TCL QM6K Review

Four years ago, TCL was starring the mode successful the affordable tv space – that was until Hisense started to instrumentality the manufacture by storm. TCL was outclassed by Hisense pricing and show and it looked similar it couldn’t find a mode to basal out.

That has changed. Last year’s QM7 showed hints of what TCL was susceptible of, but the brand-new QM6K takes its exertion to different level. I person ne'er tested an LED tv with a operation of this level of off-angle opposition control, halo suppression, and opposition astatine this price. The effect is 1 of the best TVs for gaming astatine the $1,000 terms point.

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

TCL QM6K – Design and Build

TCL isn’t breaking immoderate caller crushed with the plan of the QM6K. This is an unassuming, elemental flatscreen that is 2.2 inches heavy without the basal – but with it included, you’ll person to marque country for 11.69 inches connected a media console. Three of the sides diagnostic precise slim bezels portion the bottommost has a bladed metallic basal that has an further tiny bump successful the mediate for the IR receiver and microphone mute switch.

This is simply a precise airy tv and a reasonably beardown big tin hoist it and the container implicit their enarthrosis with comparative ease. In opposition to modern OLED televisions that are highly heavy, it is casual to navigate the QM6K’s 38 pounds astir and get it positioned successful a surviving room.

The feet don’t person the champion design. While astir manufacturers see metallic dimples oregon guides to guarantee that it isn’t imaginable to instal the feet incorrectly, TCL went with integrative nubs that astir instantly shear off. It’s besides easy imaginable to instal the feet backward and not notice. The instructions are decidedly required, which is antithetic since feet installation is usually precise self-explanatory.

The rear of the tv sports a 40W, three-speaker system. TCL’s input layout is the reverse of what astir manufacturers choose, with the powerfulness larboard connected the near broadside (when facing the screen) and each the different inputs connected the right.

The QM6K has 4 HDMI ports and 2 of them enactment the maximum 4K astatine 144Hz – which is becoming the modular for televisions. The different 2 are slower (just 4K astatine 60p) but luckily 1 of those slower ports is utilized for eARC, meaning you don’t person to discarded 1 of the high-performance ports connected your soundbar oregon dependable strategy similar you person to with a Sony television. TCL besides included 1 USB 3.0 port, 1 USB 2.0 port, an RF input, and an optical port.

There is zero cablegram absorption connected the QM6K and portion I admit the plan of the included feet, I’m not a instrumentality of however this is becoming the norm. I don’t similar seeing cables dangle crossed the backmost done the abstraction nether the sheet and not providing maine with immoderate mode to usher them to the backmost of those feet, astatine least, isn’t great. TCL isn’t the lone 1 doing this but that doesn’t forgive the exclusion of cablegram absorption of immoderate kind.

TCL QM6K – The Remote

TCL’s distant power plan is larger successful some tallness and width than the manufacture average, but it’s not cumbersome. 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 comes with six pre-installed shortcuts, too. My reappraisal illustration had buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, Youtube, Apple TV, TCL TV, and Disney+. Five retired of the six of those options are popular, regularly utilized services, which is bully to see.

TCL QM6K – Software and UI

TCL, similar Hisense and Sony, uses Google TV arsenic the operating strategy and it’s a banal strategy with conscionable a mates of changes that are circumstantial to the TCL experience.

I volition accidental that 1 anemic constituent of the QM6K is the processing speed. The TV tin instrumentality a fewer seconds longer than you mightiness expect to occurrence up and inputs connected the distant tin consciousness conscionable a hairsbreadth laggy, particularly if you’re asking it to commencement up a caller app oregon if you effort to instantly spell to the input options erstwhile you archetypal crook it on. It tin besides sometimes not respond to fastener presses and then, 10 seconds later, respond to them each astatine erstwhile arsenic if they were caught up successful a queue. This isn’t frequent, but it does happen.

Google TV mightiness beryllium a resource-hungry operating strategy due to the fact that I’ve noticed this tin beryllium a occupation crossed each of the manufacturers who take to usage it, truthful I don’t peculiarly clasp this acquisition against TCL, but it’s inactive worthy mentioning.

Google TV’s default is littered with “suggestions” – AKA ads – which is becoming the norm with each astute TV interfaces, unfortunately. You tin crook these disconnected by activating Apps Only Mode but adjacent that ne'er gets escaped of the large banner astatine the apical of the location screen. All that said, Google TV ne'er autoplays thing from the location surface dissimilar different systems (I’m looking astatine you Samsung Tizen), truthful it’s inactive 1 of the slightest violative options available. It besides has enactment for each fashionable streaming service, truthful you won’t beryllium without options.

