Roku Select Series 40R3D5 40"

The Roku platform on this TV is the best we've tested, 100th percentile, and that's the main reason to buy it. The 1080p display with no HDR is a real compromise, sitting at 6th percentile for display. At USD 78 to USD 218 depending on the vendor, it's a great budget pick if you shop smart and don't expect 4K.

Let's be honest about what this TV is. The 1080p Full HD resolution on a 40-inch Direct LED panel puts it near the bottom of our display rankings, 6th percentile. No HDR support either, which sits at 13th percentile. So if you're expecting deep blacks and punchy highlights, this isn't your set. Picture quality overall lands at 36th percentile, which is mediocre by our standards.

Where it shines is the smart platform. The Roku TV interface is the best we've tested, 100th percentile. Three HDMI ports with HDMI 2.0 handle your streaming sticks and consoles, though gaming performance is rough at 18th percentile with a 60Hz panel. Audio is a basic 2.0 channel setup with Dolby Audio, sitting at 42nd percentile. It's fine for casual viewing but you'll want a soundbar for anything cinematic.

Against the TCL Q6-Series 65Q651G, the Roku loses on raw picture quality. The TCL brings 4K and likely better HDR support, but the Roku's smart platform is genuinely better. The Samsung Q7F QN43Q7FAAFXZA is a QLED with far superior picture, but you're paying a premium for it. The Sony BRAVIA 2 II K43S20M2 offers better processing and picture quality, though Sony's Google TV interface is busier than Roku's clean layout. The Hisense QD6 Series 65QD6QF and LG QNED 65QNED70AUA are both bigger and sharper, but they're also in a different price class. If you want the simplest streaming experience and don't care about 4K, the Roku wins on software alone.

Pricing is all over the place depending on where you shop. In the US, we're seeing listings from USD 78 to USD 218 across 7 vendors. That's a USD 140 spread, which is wild for a budget TV. The low end is an absolute steal for a 40-inch smart TV with this platform. European buyers face a different reality, EUR 580 to EUR 765 across 2 listings, a EUR 185 gap. If you're in the US, shop around. The cheapest listing is where this TV makes the most sense. At the high end of that range, you're creeping into territory where a 4K set starts looking tempting.

The Roku Select Series 40R3D5 nails the smart TV part. Its Roku platform sits at the 100th percentile in our database, which means it's literally the best smart TV experience we've tracked. Apps launch fast, the interface is dead simple, and you get 500+ free channels baked in. The social proof is strong too, 88th percentile, backed by a 4.6-star average across 1,009 reviews. People genuinely like this thing.

But the display itself is where the budget shows. It's a 40-inch 1080p panel with no HDR, landing at the 6th percentile for display and 13th for HDR. That's not a typo. If you're coming from a 4K set, you'll notice. For a bedroom or kitchen TV though, it's a reasonable trade-off for the price.

If you care about picture quality, this isn't your TV. The 1080p resolution with no HDR puts it at the 6th percentile for display in our database, and gaming performance is even worse at 18th percentile. Anyone with a 4K source, a modern console, or a decent-sized living room should look elsewhere. The audio is also basic at 42nd percentile, so home theater enthusiasts will need a soundbar immediately. And if you're in Europe, the EUR 580 to EUR 765 pricing makes this a much harder sell than the US prices.

The Roku Select Series 40R3D5 is a smart platform with a budget TV attached. The Roku interface is genuinely the best in the business, 100th percentile in our database, and that's what you're really buying here. The 1080p panel, lack of HDR, and weak gaming performance are real compromises, but for a bedroom, kitchen, or kids' room, they're acceptable. The 4.6-star rating from over a thousand buyers tells you most people are happy with what they got. Just don't pay the high end of that USD 218 range. At the lower end, this is a solid deal.