RCA Roku TV: 43" 4K Smart TV RCA - Review 🏆

The RCA 43 inch Roku TV offers an affordable large screen 4K TV with smart capabilities. This 43" TV features a sleek design and provides access to popular streaming apps like Netflix, Apple TV, BBC iPlayer and more through the Roku platform. With 4K Ultra HD resolution, HDR support and Dolby Audio, it delivers good picture quality and audio for the price point. The easy to use Roku interface makes navigating streaming apps simple right from your TV. Overall, the RCA 43" Roku TV is a budget-friendly option for those seeking a big screen smart TV for casual viewing and streaming entertainment. While it lacks more advanced features like local dimming, it provides solid performance for everyday TV watching and access to top streaming platforms. The following is an in-depth look at the key features and performance of this 43 inch Roku 4K UHD TV from RCA.

Design

The RCA 43-inch Roku TV has an attractive, minimalist design that will blend in nicely with most living room decors. It measures 38.2 x 22.5 x 3.2 inches and weighs just 16.5 pounds, making it relatively lightweight and easy to move or mount on a wall.

The bezels surrounding the screen are slim and uniform on all sides, measuring around 0.6 inches thick. This helps create an immersive, near edge-to-edge viewing experience. There is a small RCA logo located at the bottom bezel.

Overall, the RCA Roku TV has a sleek, modern design with slim bezels that maximize the screen real estate while keeping the footprint compact enough for most rooms. The lightweight build also makes wall mounting feasible for a cleaner, floating look.

In addition to the 43-inch model, RCA also offers a smaller option with the RCA RK40FQ1: 40 FHD Roku TV Smart TV. This 40-inch model features a Full HD display and comes equipped with the same Roku smart platform, making it a great choice for those seeking a slightly smaller screen size without sacrificing features. It maintains a similar sleek design and provides ample connectivity options to suit all your entertainment needs.

Display

The RCA 43-inch Roku TV features a 4K Ultra HD resolution display with 3840 x 2160 pixels. This high resolution provides sharper, more detailed images compared to 1080p Full HD. The 4K resolution allows you to view content at 4 times the resolution of 1080p, resulting in a crisper picture.

The TV includes HDR (High Dynamic Range) support for enhanced contrast and colors. With HDR, the TV can produce a wider color gamut and deeper blacks. This allows for more realistic images with finer details in both bright and dark areas. HDR content brings out the full vibrancy of the colors and really makes the images pop on the screen. Overall, the 4K resolution and HDR support on this Roku TV will provide an immersive viewing experience with incredible clarity and vivid colors when watching compatible content.

For those seeking a larger display, consider the RCA Roku TV: 55 4K Smart TV. This model offers the same stunning 4K resolution and HDR support on a more expansive screen, enhancing your viewing pleasure with even larger and more detailed visuals. The smart TV capabilities ensure a seamless streaming experience with access to countless apps and channels. Experience immersive entertainment on a grander scale with the 55-inch version.

Audio

The RCA Roku TV delivers an impressive audio experience with its 2 channel speaker setup providing 10W of total power output. The speakers produce clear and well-balanced sound, with decent bass considering the slim TV profile.

Dolby Audio support further enhances the audio, providing various sound modes to choose from like Movie, Music, and News. The Dolby Audio processing helps make voices crisp and clear, while adding spatial effects to make the audio more immersive. Whether watching action movies or listening to music, the RCA Roku TV's audio punches above its weight class and belies the TV's affordable price point.

The built-in speakers provide a solid audio experience for everyday TV watching. But for a true surround sound experience, the TV has an optical audio output to connect an external speaker system or soundbar. Overall, the RCA Roku TV delivers surprisingly good audio performance considering its price point.

Smart TV Features

The RCA 43-inch 4K Roku TV comes loaded with smart capabilities thanks to the Roku TV platform. This gives you access to thousands of streaming channels and apps right on your TV, without the need for any additional devices.

One of the biggest highlights is the inclusion of popular streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, Hulu, HBO Max and many more. You can easily download these apps on the TV and log into your accounts to access your favorite shows and movies in 4K HDR quality.

The Roku platform also offers access to free streaming channels like YouTube, Pluto TV, Tubi and more. For live TV, you can add services like Sling, YouTube TV and others. There's also a wide selection of music streaming apps available.

The simple Roku remote makes navigating between apps and channels a breeze. You can control power, volume, playback and launch apps directly from the remote. The remote also has voice search capabilities to quickly find content across multiple streaming channels.

Overall, the built-in Roku smart platform provides an excellent smart TV experience on this RCA 4K TV, giving you access to all your favorite streaming content from major apps and channels.

Ports & Connectivity

The RCA 43-inch 4K UHD Roku TV offers ample connectivity options for most users. It includes 3 HDMI ports, which is fairly standard for a TV of this size. The HDMI ports support HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2, allowing you to connect 4K devices and game consoles.

