TCL P8S Series

This review is about the quality and reliability of the TCL 65P8S (12/2019). As this TV is discontinued it cannot affect your buying decision about this particular TV, but it will provide you with my experience about the reliability of the TCL brand in general. Whether you consider TCL more or less reilable now is up to you to decide (**FYI, as… Read more

of January 2026, Sony and TCL have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a strategic partnership, with TCL taking a controlling 51% stake in a new joint venture that will manage Sony’s global TV and home audio business).

I bought this TV six (6) years ago in December 2019 for ~$1,000AUD. I have been very happy with it during that time. During the first three years it only used as a TV for a few hours every weeknight after work, but was used more often on the weekends.

For the last three years it was used anywhere from 12-16 a day, every day, so a LOT of use. It was connected to a media PC and used as a PC screen, used as a home theatre for watching movies and TV shows, and as gaming monitor (Xbox Series X).

For about the last 3-6 months the screen would intermittently go blank, then the picture would return, sometimes turning on and off a few times, before the picture remained constant. I thought it may have been the cable or the cable connection at the TV.

It has finally stopped working altogether after I turned it on one morning. The screen briefly showed an image, then the screen went blank permanently. Research showed that it was probably the LED backlights that failed. When I held a light source up to the TV I could see images, so this confirmed it was the LED backlights and not the screen itself.

I purchased a pair of double suction cup holders from Bunnings (~$35) to enable me to remove the screen (I purchase double suction cups as I wanted to be sure I did not drop the screen). Once the screen was removed I could access the LED backlights to ensure I was able to buy suitable replacement parts. I then purchased replacement LED backlights from AliExpress ($35AUD), which arrived in about 10 days. I also purchase an LED backlight tester for ~$20AUD and tested the new LED backlights and they all worked, so I installed them. I then reasseembled the TV.

Unfortunatley during reinstallation of the screen I broke the screen. Sigh. Users of this TV will know that the screen went to the edge of the display and the screen was only held in place at the top and sides by double sided tape.

Using a new utility knife/scraper and acetone from Bunnings, I removed the old double sided tape from the metal TV rear backplate and from the everse of the TV screen. I then installed new double sided tape onto the frame.

After laying the screen onto the rear frame, I inadvertently pressed too hard at the top left corner, trying to ensure a good connection/seal of the screen to the double sided tape, resulting in a "cracking" sound. Grrrr. NB If you ever thry this repair yourself, I STRONGLY suggest that it is NOT necessary to press very hard at all to ensure a good connection of the frame and the screen to the double sided tape. If both surfaces are clean, they should adhere with just a light pressure applied. Although there was no exterior damage to the screen, it obviously broke/fractured internally and unfortunately the screen now longer works.

"Nothing ventured nothing gained", but if not for my mistake I would have repaired my TV for <$85AUD (total of parts and tools) so yeah, I made an expensive rookie mistake. Live and learn folks.

To finish this tale, I have just purchased an ALDI Bauhn 70" LED TV for $499 and I am very happy with it so far. I will make a separate post about my initial thoughts on that TV.

2 TCL TVs in 4 years – 2 TCL TVs in 4 years, good when going but don't expect any value for money and be prepared to put your hand in your pocket sooner than later to buy another TV , but make sure it is another brand that is reliable

Sound Issue not good – The sound keeps making a pop from low sound then pops to a louder sound every 5 minutes or so. I wrote to TCL on the 16th June 20 and to this day I have not heard back. I’ve written to them again. Failing this next stop Fair Trading. Show details

NON STOP PROBLEMS – TCL TV plagued by problems. TCL's service department kept insisting that nothing was wrong and I just needed to update the programs. This was done several times but problems kept occuring. After involving the retailer they agreed to send out a technician who replaced the board. We are not about to go onto our second board. Our concerns have been ignored by TCL. Would never again buy their product. Show details

Good TV for price – Good TV for the price.The apps all work well.Picture quality on HD channels is superb, but on Standard Def channels picture quality is woeful, and virtually not worth watching, so that cuts out a lot of free to air channels.Sound quality is as expected a bit ordinary, but connected to Bose Home theatre sound is very good.Overall happy with it for over six months now, its just a shame about the standard definition quality. Show details

Don't be fooled – The apps such as netflix stan and youtube have an issue with audio sync.. the sound doesnt match what the picture is doing e.g. when watching a movie what the actor says if often 2 seconds behind what the sound shows and also if watching basketball the ball will go in the net and sound of the net swoosh wont be heard till 2 seconds after. The… Read more

colors are really dull and dont look full and bright no matter how you play with the settings. and its not true 200hz refresh rate its a poor 100h

been trying to get a refund from TCL for 6 months and just keep getting passed around, worst experience i've ever had

Great Value of Money – With the money spent, definitely worth having it. The screen is quite clear. The Android system is easy to use. All functions work well. Would recommend this with a limited budget. Show details

Happy with my purchase – First smart TV I have bought, very happy with my purchase. Picture is clear and crisp and sound is perfect, easy to navigate aswell. Comes with a large slim remote, got an extra voice action remote with my purchase from The good guys. Show details

Great picture. Value for money. Love it! – When our previous Sharp TV blew up several months ago we needed a low cost replacement. The TCL 55P8S QUHD TV was on sale at The Good Guys for $650 so we bought it. We were instantly impressed. Being an Android TV we were able to download all our streaming Apps: Netflix, Foxtel, Stan, Prime, Kanopy, YouTube etc directly to the TV which meant no… Read more

more boxes. It also has Freeview and Bluetooth and the picture quality and sound are both great. It works with Alexa and also comes with a Voice remote and has a spare small remote too. For the money it’s absolutely brilliant.

