TCL QM8L SQD 4K Review: Superior Color & HDR Performance

TCL's QM8 Series has long been a favorite among TV shoppers and reviewers alike, and for good reason. Last year's QM8K delivered image quality that often matched or surpassed that of high-end LG, Samsung, and Sony Mini LEDs that cost more. That value made it one of the easiest TVs to recommend in its class.

The new TCL QM8L continues that trend. It's the latest entry in the company's upper-midrange Mini LED lineup, and it uses TCL's new SQD technology to boost color performance over its predecessor. After testing the TV, I'm impressed. The QM8L delivers a fantastic picture with rich colors, impactful HDR highlights, and good black levels for a Mini LED. It's a worthy successor to the QM8K, and I'm confident it will become one of my top recommendations for high-end performance on a midrange budget.

That said, timing matters. Right now, it's hard to fully recommend the QM8L over the older QM8K, which is still available at a discount and performs similarly in many areas. This will change in the coming months, as TCL TVs get excellent deals after launch. In fact, sales are already popping up. Once the price gap between the two models shrinks a bit more, the QM8L will be the better buy. But for now, I still give the QM8K an edge as the best TCL TV for most people.

The QM8L is the successor to TCL's highly rated QM8K. This 2026 model uses the brand's new SQD tech to produce a wider range of colors, while offering similar contrast and brightness as last year's model.

The QM8L has a sleek design and is available in up to 98 inches

The QM8L is available in four screen sizes, with launch prices ranging from $2,500 to $6,000. Though the QM8L's retail pricing is already quite reasonable, TCL TVs tend to get big discounts in the months following their release.

For instance, last year's 75-inch QM8K debuted at the same $3,000 price as the 75-inch QM8L, but later dropped to under $2,000. I expect similar discounts to roll out to the QM8L as the year continues. Here's a rundown of full retail pricing:

I tested the 75-inch QM8L for this review, but all four sizes feature the same basic design and specifications. Brightness and contrast will vary slightly by screen size, but my testing results will generally apply across the full lineup.

The QM8L has an attractive build that's a step above cheaper TCL models, but not quite as premium as the brand's more expensive X11L. The panel is about two inches deep at its thickest point. That's relatively slim for a Mini LED TV, but not as thin as the X11L's impressive 0.8-inch profile. The frame around the TV has a silver accent, and the screen uses TCL's ZeroBorder design, so there's virtually no black bezel around the image.

The included pedestal stand is sturdy and attractive, but it might not be a good fit for some soundbar setups. Though the stand can be attached in a low or high position, its depth is 14.5 inches. That's a pretty big footprint, so it's possible your media console won't be deep enough to fit a soundbar in front without resting it on the pedestal, which isn't ideal. This is a minor drawback, but one that soundbar owners should be aware of. It's also important to note that the 98-inch model uses left and right feet rather than a pedestal.

The remote control is the same one included with the X11L, and it's one of my favorites. It has a sleek silver finish, backlit keys, and extra buttons on the right side for quickly adjusting brightness and switching picture modes. And though several brands like Samsung and LG have been cutting or combining functions on their latest remotes to achieve a more streamlined design, I prefer TCL's approach, which still includes dedicated keys for inputs, mute, and signal info.

The QM8L boasts four HDMI 2.1 ports, supporting up to 4K/144Hz. That's a nice upgrade over last year's QM8K, which had two HDMI 2.1 and two HDMI 2.0 ports. That said, it's slightly disappointing that TCL's top TVs max out at 144Hz rather than 165Hz, which some LG, Samsung, and Hisense models now support. This is only relevant to dedicated PC gamers, but it's worth keeping in mind.

TCL's SQD tech offers impressive color performance

The QM8L's biggest upgrade over last year's QM8K is the addition of TCL's new SQD (Super Quantum Dot) technology. SQD tech debuted on the company's premium X11L, which I previously reviewed. SQD might sound like just another flashy branding term, but in this case, there's actual substance behind the marketing.

TCL's SQD system uses larger quantum dots than on a typical QLED TV, along with an enhanced color filter, to produce a wider, brighter color range. This same technology helped make the X11L one of the most impressive TVs I've ever tested, so it's great to see TCL bringing it down to a more affordable model.

But to be clear, the QM8L doesn't match the X11L's overall image quality. The X11L still has the edge in a few key areas, like local dimming and peak brightness. But the QM8L gets very close in color.

Using a colorimeter with Calman software and a Portrait Displays G1 pattern generator, I measured the TV's color gamut at about 85% of the BT.2020 color space. BT.2020 is currently the widest color gamut used for Hollywood productions, and most regular QLEDs can cover about 60% to 80% of it.

