, also looked at samsung tv's but I think I prefer Android OS.

I can buy here:








						Audio producten | Bekijk ons assortiment | BCC.nl
					

Voor audio producten ben je bij BCC aan het juiste adres. Bekijk ons ruime assortiment in de winkels of online. Vandaag besteld, morgen al in huis!




					www.bcc.nl
				




Or here:


			https://www.coolblue.nl/televisies/smart-tv/schermdiagonaal:1.27?sorteren=laagste-prijs&pagina=1


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## jboydgolfer (Mar 8, 2021)

i see you got the Phillips, are you happy with it?

i was just sitting up in our bedroom with my wife watching the walking dead, & it was like there is Vaseline spread all over the screen of the TV we have now in there. its a POS.

needless to say im considering a new TV, but im not as savvy when it comes to TV's as i am with PC's
im in the US, so my options are many, but im not looking to spend a ton, also i already have a roku, so i dont NEED a smart TV.

anyone with suggestions of decent , not overly expensive TV's, id appreciate it.


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## qubit (Mar 8, 2021)

P4-630 said:


> I'm looking at 50" 4K Tv's, also looked at samsung tv's but I think I prefer Android OS.


I've got a Sony 43" 4K Android TV. When you look around the menus, OS, look at the apps and browse the web with it, you realise that it's really just a giant tablet without a touchscreen masquerading as a TV.   Also, the computer driving it has seriously low processing power, being just enough to deliver TV functionality. They really cheapskated on it.


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## TheLostSwede (Mar 8, 2021)

@P4-630 yeah, we're expecting a full and detailed review by the end of the week!



qubit said:


> I've got a Sony 43" 4K Android TV. When you look around the menus, OS, look at the apps and browse the web with it, you realise that it's really just a giant tablet without a touchscreen masquerading as a TV.   Also, the computer driving it has seriously low processing power, being just enough to deliver TV functionality. They really cheapskated on it.


That's the same for a lot of cheaper TVs. Setting new models with a massive 1.5GB of RAM. This goes across all OSes as well. I think the CPUs in general now are quad core Cortex-A53s, as they're almost ubiquitous by now. It seems like only higher-end smart TVs are worth buying, as the cheaper ones really get shafted on the hardware.


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## qubit (Mar 8, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> @P4-630 yeah, we're expecting a full and detailed review by the end of the week!
> 
> 
> That's the same for a lot of cheaper TVs. Setting new models with a massive 1.5GB of RAM. This goes across all OSes as well. I think the CPUs in general now are quad core Cortex-A53s, as they're almost ubiquitous by now. It seems like only higher-end smart TVs are worth buying, as the cheaper ones really get shafted on the hardware.


Thing is, this was high end when it came out, costing around £850 in 2018. I got it for a bit over half that when 4K TVs plummeted in price and then Amazon had a sale on. The point is, that Sony really could have put a faster CPU in it. You can tell it especially from the way it struggles a bit to run the apps. Thankfully, I don’t actually need to use them so it’s not a problem for me.

At least the picture is pretty good, despite the rather bad IPS glow.


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## TheLostSwede (Mar 8, 2021)

qubit said:


> Thing is, this was high end when it came out, costing around £850 in 2018. I got it for a bit over half that when 4K TVs plummeted in price and then Amazon had a sale on. The point is, that Sony really could have put a faster CPU in it. You can tell it especially from the way it struggles a bit to run the apps. Thankfully, I don’t actually need to use them so it’s not a problem for me.
> 
> At least the picture is pretty good, despite the rather bad IPS glow.


The CPU speed matters less than you'd think for smooth Android, it's more about having enough RAM and a decent "GPU" in these chips.
If you look, a lot of even fairly recent ARM based SoCs come with an ancient Mali 450 GPU, which is just insane. At least Google has moved on and said those aren't good enough for Android any more. As the UI requires some basic 3D acceleration the minimum GPU now is something like the G31, which is still pretty naff compared to what modern phones have.
A quad core Cortex-A53 is still sufficient as the pure processing grunt goes, but with 1.5GB of RAM, which most likely at least 512MB of that going to the graphics and video processing, you know you're going to have a sluggish system.

Even the new Chromecast with Google TV has 2GB of RAM and a quad core Cortex-A55 with a Mali G31 MP2 GPU, plus whatever video acceleration Amlogic uses. That's better than some mid to high-end TVs from tier two and tree brands. If I'm not remembering wrong, both Toshiba and BenQ (they even have the same remote) has mid to upper range models here with only 1.5GB of RAM. The problem is that these are specs that the manufacturers don't even tell you, so you have to scour the interwebs to try and find out. You'd have to go north of £1,000 to get 2GB of RAM from either company...