TCL QM6K – Picture Quality

It’s worthy noting that the QM6K is TCL’s entry-level miniLED television, which means the recently-reviewed QM7 from 2024 – which is present much affordable than the QM6K – sits higher up connected the line. The terms chopped is due to the fact that it’s past year’s model, but it mightiness beryllium hard to rationalize spending much for the entry-level QM6K versus picking up the QM7 mid-level tv for a discount.

There are reasons to bash so, however. Firstly, looking astatine the colour show of the QM6K, it’s astir arsenic bully arsenic past year’s QM7. It covers 99.8%, 81.3%, and 89.6% of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI P3 colour gamuts, respectively – each with an mean Delta E of 0.64 and ne'er much than 2.85, which is outstanding. Other than the dip successful Adobe RGB sum (which truly lone matters if you mean to usage the TV arsenic a show for color-critical work), the QM6K’s colour differences compared to the QM7 are going to beryllium mostly imperceptible. I volition accidental the TV pushes blues a batch (just similar the QM7 does), truthful you whitethorn privation to lukewarm up the colour somesthesia a spot to adjacent retired the tones (this tends to marque your eyes little bushed anyway, truthful it’s a win-win).

Panel uniformity is beauteous good, dipping lone successful 1 country of the show I tested – that outperforms the uniformity I tested connected the QM7 past year. Panel uniformity varies from TV to TV, truthful your results whitethorn vary, but what TCL appears to person done present is precise awesome for an inexpensive, entry-level television.

I deliberation tegument tones and scenery colour some look truly bully connected the QM6K, particularly with autochthonal 4K content. I volition accidental that the upscaling exertion successful the QM6K isn’t industry-leading and tin effect successful footage that looks a tad retired of absorption oregon fuzzy. That means broadcast TV tin endure a bit, but streaming TVs and movies volition look great.

That second enactment is particularly the lawsuit fixed the QM6K’s outstanding HDR colour support. It has aggregate representation settings including a Filmmaker mode and the TV supports Dolby Vision successful summation to HDR 10, 10+, HLG, and IMAX/IMAX Enhanced. You volition beryllium hard-pressed to find an HDR movie that the QM6K can’t amusement successful its intended HDR profile.

Where the QM6K falls successful a head-to-head matchup with the QM7 is successful highest brightness. This caller tv peaks successful the 900 nit range, which is good beneath the 1,500 nits the QM7 packs. However, this isn’t a consecutive downgrade due to the fact that TCL sacrificed immoderate brightness to compensate and flooded the biggest weaknesses of the QM7: off-angle viewing and halo.

In ample surviving rooms, a wide viewing space is important truthful that everyone, apt seated successful a wide instrumentality signifier astir the TV, sees the aforesaid precocious prime image. Typically LEDs – and particularly much affordable ones – spot contiguous and noticeable dropoff successful prime by shifting adjacent a fewer degrees to the close oregon near of center.

The QM6K has nary perceptible nonaccomplishment successful colour saturation oregon opposition betwixt viewing it head-on and seeing it from the sides, which is highly impressive.

Perhaps adjacent much awesome is the precise well-controlled halo connected the QM6K. Halo refers to a glow that appears astir brightly lit objects acceptable against acheronian backgrounds. The astir communal mundane mode to announcement this is watching super-wide movies oregon TV shows with captions oregon subtitles which volition often beryllium against a axenic achromatic inheritance beneath the on-screen content. Most LED televisions conflict present and the lettering volition look to person a big, white, hazy glow astir them, which is not lone distracting but tin besides marque it harder to work the words.

OLEDs get astir this by their quality to lone illuminate the nonstop pixels that are necessary, but LEDs usage dimming zones, and those are overmuch larger than idiosyncratic pixels – and are the origin of that halo. TCL does usage dimming zones successful the QM6K – 500, to beryllium nonstop – but besides combines this with a caller “halo power system” layer.

Compared to the QM7, I would estimation the halo to beryllium reduced by upward of 85-90%. You truly person to look for it to drawback it, and portion determination is inactive immoderate present, it’s 1 of the champion suppression technologies that I’ve seen connected a non-OLED display. Combined with the fantabulous off-angle viewing experience, contented viewed connected the QM6K volition look importantly amended – albeit not arsenic agleam – compared to the QM7.

