TCL QM8K Review: The Best Mid-Tier TV

The primary option to inform how previous a TV is? Take a look at the bezels. Till about 10 years in the past, they had been thick image frames, however they’ve slowly reduced in size and smaller because the fashions turned over. With its new QM8K QLED, TCL has eliminated them solely.Improvements in panel design imply that this blindingly vivid display screen seems prefer it’s floating in house on its pedestal mount. It’s an aesthetic social gathering trick that makes it simple to cover on the wall with pictures or paintings on it, and it improves the viewing angle besides.This flagship mannequin prices a fairly penny greater than TCL’s different value-first choices, however that’s for good purpose: It competes instantly with costlier mini LED fashions from Samsung and Sony, and the good viewing angle and brightness even give high-end OLED fashions a run for his or her cash. In order for you a superb image and nice apps for much less, you may get it with a extra reasonably priced Hisense or TCL mannequin, however in order for you an incredible image, that is probably the most reasonably priced option to get it this 12 months.Out of the BoxPhotograph: Parker HallThe expertise of organising the QM8K is mainly the identical as with every different TV. The QM8K is available in a big cardboard field surrounded by foam, and also you’ll need two folks to drag it out, put it on a delicate floor like a mattress or desk with a blanket, and set up the included pedestal mount. It comes with an influence cable and backlit (!) distant, however you’ll want to produce your personal HDMI cables if you wish to join something to any of its 4 ports (two HDMI 2.1, two HDMI 2.0).I all the time love a TV with a pedestal mount, and this mount is sturdy and straightforward to connect. It additionally lets you tilt the TV. Likewise, the included Google TV interface is extraordinarily simple to make use of, with QR-based logins for primarily each trendy streaming app, and speedy swaps between apps (one thing I had a difficulty with on final 12 months’s TCL fashions).The TV helps Chromecast and Airplay 2, which makes casting music and YouTube clips tremendous simple for people who’re visiting and in your Wi-Fi. The TV has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 assist, and it was greater than able to maintaining with 4K streaming on my mesh community at house. It has Ethernet as properly, must you need to hard-wire in for the quickest speeds.No BezelsPhotograph: Parker HallThe lack of bezels isn’t instantly noticeable for those who’re not on the lookout for it, however when you see that the brushed gunmetal body of the TV now instantly transitions to display screen after simply 3.2 millimeters—reasonably than having a ten mm-ish black rim—each comparable mannequin appears previous and drained. The attractive crystal WHVA panel is able to as much as 3,040 native dimming zones (relying on the dimensions of TV you purchase), which makes for a surprising picture, and the shortage of body makes it appear like the image is hovering in house.