Four years in the past, TCL was main the best way within the inexpensive tv area – that was till Hisense began to take the {industry} by storm. TCL was outclassed by Hisense pricing and efficiency and it seemed prefer it couldn’t discover a option to stand out.
That has modified. Last 12 months’s QM7 confirmed hints of what TCL was able to, however the brand-new QM6K takes its know-how to a different stage. I’ve by no means examined an LED tv with a mixture of this stage of off-angle distinction management, halo suppression, and distinction at this worth. The end result is without doubt one of the greatest TVs for gaming on the $1,000 worth level.
Note: all specs talked about are for the 65-inch model of this tv, which is the unit IGN reviewed.
TCL QM6K – Design and Build
TCL isn’t breaking any new floor with the design of the QM6K. This is an unassuming, easy flatscreen that’s 2.2 inches deep with out the stand – however with it included, you’ll must make room for 11.69 inches on a media console. Three of the edges function very slim bezels whereas the underside has a skinny silver base that has a further small bump within the center for the IR receiver and microphone mute change.
This is a really mild tv and a fairly robust grownup can hoist it and the field over their shoulder with relative ease. In distinction to trendy OLED televisions which might be extraordinarily heavy, it’s simple to navigate the QM6K’s 38 kilos round and get it positioned in a front room.
The toes don’t have the very best design. While most producers embrace metallic dimples or guides to guarantee that it isn’t attainable to put in the toes incorrectly, TCL went with plastic nubs that just about immediately shear off. It’s additionally simply attainable to put in the toes backward and never discover. The directions are undoubtedly required, which is uncommon since toes set up is normally very self-explanatory.
The rear of the tv sports activities a 40W, three-speaker system. TCL’s enter format is the reverse of what most producers select, with the facility port on the left facet (when dealing with the display) and all the opposite inputs on the fitting.
The QM6K has 4 HDMI ports and two of them help the utmost 4K at 144Hz – which is turning into the usual for televisions. The different two are slower (simply 4K at 60p) however fortunately a type of slower ports is used for eARC, which means you don’t must waste one of many high-performance ports in your soundbar or sound system like it’s important to with a Sony tv. TCL additionally included one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, an RF enter, and an optical port.
There is zero cable administration on the QM6K and whereas I admire the design of the included toes, I’m not a fan of how that is turning into the norm. I don’t like seeing cables dangle throughout the again via the area underneath the panel and never offering me with any option to information them to the again of these toes, not less than, isn’t nice. TCL isn’t the one one doing this however that doesn’t forgive the exclusion of cable administration of any form.
TCL QM6K – The Remote
TCL’s distant management design is bigger in each top and width than the {industry} common, nevertheless it’s not cumbersome. The fully-plastic design doesn’t overwhelm with too many choices and incorporates a “hamburger” for fast entry to crucial TV settings (and holding it down in Game Mode prompts the Game Bar) in addition to the normal gear icon for full settings entry. It in any other case options the acquainted suspects: quantity, channels, voice management, enter, and many others.
It comes with six pre-installed shortcuts, too. My evaluate pattern had buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, Youtube, Apple TV, TCL TV, and Disney+. Five out of the six of these choices are fashionable, usually used providers, which is sweet to see.
TCL QM6K – Software and UI
TCL, like Hisense and Sony, makes use of Google TV because the working system and it’s a inventory system with simply a few modifications which might be particular to the TCL expertise.
I’ll say that one weak level of the QM6K is the processing pace. The TV can take just a few seconds longer than you would possibly count on to fireside up and inputs on the distant can really feel only a hair laggy, particularly if you happen to’re asking it to begin up a brand new app or if you happen to attempt to instantly go to the enter choices whenever you first flip it on. It may also typically not react to button presses after which, 10 seconds later, react to them abruptly as in the event that they had been caught up in a queue. This isn’t frequent, nevertheless it does occur.
Google TV is likely to be a resource-hungry working system as a result of I’ve observed this is usually a drawback throughout all the producers who select to make use of it, so I don’t notably maintain this expertise in opposition to TCL, nevertheless it’s nonetheless price mentioning.
