TCL Roku TVs Arrive in Canada

Roku is kind of a big deal. The company has not so quietly become the streaming platform of choice, offering Canadians easy access to over 150,000 movies and TV episodes. And now Canadians will have another option for getting their streaming fix, as TCL Roku TVs are now officially launching here too.

You might remember a few years ago when I took a look at a Sharp Roku TV. The platform was great, even if the actual television itself wasn’t incredible. In some regards, you can expect a similar experience with RCA and Sanyo too, as many of these are simply licensed branding deals.

The new TCL Roku TVs are a different breed, because TCL can take advantage of its deep vertical integration. You know how Samsung manufacturers its own memory and displays and other components? TCL is much the same, so they have much greater control over the parts that go into their products. And it also means they can be a lot faster to market with new innovations too.

While our neighbors to the south have been able to enjoy TCL Roku TVs for a couple years now, this is the first time that TCL is entering the Canadian market. They strive to “merge superior picture quality with the industry’s best smart TV experience.” Go all the way up the line and you get Dolby Vision HDR, Contrast Control Zones technology (local dimming with up to 120 zones), and Nano Band Phospor (NBP) Photon technology for rich, accurate colors. It nearly patches the DCI-P3 reference standard for professional equipment.

In speaking with the folks at TCL, they proudly prioritize contrast, color and consistency for these smart televisions. The net result is best-in-class picture quality at a price that regular Canadians can actually afford. The integrated supply chain and massive scale enable TCL to manage the “rapid growth” they hope to achieve in this new territory.

The new TCL Roku TVs start as low as $209 for a 32-inch 3-series TV (32S325-CA) and go up to about $900 for the 55-inch 6-series 4K TV (55R617-CA). The 65-inch (65R617-CA) variant tops the lineup at $1,249. The 4-series with 4K HDR fits somewhere in between. All of them come with built-in Wi-Fi and a similar two-legged stand design.