TCL QM7K Review

I’ve already written astatine magnitude however awesome TCL’s probe and improvement has been implicit the past 4 years erstwhile I praised the entry-level QM6K earlier this year. But fixed that television’s debased price, determination were, of course, immoderate things TCL couldn’t adhd to the experience.

Looking astatine the $1,500 TCL QM7K (and it’s often discounted good beneath that), you tin spot what a small spot much fund tin get: it’s importantly brighter, halo power is adjacent better, disconnected space viewing is superb for this benignant of panel, and the wide acquisition – from navigating the paper and watching your favourite shows to playing high-level competitory video games – looks and feels spectacular.

If you were to archer maine the QM7K was to beryllium TCL’s flagship LED offering of 2025, I would person believed you.

Note: each specifications mentioned are for the 65-inch mentation of this television, which is the portion IGN reviewed.

TCL QM7K – Design and Build

Just arsenic was the lawsuit with the QM6K, the QM7K doesn’t basal retired astatine archetypal glimpse erstwhile it comes to design. Oddly, and I can’t fig retired wherefore tv companies support doing this, TCL did take a antithetic ft plan for the QM7K versus the QM6K, and it’s 1 I deliberation is worse. Instead of a dual-foot plan that keeps the country straight beneath the sheet wide and disposable for a dependable bar, the QM7K alternatively uses a azygous ample center-aligned foot.

While I admit the improved cablegram absorption that comes with this choice, TCL made that ft somewhat slanted down from backmost to front, meaning adjacent if you bash equilibrium a soundbar connected it, it slopes, changing the space of the barroom and making it look similar it’s going to descent off. As a result, I opted not to usage my soundbar with this TV, which (as I’ll get to successful the audio section) was to my detriment.

If you’re utilizing a wireless dependable strategy oregon an audio solution that is not the accepted dependable barroom (like bookshelf-style speakers specified arsenic the Klipsch The Fives), past determination are lone advantages to TCL’s design. The 2 bladed side-mounted feet of the QM6K were not conducive to hiding cables, truthful you could easy spot them dangling down. The QM7K hides them adroitly and tin fell aggregate acknowledgment to a hidden sheet successful the backmost of the stand. It’s a sleeker, nicer wide look.

The remainder of the tv looks fundamentally identical to the QM6K. The borderline of the LED and the sheet are precise thin, and TCL doesn’t enactment its logo excessively overmuch successful your face. There are besides nary annoying LEDs anywhere, truthful the full sheet conscionable benignant of disappears into your partition erstwhile you’re watching streaming contented oregon playing video games. It’s comparatively thin, beauteous casual to acceptable up, and looks large either wall-mounted oregon connected a media console.

TCL QM7K – The Remote

Also unchanged is TCL’s remote, which is the nonstop aforesaid plan recovered connected the QM6K, truthful I’ll marque the aforesaid comments I did present arsenic I did there. The fully-plastic plan doesn’t overwhelm with excessively galore options and features a “hamburger” for speedy entree to the astir important TV settings (and holding it down successful Game Mode activates the Game Bar) arsenic good arsenic the accepted cogwheel icon for afloat settings access. It different features the acquainted suspects: volume, channels, dependable control, input, etc.

It’s simple, perfectly sized (in my opinion), and offers conscionable the close magnitude of buttons to marque navigating and operating the tv easy. Again, it comes with six preset shortcut buttons and successful this case, my portion had Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Disney+, and TCL TV

TCL QM7K – Software and UI

TCL uses Google TV arsenic the operating system, and it’s a banal strategy with conscionable a fewer changes to the OS that Hisense makes to customize the acquisition for its users. If you’re coming from Google TV (or Android TV), you’ll person nary issues uncovering the settings you need.

I complained astir the processing velocity of the QM6K and that is 1 country that the other fund for the QM7K shows itself: this TV is overmuch snappier. It turns connected rapidly and responds to power commands without unnecessary lag. Over the people of my investigating period, I didn’t consciousness similar the acquisition was getting immoderate slower, which does hap sometimes, arsenic I judge Google TV is precise resource-heavy. Over years of use, expect the acquisition to dilatory down precise slightly, but fixed however accelerated the processor handles Google TV retired of the box, my semipermanent acquisition with the OS tells maine that you shouldn’t expect it to crook into a slog astatine immoderate constituent during this display’s lifetime.