Compared to other TVs I've recently tested, the QM8L only trails the X11L and Samsung's new R95H Micro RGB TV, which measured 88% and 91% of BT.2020, respectively. That puts the QM8L in rare company and confirms that TCL's new panel technology is delivering tangible results.

That said, it's important to keep this performance in perspective. As impressive as those measurements are, most movies and TV shows don't actually use such a wide range of colors. So while the QM8L has better color than a regular QLED, that won't always translate into a dramatic difference with the content you watch every day. In that sense, color capabilities like this are geared toward big home theater enthusiasts who want the latest tech.

But even with that caveat, the QM8L looks fantastic in actual use. The TV produces bright, bold primary colors that really stand out in vibrant films like "Aquaman," and it does a great job preserving saturation without making the image look cartoonish. Color gradations are also very smooth. In my usual torture-test scenes from "Ex Machina" and "The Green Knight," I didn't notice any major banding, which is great given how often those scenes can expose blocky colors on many TVs.

Brightness is excellent, but OLEDs and the pricier TCL X11L still have an edge in contrast

HDR brightness is another clear strength. On a 10% HDR test pattern, with Filmmaker Mode, dynamic tone mapping off, and local dimming set to high, I measured a peak brightness of around 3,600 nits, with occasional bursts up to 4,100 nits, which is about on par with last year's model. However, when measuring again after the TV had been on for a while, that number dropped to around 2,000 nits, which the set had no trouble sustaining. So, in practice, you can expect around 2,000 to 4,000 nits of peak HDR brightness depending on how long highlights appear on the screen.

Those numbers don't quite match the X11L, which could sustain 3,000 to 4,000 nits and hit around 6,000 nits in bursts with similar settings, but the QM8L is still bright enough to accurately reproduce highlight intensity in most HDR content. That means specular highlights have excellent punch. Reflections, sparks, sunlight, and explosions all pop with the kind of impact that makes premium HDR content look premium.

Local dimming is also very good for a Mini LED TV, though not quite as refined as what you get from TCL's step-up X11L. In most material, black levels look deep and uniform, and the TV does a convincing job balancing bright highlights against dark backgrounds. But in tricky scenes, I could spot the backlight at work more than I could on the X11L.

A dark sequence from "The Green Knight," in which a character enters an abandoned house at night, revealed subtle patchiness and flickering in shadows. I could also see hints of blooming around a character's glowing eyes. Likewise, the burning church scene in "1917" showed minor inconsistencies in black levels, with some areas of the screen looking beautifully deep and others appearing slightly elevated or vignetted. Meanwhile, in a few episodes of "Daredevil: Born Again" on Disney+, I spotted faint darkened outlines around characters on dim backgrounds.

To be fair, you often have to know what to look for to see these kinds of flaws, and they're most evident in a pitch-black room. Most people probably won't see them during regular viewing, and even as someone who specifically hunts for this sort of thing, I found them relatively minor. Still, they're there, and they serve as a reminder that even a really good Mini LED backlight still can't match the precision of an OLED.

Interestingly, though, the QM8L avoids one issue I noticed on the more expensive X11L: faint vertical streaking on black backgrounds. I didn't see that artifact here, which is a nice win for the cheaper model.

And in at least one area, I actually preferred the QM8L's presentation to the X11L's. In "Mad Max: Fury Road," certain HDR highlights — especially explosions and bright reflections on vehicles — looked a bit more dynamic on the QM8L. On the X11L, the centers of those highlights occasionally looked a touch faded, while the QM8L preserved a little more punch.

Viewing angles, however, remain just OK. As with the X11L, TCL's SQD tech doesn't do much to improve the off-axis weaknesses common to LED/LCD displays. The QM8L performs a bit better than a typical QLED, but colors and contrast still fade and distort somewhat toward the edges of the screen. My usual "Ex Machina" test scene is a good example of this, since the red lighting in that sequence shifts toward orange as you move off-center.

Reflection-handling is decent, especially since the TV has a lot of headroom to pump up brightness in order to overcome glare. However, the panel is still glossy, so direct reflections in bright rooms will be visible. If reflections are a big issue, you're still better off with one of Samsung's glare-free TV models, like the R95H or S95H.

Beyond movies and shows, the TV's image quality also translates well to video games, which look similarly vibrant and bright, particularly when titles support HDR. I also found motion to be smooth when engaging the TV's 120Hz mode and VRR (variable refresh rate) in PS5 games like "Marvel's Spider-Man." However, I noticed some flicker when using 120Hz with VRR in "Crimson Desert." I also noticed this with the X11L, so it could be an isolated VRR issue with that title.

