Suppliers like Hisense, TCLAnd now Amazon brought the more affordable mini-LED to its peak. You can of course opt for more expensive and excellent quality mid-range models from 2024, such as Samsung’s QN90D Or The Panasonic W95A. They have excellent picture quality and relatively solid viewing angles for mini-LED, better than you can typically get with something like a Hisense U7. That is, if your eagle eyes can really spot the difference.

The TCL QM7 has a list price of $1,100 MSRP for a 55-inch TV (although currently $800 MSRP Amazon and Best Buy), although my 65-inch review unit costs $1,500 (closer to $1,100 on most sites) when not on sale. Samsung’s QLED costs $2,700 MSRP. That’s all to say: you can still find these TVs at one price or another, even more so as Black Friday approaches (at the time of writing, the 65-inch QM7 is going for $700 on sale) .

The QM7 has excellent image quality. Without my work, I wouldn’t even be able to tell you that there is a gap between this product and more expensive displays. However, you may want to opt for something a little more expensive depending on how many people you plan to gather around the display. The TCL QM7 has very low viewing angles. Move out of the sweet spot and image quality takes a hit. Another caveat: If you plan to hang your QM7 in a nice, sunny living room, be aware that you may need to close the blinds to avoid strong reflection and glare.

But if all you’re looking for is a quality mini-LED TV at this economical price, the QM7 is very, very solid. Plus, it doesn’t skimp on port selections or basic TV audio. The QM7 has a significant number of audio ports, 4K HDMI ports (although only one of them supports 120Hz refresh rates), and USB (one 3.0 and another 2.0). There’s enough of them if you eventually decide to upgrade your cinematic experience with an additional soundbar or speakers, and you’ll never run out of 4K ports for your consoles.

And I wish it was that, but beyond all that, the QM7 is a Google TV. I can’t say it’s my favorite UI for this or any TV. But if you can stomach that and these other minor issues, it’s easy to recommend the TCL’s QD-mini-LED, especially during these pre-holiday times when some sellers are selling it well below its starting price.

TCL QM7 test: image quality

Once all the desired adjustments are made, the QM7’s 4K image is sharp and bright. The TV supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and I was happy with the contrast in everything I watched or played. I sat through it all Deadpool and Wolverine on the QM7, and it’s clear that this type of TV will be a great fit for any colorful movie. The base sound is also quite loud, enough to fill the room and beyond. You’ll still eventually want to invest in a soundbar or speaker system for better bass, but what’s out there is good enough to start with.

This television requires some handling to function properly. To avoid any motion smoothing nonsense, you’ll want to avoid both the Dolby Vision IQ setting and the “Motion Clarity” setting, which is of course enabled by default. That being said, the Dolby Vision Bright auto preset is a solid choice for most content. You need to remember that Google TV automatically defaults to Dolby Vision picture settings in apps like Disney+. I also preferred it with the Local Dimming setting on High, and you should do that too if you want something close to TCL’s promotional photos or the photos in this review.

On other apps or in supported movies, you can probably stick with Smart HDR mode, although Vivid might be a good second choice. Blacks in these modes are very deep, avoiding the grays you might get on a IPS LCD screen. The TV defaults to the Low Power picture setting, but the picture quality is much worse than in any other mode which I can’t recommend. You lose so much contrast this way, and it’s surprising that TCL doesn’t set any other mode as default.

You’ll appreciate the picture quality on the QM7, but only if you stand directly in front of it. When you lose a few degrees of angle, the image quality immediately begins to drop. Even a 20 degree tilt at a distance of about 10 feet results in a much grayer image than most people would like. This is a problem with many mini-LED displays, but it’s closer to the same problems I had with the Sony Bravia7 released earlier this year.

The other annoying aspect of the TCL QM7’s settings profile is that you have to enable the setting to apply all your picture settings across apps and inputs. At the very least, the TV’s automatically adjusted gaming settings no longer require fiddling, at least for the most part. The TCL Game Bar’s “Original” setting is fine, but the color may be too warm compared to the “FPS” mode, especially when I was gaming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

I will discuss the game’s settings in more detail in the next section, but I can say that these games seem solid across the board. Play Black Ops, Star Wars: Jedi SurvivorAnd Mortal Kombat 1I was impressed with the quality of the display, as as long as I was standing directly in front of it with all the correct settings enabled.

TCL QM7 Review: Build and Setup

Make sure you have a friend or family member waiting to set up your QM7. Of course, you’ll need someone to help you get it out of the box, but you may need an extra hand just to stabilize the “L” shaped bracket while you screw it into place .

After that, the major problem you will encounter is Google TV. If you have some experience with Chromecast or even have a Google account on standby, it doesn’t take too much effort, especially if you plan to connect everything via Google Home. The TV will automatically pair with your Home app on your phone if you want easier access, but it requires a lot more typing on the remote if you don’t want to bother.

The remote itself is what you would expect. There are special buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, TCLtv, AppleTV and Pluto. It also connects to Google Assistant for voice, but it’s still best to manually navigate the settings menu, press the three-line button in the middle of the remote to change settings, or hold it down to bring up the game bar.

The Game Bar is rudimentary if you’ve used a modern smart TV in the last few years. It offers an always-on reticle, image settings, and “Shaw enhancement” settings to increase brightness (and find campers hiding in dark corners). High Frame Rate mode allows any game to run at maximum 120 FPS, but it does not support all games. If you’re a PlayStation 5 Pro owner or a PC gamer who wants to play on the big screen, this setting may be useful.

But I still don’t really like Google TV. The menus are basic and there’s no sign in the main menu for which devices you have connected to the HDMI ports. Instead, you have to press the input button at the top of the remote to switch between consoles. At the very least, the user interface is simple and clean. It’s just not very useful.

That said, the TCL QM7 also isn’t the kind of screen that will look good in direct sunlight. On cloudy days, in full brightness, placing the television near the window causes reflections which obstruct the image.

TCL QM7 Review: Verdict

The TCL QM7 is the kind of TV you can live with. It’s not perfect, and of course it wouldn’t be. Imagine if TCL’s cheaper TVs had absolutely everything the more expensive models had. The Samsungs and the Sonys would blow up a rocket. There may be an alternate universe where this is true, but not in this crazy timeline.

The three big problems (limited viewing angles, glare, and to a lesser extent Google TV) aren’t difficult to overcome. You can do a lot worse for the money you could spend on the QM7, especially if you’re selling it now for less than $1,000.