The TCL NXTFRAME QLED is a mid-range 4k TV in TCL's 2024 lineup and is yet another TV in the burgeoning 'Art' TV segment. It comes with a wood-like magnetic frame alongside a series of included landscapes and paintings and is meant to double as an art piece in your home when wall-mounted using TCL's included proprietary wall mount. You can also buy separate stands directly from TCL. Like other art TVs, the NXTFRAME uses a matte screen coating that is meant to significantly reduce reflections in a bright room while making the picture look like a canvas when the TV displays any of its included paintings.
Otherwise, the TV uses a KSF phosphor coating, designed to deliver more vibrant and lifelike colors than traditional LED TVs. It comes with TCL's AIPQ Pro Processor, which is used for image processing and motion-smoothing capabilities. It has four HDMI ports, two of which carry HDMI 2.1 bandwidth with support for 4k @ 144Hz and 1080p @ 240Hz gaming. The TV supports all HDR formats and passes through advanced audio formats from Dolby and DTS through its eARC port. We reviewed the 65-inch model, but it also comes in 55, 75, and 85-inch formats.
The TCL NXTFRAME is a decent TV overall, mostly due to its image processing capabilities and very fast gaming performance, making it a good choice for gamers or for those watching low-resolution or low-bitrate TV shows or sports. When it comes to image quality, it's not bright enough in SDR, and even less so in HDR, to deliver an impactful viewing experience. Its matte coating also struggles with ambient sources of light, as it smudges glare across the screen instead of reducing it. Thankfully, it is much better at dealing with lights placed directly opposite the screen. Finally, the TV's image degrades at an angle, so it's not a good choice if you have a wide seating arrangement.
Fantastic reflection handling with glare from direct sources of light.
Solid image processing.
Wide selection of streaming apps.
No local dimming feature to improve contrast.
Image quality degrades rapidly at an angle.
Smudges glare from ambient lights across the screen instead of reducing its size.
Inadequate pre-calibration accuracy in SDR.
The TCL NXTFRAME is a satisfactory TV for watching shows in a bright room, but mostly due to its fantastic reflection handling when dealing with direct sources of light. It compensates, to some degree, for the TV's only alright SDR brightness. Unfortunately, its matte coating diffuses glare from ambient lighting across the panel instead of just reducing its size, impacting image quality in the process due to lower perceived contrast. The TV's image processing is also quite good, so low-resolution TV shows, or those played from low-bitrate streaming sources, look suitably good when watching on this TV. Like many LED TVs, it's not as well-suited for a wide seating arrangement, as the image degrades rapidly when viewed at an angle.
Fantastic reflection handling with glare from direct sources of light.
Solid image processing.
Wide selection of streaming apps.
Image quality degrades rapidly at an angle.
Smudges glare from ambient lights across the screen instead of reducing its size.
Inadequate pre-calibration accuracy in SDR.
The TCL NXTFRAME TV is alright for watching sports in a bright room, although it's not quite bright enough in SDR to overcome glare in well-lit rooms. Its reflection handling does perform very well when dealing with direct sources of light, such as from lights and windows placed directly opposite the TV. However, it doesn't perform nearly as well when dealing with glare from ambient sources of light, as it smudges them across the screen, reducing the TV's perceived contrast in the process. At least the TV has a great response time, so fast motion in sports looks crisp, with little motion blur. Unfortunately, like many LED TVs, it's not a good choice for a wide seating arrangement, as the image degrades rapidly when viewed at an angle.
Fantastic reflection handling with glare from direct sources of light.
Great response time with little motion blur behind fast moving objects.
Solid image processing.
Image quality degrades rapidly at an angle.
Smudges glare from ambient lights across the screen instead of reducing its size.
The TCL NXTFRAME delivers a good gaming experience. It has low input lag and a great response time, ensuring a smooth, responsive gaming experience with little delay in your inputs. It also supports some advanced gaming features like VRR to reduce tearing, as well as 4k @ 144Hz and 1080p @ 240Hz on two of its HDMI ports. Unfortunately, it isn't quite bright enough in SDR to make games pop, especially in rooms with ambient sources of light, as its reflection handling smudges glare across the screen, lowering perceived picture quality.
Low input lag.
Fantastic reflection handling with glare from direct sources of light.
Great response time with little motion blur behind fast moving objects.
