It sounds like the processors/SoCs they are using aren't quite up to the task of running Google TV. Apparently the new Google TV OS is quite a bit more demanding than Android TV OS and TCL is essentially running the same chips they were on the previous Android TVs. They're not fast enough and they didn't give them quite enough ram, I've seen reports of 80% ram usage while just sitting on the home screen. Now they're trying to find a way out with a software fix and it clearly isn't going well.
I was annoyed when I seen Hisense didn't make the switch to Google TV with their latest gen and stuck with Android TV but this is probably the reason why.
I have a new TCL with AndroidTv. It runs just as fast as my Onn box with no lag or bugs. I avoided the TCL with GoogleTv since it had so many complaints of a bugging interface.
I have the 65 inch r646, there is a feature that allows you make tv to be just basic tv without added bullshit. You are limited to apps but if you know how to use adb debugging mode, you can sideload apps.
I was amazed at this news - really would love to have been a fly on the wall at the meeting when this decision was made.
At the time (few months ago) I made my purchase decision the Hisense U8G 55 was in stock and the TCL R646 55" was not... it basically came down to that for my decision point since both were getting good reviews and trading blows in terms of recommendations at the time.
Buy crappy brand get crappy experience
Yeah, I have a cheapo 32" TCL AndroidTV I bought during a sale (It was like $159) and I ended up adding a Chomecast w/GTV because the stock software was so buggy and unusable.
Simply one should buy a normal tv and add a Chromecast with Google tv device
I bought a rather large TCL and indeed, the YT app crashes regularly. Netflix is far more reliable.
Bought a TCL R646 recently. It's shit. Picture is nice but the software is god-awful. Google Assistant just randomly stops working requiring a reboot, the thing refuses to pass more than two channels of audio back to a receiver over eARC, etc. Just further proof that you should never buy a TV based on its "features." Buy for specs and put whatever separate streaming device you want on it.
Yeah Sony is much better, their Google TV A80/90J are fast in comparison
Yea, we have one of these and they are incredibly slow to start up. Maybe 30-60 seconds of terrible lag when turning on before they are usable, then slow to move around, work with apps... Once you stream something it seems OK, but the whole UI is super slow and laggy. Compared to the Roku versions of the same TCL TVs, they are terrible. That said the quality of the TV panel itself is good, just the OS is awful.
bought one of these TLC last year during Black Friday... took it back within the week. was not wanting to commit to tv with crappy hardware/software built-in. I just stay with the google tv dongle if I want android tv.
We use a chromecast w/android tv instead of the native OS. same interface without TCL apps mucking it up
We bought a TCL 55R646 a while back. The picture was phenomenal compared to other TV's in the same price range. However, the TV would randomly power off on it's own. We returned it and bought a Sony 55X90J (also Google TV). The picture isn't quite as nice as the TCL, but we've had absolutely no issues the software.
bought a 55 for $650 recently. its really not as bad as they make it out. an update that came out around thanksgiving really did wonders to the OS. Given that its hdmi 2.1, has VRR and ALLM, wifi 6, a great picture...it's a great deal. Maybe I'm able to deal with bugs more given my techie background.
The only real issue i have left with it is the Quick-resume feature. Every time it resumes the wifi wont turn on and i have to restart the tv. Turned quick-resume off and though it takes about a minute to boot, I never had issues with wifi anymore.
one thing i love about it vs using a chromecast dongle is the usable space. The chromecast dongle just doesnt have enough and i'm constantly having to clear up space. The TV has a lot more.
I have this r646 - it was buggy at first but seems fine now which is weird cos no updates have been done
does anyone know how to get the sound to come out of headphones somehow? My roku tv you can stream sound to the roku app on the phone then to headphones is there such a feature for google tv?
I bought mine in Europe and there is nothing slow or buggy. A few apps are difficult but I don't think that has anything to do with the Google part of it.
Kinda glad I bought a Roku. I already have a Shield TV for whatever I want from Google. The Roku content is just a bonus, and it might as well be a different platform.
Bought a cheap 32' TCL some months ago because my Sony died for good. Using it as a monitor for my Laptop. Tried different firmware versions on it until I found a stable working one. So far I can't complain. The image is good and on the Android TV side (9) everything is working well. A bonus is that I could add an USB stick as internal storage. Of course the CCwGTV I also have is faster, but until now I couldn't find a working Hub to expand the very low storage on it.
Bought the 55S546 and it freezes up constantly regardless of which app we’re streaming with. Makes it hard to watch anything because we get intermittent pauses. I purposely got the google OS just because I’ve never been a big fan of Roku. Now I’m not sure what to do because we stupidly got rid of the box. Feel like I’m stuck.
It's the hardware too, not just the software. It's slow, outdated, and none of their Android TVs fully support CEC control meaning you can't just use a shield or Google TV seamlessly.
Got no problems with my TCL TV. Runs just as well as my sony G series
Yeah when I worked at Best Buy the least worst budget brand that we recommended was Hisense. TCL and Vizio saw so many returns and just generally bad experiences that we could never recommend them in good conscience.