While they are hard to debar these days, determination are ads built into the operating system. Google TV (and different tv operating systems) usually telephone these “suggestions,” and portion they mightiness sometimes beryllium a bully acceptable for you, you tin crook a bulk of them disconnected by activating the “apps lone mode” successful the idiosyncratic settings. That doesn’t get escaped of the big, main banner connected the location page, which is the biggest ad, but it does de-clutter the interface a batch and makes Google TV easy the slightest ad-filled of each the operating systems available.

TCL QM7K – Picture Quality

TCL juiced-up the sheet of the QM7K importantly implicit its entry-level member the QM6K by mode of a substantially brighter panel, amended halo control, and large off-angle viewing. I can’t accidental for sure, but I’m consenting to stake the terms of much than tripling the highest brightness (from 900 to 3,000 nits) is wherefore colour accuracy took a hit.

While the QM6K showed outstanding colour accuracy, particularly for an entry-level panel, the QM7K is lone what I would picture arsenic “adequate.” For astir content, it volition bash conscionable good acknowledgment to its 95% sum of the sRGB colour gamut. sRGB is the easiest for panels similar this to deed and it’s successful DCI P3 and Adobe RGB wherever we tin spot a sheet commencement to interruption down, and that’s what happens here. The QM7K drops to a mediocre 65.5% Adobe RGB gamut sum and 67.3% DCI P3 gamut coverage, which is immoderate of the worst show I’ve seen connected a sheet successful immoderate time, particularly successful this mid range. The mean Delta E is beauteous bully astatine 2.22, but I deliberation by pushing the backlight sheet arsenic precocious arsenic TCL did, it came astatine the outgo of large color.

Looking astatine the display’s earthy output, the contented appears to beryllium that retired of the box, the QM7K is pushing blues mode supra mean portion the reds and greens are some low, which sets the full equilibrium off. Luckily, this is each repairable with nonrecreational calibration but I don’t expect everyone who buys a caller TV to bash that.

The bully quality is that astir radical who are watching streaming contented (TVs and movies) oregon playing games connected either a console oregon a PC won’t notice.

Panel uniformity is beauteous good, prevention for a fewer spots successful the corners wherever colour dips beneath our threshold, but this show is not retired of the mean for a mini LED system, and the areas wherever colour isn’t cleanable connected this sheet thin not to beryllium areas wherever your attraction is focused erstwhile watching color-critical contented similar movies.

Overall, the sRGB accuracy is precocious capable that contented doesn’t look disconnected to the bare eye, which is large because, extracurricular of these alternatively mediocre colour results wherever I deliberation it’s just to accidental the QM7K struck out, the sheet is mashing location runs.

It is highly antithetic to spot an LED tv execute good erstwhile evaluating contrast, halo, and off-angle viewing. To get each 3 of these factors nether control, you usually person to spell with OLED technology. TCL packed the QM7K with 2,500 dimming zones and an precocious strategy of micro lenses, a amended backlight controller, and a caller processor with reduced optical region to substantially trim the quality of halo.

TCL QM7K – Panel Uniformity Test

Halo is the “glow” that appears astir agleam singular points of airy acceptable against a acheronian background. Because LED televisions usage blocks of backlights per radical of pixels, these thin to beryllium wholly unavoidable (in contrast, OLED televisions person nonstop power of each pixel, which means halo doesn’t beryllium astatine all). While determination is halo disposable connected the QM7K, it is mode little noticeable than I’m utilized to seeing from different LED makers. You person to truly beryllium looking for it and the information it’s this bully means TCL deserves immoderate superior praise. The lone televisions that artifact halo amended are OLEDs and the adjacent much precocious (and mode much expensive) TCL QM8K.

From that, you tin stitchery that TCL has truly bully power of its backlight strategy and that has a secondary benefit: large contrast. While it is again abbreviated of an OLED, the QM7K has fantastic ocular contrast, capable to execute truly bully achromatic levels that assistance scenes look much dynamic.

The utmost powerfulness of the backlight helps HDR contented look great, too. 3,000 nits of highest brightness is really excessively overmuch for maine (a rarity), and during wide usage testing, I ran the QM7K astatine astir 90% of maximum due to the fact that agleam scenes were really hurting my eyes successful my investigating studio. That gives maine precocious assurance that this tv volition person perfectly nary occupation overcoming bright, window-filled surviving rooms. Bring connected the sun, due to the fact that the QM7K volition overwhelm it acknowledgment to a operation of the backlight and its anti-reflective coating.

The QM7K has enactment for each of the astir communal HDR profiles, including Dolby Vision, HDR 10 and 10+, arsenic good arsenic hybrid log gamma and IMAX Enhanced.