4k @ 144Hz and 1080p @ 240Hz support on two HDMI ports.
Solid image processing.
Smudges glare from ambient lights across the screen instead of reducing its size.
Inadequate pre-calibration accuracy in SDR.
Chroma 4:4:4 isn't displayed properly in Game Mode.
The TCL NXTFRAME is decent for watching movies in a dark room, but mostly due to its solid image processing and judder removal capabilities. Otherwise, its HDR brightness is sub-par, so HDR content lacks impact. Its contrast ratio is mediocre due to lacking a local dimming feature, so blacks are raised whenever bright highlights are on screen. Furthermore, the TV's pre-calibration accuracy in SDR is inadequate. The TV's accuracy in HDR content is good, but overall, it doesn't impress when watching movies.
Impressive wide color gamut.
Supports all HDR formats, and passes through DTS through eARC.
Solid image processing.
Wide selection of streaming apps.
No local dimming feature to improve contrast.
Low peak brightness in HDR.
Inadequate pre-calibration accuracy in SDR.
The TCL NXTFRAME delivers a good gaming experience, but HDR adds little due to its sub-par HDR peak brightness. Plus, it lacks a local dimming feature, so bright highlights in games don't stand out at all. Still, even though the TV is not quite bright enough to make its colors pop in HDR-enabled games, it does offer a very responsive gaming experience due to its low input lag and great response time. Unfortunately, the TV doesn't display chroma 4:4:4 properly in Game Mode, and VRR doesn't work properly in PC Mode, so you'll have to choose between one or the other when gaming.
Low input lag.
Impressive wide color gamut.
Supports all HDR formats, and passes through DTS through eARC.
Great response time with little motion blur behind fast moving objects.
4k @ 144Hz and 1080p @ 240Hz support on two HDMI ports.
No local dimming feature to improve contrast.
Low peak brightness in HDR.
Chroma 4:4:4 isn't displayed properly in Game Mode.
The TCL NXTFRAME is good for use as a PC monitor, mostly due to its low input lag and great response time. When it comes to image quality, its viewing angle is narrow, resulting in the screen's sides appearing non-uniform if you're sitting close to the screen. Its reflection handling is fantastic when dealing with direct sources of light, but it struggles with glare coming from ambient light sources due to smudging them across the screen. It's also not bright enough in SDR to overcome glare. The TV displays chroma 4:4:4 properly in PC mode, but not in Game Mode. The TV uses a BGR subpixel layout that impacts the text clarity, although not everyone will be bothered by this.
Low input lag.
Chroma 4:4:4 is displayed properly in PC Mode.
Fantastic reflection handling with glare from direct sources of light.
Great response time with little motion blur behind fast moving objects.
Image quality degrades rapidly at an angle.
Smudges glare from ambient lights across the screen instead of reducing its size.
Inadequate pre-calibration accuracy in SDR.
VRR doesn't work in PC Mode.
We bought and tested the 65-inch TCL NXTFRAME (65A300W), and these results are also valid for the 55 (55A300W), 75 (75A300W), and 85-inch (85A300W) models. There are no other known variants of the TV, and the TV is currently exclusive to the North American market.
Size | Model Code |
55" | 55A300W |
65" | 65A300W |
75" | 75A300W |
85" | 85A300W |
Our unit was manufactured in July 2024, as seen on our product's label.
The TCL NXTFRAME is a decent TV, especially for those looking specifically for an 'Art' TV. It has solid image processing, and it handles reflections from direct sources of light very well. It's also a surprisingly good gaming TV, even if it isn't marketed with that usage in mind. Unfortunately, it falls short when compared to its two closest rivals: the Hisense CanvasTV QLED 2024 and the Samsung The Frame 2024 QLED. The Hisense delivers similar, if slightly better, image quality, but it is also sold for a tad below what the TCL is going for. The Samsung, for its part, is much more expensive, but it delivers superior image quality. Ultimately, it's hard to recommend the TCL over the Hisense, as the latter undercuts the former in price for similar performance.
See our recommendations for the best 4k TVs, the best budget TVs, and the best 4k gaming TVs.
The Samsung The Frame 2024 QLED is more expensive than the TCL NXTFRAME QLED, but it's also noticeably better. The Samsung is far brighter in HDR and SDR, delivering a more impactful viewing experience. It's also the most accurate of the two in HDR and SDR. While both TVs struggle with ambient sources of light, the Samsung's matte coating does a better job at reducing their impact than the TCL's. Overall, the Samsung definitely delivers a more impactful viewing experience, but at a premium.
