The TCL QLED TV I most recommend offers crystal-clear picture quality at an affordable price

What’s the deal?

Various models of TCL QM8 (2024) have received great discounts at Finest Purchase. You can buy the 65-inch and 75-inch screens for $900 and $1,300, respectively. Finest Purchase is also dropping the 85-inch model to $2,000. However, if you want to go very large (at 98 inches), you will have to look Amazon at the best price.

As this year’s high offering, TCL’s latest flagship TV, the QM8It promised to be a notable upgrade over the 2023 version. I spent some time with it over the last month to see what it was all about.

The first pleasant surprise I found was how TCL made it easy to unbox the 65-inch model we had sent to the ZDNET lab. Using a single slice of cardboard on the bottom of one side of the box, the top was lifted to free the TV for installation.

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While this is very convenient, handling the TV and attaching its stand, as with any other large TV, is best done as a two-person job. (Incidentally, the 65-inch is the smallest of the QM851G series, with 98 inches at the top end of the scale.)

One notable change compared to last year’s model is that the QM8 now has a single central platform for its base instead of two separate feet. This set amounts to a sturdy unit with plenty of stability and allows the TV to be placed on a coffee table or media stand that is smaller than the full width of the screen.

Off, the QM8 looks like a sleek black rectangle with virtually no bezel surrounding its 57 x 32.5-inch frame. The slim sides of the unit have a brushed bronze finish, giving it a subtle and elegant appearance. Normally you would have to pay a fraction more of the price to get something with comparable definition.

The unit’s remote control feels comfortable to hold with a fairly narrow width of 1.25 inches. The keys are fully backlit and include a microphone button for voice commands through Google. It also has shortcut buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Pluto and, of course, TCL+television. Naturally, these are the default apps that appear on the home page of the TV interface. I found it curious that the TCL+television app appeared twice in the list of available apps (instead of Apple TV or Pluto), but it is a TCL TV after all.

Knowing that very few people read the instructions for using a TV, I took the remote control and gave it a “gut test” to see how quickly I could connect to the Web and get started. The QM8’s user interface is clean and simple, and it runs on the Google TV platform, an operating system that’s more minimalist than feature-rich—a good thing, in my opinion. Overall, getting started was a pretty simple process.

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Ok, I’ll move on to the part about performance and image quality.

The QM8 is a QLED TV with mini-LED backlighting, meaning it’s even brighter than most OLED models. In fact, the QM8 boasts a maximum brightness of up to 5000 nits, which is significantly higher than most TCL competitors in the same price range. Many high-end TVs, including other mini-LED models, typically top out at around 2,000 nits.

Mini-LED TVs use a series of LEDs to create precise dimming zones and, with up to 5,000 local dimming zones, the QM8 offers superior contrast management. This large number of zones allows for more precise backlight modulation and deeper blacks.

The QM8’s other advanced technologies, such as Quantum Dot shade enhancement and Dolby Imaginative and prescient IQ, result in exceptional image quality, high contrast and vivid colors. The extremely high-definition 4K resolution helps, as does its support for HDR10+, which produces a wider range of colors and brightness levels than standard dynamic range. As an improvement over last year’s model, the QM8 comes with an updated processor (the AiPQ Professional), which leverages machine learning to enable AI-based improvements such as AI Readability and AI Movement.

However, when positioned off-center, I found the TV’s viewing angles to be relatively narrow, which degraded picture quality in terms of color accuracy and contrast. This is a minor complaint, but something to consider when setting up your seating arrangement.

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The QM8’s panel has a variety of connection options, including four HDMI 2.1 ports, two of which support 120Hz 4K pass-through, FreeSync Premium Professional, and 144Hz VRR. Additionally, there are three USB ports and a 3.5 mm to connect headphones.

Other 3.5mm port options include composite video, stereo audio input, and optical digital audio output. It has an ATSC 3.0 tuner jack (in case the network crashes?), but you’ll mostly rely on your Wi-Fi 6 for fast connectivity. The QM8 also has an Ethernet port, which covers the bases for those who prefer wired Web.

For gamers, the QM8 has some attractive features. It supports a variable refresh rate of up to 144Hz at 4K resolution, which I found very nice. But it also has a “Sport Accelerator 240” feature that can make gaming smooth at 240Hz VRR, at the cost of playing at half 1080p resolution. No less, combined with the brightness and contrast inherent to this model, the gaming experience is secretly one of the QM8’s best assets.

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The Onkyo-designed QM8’s speaker system has an 80-watt, 2.1.2-channel configuration, a notable improvement over the 2023 model, which had relatively weak 20-watt, 2.1-channel speakers. The new model includes two upward-facing Dolby Atmos speakers located on the left and right sides of the frame. In addition to Dolby Atmos and DTS Digital:X, the audio quality is certified as IMAX Enhanced.

Watch old episodes of Lost, I found the sound of the QM8 to be crisp and bold. What I appreciate most is the TV’s automatic volume control, which levels out sudden increases in decibels, like explosions, and especially annoying ads.

ZDNET Buying Tips

For less than $900 in Best buy At the time of writing, the TCL QM8 offers incredible value for its size and variety of features. Comparable models in the size of sony It could cost double.

If you prioritize brightness, contrast, and high-end gaming, the QM8, at any size, is a solid investment for its cost. Just make sure you can position the TV (and yourself) well enough to get the best centered viewing angle and hopefully have a helping hand when unpacking the TV for the first time.