The TCL QM8L delivers stunning Mini-LED performance that embarrasses premium rivals at half the price, with over 5000 nits brightness, OLED-like blacks, and flawless 144Hz gaming. It excels in bright rooms and immersive viewing, making flagship TVs feel overpriced. A must-buy for value-driven cinephiles and gamers.

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.

At $3,000 for the 75-inch model I tested – the same price as last year’s QM8K series TV and $4,000 less than the brighter but otherwise similarly featured X11L flagship – the TCL QM8L is a great value for all that it offers.

So, if the X11L caught your eye, but the price made you hesitate, the QM8L is proof that good things really do come to those who wait. And in the world of miniLED right now, that wait time is measured in weeks and months and not years.

The X11L is much more expensive than the QM8L. And like I said, put them side by side and you will see the differences in peak brightness and local dimming, but the QML on its own is absolutely beautiful. Now, you're going to see the QM8L not only next to the X11L, you'll see it compete with the QMK and the incoming QM7L, which I just saw at a TCL event.

While it’s slightly expensive at launch, the 75-inch TCL QM8L TV largely delivers on the hype: Color range, black levels, brightness, and shadow and highlight detail are near the top of the field — with no sign of "blooming" halos on dark screens. Audio is solid for speakers squeezed into a thinnish panel. While the Google TV software can be personal data-hungry, key TV adjustments are exceptionally easy to access.

I like the TCL QM8L. The move to SQD Mini-LED undoubtedly improves its picture quality over last year’s QM8K and all but guarantees a spot on our best TV guides by the end of the year. When it makes those lists, however, is still up for debate.