There are also 2 USB 2.0 ports, which can be used to play media files from a USB drive or hard drive. The USB ports provide enough power to charge mobile devices as well. However, USB 3.0 ports would have been preferable for faster transfer speeds from external storage devices.

Overall, the connectivity options cover the basics but advanced users may want an extra HDMI port and USB 3.0. The ports are ample for connecting Blu-ray players, games consoles, streaming devices, and other peripherals. But you may need a USB or HDMI hub if you have multiple high-bandwidth devices.

Remote

The RCA Roku TV comes with a simple yet functional remote control. The remote has a sleek and minimalist design that fits comfortably in your hand. It is made of glossy black plastic which looks nice but can attract fingerprints.

The remote layout is straightforward with large, easy-to-press rubber buttons. At the top are buttons for power, volume, mute, and switching inputs. Below this is a directional pad for navigating menus and content. In the middle are playback controls, home and back buttons, plus a microphone button for voice commands. Towards the bottom are dedicated service buttons for popular streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and Google Play.

Overall the remote is easy to use thanks to its simple button layout. The dedicated streaming service buttons make jumping between apps convenient. It may lack advanced controls, but the RCA Roku TV remote has all the essential functions in an intuitive design.

Performance

The RCA 43" 4K Roku TV delivers very good overall performance for its price point.

Picture Quality

The 4K Ultra HD resolution and HDR support produce a sharp, detailed picture quality. Colors appear vibrant and accurate thanks to the Wide Color Gamut. Fast-moving action scenes come across smoothly without much motion blur. The TV upscales lower resolution content decently to near 4K quality. Overall the picture quality is very good for regular TV watching and streaming movies.

Smoothness

Navigation through the Roku TV interface feels snappy and responsive. Switching between apps and streaming content starts up quickly without lag. The TV's quad-core processor is able to handle 4K streaming and gaming without performance issues. Motion handling is also solid with minimal blur during fast motion scenes.

Connectivity

Connecting devices to the TV is straightforward with 3 HDMI inputs and 2 USB ports. One of the HDMI ports supports HDMI ARC for connecting a soundbar. Built-in WiFi (802.11ac) provides a strong and stable internet connection for streaming. The Ethernet port offers a wired networking option if needed. Pairing Bluetooth devices like headphones is quick and easy. Overall the RCA 43" Roku TV offers very good connectivity options.

Pros & Cons

The RCA Roku TV 43 Inch 4K UHD TV offers a good blend of features and performance at an affordable price point. Here's a quick rundown of the main pros and cons:

Pros

• Excellent value for money - This 43-inch 4K TV packs in a lot of great features at a very wallet-friendly price. Hard to find similar specs for the price.

• Good 4K picture quality - With 4K Ultra HD resolution and HDR support, picture quality is sharp and colors are vibrant. Good for most everyday TV viewing and streaming.

• Roku TV platform - Simple but robust smart TV platform gives access to thousands of apps including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and more. Intuitive interface.

• Multiple HDMI ports - With 3 HDMI inputs, it's easy to connect all your devices like a cable box, game console, Blu-ray player, etc.

• Voice remote included - The voice remote makes searching for content quick and easy. Remote also has TV controls.

Cons

• Only 60Hz refresh rate - For fast action scenes in sports, movies and gaming, a 60Hz panel can show motion blur. 120Hz would be better.

• Mediocre built-in audio - Sound from the integrated speakers is passable but lacks bass. Connecting a soundbar greatly improves audio.

• Limited off-angle viewing - Picture quality degrades at wider viewing angles from the side. Best viewed straight on.

• Basic port selection - Has the essential ports but lacks more advanced options like USB-C or analog audio output.

So in summary, the RCA 43-inch 4K Roku TV delivers very good overall value with great smart features and decent 4K picture quality. But the budget design has some limitations like basic audio and slower refresh rate. Still an excellent choice for casual TV viewing and streaming.

Conclusion

The RCA 43-inch 4K Roku TV offers a lot of value and features for its affordable price point. With its sleek, modern design and vivid 4K resolution, it looks great in any living room. The easy-to-use Roku TV platform provides quick access to popular streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV, and more.

The built-in audio provides decent sound quality, though connecting an external soundbar can further enhance the audio experience. Gaming performance is also solid thanks to the low input lag and Auto Game Mode. The inclusion of 3 HDMI ports and 2 USB ports allows you to connect multiple devices.

Overall, the RCA 43-inch 4K Roku TV is an excellent budget-friendly option if you want a smart TV with crisp 4K resolution and robust streaming capabilities. While more expensive TVs may offer better picture quality and sound, this model provides very good performance considering its affordable price point. For shoppers looking for a solid mid-sized 4K smart TV that won't break the bank, the RCA 43-inch model is easy to recommend.