Best Buy just pulled TCL Google TVs — here’s why

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Best Buy isn't selling TCL Google TVs right now — and alleged performance issues could be the cause

TCL Google TV
(Image credit: Future)

Update: TCL TVs are now back on sale at Best Buy after the company issued a software fix.

Earlier this year, TCL announced a new range of 6-Series and 5-Series TVs that would run on the new Google TV, rather than on the Roku platform. Well, it seems that change might not have been for the better — because those TVs have now been pulled from sale, reportedly due to software issues.

We didn’t run into any issues when we reviewed the TCL 5-Series Google TV (S546) — in fact, we loved it, awarding it 4.5 stars and giving it a place in our best TVs list. 

However, it seems complaints over the TVs' performance aren't rare, with multiple posts on Reddit and Best Buy’s own product reviews page mentioning problems. 

In the past, TCL has sold televisions powered by a wide range of software, including a select few powered by Android TV. However, Google TV is a relatively new system, having launched earlier this year. 

TCL told The Verge that it has already rolled out updates designed to improve the TVs’ performance and that “customers will see marked improvements in the weeks to come.” 

It's also important to note that Best Buy has yet to confirm whether these issues are the reason why the TVs are no longer available, or whether stock problems are involved. In the meantime, let's hope TCL can figure out the problems quickly, because we were certainly impressed by them in our testing and consider them some of the best Google TVs.

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Tom Pritchard
Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.