If you are looking for affordable 4K LED TV with QLED Technology, I’m sure that TCL S546 and S535 are two choices that should be considered. Both of TCL S546 and S535 are introduced by TCL as its TCL 5-Series. TCL S546 is introduced as TCL’s 2021 5-Series while TCL S535 was released as TCL’s 2020 5-Series. Both of TCL S546 and S535 come with 4 screen size options : 75-Inch (75S546 & 75S535), 65-Inch (65S546 & 65S535), 55-Inch (55S546 & 55S535) and 50-Inch (50S546 & 50S535). As the newer series, Is TCL S546 the one to choose? Let’s talk about similarities and differences of TCL S546 and S535 before we can answer that question.
TCL S546 and S535 Similarities
TCL S546 and S535 are both introduced as TCL 5-Series. So it’s easy to guess that there are a number of similarities between TCL S546 and S535. Let’s talk about their similarities together.
1. Quantum Dot Color
Both of TCL S546 and S535 come with Quantum dot color on top of its QLED display. Quantum dot color of those two TVs is able to delivers Wide Color Gamut so that we can enjoy rich and accurate color details on the screen of those two TVs.
2. Full Array LED Backlight with Contrast Control Zones
The backlight technology integrated with TCL S546 and S535 are similar. They both come with Full Array LED backlight that completed with Contrast Control Zones as its local dimming. Full Array LED backlight that completed with Contrast Control Zones allows us to enjoy excellent contrast vibrancy between the bright and dark part of the TV screen while also can delivers superior light uniformity.
3. Smart 4K Upscaling and AiPQ Engine
AiPQ Engine is the picture engine that integrated with TCL S546 and S535. AiPQ Engine is able to delivers Smart 4K Upscaling. With Smart 4K Upscaling, we can enjoy excellent picture clarity not only from original 4K content sources but also from non 4K contents that upscaled into near 4K picture quality. AiPQ Engine also can optimizes the color, clarity and contrast of the picture delivered on the screen of those two TVs.
4. Motion Technology
The motion technology integrated with TCL S546 and S535 are similar. They both come with Natural Motion 240 that based on 60Hz native refresh rate. Although it’s only based on 60Hz native refresh rate, Natural Motion 240 is still able to delivers fluid motion images from our favorite action movies and sports while brings minimum input lag when we use those two TVs as our gaming monitor.
5. Built-in Wifi and Audio Output
We can find that both of TCL S546 and S535 come with 802.11ac 2×2 Dual Band wireless to provides fast and stable internet connection to our favorite content providers. We can also find that both of TCL S546 and S535 come with similar 8W + 8W audio power output (except 75-Inch screen size options). We can also enjoy higher quality audio formats with additional AV system since both of TCL S546 and S535 already support eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel).
The similarities of TCL S546 and S535 can be summarized with the table below.
| TCL S546 | TCL S535 | |
| Display Technology | LED | LED |
| Screen Size Options |
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| LED Panel Type | QLED | QLED |
| Display Resolution | 4K UHD | 4K UHD |
| Backlight Technology | Full Array LED | Full Array LED |
| Dimming Technology | Contrast Control Zones | Contrast Control Zones |
| Upscaling Technology | Smart 4K Upscaling | Smart 4K Upscaling |
| Color Technology | Quantum Dot Color | Quantum Dot Color |
| Motion Technology | Natural Motion 240 (60Hz Native) | Natural Motion 240 (60Hz Native) |
| Picture Engine | AiPQ Engine | AiPQ Engine |
| Built-in Wi-fi | 802.11ac 2×2 Dual Band | 802.11ac 2×2 Dual Band |
| Speaker System |
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TCL S546 and S535 Differences
Besides a number of similarities that we have talked above, we can also find that there are few differences between TCL S546 and S535. Let’s talk more about those differences together.
1. Operating System
The main difference of TCL S546 and S535 comes from their operating system. TCL S546 comes with Google TV while TCL S535 comes with Roku TV. While they both basically can deliver your favorite contents, we can find that TCL S546 and S535 are quite different in interface and additional features.
2. HDR10+ Support
Both of TCL S546 and S535 already supports HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision. But we can indeed find that TCL S546 additionally support HDR10+. HDR10+ is able to delivers better result from HDR10 content as it can adds dynamic metadata into HDR10 content sources.
3. Gaming Technology
While they both come with similar Natural Motion 240 that based on 120Hz native refresh rate, we can find that the gaming technology integrated with TCL S546 and S535 are different. TCL S535 only supports Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) while TCL S546 also supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and FreeSync that allows us to enjoy more immersive gaming experience.
4. Remote Control and Control Support
The remote control that included with TCL S546 and S535 are different. TCL S546 comes with RC902N remote while TCL S535 comes with RC280 remote. RC902N is a voice remote that allows us to control TCL S546 with our voice while RC280 is standard remote that doesn’t come with built-in mic. But we can indeed use Roku Mobile App, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa to control TCL S535 with our voice.
5. Price
While they are introduced with similar price for similar screen size option, we can find that TCL S535 is often offered at slightly lower price since it’s indeed the series from older 2020 lineup. It’s recommended to check the price of TCL S546 and S535 before we can find their latest price difference, as TV prices often change from time to time.
We can summarize the differences of TCL S546 and S535 with the table below.
| TCL S546 | TCL S535 | |||||||||
| Introduced | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||
| Operating System | Google TV | Roku TV | ||||||||
| HDR Support |
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| Gaming Technology |
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Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) | ||||||||
| Remote Control | RC902N | RC280 | ||||||||
| Control Support |
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| Price | Slightly Higher | Slightly Lower | ||||||||
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Is TCL S546 the One to Choose?
TCL S546 and S535 are introduced as 2021 and 2020 version of TCL 5-Series. Is the newer TCL S546 the one to choose? From our discussion above, we can find that TCL S546 is the newer model that comes with Google TV as its operating system. It also already supports HDR10+ as well as VRR and FreeSync. In the price side, TCL S546 is usually offered at similar or a little higher in price than TCL S535. So if you prefer Google TV to Roku TV while you can also get HDR10+, VRR and FreeSync support as additional bonus, then TCL S546 is surely the one to choose.
| TCL S546 Prices | |
| 75-Inch (75S546) | Check Today’s Price (BestBuy.com)… |
| 65-Inch (65S546) | Check Today’s Price (BestBuy.com)… |
| 55-Inch (55S546) | Check Today’s Price (BestBuy.com)… |
| 50-Inch (50S546) | Check Today’s Price (BestBuy.com)… |
TCL S535 is the older 2020 5-series that comes with Roku TV as its operating system. It’s often offered at slightly lower in price as it’s indeed a year older. It also doesn’t support HDR10+ as well as VRR and FreeSync. So if you prefer Roku TV to Google TV, while you don’t mind with no HDR10+, VRR and FreeSync support, then TCL S535 is the one to choose.
| TCL S535 Prices | |
| 75-Inch (75S535) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
| 65-Inch (65S535) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
| 55-Inch (55S535) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
| 50-Inch (50S535) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |