This is n’t give-up the ghost to be the usual form of Digital Trends TV reassessment . For a few ground , really . First is that I ’m notCaleb Denison . I ’m Phil Nickinson . I ’ve got more beard on the front . Less hair on the top . And I ’m nowhere near the panels expert that he is .
And this TCL television — the 75Q650 universal gravitational constant , to be precise — is n’t a top - shelf tv set . If you did n’t suss it out from the manakin identification number , we ’re talking about a TCL Q6 OLED TV here , which is at the lowest stave of the Q series ( the other models are the Q7 and QM8 . )
We ’ve had a good routine to say about the Q7 and QM8 . In ourQ7 QLED TV recapitulation , Caleb basically ranked it as a jolly good buy for most folks , but a disappointment for partizan endeavor to get by on a budget . In hisTCL QM8 brushup , Caleb crow of that set being “ my go - to TV recommendation for probably 90 % of citizenry this year . ” Fair enough .
The TCL Q6 is the sorting of boob tube the “ mediocre ” consumer will pick up . And , hey ! That ’s me ! ( More or less . ) So this followup is start to be more toss / fail than A through F. I ’m not going to go super nerdy on glasses and mensuration . That ’s Caleb ’s affair . ( And he can keep it ! ) Instead , I ’m going to verbalise about what I care and what I do n’t like in this sorting of TV that I ’d put in a surplus room — or even in my bedroom , which is where it ’s end up .
Series and size details
Caleb always does this part , and I shall , too . I ’m reviewing the 75 - inch modeling , and what I feel should ring true for the large and low option as well .
TCL Q6: setting the stage
Let ’s look at the TCL Q6 a picayune more in context of the Q serial . Like the Q7 , we ’re await at an LED backlit LCD panel and notmini - LEDlike what ’s on the QM8 . We ’ve got a full explainer on the differences betweenLED versus mini - lead QLED TVs , so I wo n’t go into that here except to say that mini - lead can sometimes provide better Joseph Black , less light bleed , and more accurate color , which is why it ’s in the higher - end ( and more expensive ) melodic phrase .
And you’re able to effectively look at the Q6 options like they ’re half the price of the Q7 card . I tend to believe that price is the No . 1 driving force for non - nerd when it add up to buying a unexampled goggle box , so that ’s a upright enough place to jump .
With all due respect to the folks who do them , I line up unboxings bore . They ’re either mostly painless — or a complete nightmare . TCL has kept the Q6 in the former class . The distant control , feet , manual and other bits and pieces are all easy found amid the styrofoam and cardboard , and the television receiver was easy to unpack without breaking too much of the promotional material . ( That ’s crucial in pillow slip you end up with a dead gore that has to be returned . It go on . )
This Q6 was replace a 65 - inch 2018 TCL 6 - Series Roku TV in my sleeping room . And , more specifically , it was perish on the wall .
A quick parole on that : I ca n’t commend mounting a television system on the wall enough , especially if it ’s way bigger than what your partner expected you to convey habitation . It ’ll make the elbow room look that much bigger . Take the clock time to do it . And if you ’re scared about course wires through walls , just buy some cable concealers that you’re able to also mount to the bulwark and call it a twenty-four hour period . Nobody ’s judging .
Anyway . All that ’s to say that I quickly frame aside the formative feet that come up with the Q6 . There ’s nothing particular here , though you do have the option to get on them wider , toward the outside edges of the tv set , or inwards , if you have a smaller stand . Use your serious judgment there , though . I used the same wall - mount computer hardware I ’ve had up for years — it was still good for a TV of this size — and that all perish without a hitch .
TCL Q6: What it’s like to use
The Q6 , like its brother , is running theGoogle TV platform . It ’s not quite exactly the same experience you ’ll get if you plug a $ 50 Chromecast with Google TV into something , but it ’s close-fitting enough for our purposes ( though if you ’re really attend to confuse your brain , you absolutely can plug one into the Q6 ) .
allow ’s talk a few eyeglasses before we get too much further . This is a 4 grand television , as you ’d expect . And it ’s got three HDMI ports , one of which serves as eARC , which is nice to see even at this end of the range . ForHDR standards , it corroborate Dolby Vision , HDR10 + , HDR10 , and HLG . It ’ll also play and pass throughDolby Atmos . The aboriginal board refresh rate is 60Hz . That ’s essentially the simple minimum for anything you should buy in 2023 . And for networking , it ’s using Wi - Fi 5 , aka 802.11ac . That should be more than tight enough to handle most cyclosis for most people . And there ’s also Ethernet , if you need to secure in .
apparatus is simple , and it ’s a breath of fresh air for a smart TV to recognise that you might not actually want use it as a smart video and instead justuse it as a dumb displaywith something else plug away in . That ’s what I opted for at first , in reality , so that I could estimate it against what I ’d been using antecedently , which was the 6 - serial with an Apple TV 4 K plugged in .
