Updated 26 Oct 2026
Is the TCL QM9K worth it?
Yes — for a very bright room at a lower price.
It gets bright enough to beat glare in the sunniest room, and its Mini LED dimming keeps blacks deep with very little haloing. HDR highlights stand out superbly and colours are vivid. Out of the box, colours are a little off and the darkest HDR shadows get crushed, only two HDMI ports do 4K at 144Hz, and the picture washes out from the side. It comes in 65 to 98 inches.
Good to know
- Only two of the four HDMI ports do 4K at 144Hz.
- Shadow detail is crushed in HDR, and colours are a little off before calibration.
- The glossy screen does little against lamps facing it.
- Fast games blur a little at 60Hz and 120Hz.
- Extremely bright, even in a sunny room
- Deep blacks with very little blooming
- Superb HDR highlights
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Get it if…
- Your room is very bright.
- You want flagship HDR punch for mid-range money.
- You want 65 inches or bigger.
Skip it if…
- People sit wide around the room: it washes out from the side.
- You want an accurate, film-like picture without calibrating.
- You plug in more than two 4K 120Hz devices.
More on the TCL QM9K
How we reached this verdict
RTINGS rates it great overall and excellent for bright rooms and home cinema: incredibly bright, incredibly high contrast, very little haloing and low input lag. It marks it down for colour mapping issues and crushed shadows in HDR, only two HDMI 2.1 ports and a washed-out picture from the side. TCL now lists the 65-inch at about $1,000.
We compared independent expert reviews with the manufacturer's specifications, then checked it's sold at a major retailer where you live. We don't test products ourselves.
Sources: RTINGS, TCL (specs), RTINGS, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, Expert Reviews, Trusted Reviews, manufacturer specifications.
Updated 26 Oct 2026How we decide