I’ve gotten used to creating some form of concession relating to a tv below $1,000. Be it a bizarre stand, combining the eARC port with considered one of two 120Hz choices, dangerous sound, a unclean panel, poor brightness, or weak HDR assist, there has all the time been one thing that makes me say, “ah, that’s why it’s solely $700.”
TCL has in recent times been outclassed by the excellent Hisense choices on the similar worth however makes a return to type with the QM7, eliminating any concessions and delivering a tv that simply flat-out performs higher than the competitors – Hisense included.
This is sort of a flawless tv at this worth degree, with my solely caveat being fairly dangerous halo-ing when viewing the panel off-axis. That’s just about the lone grievance, although, and TCL has made a superb tv for gaming and multipurpose use but once more.
TCL QM7 (2024) – Design and Build
Pretty a lot all producers are working with the identical design aesthetic now, which implies that except you understand the place to look, you’ll be hard-pressed to discover a visible distinction between a Sony, Hisense, LG, or TCL tv. From the entrance, the QM7 goes with a thin-bezel design and a center-placed stand. A small bar on the backside that serves because the reader for the distant and the ability gentle is the one distinction in thickness throughout your complete face of the show.
For an LED tv, the QM7 is remarkably skinny and light-weight. Usually, mini LED panels commerce skinny, featureless fronts for thicker, heavier backs, however someway TCL eschewed this and delivered a tv that’s straightforward to take away from the field and place in your front room.
On the higher third of the bottom, the QM7 sports activities an Onkyo ultra-bass (which is a part of a full Onkyo-branded 2.1 sound system) – an try by TCL to make the mids and lows a bit higher than skinny TVs can usually handle. More on that later, however it’s price declaring from a design perspective because it’s the very first thing you’ll discover concerning the rear of the QM7; it’s onerous to overlook.
TCL positioned the ability enter on the (from the entrance) left facet of the TV and all the different inputs on the best, which is the alternative of most different new TVs in the marketplace. You’ll discover two HDMI ports able to supporting 4K at as much as 144Hz and two extra able to 4K at as much as 60Hs. Gratefully, TCL mixed the eARC port with a kind of lower-spec ports, so it is possible for you to to make use of your soundbar with the QM7 with out sacrificing one of many high-performance ports, that means you possibly can plug in each a gaming console and a PC (for instance) on the similar time. Sony, take discover.
You’ll additionally discover a 3.5mm audio jack, two USB-A ports, a LAN port, an optical audio enter, and composite video. The QM7 additionally helps WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2.
Cable administration is superb, as all cables could be routed across the again and into the massive stand that has a strong cowl to maintain all of them in place.
Speaking of the stand, it’s comparatively low profile however raises the QM7 up excessive sufficient {that a} quick soundbar can comfortably match beneath the show and never block the distant receiver unit. That feels like one thing that needs to be customary, however many tv producers are forgetting this vital element. It needs to be famous that it’s not a ton of area, so taller soundbars are nonetheless not going to suit, however my Bose soundbar is brief sufficient that it really works.
TCL QM7 (2024) – The Remote
TCL’s distant is what I’d name utilitarian, because it’s not a very fairly distant. It’s one of many few locations the place the QM7 exhibits its lower-price tier, in my view. It’s a fairly massive distant with rounded edges and sides, which does make it snug to carry. All of the buttons are straightforward to entry.
The QM7 comes pre-loaded with six shortcut buttons and my overview unit options Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, TCL TV, Apple TV, and Pluto TV. The inclusion of TCL TV seems like an choice that might be largely ignored together with the opposite TCL Home shortcut button that lives proper above these six choices, however the remaining are largely helpful. You can’t reprogram these, however TCL does offer you a shortcut button that you could customise.
The solely complicated factor about this distant is what number of buttons there are that seem, at the least at first look, to do the identical factor. You’ve bought a house button and a TCL Home button, and a settings button and each an information and hamburger button, for instance. They do various things, however they appear so comparable that you simply’ll need to spend time with the distant to determine all of it out.
TCL QM7 (2024) – Software and UI
TCL, like Hisense and Sony, makes use of a barely modified model of Google TV because the working system of this tv. TCL leaves it largely unchanged apart from the addition of the TCL Home tab on the prime, however you possibly can ignore it fairly simply.
While the QM7’s worth could put it within the “mid-tier” and even “finances” segments, TCL didn’t skimp on the processing energy as button presses really feel very snappy and responsive. Side-by-side with the Hisense U7, for instance, the QM7 feels noticeably quicker.
Google TV additionally usually grants entry to a ton of image choices and whereas what TCL has isn’t as strong as what Sony gives within the Bravia 7, it’s on-par with what Hisense gives – and that’s going to be a lot for many customers.
You get a couple of completely different image settings relying on what app you’re in, however look forward to finding Sports, Movie, Action, Vivid, Gaming, and HDR. Most settings, outdoors of IMAX Enhanced, provide the flexibility to customise additional in Advanced Settings, with entry to paint, readability, brightness, and extra. I had no drawback getting the QM7 into a superb place for my specific setup and particularly loved the wide range of HDR choices.