At least Philips seem to use 3GB of RAM even on their mid-range models, then again, even their £1,800+ OLED models have just 3GB of RAM... 
I just wish they didn't have so terrible remotes.

All these "smart" TVs should have a common module interface for the "smarts" that would allow that part to be swapped out, as once there are no software updates or a manufacturer drops support for whatever model you have, your TV becomes less useful, often without there being anything wrong with the actual screen itself. It's a lot of talk about reducing electronics waste, well, this would be a great way of doing so.


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## _JP_ (Mar 8, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> All these "smart" TVs should have a common module interface for the "smarts" that would allow that part to be swapped out, as once there are no software updates or a manufacturer drops support for whatever model you have, your TV becomes less useful, often without there being anything wrong with the actual screen itself. It's a lot of talk about reducing electronics waste, well, this would be a great way of doing so.


So, you mean a smartphone dock, and having the ability to run full blown AndroidTV on your phone via OTG, with a standard and universal hardware recognition for TVs.
Have a regular TV, arrive home for some entertainment and just place your phone docked on either sides of the TV, use your BT keyboard and have fun.
Smartphone not fast enough for <Insert addiction App here> anymore? Just leave it on the TV, then. Heck, that cost <above average value in your currency> when new!
So what would you need to upgrade? Screen size and microUSB to USB-C interfaces.
Yeah, I'm sure that idea is lost somewhere in Android's forums. TV lobby didn't approve.


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## TheLostSwede (Mar 8, 2021)

_JP_ said:


> So, you mean a smartphone dock, and having the ability to run full blown AndroidTV on your phone via OTG, with a standard and universal hardware recognition for TVs.
> Have a regular TV, arrive home for some entertainment and just place your phone docked on either sides of the TV, use your BT keyboard and have fun.
> Smartphone not fast enough for <Insert addiction App here> anymore? Just leave it on the TV, then. Heck, that cost <above average value in your currency> when new!
> So what would you need to upgrade? Screen size and microUSB to USB-C interfaces.
> Yeah, I'm sure that idea is lost somewhere in Android's forums. TV lobby didn't approve.


Maybe not quite what I mean, but I guess that would work in a way, as long as you don't need your phone while watching TV.

More like a consumer friendly version of this.








						Intel® Smart Display Module (Intel® SDM)
					

Intel® SDM delivers the same level of intelligence and interoperability as the Open Pluggable Specification, but in our smallest form factor yet.




					www.intel.com


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## _JP_ (Mar 8, 2021)

Yeah, I agree and it would have to be very consumer fridenly. 
Regarding what I said, though, it could be a dock for tablets too, it's not like TVs aren't wide/tall enough. Those are fairly ubituous as well and are disregarded even faster.


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## P4-630 (Mar 8, 2021)

jboydgolfer said:


> i see you got the Phillips, are you happy with it?



Yeah I've got a Philips





						De Philips 8500 series 4K UHD LED Android TV 50PUS8505/12 4K UHD LED Android TV kopen
					

Dit is waar u naar op zoek was. Superieure beeldkwaliteit. Elegant design. Geweldig geluid. AI-spraakbesturing. Ambilight voor een ongekend meeslepende ervaring. Alles wat u nodig hebt om te genieten van een filmavondje, sportwedstrijd of een gamemarathon‎




					www.philips.nl
				




I'm happy with it, using Prime Video, Netflix and Discovery plus.
I didn't buy it because of the ambilight but evenings it's a nice addition imo.


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## TheLostSwede (Mar 8, 2021)

P4-630 said:


> Yeah I've got a Philips
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sorry, not good enough, we want a full review.



_JP_ said:


> Yeah, I agree and it would have to be very consumer fridenly.
> Regarding what I said, though, it could be a dock for tablets too, it's not like TVs aren't wide/tall enough. Those are fairly ubituous as well and are disregarded even faster.


Do people even use tablets any more? It seems like Apple, Amazon and Samsung are the only ones still making them.


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## P4-630 (Mar 8, 2021)

I never had a tablet and will never buy one, I do use a 14" laptop.


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## TheLostSwede (Mar 8, 2021)

P4-630 said:


> I never had a tablet and will never buy one, I do use a 14" laptop.


Well, now you have a 50" tablet...


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