TCL 32S5400AFK: 32-Inch FHD Smart TV TCL - Review 🏆

The TCL 32S5400AFK is a 32-inch HD smart TV with a stylish frameless design. Part of TCL's S series, it offers a high-quality viewing experience and smart capabilities at an affordable price point.

With a 1080p Full HD display, HDR support, and Dolby Audio, the 32S5400AFK delivers detailed image quality and immersive sound for movies, TV shows, sports, and gaming. The bezel-less design provides a sleek modern look that maximizes the screen area in your space.

Running on Android TV, this TCL smart TV gives you access to popular streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and more. It also has built-in Google Assistant so you can control the TV and smart home devices with your voice. With robust connectivity options and thoughtful features like Kids Mode, the 32S5400AFK balances performance and value.

Design

The TCL 32S5400AFK has an attractive, modern design with slim bezels around the 32-inch screen that provide a more immersive viewing experience. The TV has a plastic construction with metal feet that provide sturdy support.

The bezels are slim and uniform on all sides, measuring just 8mm thick. This creates a near borderless effect when viewing content, so your attention stays focused on the screen. Despite the thin bezels, there's still space for a small TCL logo at the bottom.

At just 32-inches, this TCL model is well-suited to smaller rooms and spaces where a larger TV might feel overpowering. The compact size makes it easy to place on most TV stands or tables.

The included stand has a minimalist style with two feet positioned at the edges of the TV. It provides stable support and allows you to swivel the TV left or right to adjust the viewing angle. The stand keeps the TV elevated just enough to fit a soundbar underneath.

Overall, the design is modern and streamlined, with a slim profile that doesn't call too much attention from the screen itself. The thin bezels and modest 32-inch size allow this TV to fit well in most rooms.

For those looking for a similar product, the TCL 32SF540K: 32-Inch FHD Smart TV is also an excellent choice. This model features Full HD resolution for clear and vibrant picture quality. Its Smart TV capabilities include built-in streaming apps, allowing you to access a variety of content easily. The intuitive user interface and voice control compatibility further enhance the user experience, making this Smart TV a great addition to any home.

Display Quality

The TCL 32S5400AFK comes with a 32-inch LED display and Full HD 1080p resolution. The 1920 x 1080 resolution provides a sharp, crisp picture with good detail. While not 4K, the FHD resolution is perfectly suitable for a TV of this size.

The display supports HDR10 high dynamic range. With HDR10, the TV can produce a wider range of colors and contrast for a more life-like, immersive viewing experience. It makes colors appear more vivid and brings out details in dark shadows and bright highlights.

In terms of brightness, the 32S5400AFK delivers a peak brightness of around 250 nits. This is fairly typical and adequate for most indoor viewing environments. The TV also has good black levels, which helps improve contrast.

The TCL 32S5400AFK can display up to 16.7 million colors. It uses TCL's Wide Color technology to produce richer, more saturated colors. The colors look quite natural and accurate out of the box but there are also color temperature settings to further calibrate the display. Overall color reproduction is very good for a TV in this price range.

For a higher-end option, consider the TCL 43C641K: 43-Inch QLED 4K Ultra HD Smart TV. This model offers a 43-inch QLED display with 4K Ultra HD resolution, delivering exceptionally sharp and detailed images. With quantum dot technology, the 43C641K provides a wider color gamut and enhanced brightness, making it perfect for a truly immersive viewing experience. Additionally, it’s a Smart TV, allowing you to stream your favorite content effortlessly.

Smart TV Features

The TCL 32S5400AFK comes with Android TV, giving you access to a wide range of apps and streaming services. It has built-in Google Assistant, allowing for hands-free voice control. You can quickly search for content, control smart home devices, and get answers on screen with just your voice.

Some of the key apps and features include:

• Google Play Store - Download and install apps like Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, and more.
• Chromecast built-in - Stream content from your mobile device or laptop directly to your TV.
• Google Assistant - Use your voice to search for entertainment, get recommendations, and control smart home devices.
• Android gaming - Play games designed for Android TV with the remote or compatible gamepad.
• Google Cast - Cast movies, shows, photos, games, and more to your TV from Chrome.

The TCL 32S5400AFK gives you an extensive catalog of entertainment to choose from. Finding and accessing content is quick and easy with Android TV and Google Assistant.

Audio Quality

The TCL 32S5400AFK comes with two 8W speakers that provide decent audio quality for most everyday TV viewing. While not the most powerful speakers, they are able to produce sufficiently clear and audible sound for shows, movies, and gaming.

The TV also supports Dolby Audio, which aims to provide a more immersive listening experience. Dolby Audio can optimize the sound based on the type of content, helping to make dialogue clearer or amplifying action sequences. It works by analyzing each scene and adjusting specific sound elements like bass, treble, volume, and dialogue normalization. This can help create a surround sound effect from the TV's built-in speakers.

Overall, while more discerning users may still want to connect external speakers, the 32S5400AFK's speakers and Dolby Audio support are able to deliver good audio quality right out of the box for casual TV watching. The sound is decently full and avoids sounding excessively tinny or distorted at higher volumes. So the audio experience should satisfy most users even without buying a separate sound system.

Connectivity

The TCL 32S5400AFK offers solid connectivity options for a budget 32-inch TV. It has:

• 2 x HDMI ports - The 2 HDMI ports support HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2, allowing you to connect 4K devices and game consoles. However, some users may find 2 ports limiting if they have multiple devices to connect.

• 1 x USB port - There is a single USB 2.0 port, which allows you to play media files from USB drives and connect other USB devices like webcams. An additional USB port would have been better for convenience.

• Dual band WiFi - The built-in WiFi supports the latest dual band wireless standards (2.4GHz and 5GHz) for fast and reliable internet connectivity. It works well for streaming and smart TV features.

• Ethernet port - There is an Ethernet port for wired internet connectivity, which provides the most stable connection for streaming high bandwidth content.

• Digital audio output - Optical audio out allows connecting the TV to an external audio system.

Overall, the connectivity options are decent for regular use, streaming, and connecting a couple of devices. More HDMI ports would have been better for connecting multiple devices simultaneously.

Ease of Use

The TCL 32S5400AFK has a very user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and adjust settings. The included remote is simple and intuitive, with just a few essential buttons that provide quick access to common functions like volume, channel selection, and home screen.

The on-screen menu system is straightforward with large text and icons that are easy to read. Drilling down into the various settings menus is simple due to the logical organization. Things like picture settings, sound adjustments, network connectivity, and channel setups can be accessed in just a few button presses.

Key settings like picture mode presets, aspect ratio control, and sleep timer have dedicated buttons on the remote for one-touch access. The remote and menus also make changing inputs effortless if you have multiple devices connected.

Overall, the simplicity of the remote combined with the intuitive menu system makes the 32S5400AFK extremely easy to use right out of the box. Even users who aren't as tech-savvy will find this TCL TV comfortable to operate and customize to their preferences.

Extra Features

The TCL 32S5400AFK has a few handy extra features that make it stand out. One is the Kid Mode, which allows parents to limit content and set viewing timers for children's profiles. This gives peace of mind that kids won't access inappropriate shows or movies.

Another useful extra is the built-in Google Assistant. The voice control feature allows you to search for content, get answers, control smart home devices and more using just your voice. It's very convenient to be able to find what you want to watch or pause a show hands-free. The TV's microphone makes Google Assistant integration seamless.

Overall, the kid-friendly mode and hands-free voice control elevate this TV above others in its class. These extras provide added convenience and customization that many users will appreciate.

Pros and Cons

The TCL 32S5400AFK has a lot of positives but also some drawbacks compared to similar 32-inch smart TVs.

Pros:

• Affordable price for a 32-inch smart TV with good features
• Slim bezel-less design looks modern and premium
• Decent HD picture quality and HDR support
• Runs on Android TV interface for easy access to apps and streaming
• Built-in Google Assistant for voice controls
• Good connectivity options with 3 HDMI ports
• Dolby Audio processing provides decent sound

Cons:

• HD resolution rather than 4K like some competitors
• Picture quality could be better in dark room viewing
• Audio is passable but lacks bass
• Some may prefer other smart TV systems like Roku or WebOS
• Less bright than QLED or OLED competitors
• Only 60Hz refresh rate, not best for gaming

Overall, the TCL 32S5400AFK provides very good value for those wanting an Android smart TV on a budget. But it lacks some higher-end features found in more expensive models. Still, for most buyers looking for a 32-inch living room or bedroom TV, it hits a nice sweet spot between price and performance.

Conclusion

Overall, the TCL 32S5400AFK is a great value 32-inch HD TV that offers a good blend of features at an affordable price. The bezel-less design looks modern and stylish, and the direct LED backlight delivers good picture quality with decent contrast and black levels. Motion handling is also solid for an entry-level TV.

The Android TV interface gives you access to a wide range of apps and streaming services. It's easy to use with the included voice remote that supports Google Assistant. Gaming performance is quite responsive due to the 60Hz refresh rate and Auto Low Latency Mode. Connectivity options are good for the price, including 3 HDMI ports and USB.

Considering the budget-friendly price, the TCL 32S5400AFK punches above its weight in terms of design, smart features, and performance. While more expensive TVs do offer better picture quality and brighter HDR, this model delivers very good value overall. The direct LED backlight avoids the uniformity issues of edge-lit displays.

If you're looking for an affordable 32-inch smart TV for mixed usage, the TCL 32S5400AFK is easy to recommend. It provides a well-rounded package and solid performance that competes well above its price range. The bezel-less design also gives it a much more premium look and feel. Overall, this TCL TV delivers excellent value for money.