Gamers thinking the C845K’s startling spec-to-price ratio might make it an exciting potential gaming monitor will be pleased to hear that it uses a 120Hz panel, while two of its four HDMI ports are capable of receiving 4K/120Hz feeds from the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and sufficiently high-spec PCs. In fact, the screen is even capable of handling 144Hz PC titles.

The Smart TV system is Google TV with a wide range of VOD apps from Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and more, with some catch-up services but no Freeview Play or BBC iPlayer out of the box. It is fast and stable with 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos available from those apps supporting them. On top, HDR Dolby Vision IQ optimises the picture quality to adapt picture quality to the room lighting conditions.Dolby Vision IQ intelligently optimizes your TV for a perfect picture in your room at every moment.​ Dual-stand configuration makes it accessible for different areas, and its minimalist design and slim aesthetic are neat. Second, bass can be lighter in its contribution to the overall soundstage than the large size of the rear bass driver had me hoping for, and can also cause a little chassis buzzing under extended bass pressure. The 55C735K’s pictures also have a nice 4K snap to them once the shadow detail and colour crush issues have been sorted out, and this holds up, too, when there’s movement in the frame, thanks to some impressively blur- and judder-free motion handling.Android TVTM with Google AssistantTM built-in provides access to your favourite streaming services, apps and games At this price, sound quality is often flat and uninspiring – but TCL’s down-firing full-range speakers sound pretty good. Screen uniformity isn’t the strongest either, with clouding in the corners of Bad Times at the El Royale (4K HDR10+) via a 4K Blu-ray player. It’s less of a problem during the day, but becomes fairly evident when light levels in a room start to drop. Viewing angles are better than most at this price – although, inevitably, colours lose their punchiness and brightness the wider you are. There are a couple of niggles. Vocals sometimes sound a little detached from the action, thanks to a combination of occasional slight lip-sync lag when watching Dolby Atmos sources, and the way relatively deep vocal tones can seem to be coming from below the image.

Without the scene-by-scene picture date of Dolby Vision and HDR10+ to guide it, however, the 65C815K’s presets rather lose the plot. Saturations with the industry standard HDR10 sources that actually make up the majority of HDR content are pushed way too far, losing subtle shading and detail in the process. As a result, bright pictures can end up resembling weird hand-painted caricatures rather than natural video. The TCL C735 is a good all-round workhorse TV designed to be used in normal lighting conditions and offers a good selection of connectivity, gaming features, HDR compatibility and smart TV. Used in this manner it comes recommended and has been scored with the market position and cost in mind vs. performance. All in all, the gameplay was smooth, the visuals were fantastic, and it made games that were already great visually look even more beautiful. ConclusionAgain, brightness alone doesn’t guarantee picture quality. In conjunction, though, with the C845K’s high dimming zone count and the fact that it uses Quantum Dots to deliver high-volume colours capable of capitalising on all that claimed brightness (TCL claims coverage of 97 per cent of the digital cinema DCI-P3 spectrum), we can’t help but at least hope that the 65C845K is going to do something pretty groundbreaking for its price point.