Google TV’s default is affected by “strategies” – AKA adverts – which is turning into the norm with all good TV interfaces, sadly. You can flip these off by activating Apps Only Mode however even that by no means eliminates the large banner on the high of the house display. All that stated, Google TV by no means autoplays something from the house display not like different methods (I’m you Samsung Tizen), so it’s nonetheless one of many least offensive choices accessible. It additionally has help for each fashionable streaming service, so that you gained’t be with out choices.
TCL QM6K – Picture Quality
It’s price noting that the QM6K is TCL’s entry-level miniLED tv, which implies the recently-reviewed QM7 from 2024 – which is now extra inexpensive than the QM6K – sits larger up on the road. The worth minimize is as a result of it’s final 12 months’s mannequin, nevertheless it is likely to be tough to rationalize spending extra for the entry-level QM6K versus choosing up the QM7 mid-level tv for a reduction.
There are causes to take action, nevertheless. Firstly, wanting on the coloration efficiency of the QM6K, it’s virtually nearly as good as final 12 months’s QM7. It covers 99.8%, 81.3%, and 89.6% of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI P3 coloration gamuts, respectively – all with a mean Delta E of 0.64 and by no means greater than 2.85, which is excellent. Other than the dip in Adobe RGB protection (which actually solely issues if you happen to intend to make use of the TV as a monitor for color-critical work), the QM6K’s coloration variations in comparison with the QM7 are going to be usually imperceptible. I’ll say the TV pushes blues so much (similar to the QM7 does), so chances are you’ll wish to heat up the colour temperature a bit to even out the tones (this tends to make your eyes much less drained anyway, so it’s a win-win).
Panel uniformity is fairly good, dipping solely in a single nook of the show I examined – that outperforms the uniformity I examined on the QM7 final 12 months. Panel uniformity varies from TV to TV, so your outcomes might range, however what TCL seems to have accomplished right here could be very spectacular for a reasonable, entry-level tv.
I feel pores and skin tones and panorama coloration each look actually good on the QM6K, particularly with native 4K content material. I’ll say that the upscaling know-how within the QM6K isn’t industry-leading and may end up in footage that appears a tad out of focus or fuzzy. That means broadcast TV can endure a bit, however streaming TVs and films will look nice.
That latter be aware is very the case given the QM6K’s excellent HDR coloration help. It has a number of image settings together with a Filmmaker mode and the TV helps Dolby Vision along with HDR 10, 10+, HLG, and IMAX/IMAX Enhanced. You will likely be hard-pressed to seek out an HDR film that the QM6K can’t present in its meant HDR profile.
Where the QM6K falls in a head-to-head matchup with the QM7 is in peak brightness. This new tv peaks within the 900 nit vary, which is effectively beneath the 1,500 nits the QM7 packs. However, this isn’t a straight downgrade as a result of TCL sacrificed some brightness to compensate and overcome the largest weaknesses of the QM7: off-angle viewing and halo.
In giant residing rooms, a large viewing angle is essential so that everybody, probably seated in a large fan form across the TV, sees the identical top quality picture. Typically LEDs – and particularly extra inexpensive ones – see instant and noticeable dropoff in high quality by shifting even just a few levels to the fitting or left of heart.
The QM6K has no perceptible loss in coloration saturation or distinction between viewing it head-on and seeing it from the edges, which is extraordinarily spectacular.
Perhaps much more spectacular is the very well-controlled halo on the QM6K. Halo refers to a glow that seems round brightly lit objects set in opposition to darkish backgrounds. The commonest on a regular basis option to discover that is watching super-wide films or TV exhibits with captions or subtitles which is able to usually sit in opposition to a pure black background beneath the on-screen content material. Most LED televisions wrestle right here and the lettering will seem to have a giant, white, hazy glow round them, which isn’t solely distracting however may also make it tougher to learn the phrases.
OLEDs get round this by their potential to solely illuminate the precise pixels which might be mandatory, however LEDs use dimming zones, and people are a lot bigger than particular person pixels – and are the reason for that halo. TCL does use dimming zones within the QM6K – 500, to be actual – but additionally combines this with a brand new “halo management system” layer.
Compared to the QM7, I might estimate the halo to be decreased by upward of 85-90%. You actually must search for it to catch it, and whereas there’s nonetheless some current, it’s top-of-the-line suppression applied sciences that I’ve seen on a non-OLED show. Combined with the superb off-angle viewing expertise, content material seen on the QM6K will look considerably higher – albeit not as vibrant – in comparison with the QM7.
