TCL has been hit by the news that its recently launched 5-Series and 6-Series Google TVs have been pulled from Best Buy, one of North America’s biggest online retailers.
Best Buy has removed both of the TVs from its listings, apparently in response to numerous complaints and poor reviews the TVs have received. Buyers have complained of stability issues with the user interface and software that powers the displays.
Those issues include numerous complaints that the software is slow and buggy. The interface also fails to react properly to remote control commands. Some users have also complained that the entire TV crashes, prompting a soft reset.
The Verge reported that TCL is working to iron out the bugs and that it hopes to have its Google TVs back on Best Buy soon.
“TCL is committed to delivering premium products with world-class experiences and the new product featuring Google TV is certainly no different,” the company said in a statement to 9to5Google. “However, it has come to our attention that some are facing challenges with the stability of the user interface featured on TCL sets with Google TV. Our high-performance TVs are constantly evolving and recent software updates have allowed us to make significant progress, but we are continuing to refine our products featuring Google TV. Our customers will see marked improvements in the weeks to come and their patience is appreciated.”
TCL’s 5-Series and 6-Series TVs were launched in the U.S. in August. They are premium TVs, with the latter model featuring a Mini-LED display with thousands of local dimming zones, plus HDMI 2.1. The launch was significant because it represented a big departure for TCL, which has for years partnered exclusively with Roku TV in the U.S.
The teething problems are not a huge surprise, given that this is the first time TCL has implemented Google TV on its TVs. It’s quite likely much of the hardware was never designed to work with Google TV given the company’s long relationship with Roku. That is the likely source of many of the errors users have reported.
It’s a shame for users because the Google TV platform is better than Android in many ways. The user interface is friendlier, and there have been a number of updates that make navigating through the menus and finding content easier. It’s also nice for fans of the brand to have a second choice in addition to the Roku platform.
TCL should be able to iron out the bugs in a few months, after which we’re sure Best Buy will welcome back its products. Note that the TCL 5-Series and 6-Series TVs can still be purchased on other online stores, such as Amazon, as well as physical shops. They are also available to buy in some European countries.
Sony has also shifted to the Google TV platform with its 2021 TVs, but thankfully has not experienced any similar teething problems.
