I've been keeping a beady eye on the price of the excellent TCL 32SF540K.
We've seen it drop from £179 to £128, then to £113, and now to an all-time low of only £109 at Amazon.
That's an overall discount of 39 per cent, and it's difficult to imagine it dropping any lower.
32-inch TVs such as the TCL SF540K are ideally suited for second rooms such as kitchens and bedrooms, though they also work for those who don't want their living room dominated by a TV.
Whatever your plans, this is a TV that delivers surprisingly good picture quality, and at this price, it's hard to beat.
While expectations need to be tempered at this price (and because this is a 'small' TV), the TCL SF540K offers a surprisingly stacked feature set and a very likeable picture performance.
The headline is the inclusion of Amazon's Fire TV operating system, which means the whole user experience is rather like that of a Fire TV Stick. It's colourful and intuitive, and it grants access to pretty much every streaming app you're likely to need, including all of the major UK-specific catch-up apps, which are neatly wrapped up in the Freeview Play wrapper. You can use the mic built into the remote to chat to Alexa, too, essentially turning the TV into a big Amazon Echo device – albeit one that requires a button press to operate.
Unlike most TVs at this level, which have an 'HD Ready' 720p resolution, the SF540K has a 'Full HD' 1080p resolution. It also boasts VA panel technology and a direct LED backlight, and it supports HDR in the HDR10 and HLG formats. And while the TV isn't packed with gaming features, it does offer ALLM switching and a low input lag of 15.3ms, so it's a good option if you need a very affordable gaming TV.
In action, the TCL SF540K isn't super-bright or vibrant, but it is balanced and controlled, which is more than can be said for most rivals. Black levels are reasonable and there's plenty of shadow detail; bright highlights are free of nasty 'clipping', and colours are fairly warm and natural. It's sharper and more detailed than the other 32-inch TVs we've tested recently, too, and motion is handled well.
Our only real criticism of the picture performance (taking into consideration the price, of course) is that it has fairly limited viewing angles, which means those sitting substantially off-axis from the TV will find the picture looks a bit washed out.
The sound quality is, unfortunately, worse than the picture. The thin and limp delivery won't be a huge problem for daytime TV, but it will be a frustration for movies and games. This isn't unusual for TVs at any level, though, and certainly not at this size and price, so it shouldn't put you off too much. But do budget for a cheap soundbar if you're able.
Ultimately, this is a very solid-performing and smart TV. We awarded it four stars at £149, but it actually launched for £179, making it a real bargain at the new price of £109.
MORE:
Read the full TCL 32SF540K review
These are the best TVs you can buy right now
And the best soundbars to up your listening experience
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