I observed some stutter, particularly on content material that’s transferring vertically throughout the body and when within the Filmmaker or Movie modes, however TCL’s movement readability set on low instantly eliminated the issue. Even higher, I don’t suppose the movement readability adversely impacts different content material and avoids giving photographs that sickly, overly easy look that movement settings usually do. While I normally advocate forgoing movement smoothing of any form, I feel you possibly can “set it and neglect it” on low with the QM6K and be more than happy with the outcomes.
If your TV room is brightly lit with a lot of home windows, the QM6K won’t be able to beat that brightness as simply because the QM7 from final 12 months. Added to that’s the very shiny, reflective look of the QM6K’s entrance panel which is able to glare fairly simply (which needs to be seen in my photographs). However, in dimmer rooms the place its brightness is much less mandatory, the QM6K is a significantly better tv.
TCL QM6K – Gaming Performance
The very first thing I examined on the QM6K was its gaming help and it’s there that I’ve been most impressed. TCL says to count on video games to feel and appear improbable on this tv due to the variable refresh charge (VRR) accelerator which takes the 144Hz HDMI 2.1 most throughput and doubles it to a perceived 288.
I can’t actually inform the distinction after we begin to go larger than 150Hz, however what I can say is that aggressive multiplayer gaming feels spectacular. Both Marvel Rivals and Apex Legends are snappy and buttery easy with no lag or perceived body loss (not less than not due two the tv).
TCL additionally contains help for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro which implies avid gamers will discover a good expertise whether or not they’re utilizing a PC or a console.
That 144Hz can also be the tv’s native refresh charge, which implies the panel is definitely able to matching the speeds which might be being pushed to it, so even with out the assistance of VRR, the QM6K manages to really feel as quick and performant as an OLED for aggressive gaming.
TCL contains entry to its Game Bar which provides you extra management over how video games look. There are just a few profiles that modify the shadow element for aggressive shooters versus the richer distinction you may want for a single participant RPG and these could be dialed in additional with a shadow element possibility. All of the advantages that make the QM6K nice for 4K films and tv are there in equal measure for gaming, which implies sofa co-op gained’t be negatively affected by unhealthy viewing angles and narrative-driven video games can have the colour and distinction that match Hollywood’s greatest.
Given that the weakest level of this tv is its brightness, I feel top-of-the-line use instances for the QM6K is deployment in a gaming room or basement. There, it has greater than sufficient brightness to ship an amazing expertise and the entry-level worth mixed with its glorious options makes it superb as a family’s “second TV.”
TCL QM6K – Audio Quality
If there’s one place I’m disillusioned with the QM6K, it’s with the audio high quality: it’s unhealthy. Not solely does it lack the mids and lows that could be a widespread drawback with all flatscreens, it is usually terribly unbalanced. The sound seems mushy and muddled and the reliance on the highs means music can sound downright harsh.
Voices are clear, not less than, but when there are any competing sounds subsequent to these voices, they’ll simply get misplaced – particularly for deeper, lower-toned speech. I used to be looking forward to the audio high quality given it not less than seems to be spectacular with these three audio system on the again, however I’m fairly disillusioned.
That stated, I’ve but to discover a tv that I don’t advocate getting a soundbar or sound system with, as all televisions lack the power to again up their glorious visuals with even mediocre audio high quality. You’ll undoubtedly need one right here, although, because it’s effectively beneath what I think about to be common efficiency.
TCL QM6K – The Competition
TCL’s greatest competitors goes to be in opposition to itself as a result of, as talked about, final 12 months’s QM7 and QM8 are each higher-tier televisions in TCL’s lineup and are additionally each cheaper on the time of writing than the QM6K as they’re old-stock now.
Still, I do suppose that except you have got a supremely vibrant front room and the home windows are proper throughout from the entrance of the tv, the QM6K earns its worth premium due to dramatically improved viewing angles and halo suppression in addition to its improbable distinction and nice colours. It’s a surprisingly good exhibiting from TCL’s entry-level fashions.
Hisense can also be nonetheless price contemplating, as its U7 sequence brings superior brightness and nice coloration, albeit worse off-angle viewing.
