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TCL 6-series TV review: The perfect TV for that PS5 you still can't buy
Some software quirks aside, TCL's first Google TV is an excellent bargain
You don't have to spend a lot to get your hands on a good TV these days. High-end sets are focused on OLED, 8K resolution, and other premium additions, but if you're just looking for a great picture with bells and whistles like Dolby Vision and VRR for gaming, $1,000 can get you everything you need.
Review: Forget the Chromecast, Walmart's Onn Android TV is cheaper and just as good
It's practically the same thing, but almost half the price
While smartphones regularly threaten to get more expensive every year, somehow the market for set-top boxes and HDMI dongles is dropping to seemingly impossible lows. When we were introduced to the Chromecast with Google TV last year, with 4K HDR support and the full capabilities of Android TV, it felt like a $50 gadget would be the best we could ask for. As it turns out, a new contender with similar specs and an even lower price has come from an unlikely source: Walmart... And it's pretty damn good.
Amazon Fire TV Stick (3rd Gen) review: You should probably buy a Chromecast
Amazon fixes the Fire Stick's performance issues, but the software is still not great
Amazon has been producing Fire TV streaming sticks for several years now, but most of them have been mediocre at best. That’s what you’d expect for the bargain-basement price Amazon is charging. The cheapest 1080p-only Sticks have used bottom-of-the-barrel processors, making them unbearably-slow compared to a Chromecast or Roku, though the upgraded hardware in the Fire TV 4K isn't nearly as bad.For the first time in four years, Amazon has updated the internal hardware for the cheapest 1080p Fire TV Stick, finally giving it the performance boost it so badly needed. However, the software is still frustrating to use, even if it does offer some features not offered by the Fire TV Stick's competitors.
It's truly incredible just how good cheap TVs have gotten. Not that long ago, $500 wouldn't get you anything better than a bargain bin 40" screen with a laundry list of issues and terrible, vaseline-coated picture quality. But now it's hard to spend more than $1,000 unless you really have a reason to, and Hisense's H8G series is a great example of just how far your money can go. It's a pretty good lineup from 50" to 75", and they all come with Android TV built right in. But while I want to recommend the TV, it's ruined by a single deal-breaker: Video playback from streaming apps can stutter and freeze for long periods, which isn't acceptable at any price.