TCL QM8 Mini-LED TV (2024) hands-on review: Brighter, bigger and better
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TCL's motto for 2024 is bigger, brighter and better, and the all-new TCL QM8 (2024) seems to be living proof of those values.
The TCL QM8 Mini-LED TV won accolade after accolade in 2023, and now it's returning in 2024 with some big new upgrades. Chief among them are a higher peak brightness of 5,000 nits and 5,000 local dimming zones on the largest model. Last year's model was one of the brightest TVs we've ever tested, and this year's QM8 looks like it will keep that trend going for another year.
Other improvements like the addition of an ATSC 3.0 tuner, an anti-glare coating and a rock-solid 2.1.2-channel speaker system all add to the value offering.
We've now had the chance to test the QM8 at a recent TCL event and have updated this article with new test data. A full review of this TV is coming soon, so stay tuned right here for our full thoughts in just a few weeks.
TCL QM8 (2024): Availability and price
The TCL QM8 (2024) is available to buy now, and is available in four different screen sizes: 65-inch, 75-inch, 85-inch and 98-inch. A super-sized variant, the TCL QM89, is also available in a 115-inch screen size as well.
How do you know you're buying the 2024 version and not the 2023 version? Make sure you look at the model number closely. The 2024 model number is QM851G, while last year's 2023 models all use QM850G.
Here's the full 2024 lineup along with their current prices:
TCL 65QM851G (65-inch): $1,499.99
TCL 75QM851G (75-inch): $1,999.99
TCL 85QM851G (85-inch): $2,199.99
TCL 98QM851G (98-inch): $5,999.99
The biggest surprise in the lineup is the 98-inch model that's almost 50% cheaper than last year's QM8 model. It's still pricey at $5,999, but that's a lot more reasonable than last year's $9,999 sticker price.
TCL QM8 (2024): Design
At face value, there's not a lot new in terms of design for the new TCL QM8 (2024). In fact, most of the changes take place under the hood. The two exceptions to that are the new anti-glare coating and the 2.1.2 speaker system that's found on the back of the TV. We'll cover the repercussions of those additions down below, but these are mostly good changes.
Inside, however, is where the real innovation is happening. To wit, TCL is boosting the overall brightness of the TV this year and adding more local dimming zones to better control blooming. That's pretty impressive considering there wasn't much blooming on last year's model, and ambient light was rarely an issue when the TV was on.
Speaking of ambient light, we still were able to notice some glare on the QM8 despite the new coating. Often we could see the reflection of other TVs in the background of the screen, which doesn't bode well if you have windows sitting directly behind you when you watch the TV. We haven't had a chance to really put it through its paces, however, so we'll just reserve judgment for now.
On top of those aforementioned changes, TCL is adding in a new processor that it's calling the AIPQ Pro and an ATSC 3.0 tuner. These will come in handy for folks who want to watch the highest quality over-the-air channels.
If there's any real downside to the design of the QM8 it's that it will still only have two full-spec HDMI 2.1 ports on the back. You'll get two additional HDMI 2.0b ports in there, too, one of which functions as the eARC port, but it's not as good as having four full-spec HDMI 2.1 ports like we've seen on last year's LG C3 OLED or the Samsung QN90C.
TCL QM8 (2024): Performance
Specs are one thing, but what matters most is performance. While we've only seen the TV run pre-canned content, the QM8 made everything look great. Scenes with golden ring on a pure black background had excellent black levels and zero blooming, while a shot of a blue-and-purple chameleon crawling across a branch showed off the TV's immense color saturation.
At 5,000 nits peak brightness, you might be worried that the QM8 might be relatively painful at times to watch. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Keep in mind that just because a TV has a high peak brightness, it can usually only hit that level in a small window for a limited period of time. This works to enhance effects like a sunrise or a firework that briefly illuminates small sections of the screen for a few seconds. It's not like the TV blasts you with brightness every second you're watching it.
The TV's sound output was definitely impressive as well — the 2.1.2-channel system has two up-firing speakers and a built-in sub-woofer. It easily filled a large demo space where the TV was being shown off at a volume level of 30 and the up-firing speakers expanded the soundstage. We would've been more blown away if the bass was a bit deeper, but that might've been an issue with the sound settings and not entirely the speaker's fault.
It's worth noting that all the pre-canned content we saw on the TV was native 4K, and I suspect there's a good reason for that. Traditionally, TCL has not had the best upscaling and has lagged behind companies like Sony.
That doesn't mean that the new QM8 will be bad at processor-intensive tasks — it's just that we couldn't really see the new AIPQ Pro Processor in action and that's a bit worrying.
TCL QM8 (2024): Test data
Recently, Tom's Guide was given the opportunity to test the QM8 at a TCL event. The only stipulation we were given was that the TV had to be placed in Vivid mode for our testing. Full results in every mode will be available shortly after we publish our full review.
TCL QM8 (2024): Outlook
From the increased brightness and number of dimming zones to small new additions like the ATSC 3.0 tuner and anti-glare screen, the QM8 (2024) appears to really have stepped its game up from last year's award-winning model.
Based on what we saw at our CES 2024 demo and during our hands-on testing at TCL's event, it's likely that we're looking at the next entry in our best TV list of 2024 — though it's not a given at this stage. It might not be able to overtake the Hisense U8N, but it's going to be a very close race.
With the right price and the right tweaks between now and launch (more bass response, please!) the QM8 could once again be the best mid-range TV you could buy — and we'll be back with our full thoughts and verdict.
