If you're looking for overall picture quality and gaming performance, the Hisense U8K is a better choice, offering high contrast and brightness, good for dark rooms and capable enough for bright environments. It's more expensive, but it also boasts better sound quality with great speakers, more advanced features like high frame rate support, and is equipped for a variety of HDR formats.
The TCL S435, on the other hand, is a budget-friendly option with decent performance for casual viewing, including cartoons and animations. It's not as well-suited for dark environments or competitive gaming due to lower contrast and brightness. It lacks certain features like Dolby Vision, but supports HLG and is suitable for less demanding use cases. 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 Hisense U8K (LCD)
Best in class for bright room
Very good for dark room
Very good for gaming
Very good for movies & TV
Very good for news, talk, & other TV
Excellent for cartoons & animation
Good for use as monitor
Good for upscaling
Very good reflections
Advantages of the TCL S435 (LCD)
The TCL S435 (LCD) has no clear advantages over the Hisense U8K (LCD).
Key differences
Picture Quality
8.7/10
6.6/10
8.21/10
CONTRAST
7.50/10
9.2/10
COLOR VOLUME SCORE
6.6/10
miniLED FALD
PANEL TYPE
LED
VA
PANEL SUB-TYPE
VA
The Hisense U8K (LCD) has very good picture quality, while the TCL S435 (LCD) has only fair picture quality.
Movies & TV
8.5/10
6.1/10
8.21/10
CONTRAST
7.50/10
10.0/10
BLACK UNIFORMITY
6.7/10
7.0/10
UPSCALING
5.9/10
Yes
HDR10 SUPPORT
Yes
Yes
HDR10+ SUPPORT
No
Yes
DOLBY VISION SUPPORT
No
The Hisense U8K (LCD) is very good for movies & TV, while the TCL S435 (LCD) is only fair.
The Hisense U8K is considered very good for watching movies and cinematic TV largely due to its excellent contrast, effective local dimming, and superb black uniformity, which contribute to deeper blacks and more detailed shadows. On the other hand, the TCL S435, while offering good colors out of the box, falls behind with its fair contrast, lack of local dimming, and poorer black uniformity, making it less ideal for the same viewing experiences in dark room settings.
Gaming
8.6/10
5.5/10
6.8/10
RESPONSE TIME SCORE
6.2/10
7.6/10
INPUT LAG SCORE
5.8/10
3.5/10
MOTION PROCESSING
3.2/10
90.0/100
GAMING LOCAL DIMMING
0.0/100
9.2/10
GAME HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.3/10
The Hisense U8K (LCD) is very good for gaming, while the TCL S435 (LCD) is poor.
The Hisense U8K is more responsive due to its faster response time and supports a higher refresh rate of 144Hz, allowing for smoother gameplay, whereas the TCL S435 has a slower response time and a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz which may result in more noticeable motion blur and less fluid gaming experience. Additionally, the U8K has a lower input lag, making it more suitable for reflex-based games where timing is critical.
Cartoons & Animation
9.1/10
7.0/10
8.3/10
COLOR GAMUT SCORE
6.0/10
9.2/10
COLOR VOLUME SCORE
6.6/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.2/10
8.6/10
COLORS OUT OF THE BOX SCORE
9.0/10
7.0/10
GRAY UNIFORMITY
5.9/10
The Hisense U8K (LCD) is excellent for cartoons & animation, while the TCL S435 (LCD) is good.
The Hisense U8K is considered excellent for watching cartoons and animation because it displays colors very well right out of the box, and has both a very good color gamut and color volume, which are crucial for vibrant and varied colors. The TCL S435 is good for such content due to its excellent performance with colors out of the box, but it falls short in color gamut and color volume, which may result in less vivid colors compared to the Hisense U8K.
News, Talk, & Other TV
8.6/10
5.8/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.2/10
7.0/10
UPSCALING
5.9/10
The Hisense U8K (LCD) is very good for news, talk, & other TV, while the TCL S435 (LCD) is poor.
Bright Room
9.7/10
5.6/10
5.3/10
VIEWING ANGLE
5.0/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.2/10
9.1/10
HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
5.1/10
8.9/10
REFLECTIONS SCORE
5.9/10
The Hisense U8K (LCD) is best in class for bright room, while the TCL S435 (LCD) is poor.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Hisense U8K (LCD) to be only fair for sports, while the TCL S435 (LCD) is poor.
The Hisense U8K has better quick response time and motion processing capabilities, which reduce blur during fast sporting events, and handles reflections more effectively, making it suitable for watching sports in rooms with many light sources.
Cost
$1,798
$1,800
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Hisense U8K (LCD) has a price of $1,798 and the TCL S435 (LCD) costs $1,800.
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How the Hisense U8K (LCD) and the TCL S435 (LCD) compare to other TVs
"The TCL 4-Series is so inexpensive and capable you might start to question why there are any multithousand-dollar TVs at all. The 4-Series setup is intuitive and easy. If you're just looking for an easy-to-use TV with decent picture, this is an excellent place to start."
Get a great deal on the Hisense U8K (LCD) or the TCL S435 (LCD)
About Hisense
Hisense, a Chinese TV manufacturer, entered the US market in approximately 2011 and has since acquired TV divisions from various companies such as Toshiba, Sharp, Hitachi, and NEC. Currently ranking as the fourth largest vendor in terms of sales volume, Hisense aims to capture a wide range of TV budget segments. They offer exceptional value with TVs that often outperform their competitors at similar price points, making them a compelling choice for consumers. In the US, they use Google TV as their smart TV software which provides the largest app selection and a very modern user interface, however it is not as user friendly as the software from other vendors.
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
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TVs stats compiled
21
Proprietary TVs ratings developed
114,930
Recommendations made
17,240
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
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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
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