If you tweak your settings a bit, stutter and judder are some efficaciously eliminated connected this television, but I bash privation to enactment this isn’t thing that is existent consecutive retired of the box. TCL, dissimilar Samsung, trusts its users to beryllium capable to set a multitude of settings to tailor a viewing acquisition to their circumstantial tastes. I similar this and often praise Sony for the aforesaid thing, truthful I person to springiness recognition to TCL here.

TCL QM7K – Gaming Performance

When I archetypal fired up Marvel Rivals connected the QM7K, I really squinted and audibly uttered, “wow that’s bright.” The “wow” continued for the remainder of my clip with this television, arsenic games look genuinely fantastic connected this TV.

I cognize that determination are a batch of folks who don’t bask having their phones oregon computers acceptable to max brightness, but if you’re similar me, you typically do. I deliberation that erstwhile you person a precise agleam source, it tends to marque downsides of that sheet little obvious. That is decidedly the lawsuit here. If you program to tally the QM7K to astatine slightest 80% of its maximum output, you’re going to find that the downsides of an LED sheet and this peculiar tv some don’t substance arsenic much. When highlights and shadows are rendered this well, you’re conscionable going to bask the ride.

No, opposition ratio is inactive good beneath an OLED truthful games similar Cyberpunk 2077 connected PC don’t look arsenic bully arsenic they bash connected a tv that costs doubly arsenic much, but they inactive look fantastic. You won’t beryllium disappointed. As a bonus, if you crippled successful a brightly-lit surviving room, you’re going to bask the QM7K acold much than you would thing similar the Bravia 8 adjacent though the second is an OLED. TCL’s TV is conscionable overmuch amended astatine overcoming glare and agleam ambient lighting, making daytime gaming a batch much enjoyable.

TCL continues to supply its Game Bar which gives you a bully magnitude of power to customize your circumstantial acquisition with gaming. There are a fewer profiles that set the shadiness item for competitory shooters versus the richer opposition you mightiness privation for a azygous subordinate RPG and these tin beryllium dialed successful further with a shadiness item option. If you privation to marque definite you don’t miss a people successful the shadows erstwhile you’re playing Call of Duty oregon Apex Legends, past you tin boost the shadows a spot to wherever the blacks don’t conscionable ink out.

TCL QM7K – Audio Quality

This is simply a acquainted refrain, but I don’t similar the audio prime retired of the QM7K. Sure, it’s tuned by Bang and Olufsen but adjacent a high-end audio institution can’t marque thing retired of nothing. Because determination is truthful small country successful the chassis of the television, determination conscionable isn’t capable abstraction to render due mid and bass response. As a result, euphony sounds peculiarly bare and hollow, portion the deficiency of impressive, heavy bass makes definite scenes successful movies similar Dune conscionable autumn flat.

I volition accidental that vocal ranges are precise casual to perceive connected the TV, which mightiness beryllium the astir important facet of audio for immoderate listeners. I conscionable expect much retired of speakers adjacent if I’ve lone been met with disappointment for the 7 years I’ve been reviewing televisions.

What makes this occupation worse is the basal plan I mentioned astatine the opening of this review. Because astir radical usage soundbars, I don’t cognize however TCL expects you to enactment 1 nether this tv unless you program connected partition mounting the panel. If you’re similar maine and hatred doing that, alternatively preferring to usage the included basal connected a media console, you’re going to beryllium warring with a plan that seems to person wholly forgotten soundbars are important, contempt the information TCL has a full enactment of them.

TCL QM7K – The Competition

TCL intelligibly has Samsung connected the caput erstwhile it designs LED televisions. Samsung has been starring the mode successful LED sheet income contempt the information that I don’t deliberation the company’s exertion determination is peculiarly good. Sure, Samsung’s QD-OLED sheet is incredible, but it seems to beryllium mostly ignoring its modular LED panels.

The QM7K competes straight against Samsung’s QN90D and QN85D and I deliberation it blows some retired of the water. It has amended backlight power which results successful amended halo suppression, it gets a 3rd brighter, and gives users much options to customize the acquisition (Samsung’s Tizen operating strategy is peculiarly atrocious erstwhile it comes to good tuning control).

TCL is besides up against Hisense and its U8 series, and portion the halo power isn’t rather arsenic bully arsenic what TCL has, the remainder of the bundle is close up determination successful quality. Hisense makes large TVs and they’ve gone blow-for-blow with TCL successful caller years.