Since the start of broadcast, TV manufacturers have been battling for technological supremacy. They have been all costly. From preliminary tube fashions to plasmas, LED, and now Mini LED and OLED, you used to need to pay an arm and a leg for a big display screen that appeared good. (Unless you wished it in a Michael Scott dinner-party size, after all.)

These days, you actually do not need to pay that a lot. Enthusiasts can shell out for 8K decision or OLED shows with excellent black ranges at excessive sizes, however most people who find themselves simply streaming films, sports activities, or video video games can get an ideal viewing expertise with a mid-tier possibility like this TCL QM8. Unless you are hoarding an epic 4K Blu-ray collection within the basement or internet hosting an enormous server with lossless rips, you most likely will not see a lot of a distinction.

Folks ask me on a regular basis whether or not they need to buy a projector, and the very fact is that TVs like this one now compete on dimension, however provide a a lot better image that is a lot simpler to arrange and use. If you need a huge display screen expertise at dwelling, begin right here.

Easy Going

Getting began with TCL’s flagship mannequin is simply as easy as with every extra inexpensive TCL, which is to say it is lifeless easy. You unbox the display screen (ranging in dimension from a manageable 65-inch to a gargantuan 98-inch), place it facedown on a desk or padded flat floor of succesful dimension, and fix the included pedestal mount. Depending on which dimension you’ve gotten, this may take two folks or three or 4, but it surely’s actually not that onerous. If you are wall mounting, be sure to mount it to a stud, or a number of. This is not a light-weight TV.

I personally get pleasure from the truth that the QM8 mannequin is not as skinny as higher-end TVs from LG, Samsung, and others. It makes it simpler to hold and mount with out feeling like I’m going to bend it in half, particularly on the bigger 85-inch dimension of our overview unit.

Plugging within the TV and popping a pair of batteries into the prolonged rectangular distant, you may end up greeted by the Google TV interface, which shortly allows Android customers and Google account house owners to log in to a smorgasbord of streaming services. If you may’t discover it right here, it is most likely fairly shady. (You can also cast utilizing the TV’s built-in Google Chromecast and AirPlay performance.)

Other gadgets are extraordinarily simple to setup with the TV too. I plugged in a soundbar, the KEF LS50 Wireless II (8/10, WIRED Recommends); my laptop; and a Nintendo Switch (8/10, WIRED Recommends), and all of them carried out flawlessly. Especially spectacular is the 144-Hz refresh charge at 4K and 1440p resolutions with actually low (sub-10-millisecond) enter lag for immediate onscreen motion. It made enjoying fast-paced video games like Assetto Corsa Competizione and F1 2023 significantly attractive when sim racing through my PC.