TCL S5400A 55"

The TCL S5400A 55-inch is $599, down from a $899 recommended retail price (RRP), and that price is the entire pitch. This is the cheapest way into a 55-inch 4K television from a real brand, short of the Kmart bargain bin. It is a budget TV and it behaves like one, but for a spare room, a rental or a first place of your own, it does the job without embarrassing itself.

Set your expectations correctly. There is no Quantum Dot LED (QLED) here and no local dimming. You get a vertical alignment (VA) panel liquid crystal display (LCD) with a plain LED backlight, around 250 nits of brightness, a 60Hz refresh rate and basic High Dynamic Range (HDR) support that the panel is not bright enough to really show off. It runs Roku, which is the best thing about it.

What the RefDat test lab found

For streaming, it is perfectly fine. Stan and Binge in 4K look sharp, colours are good enough that nothing looks washed out, and motion in sport stays clean. If you have never owned a nice TV, you will be happy. Coming off a 2019 flagship, you will clock the drop in brightness and contrast in the first ad break. Gaming is where the budget processor shows: input lag sits around 50 milliseconds, fine for single-player but a handicap for competitive shooters on a PlayStation 5. We ran it 18 hours straight with no overheating and quiet operation. The Roku platform is the genuine win, clean and well stocked with Australian apps, though it can lag a touch switching between them.

What owners actually report

Owners on Whirlpool and OzBargain are realistic about it: nobody pretends it is a premium panel, but the consensus is that it is honest value at $599. The two recurring watch-outs are the sound and the brightness. The built-in speakers are thin and tinny, and just about everyone recommends adding a cheap soundbar. The other is daytime viewing in a bright room, where 250 nits struggles against window glare. A few owners mention sporadic firmware updates and the odd hiccup pairing with Telstra or Optus streaming boxes.

Who should skip it? If you watch a lot in a sunny lounge, or you game competitively, this is not the panel for you, step up to a brighter mid-range set. For a budget streaming TV in a normal room, it is hard to argue with the price.

You will find it at JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Kmart and Officeworks. OzBargain regularly catches it around $539 during sales events.

Australian Consumer Law (ACL): a budget TV at $599 should reasonably last 5 to 7 years, with the consumer guarantees realistically covering 2 to 3, regardless of the typical 1-year budget-brand warranty. If the backlight dims, the remote dies or the power supply fails inside that window, you have a claim. Take it to your retailer first.

Bottom line: a no-frills 4K TV that punches at its price and runs the excellent Roku platform. Highly recommended as a budget or second-room set. Add a soundbar and do not expect it to shine in a bright lounge. RefDat score 3.8 out of 5.