Good decision awesome TV – After doing many research on smart televisions I came across this and found it to be of a good price for the features that it has. I was glad that I purchased this TV. It has lots of features and has a good sound too. Show details

Fantastic TV for the price – We purchased this tv in a 55" version and our kids loved how easy it was to use and navigate arround apps. It featured great picture quality for their WiiU and blurays were very well impressive on graphics. We loved it and went and bought the bigger vision for ourselves and now have it in our living room. We have had the smaller 1 for almost 6 months and the big 1 for 2 months. No problems, no complications. Awesome Android TV for the price. Show details

This TV is a perfect 5 star product operating system and apps are spot on – We purchased 70" TCL in May 2017 and it was a fantastic TV. Developed faults after 34 Months. TCL replaced it with a brand new latest model. Very happy customer. Show details

Bar none, the worst TV we have EVER purchased, VERY disappointed in TCL – Sorry in advance for the long review but it sums up our drawn out saga with TCL. We purchased our TCL P8S 65" TV in October 2019 after reading reasonable reviews on mainly US websites as there weren't any reviews on this TV at the time and the sales rep assured us that the TCL brand offered great quality & value (we have absolutely no issues with… Read more

the sales rep). We ended up writing the very first review (which we have since asked the retailer to remove) after only one day of watching commercial TV (and not Apps) as we initially thought the TV was okay for the price paid, that was until we started using Netflix and other apps (after writing the review).

The first issue's were that the picture quality would randomly go blurry then come good and the audio and visual display intermittently didn't sync on most apps which became very frustrating, very quickly. After speaking with a staff member at the retail shop, the suggestion was made that the syncing issue was more than likely to do with our internet server & or speed so we just hoped that it improved. After another couple of weeks, more issues developed so we contacted the store who referred us to TCL customer service. This is where our headache began.

The first avenue was for us to do a factory reset which wipes all of the apps and other data we had spent quite some time loading. At first the TV seemed okay (again commercial TV) but after reloading several apps, we realised that the TV now had new issues. The audio/ visual sync and blurry picture issue was back but now the TV kept freezing up, Netflix kept stating messages that numerous programs were unavailable, other apps wouldn't work and the audio from one program played over an entirely different app or program. We again contacted TCL who asked us to email video proof of the issues. We had taken a few, so we sent them the same day. On recontacting TCL, we were again asked to reset the TV (and again wipe all of the apps and data to start over). Within a day of doing so and spending ages reloading the apps once again, we were right back at the start with the same issues only now with additional problems. The TV now would freeze up entirely which required turning off at the wall and starting again continually. The audio/ visual issue not syncing started occurring on commercial TV as did the blurry picture quality. In addition, the picture started freezing whilst the audio would continue when all of a sudden, the picture would commence with the audio totally out of sync.

We again contacted TCL after losing total confidence in the brand asking to get our money back (considering that this had all started within a week of having a brand new TV) but they insisted that we again send them additional video and images of the issues. We recorded about a dozen video's of various issues and took several images most of which we emailed to TCL. On contacting TCL yet again, we were told that they now needed to send a TCL technician to verify that the TV had a fault!!! Despite arguing the point that we had sent numerous videos and images, they still insisted on sending a tech. By this stage, over two months had passed since first complaining which had resulted in two months of resorting to iPads or other devices to watch our programs. After the TCL tech verified that there was an issue, the initial response was that TCL would send parts. On stating that we absolutely DO NOT want the TV repaired, TCL did offer to replace the TV with exactly the same model however after three months and countless hours spent making numerous calls to TCL, resetting the TV and reloading all of the apps we use as well as sending numerous emails (with videos) we were beyond IRATE and just did not want a TCL TV. We have read several other reviews from people who experienced much the same drama with TCL (Search 'TCL Electronics' on Product Review) so we insisted on pushing for TCL to authorise a refund. Despite numerous calls asking to speak with a manager or supervisor, the higher management were always too busy and none of them returned our calls despite requesting call backs on a number of occasions.

I apologise for the long winded review but hopefully it allows other people considering TCL to think twice and look at better alternatives. Our personal advice would be to pay more and stick with reputable brands. Don't base you opinion on every review you read as several reviews I initially read which led to the decision to purchase TCL now appear to be 'endorsed reviews' where the reviewer is potentially getting kick backs/ benefits to provide a positive TV and really haven't had the TV for any period of time to provide the positive opinion that they do. Lesson learnt.