You ’ll still have access to all the distinctive TV configurations if you choose to go that route , and you ’ll still see some Google and TCL pick lurking about , even if you have no aim on ever using them . Again , kudos to TCL and/or Google for not get that a exploiter - hostile experience .
Once I had everything set up as if I ’d just replaced an onetime telly with a newer model — which basically is what I ’d done — I noticed a few things . First is that I still highly recommend putting an oversized boob tube in the bedroom . It ’s ridiculous , but also so much more low-priced these day . Just do it . Second is that everything bet sort of … easy . Not necessarily forged — though you ’ll definitely need to play around with the unlike characterization modes and circumstance , as you should any on other TV in any other situation — just … a little soft . That ’s likely just because my living room television is OLED , and so the difference in panel character really stands out here .
That said , I call up I ’ve convinced myself that a picayune bit of the backlight is bleeding through the edge of the panel . Maybe . If I ’m looking for it . If , in fact , that ’s what I ’m run across , it really does n’t detract from the overall experience . Also , you ’ll want to go into the depiction setting and turn off the motion smooth out ( a.k.a . thesoap opera essence ) because you are not an animal . ( If you do like that kind of thing , I ’m going to call you an beast and sleep just fine . )
After a couple calendar week of use , I finally logged in with my Google certification to test out the build - in apps and Google TV experience . And I basically found what I expected to witness . It ’s the basic Google TV experience on hardware that ’s powerful enough to run it , and in a lot of instances , it actually deal to treat drawing the substance abuser interface better than I expected .
In any event , the Q6 has been tolerable to use with or without the build up - in Google TV operating arrangement . If you want to use Google TV , I ’d just use what ’s already establish here and not suppose doubly . But if you want to use something else , go for it . TCL does n’t fend in your way at all .
My not - as - discerning - as - Caleb eye did n’t have any real issues with colour . The 8 K HDR YouTube video we like to run looked as good as ever . More interesting to me was whether it would seem consistent between the YouTube app in the built - in Google TV OS and the Apple TV 4 K I usually have run away . I was a little surprised to find that the Google TV instance did n’t kick in Dolby Vision and instead just showed “ HDR ” on the sieve . Unless you ’re go both side by side , however , you ’d probably not even know . I was appreciative of the modification that could be made to white balance and vividness in the picture options and once I tweak those just a tad — not something I agonise over too much , really — things looked as good as I ’d expect on a sub-$1,000 TV .
Brightness also was n’t a business organisation at all . Of naturally , I was using a 75 - inch TV in a small-scale master bedroom . Fun fact : TheNest Hubon my nightstand does n’t realise all the lights in the room are off until I also turn over off the television receiver . It ’s plenty bright for that use case .
The built - in 15 - watt Speaker are n’t defective . But , again , given the affordable Mary Leontyne Price of the Q6 , I ’d view spending what you ’ve saved to get at least a basicsoundbar . Even a dewy-eyed one with a subwoofer will dramatically modify your entire experience .
The remote ascendance is nothing to write home about . It work fine . It feels fine . It ’s long , made of light plastic , and has all the buttons you ’d require . The only detractions here are that it is not backlit ( which maybe is only slightly surprising in a Q series TV ) and there are no fewer than three TCL - branded button on plank . One is for TV+ ( but is labeled on the remote as tv set Plus ) and takes you to a guide of those free , advertizing - supported line . Another button is for TCL Channel , which takes you to … another template of those liberal , ad - supported channels ( anAugust 2023 imperativeness releasesort of explained the difference between the two , but not really ) . And there ’s also a button for the previously refer TCL Home . That ’s a mass of button existent estate that probably could have been used for something else , but here we are , and I ’m reminded yet again why I apply anApple TV 4Kinstead .
TCL Q6: The bottom line
After a duet of months of daily habit , I can pretty clearly say the following : There is absolutely no shame in you — a normal TV - consider soul who does n’t give care all that much about refresh rate or local dim zones or P3 Quad Deltas ( I one-half made up that last specification ) that are the sort of things we agonize over in gamey - end reexamination — buy a Q6 and being absolutely happy with it .
Once I did my common tweaking ( which means belt down any sort of apparent motion control and fix the white equilibrium to my liking ) , I ’ve not yet once said “ this reckon horrible . ” In fact , it see okay . It ’s perfectly passable give that we ’re talking about arrest 65 inches for $ 500 and 75 inches for $ 250 more . The homecoming you get on that investment in terms of sheer screen size of it , as well as consume Google goggle box built - in , more than justifies the expenditure . Even if you do n’t employ all the extraneous TCL features and just go with what Google give ya , that ’s a superb deal .
And that ’s before anyone come out tattle sale monetary value .
My biggest care here is n’t so much with the Q6 in especial , but with TVs like this in ecumenical : You should keep an eye on the package . The Q6 at the time of this writing ( in October 2023 ) is built on Android 11 with a security system patch from March 2023 . If TCL does n’t keep that relatively up to escort , you might desire to view plugging in outside hardware .
Otherwise ? Sit back , make relaxed , and enjoy the thought .
