Review: TCL Q7

It’s a newer brand, but TCL has already cemented its place on the Mount Rushmore of TV manufacturers. Over the past decade or so, it has gone toe to toe with major electronics manufacturers like Vizio, Samsung, and LG, and it's always come out ahead when it comes to delivering the best picture for the money.

TCL TVs are so good, in fact, that we keep recommending cheaper and cheaper models as our top pick. So is it worth splurging for this Q7 model over the much more affordable Q6 (7/10, WIRED Review)? For both gaming and daytime viewing, I think it is.

Whether you’re zooming around a virtual F1 track or watching the latest Wes Anderson flicks, the new Q7 delivers some of the crispest, most vibrant images that I’ve seen for its relatively affordable price. Apart from a few stutters in the Google TV interface and a mildly more reflective screen than I'd prefer, this is one of the best TVs of the year.

Photograph: TCL

The Q7 is a familiar hunk of rectangular plastic and glass that’s rounded at the edges, therefore easier than most to place on its belly to install the legs on either side of the screen. The legs stick out awkwardly inside the 65-inch model’s footprint, extending about 4 inches on each side once it’s stood up on my TV stand. I dislike feet like this, as it means you need oversized furniture to mount the TV in your space. A pedestal mount solves this problem, and I still wonder why it’s not the industry standard. You could also just buy a wall mount.

Setup is extremely simple and easy, with the Q7 boasting 3 HDMI ports, including HDMI eARC for easy soundbar or speaker setup that allows you to use the included remote for volume. Said remote is about the length of a king-size candy bar, with white buttons that make it easy to spot them in the dark.

The Google TV interface is a change from TCL’s old Roku operating system, but it’s not really one that I can complain about. You still get support for virtually every app via Google, and this adds easier casting for those of us without iPhones, thanks to the built-in Google Smartcast. The interface is super easy to use (as is the voice control support for Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Homekit), but I did notice that it’s not the fastest TV I’ve ever scrolled through.

Occasionally I’d wait while the curser hung on some menu or another. It wasn’t enough to make me immediately hook up an outboard streaming device, but that’s always an option (and a cheap one at that) if you get fed up. One thing you will want to upgrade is the speakers. Buy a soundbar if you don't already have one. This TV sounds tinny.

Photograph: TCL

The main reason to buy this TV is the picture quality, which is great out of the box. Hundreds of zones of local dimming and TCL’s quantum dot panel pair for some of the brightest and most exciting colors I’ve ever seen at this price. It's not exactly photo-book accurate in all modes, but TCL's processing makes for a very fun watch in the vast majority of circumstances, and it gets even better when calibrated. This model easily competes with higher-tier options from Samsung and LG in my book.

Photograph: TCL

It’s also awesome for gaming and sports. I used it to play racing simulators like Assetto Corsa Competizione, F1 23, and Forza Horizon 5, and all were made smoother and easier to play thanks to the ability to do 120 Hz at 4K resolution. Two HDMI 2.1 ports allow you to connect a PC and a game console, meaning this TV handles like a gaming monitor.

The specs make it more than capable of matching the maximum output of the latest consoles from Microsoft and Sony, so you’ll be playing at the best possible refresh rates on those too. It can even upscale to 240 Hz using some onboard smarts for an even smoother picture. The only downside when gaming during the day was an occasional ray of sunlight that would reflect off the screen. This display seemed slightly more reflective than other TCL models in direct light.

Picture modes are simple and easy to navigate. From game mode to sport and film modes, it’s a fairly set-it-and-forget-it process. In standard mode out of the box, it performs with remarkable color accuracy in bright rooms and at off angles, with 1,000 nits of peak brightness, making it a great all-rounder for large families that watch together.

I prefer the local dimming on this TV (its ability to dim one section of the TV more than others for improved contrast) better than more affordable TCL models and most Vizio models, which really makes darker scenes from the latest Star Wars: Ashoka pop. One TV that directly competes with this is the Hisense U7K. It features a higher refresh rate of 144 Hz at 4K but doesn't have as wide a viewing angle (even with the more reflective TCL panel). It also has the same too-wide leg problem and an identical Google TV interface.

If you live in a glass house and are worried about how bright your room is or how spread out the group that might be watching, the Hisense U8K (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a worthy upgrade to consider. On the TCL side, the QM8 is the next step up. You get the pedestal mount plus a very vibrant panel with mini-LED backlighting for even better contrast.

Even with all the lights on and compared to much more expensive models, the bright green of Messi’s soccer pitch in Miami looks great—as do the pink jerseys—thanks to the Q7's aforementioned quantum dot panel and support for all major HDR formats, including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. It even does a good job of going into hibernation mode when you accidentally fall asleep on the couch.

It’s honestly a bit laughable that you can now get this much TV for under $1,000 retail so easily in 2023. A few years ago, a TV with these specs would have been many times the price, would have looked worse, and would have been more difficult to use. If you are looking for a model that matches up with the top performance that an average human reasonably can expect in 2023, this is worth comparing to the aforementioned Hisense models. It's even easier to install—it doesn’t take multiple straps to grab a high-end TV anymore! Let the world be your oyster.