I noticed immoderate stutter, particularly connected contented that is moving vertically crossed the framework and erstwhile successful the Filmmaker oregon Movie modes, but TCL’s question clarity acceptable connected debased instantly removed the problem. Even better, I don’t deliberation the question clarity adversely affects different contented and avoids giving images that sickly, overly creaseless look that question settings typically do. While I usually urge forgoing question smoothing of immoderate kind, I deliberation you tin “set it and hide it” connected debased with the QM6K and beryllium precise pleased with the results.

If your TV country is brightly lit with tons of windows, the QM6K volition not beryllium capable to flooded that brightness arsenic easy arsenic the QM7 from past year. Added to that is the precise glossy, reflective look of the QM6K’s beforehand sheet which volition glare rather easy (which should beryllium disposable successful my photos). However, successful dimmer rooms wherever its brightness is little necessary, the QM6K is simply a overmuch amended television.

TCL QM6K – Gaming Performance

The archetypal happening I tested connected the QM6K was its gaming enactment and it is determination that I person been astir impressed. TCL says to expect games to look and consciousness fantastic connected this tv acknowledgment to the adaptable refresh complaint (VRR) accelerator which takes the 144Hz HDMI 2.1 maximum throughput and doubles it to a perceived 288.

I can’t truly archer the quality aft we commencement to spell higher than 150Hz, but what I tin accidental is that competitory multiplayer gaming feels spectacular. Both Marvel Rivals and Apex Legends are snappy and buttery creaseless with nary lag oregon perceived framework nonaccomplishment (at slightest not owed 2 the television).

TCL besides includes enactment for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro which means gamers volition find a bully acquisition whether they are utilizing a PC oregon a console.

That 144Hz is besides the television’s autochthonal refresh rate, which means the sheet is really susceptible of matching the speeds that are being driven to it, truthful adjacent without the assistance of VRR, the QM6K manages to consciousness arsenic accelerated and performant arsenic an OLED for competitory gaming.

TCL includes entree to its Game Bar which gives you much power implicit however games look. 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. All of the benefits that marque the QM6K large for 4K movies and tv are determination successful adjacent measurement for gaming, which means sofa co-op won’t beryllium negatively affected by atrocious viewing angles and narrative-driven games volition person the colour and opposition that lucifer Hollywood’s best.

Given that the weakest constituent of this tv is its brightness, I deliberation 1 of the champion usage cases for the QM6K is deployment successful a gaming country oregon basement. There, it has much than capable brightness to present a large acquisition and the entry-level terms combined with its fantabulous features makes it perfect arsenic a household’s “second TV.”

TCL QM6K – Audio Quality

If determination is 1 spot I americium disappointed with the QM6K, it’s with the audio quality: it’s bad. Not lone does it deficiency the mids and lows that is simply a communal occupation with each flatscreens, it is besides terribly unbalanced. The dependable appears mushy and muddled and the reliance connected the highs means euphony tin dependable downright harsh.

Voices are clear, astatine least, but if determination are immoderate competing sounds adjacent to those voices, they tin easy get mislaid – particularly for deeper, lower-toned speech. I was hopeful for the audio prime fixed it astatine slightest looks awesome with those 3 speakers connected the back, but I americium rather disappointed.

That said, I person yet to find a tv that I don’t urge getting a soundbar oregon dependable strategy with, arsenic each televisions deficiency the quality to backmost up their fantabulous visuals with adjacent mediocre audio quality. You’ll decidedly privation 1 here, though, arsenic it’s good beneath what I see to beryllium mean performance.

TCL QM6K – The Competition

TCL’s biggest contention is going to beryllium against itself because, arsenic mentioned, past year’s QM7 and QM8 are some higher-tier televisions successful TCL’s lineup and are besides some little costly astatine the clip of penning than the QM6K arsenic they are old-stock now.

Still, I bash deliberation that unless you person a supremely agleam surviving country and the windows are close crossed from the beforehand of the television, the QM6K earns its terms premium acknowledgment to dramatically improved viewing angles and halo suppression arsenic good arsenic its fantastic opposition and large colors. It’s a shockingly bully showing from TCL’s entry-level models.

Hisense is besides inactive worthy considering, arsenic its U7 bid brings superior brightness and large color, albeit worse off-angle viewing.