Google TV with Gemini is a great all-around system

Like other TCL Mini LED TVs, the QM8L uses the Google TV platform with Gemini AI built in. Though I used to have a few qualms about Google's smart TV platform (especially back in the Android TV days), its latest iteration has become one of my favorite interfaces.

Google TV syncs seamlessly with an existing Google account, which makes setup a breeze, especially if you use a phone with the Google Home app. The on-screen design is easy to navigate with quick access to your downloaded apps on a horizontal menu that's up front and center. There are also rows of content recommendations, but they're not obtrusive, and they tend to include titles I'd actually want to watch. The same can't be said for recommendations highlighted on many rival platforms.

Google's Gemini is also a good digital assistant. It's responsive, understands conversational queries with follow-ups, and is great for content discovery. It's also capable of other advanced tasks, like helping to plan a trip, but I don't find those capabilities all that necessary for a TV. You can use Gemini with the included remote or hands-free with the TV's integrated microphone that can also be deactivated for privacy.

Navigation speed is smooth, and I didn't encounter any notable hiccups. Older TCL TVs were known for occasional glitches with settings and menus, but the brand has seemingly ironed out those kinks over the last couple of years. During my testing time, the QM8L delivered a painless, bug-free experience.

Should you buy the TCL QM8L SQD 4K TV?

The TCL QM8L is a great follow-up to last year's already fantastic QM8K. It carries over a lot of what made that older model so easy to recommend, including high brightness, good contrast control, and generally excellent HDR performance. On top of that, it offers a boost in color thanks to TCL's new SQD technology, which delivers a richer, more expansive image.

There are also a few practical improvements beyond picture quality. The addition of two more HDMI 2.1 ports is especially welcome. That makes the QM8L a more flexible option for people with multiple gaming devices. And while the design doesn't feel quite as premium as TCL's flagship X11L, it still looks and feels like a step up from the brand's cheaper models.

Ultimately, the only real drawback is value, at least right now. As good as the QM8L is, it's launching at a time when the QM8K is still available for less money. And because the older model remains so competitive, the newer TV's upgrades don't quite feel substantial enough to justify paying a premium. Enthusiasts will appreciate the color upgrade, but it won't amount to a night-and-day difference with most content.

That's why patience could be the right move. TCL TVs have a strong track record of dropping significantly in price shortly after launch, and that's already starting to happen. Once bigger discounts hit, the QM8L will become one of the top values in TCL's lineup and one of the best TVs in its class.

Steven Cohen

Senior Tech Editor

I'm a Senior Tech Editor for Business Insider’s Reviews team. I'm responsible for overseeing buying guides and reviews for all of the latest TV, video, audio, and wearable products. I work with a team of experienced freelancers to establish testing methodologies, test products, and select the best of the best for our buying guides. My areas of expertiseMy primary expertise is in home entertainment products, with a focus on all things home theater, including TVs, soundbars, speakers, headphones, and streaming devices. I also have a background in film criticism, having reviewed over 400 movies and TV shows. I studied filmmaking and use my knowledge of video and audio production to inform my testing parameters when reviewing home entertainment devices.  ExperienceI joined Business Insider as a tech editor for the Reviews team in 2019. I became a senior tech editor in 2022.Before joining Business Insider, I was High-Def Digest's Gear Editor. My work has appeared on Ben's Bargains, Steve's Digicams, Big Picture Big Sound, and Consequence. Why you can trust meI'm not only passionate about TVs and tech, but also an expert in display quality. In 2019, I was one of a select number of journalists invited to get a hands-on first look at LG's debut 8K OLED TV. I was also among the earliest journalists to demo Dolby Atmos and DTS:X technologies for home theaters in 2014 and 2015, respectively.In 2018, I served as a judge for the annual TV Shootout, the premier display competition that crowns the best TVs of the year. I also attend yearly industry launches and reviewer workshops for new TVs and audio products from top brands, like LG, Samsung, Sony, and Sonos.I know that it’s easy to get overwhelmed by tech jargon and premium prices on high-end gear, which is why I'm passionate about recommending quality options for all price ranges and explaining which features are really worth the money. EducationI hold a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Central Florida, where I majored in film production.Outside of workI live in Orlando, Florida, with my girlfriend, dog, and cats. When I'm not covering tech products, I love to explore the theme parks of Orlando and watch movies on my dream home theater setup, complete with the biggest TV and Dolby Atmos speaker system I could fit in my living room.Say hi to Steven at scohen@businessinsider.com or find him on LinkedIn. 

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