 In the year 2012, the world didn't actually end, but there were some things that sucked. The average 55 inch 4K TV cost about a hundred and fifty-five US dollars per diagonal inch. Here's a little visual representation for you. Per diagonal inch! But thankfully, prices have fallen precipitously in the intervening years, bringing us to today's episode of Why the actual Advertiser friendly content Are all of you buying this? The best selling TV on Amazon. What exactly is it that you are getting for a mere seven dollars? There's only five, James. Five dollars. Whatever, seven. I have other dollars here. Seven dollars and 25 cents per inch. Well, I'm going to tell you after I tell you what you get for a subscription to Private Internet Access. PIA encrypts your internet traffic and uses a safe, protected IP. You can check it out today at the link below. The TCL55S405 is the best selling TV on Amazon. With over 2,500 reviews and an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. Now, you might be thinking, Gee, I've never heard of the creative life before. These TVs must be cheap Chinese crap. But you would only be 66.6% correct. It is cheap, it is Chinese, but it's actually surprisingly decent. As it turns out, Chinese companies have been climbing the largest TV manufacturers lists. Dethroning the more familiar Japanese and Korean brands that you might be used to. In fact, the creative life, I can't do that anymore. TCL occupies the first six spots on Amazon's best sellers list. All with sets that cost under $400. And this was actually really surprising. Unlike most value brands, TCL didn't just buy a panel that was made by LG or Samsung. And put their own casing around it. They are a completely integrated company that makes their own panels, cases, and stands. In fact, TCL is now the world's third largest producer of TVs. And they claim to be the fastest growing TV brand in America. They were even the first Chinese TV manufacturer to nab lucky 8% market share. And the picture quality is really good for the price. Like, we can see why. So it's a 3840 by 2160 VA panel, which gives it nice deep blacks. It uses a direct backlight instead of edge backlighting. And it's got entry-level HDR10 support thanks to its 8-bit plus FRC bit depth panel. Something that both movie watchers and gamers are likely to appreciate. And on that subject, the gaming experience is actually surprisingly good as well. The delay from mouse click to muzzle flash using our Makey Makey and CSGO was only 1 to 3 frames. That's a really strong result. One disappointing tidbit though, is that while the 55S405 is advertised as having a 120Hz refresh rate. It's actually just a 60Hz panel with a combination of advanced signal processing and backlight scanning. To present an effective refresh rate of 120Hz. Whatever that means. And strangely, you can't even toggle clear motion completely off like you can on most TVs that I've seen. Though with that said, as someone who loathes the soap opera effect, I didn't notice any smoothing anyway. So it just doesn't seem to really work very well, but your mileage may vary there. I.O. wise, it's pretty generous including 3 HDMI 2.0 ports, a headphone jack, awesome for a PC setup. And an ethernet port, which is fantastic since many people think that they're watching 4K Netflix. Or they've got a 4K Chromecast Ultra, but they aren't actually getting 4K streaming because their Wi-Fi isn't fast enough. And you'll want to be doing a lot of 4K streaming on this thing because not only is it a smart TV, but it actually basically has a Roku Streaming Stick Plus built right into it. That's a dongle that usually costs... Where the hell's the remote? Ow. That's a dongle that usually costs at least 50 bucks on its own. And it lets you use your phone as a remote, cast media from your phone, and switch to your game consoles without flipping through inputs. Allowing them to appear as tiles, just like your other apps. For bonus points, they even made all of the menus loop, so if you want to go all the way to the bottom, all you have to do is hit up. Thank you. But, surely they had to, uh, cut some corners to get the price this low, right? And yes, yes they did. The most obvious one is brightness. Your 55S405 will do you just fine in a dark or moderately lit room. But, if you're going to deploy it in your living room, and you've got a lot of natural light there, you are going to struggle to see through the shiny AF glare. And... then there's the speakers. So, the problem with them is that... they suck. A pair of 8 watt speakers sounds bad even on paper, considering that we've reviewed monitors with 10 watt stereo setups. And in real life, they're even worse. Now, you'll be okay watching the news or reruns of the Big Bang. But, if you're breaking out the popcorn for a bass bang in movie, we would suggest some kind of audio upgrade, like maybe this entry-level soundbar from the Amazon bestsellers list. We haven't actually tried that one yet, but should we? Maybe let us know in the comments below. Bringing us finally to the not-so-premium look. The case is 3 inches thick, made of plastic with a sheet of aluminum at the back, and it rocks quarter inch bezels. Oh! And I mean, while no one's likely to ridicule you for them......unless your friends and family are all gigantic butt heads, if you want a more modern look, you might consider shelling out the extra 150 bucks for the sexier 2018 version. So then, should you buy this TV? If you're not the type to scrutinize the nitty-gritties of display technology, like banding and the dirty screen effect, then, honestly, definitely. As long as you don't have to deal with customer service, you will be happy. And if you are more picky with your displays, honestly, the answer is probably yeah, you should still buy it. Throw it in your bedroom, chuck one in the ensuite bathroom, or gift it-...bathroom. Uh, or gift it to your leggered grandparents. Just make sure that they've got a big enough table to support its wide stance. Speaking of support, FreshBooks is great if you support yourself as a freelancer or small business owner. It's the accounting software that's custom-built for how you want to work, and it's a simple way to be more productive, more organized, and to get paid faster. You can create and send professional-looking invoices in less than 30 seconds, set up online payments with just a couple of clicks and get paid up to four days faster, and you can see when your client has seen your invoice to put an end to the guessing games. So for your unrestricted free trial, go to freshbooks.com slash tech tips, we'll have that linked below, and enter Linus Tech Tips in the How Did You Hear About Us section. So thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do, but if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description. Also linked down there is our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one, and our community forum, which you should totally join. Community, community. That came out kind of weird. That's okay. That's okay because I have all of the- this, like, amazing American money that could just as easily be hundreds as ones, because you can't really tell unless you look really closely at it. Money!