The TCL R655 offers better overall picture quality, gaming performance, and brighter screen for use in well-lit rooms. It also has features like miniLED backlighting, local dimming, and a higher refresh rate which makes it great for movies and fast-moving sports. Conversely, the TCL S450G has a lower picture quality, especially in dark rooms, and is less suitable for gaming and bright-room viewing, but it comes at a lower price point. If you prefer a high-quality viewing experience for various content types and gaming, and are willing to spend more, the R655 would be the better choice. If budget is a primary concern and your viewing habits are less demanding, the S450G could be sufficient. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the TCL R655 (LCD)
Best in class for bright room
Very good for dark room
Very good for gaming
Good for movies & TV
Good for news, talk, & other TV
Very good for cartoons & animation
Good for use as monitor
Very good reflections
Advantages of the TCL S450G (LCD)
The TCL S450G (LCD) has no clear advantages over the TCL R655 (LCD).
Key differences
Picture Quality
8.0/10
5.9/10
9.07/10
CONTRAST
5.64/10
8.2/10
COLOR VOLUME SCORE
6.2/10
miniLED FALD
PANEL TYPE
LED
VA
PANEL SUB-TYPE
VA
The TCL R655 (LCD) has very good picture quality, while the TCL S450G (LCD) has poor picture quality.
Movies & TV
7.9/10
5.6/10
9.07/10
CONTRAST
5.64/10
6.1/10
BLACK UNIFORMITY
6.1/10
5.4/10
UPSCALING
6.0/10
Yes
HDR10 SUPPORT
Yes
Yes
HDR10+ SUPPORT
No
Yes
DOLBY VISION SUPPORT
Yes
The TCL R655 (LCD) is good for movies & TV, while the TCL S450G (LCD) is poor.
Gaming
8.6/10
5.6/10
7.0/10
RESPONSE TIME SCORE
5.7/10
8.7/10
INPUT LAG SCORE
10.0/10
5.3/10
MOTION PROCESSING
4.6/10
85.0/100
GAMING LOCAL DIMMING
18.0/100
8.8/10
GAME HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.7/10
The TCL R655 (LCD) is very good for gaming, while the TCL S450G (LCD) is poor.
The TCL R655 has a better response time and less input lag, both crucial for gaming, allowing for smoother and more responsive gameplay compared to the TCL S450G, which has a poorer response time and higher input lag, resulting in less fluid motion and a less responsive gaming experience.
Cartoons & Animation
8.7/10
5.8/10
7.6/10
COLOR GAMUT SCORE
5.9/10
8.2/10
COLOR VOLUME SCORE
6.2/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.5/10
7.7/10
COLORS OUT OF THE BOX SCORE
6.2/10
8.2/10
GRAY UNIFORMITY
6.6/10
The TCL R655 (LCD) is very good for cartoons & animation, while the TCL S450G (LCD) is poor.
The TCL R655 is very good for watching cartoons and animation because it has good colors straight out of the box and an excellent color gamut, ensuring vibrant and diverse hues. In contrast, the TCL S450G is poor for such content due to its fair performance in colors out of the box and a poor color gamut, resulting in less accurate and less vivid colors.
News, Talk, & Other TV
7.2/10
5.6/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.5/10
5.4/10
UPSCALING
6.0/10
The TCL R655 (LCD) is good for news, talk, & other TV, while the TCL S450G (LCD) is poor.
The TCL R655 excels in upscaling and has very good SDR brightness, making it suitable for news and talk shows where image clarity in bright rooms is key, while the TCL S450G performs poorly in SDR brightness and its upscaling is not as refined, which may result in less clear images when viewing standard definition content. Additionally, the R655's good color performance right out of the box ensures that the content will look vibrant without much tweaking, unlike the S450G which falls short in delivering accurate colors initially.
Bright Room
9.5/10
5.7/10
5.2/10
VIEWING ANGLE
5.0/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.5/10
8.5/10
HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.5/10
8.8/10
REFLECTIONS SCORE
6.6/10
The TCL R655 (LCD) is best in class for bright room, while the TCL S450G (LCD) is poor.
The TCL R655 is better suited for bright rooms due to its excellent SDR and very good HDR brightness, along with very good reflection handling, while the TCL S450G struggles in bright rooms because of its poor brightness for both SDR and HDR content and only fair performance when handling reflections. While contrast, color volume, and color gamut are important, they are less critical than brightness and reflections for viewing in well-lit environments.
Cost
$1,000
$398
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
The TCL R655 (LCD) has a price of $1,000 and the TCL S450G (LCD) costs $398.
"It has an excellent Roku interface, isn’t too expensive, has quantum dots and mini LED backlighting, and looks genuinely fantastic playing everything. If you’re in the market for a new TV, you should still start here. Gamers will like that it has a 120-Hz refresh rate at 4K, which is the maximum that a modern Xbox or Playstation 5 will put out—meaning the smoothest possible gaming and sports viewing in general. We’re no longer in the days of having to spend over $1,000 and spending a few hours on setup for decent black levels and great color accuracy and HDR"
"TCL, though, has built much of its success on affordable sets, and the 2023 TCL S Class S4 with Google TV is a testament to just how good of a TV you can get for an affordable price tag"
Get a great deal on the TCL R655 (LCD) or the TCL S450G (LCD)
About TCL
TCL, the highly recognizable TV brand from China, has firmly established itself as the second-largest manufacturer in terms of sales volume. Renowned for striking an impressive balance between affordability, picture quality, and design, TCL TVs deliver a compelling overall package. While they have traditionally excelled in the low-end and midrange TV segments, TCL has recently made remarkable strides in the realm of high-end televisions, introducing impressive models that rival top competitors. Most TCL TVs use Roku software which is very user friendly and easy to use, but they have a few other models that use Google TV which has the largest app selection, but is not as user friendly as Roku.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec TVs team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest TV information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
385
TVs evaluated
33,110
TVs stats compiled
21
Proprietary TVs ratings developed
99,030
Recommendations made
14,855
Consumer hours saved
About the TV team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and TVs Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Jaime Roldán
TVs Expert
Jaime is a Colombia-based TV expert. He is an electronics engineer with 8 years of experience in the telecom sector and has been making TV recommendations for 12 years.