I purchase and interact with so much tech everyday. Part of daily tech that I use when in the house is definitely the TV as I am big consumer of YouTube for TV. In mid July, I happened to purchase the TCL 43” V6C for use as my previous panel had broken. More than 6 months later, I feel comfortable to deliver a review. Not because I couldn’t before but because I am appreciating what TCL is doing in the budget TV space. After so many discussions with authorized TV dealers, this came out on top as the best selling TV of 2025 and 2026 till the time of publishing this review.
Unboxing Experience and Build Quality
Television sets have the most basic unboxing but TCL include several necessities in the box. Instruction manuals and a warranty card incase you need to claim warranty. A remote made of plastic (Higher models like the C8K get a metallic one) paired with 2 aaa batteries that from experience last for more than a year. You also get 2 plastic feet and 4 appropriate screws if you do not want to mount the TV on a wall but just place it on a tabletop. You also have well placed VESA mounting points incase you need to mount it. And finally the three pin plug that powers the TV.
The TV has a frameless design meaning you don’t get those big borders that in my opinion are chunky and ugly. Bezels are minimal but this raises an issue where if not handled with extreme care or by a professional when lifting, you might break the panel unknowingly. This is a budget TV and weighs in at 8.5kg and is made of plastic all round. Really high quality build regardless.
The TV only comes in once color that is black.
Display
The V6C is a 43 inch 4k LED HDR panel. It uses HVA ( High Vertical Alignment ) with direct LED backlighting. This panel offers better contrasts with deeper blacks. Though not the best of blacks like those on OLED panels, they get the job done when viewing shows on Prime Video during my tests. The TV has 300 nits peak brightness. Though extremely underwhelming, in rooms where reflections are dominant, it is still viewable.
The screen also has micro-dimming which is a software based image processing technology designed to improve contrast and depth. The V6C has over 1200 zones that software analyzes and adjusts independently. This means that it will dim the dark zones preventing the “grayish” look and brightens the bright parts.
This panel is true 4K quality (3840 x 2160) or 2160p which is the highest quality it can do. Paired with the HDR suite; HDR10, Dolby Vision and High Log Gamma (HLG) used by broadcasters like BBC and as for the AiPQ Processor, it handles real-time upscaling and Dynamic Color Enhancement making standard content look close to 4k quality. So if you come across a 720p or 1080p video, the TV tries in real time to improve the quality of the content.
Software and Performance
Powering all operations of the TV is the TCL AiPQ engine paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB Internal Storage that is more than enough to run operations and store downloaded applications. During my usage, I have never encountered any instances of sluggish performance. Apps take less than 5 seconds to boot up which is commendable.
This is a Google TV running Android 12 for TV. The interface is modern and as of writing this article, we got a new visual update a couple of days ago. The experience is stock and fluid with no bloatware other than pre-installed apps like Netflix and Prime Video which have dedicated buttons on the remote.
You get hands-free voice control and with the built in microphone in the remote you can use “Hey Google” commands to play music or a video. The voice feature also allows you to control smart home devices courtesy of the integration on Google Home.
Connectivity and IO
The regular wireless options that are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 are available. You have physical ports with 3 HDMI 2.0 that support the ARC standard and 1 USB 2.0 port. You have an ethernet (RJ45), AV input, Headphone jack and Optical Audio Out ports that I’ll dive into shortly when we talk about sound.
Audio
The sound that is delivered from the V6C is not underwhelming. In-fact, it is the best among TV’s in the same price point. TCL fit 2 speakers that use 10W each for a combined total of 20W. The TV supports both Dolby Audio and DTS Virtual:X standards. The sound is crisp and full but distortion can be noticed at volume levels above 70% where the base is somewhat scratched.
You get supported audio modes such as Standard, Music, Movie and Sports that adapts to the nature of what is playing. In the setting menu, you also get an option to choose how sound can be distributed if you have the TV placed on a table top or mounted on a wall. This ensures sound is spread evenly in the room.
You can extract much more from the Optical Audio Out port if you have a compatible sound bar with higher wattage.
Gaming
I am somewhat of a gamer playing casual titles like FC24 and Grand Theft Auto V (GTA) when I’m unwinding. TCL give you a Game Master mode. This allows gamers take advantage of the Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) but unfortunately the HDMI 2.0 port caps users at 4K@60Hz gaming which is only compatible with PS5 or Xbox Series S. For PS4 owners you only get 1080P maximum. The input lag is at -15ms with Game Mode enabled. If you play first person shooter games and are on a budget, this TV will sort out your needs adequately.
Final Verdict and Pricing
The TCL 43 inch V6C costs Ksh 30,000 at stores and for the price, this is a really good tv that will last users averagely 4 years without any issue while still remaining relevant and in good shape all factors held constant. If you are keen on having deeper blacks in your viewing experience, then you need to up your budget and consider other options. This includes the TCL “C” series with QLED technology.