The TCL QM7 has assist for Dolby Vision, HDR 10, HDR 10+, and Hybrid Log Gamma, and in addition has a built-in system for IMAX Enhanced, which is a licensed at-home format for content material that IMAX says meets the best certification requirements in calibration, decision, coloration, brightness, and distinction. It doesn’t cease there although – it additionally customizes sound efficiency to be superb for what’s being watched. With the QM7, I discovered myself preferring this mode over the essential Movie mode for viewing motion pictures and high-quality TV exhibits.
TCL QM7 (2024) – Picture Quality
While it’s not the brightest tv within the mini LED area, the QM7 does very properly with a peak brightness round 1,500 nits. That’s tremendous brilliant and it’s greater than sufficient to beat the glare-prone entrance panel in most conditions – though in the event you’re watching darkish content material, that glare will rear its head fairly shortly. That mentioned, I feel the QM7 is an effective choose for many dwelling rooms since, as a consequence of its wonderful brightness, it has sufficient juice to overpower even brilliant home windows immediately throughout from the display.
The QM7 performs very properly in coloration assessments, particularly on this worth tier. It measured fairly properly, hitting 99.7% of sRGB, 92.6% of Adobe RGB, and 91.8% of the DCI-P3 coloration gamuts with a mean delta E of 0.55. That is superb efficiency for any tv and that’s made much more spectacular given the low value of the QM7.
The panel tends to favor blue in change for greens and reds, however it’s slight and doesn’t contribute to something noticeable whereas viewing content material commonly. You may also tone any seen blue down by adjusting the heat in Advanced Settings or, in the event you’re feeling industrious, alter these coloration balances individually. I don’t suppose that most individuals might want to, although, as the colour appears to be like excellent to the bare eye.
Panel uniformity could possibly be higher, however is just about hitting par for televisions on this class. The proper backside and prime corners noticed tolerances fall beneath nominal, however the vital elements of the display – the center – are excellent.
As is usually the case with LED televisions, the TCL QM7 has issues with halo-ing round brilliant objects set in opposition to a darkish background, however how dangerous it’s is determined by the place you’re sitting.
If you’re positioned immediately in entrance of the TV, you may not discover the halo impact in any respect. It is actually there, however TCL did a superb job suppressing it from the perfect viewing angle. Off-axis, nevertheless, is a distinct story. Even 30 levels to the best or left and that halo will appear to balloon outward considerably. Worse, it’s not even only a white halo, however has tinges of purple and blue. It’s very distracting, so bear this in thoughts with the place you’ve seating across the QM7.
TCL QM7 (2024) – Gaming Performance
The QM7 is a wonderful gaming tv. While it’s not going to beat an OLED for wealthy shadows, brilliant highlights, and strong colours, it’s one of the nice gaming experiences I’ve examined on an LED show.
On finances shows, I typically discover that whereas they’re filled with dimming zones, because the QM7 is, they don’t alter quickly sufficient at 60Hz or 120Hz and brilliant or darkish spots take a second to regulate publicity as you go searching an setting. That doesn’t occur on this show, and even in high-paced gameplay like in Apex Legends or Cyberpunk 2077, I by no means felt just like the show was holding me again.
As talked about, the QM7 will get very brilliant, and that’s implausible for HDR gaming. I actually like taking part in Cyberpunk 2077 on this TV and would say that the one time my expertise has been higher is on the LG G4 OLED. Contrast might be this panel’s weaker spot, however it’s not that dangerous and I’ve actually seen worse. Also, weaker distinction with an LED show in comparison with an OLED goes to be a difficulty irrespective of which model of TV you get and I feel TCL did pretty much as good a job as they might. It’s greater than serviceable and that’s made even higher contemplating this can be a $600 tv.
TCL’s recreation bar is fairly darn good, too. It doesn’t have fairly the variety of choices as LG’s however it appears to be like good and provides you quick entry to a lot of the settings it would be best to toy with. The QM7 additionally helps AMD Adaptive Sync through FreeSync Premium Pro, making for an excellent gaming expertise each with a console and a gaming PC.
TCL QM7 (2024) – Audio Quality
My expectations with built-in audio on flatscreen televisions are very low – with so little room to work with, the legal guidelines of physics simply can’t be overcome.
That mentioned, TCL did a superb job with the QM7. The aforementioned subwoofer doesn’t really do a lot for the lows, however mids are so much stronger than I used to be anticipating and, combined with fairly good highs, the general sound high quality offers extra element and depth than is typical of a tv like this – and particularly one at this worth.
The QM7 may also get surprisingly loud. The high quality begins to waver as you push it increased, however you shouldn’t have an issue listening to this TV even when your front room is big.
I’ll cease wanting saying you don’t want a soundbar, because the QM7 will nonetheless battle with lows and true bass, however it’s completely serviceable for sports activities and broadcast TV. For motion pictures like Dune or tv like House of the Dragon, although, you’ll need to get a correct sound system or sound bar to actually benefit from the sound as it’s meant to be heard.
TCL QM7 (2024) – The Competition
TCL’s QM7 initially competed in between the Hisense U8 and U7, however some worth cuts throughout each manufacturers have the QM7 now priced identically to the U7 and simply $200 beneath the U8. As I discussed in my U7 overview, all of those televisions are vying on your consideration and are inside a couple of hundred {dollars} of one another, they usually all carry out fairly properly. It’s onerous to go mistaken, however I’m leaning extra towards the QM7 now than earlier than given its higher general efficiency, particularly contemplating how snappy the UI is relatively.