The Hisense CanvasTV QLED 2024 and TCL NXTFRAME QLED are extremely similar products, with little to differentiate them. The TCL has slightly better contrast, but in turn, the Hisense is the brighter of the two TVs, especially in SDR content. The Hisense is more accurate in HDR, but its SDR accuracy is abysmal; the TCL, while not very accurate in SDR either, is still much better than the Hisense. Overall, the two TVs are similar enough that you should get the cheapest of the two, although the Hisense's SDR brightness advantage is noticeable.
The Hisense U6/U6N is better than the TCL NXTFRAME QLED. The Hisense has a local dimming feature, giving it vastly better contrast than the TCL. The Hisense is also a bit brighter in HDR and noticeably brighter in SDR, with better image accuracy. The NXTFRAME is, however, much better for gaming due to its faster response time and 4k @ 144Hz or 1080p @ 240Hz support on its two HDMI 2.1 ports; the Hisense is limited to 60Hz on all ports. But, overall, unless you're specifically looking for an art TV that doubles as a gaming screen, you'll be better off with the Hisense.
The TCL Q6/Q651G QLED and TCL NXTFRAME QLED are similar TVs outside of the latter's Art Mode features, but the Q6 is a bit better across the board when it comes to image quality. The Q6 is a bit brighter in HDR and SDR, and is much more accurate than the NXTFRAME in SDR. The NXTFRAME does have some advantages, such as its noticeably better image processing. It's also the better option for gamers, as the Q6 is limited to 4k @ 60Hz or 1080p @ 120Hz, while the NXTFRAME supports 4k @ 144Hz and 1080p @ 240Hz on its two HDMI 2.1 ports.
The TCL NXTFRAME TV is designed to look like a framed piece of art rather than a traditional TV. It comes with a faux light wood frame that is magnetically attached to the TV's off-white borders. Overall, the TV's all-white design gives it a unique look, although the magnetic frame isn't very securely attached to the frame, as it's easy to knock parts of it off.
The back of the TV is made entirely of plastic, and while there's nothing special about it when it comes to materials, its all-white design gives it a striking look. The inputs are recessed into the back, and this lets the TV sit completely flush with the wall when installed with TCL's proprietary wall mount. There are also channels on the back to help with cable management. Just keep in mind that this TV lacks any VESA mounting options, so using third-party wall mounts is more complicated than on other TVs.
The TV comes with a faux light wood magnetic frame that attaches to its all-white borders.
The TV's build is solid overall, as there isn't much flex anywhere on its back plastic covering. However, the biggest issue lies with its magnetic frames; they just don't hold well enough. If you bump into the TV or if there's a stiff breeze coming through the room on a windy day, the bottom frame bezel can pop right off. If you poke it downwards, it also comes off. The frames are also hard to install flush with each other, requiring some finagling to get a seamless result.
This TV doesn't have a local dimming feature, so it can't adjust the backlight of individual zones to brighten up highlights without impacting the rest of the image. But this means that there are no distracting flicker or brightness changes as bright highlights move between zones, as it doesn't have any.
The TCL NXTFRAME has sub-par HDR brightness. The TV's HDR brightness isn't good enough to display brighter highlights with impact.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
Results with Dynamic Tone Mapping set to 'Detail Priority':
Results with Dynamic Tone Mapping set to 'Balance':
Results with Dynamic Tone Mapping set to 'Brightness Priority':
There's no noticeable difference in HDR brightness when the TCL NXTFRAME is set to Game Mode.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
Results with Dynamic Tone Mapping set to 'Detail Priority':
Results with Dynamic Tone Mapping set to 'Balance':
Results with Dynamic Tone Mapping set to 'Brightness Priority':
The TCL NXTFRAME has good PQ EOTF tracking. Still, like on most LED TVs blacks and near blacks are raised, but everything else is displayed dimmer than intended. There's a gradual roll-off near its peak brightness to maintain detail in highlights that are brighter than what the TV is capable of.
The TV's SDR brightness is okay, but it's not bright enough to overcome glare in bright rooms. It's better suited for dimmer rooms.
These measurements are after calibration with the following settings:
The TCL NXTFRAME has a very good HDR color gamut. It has outstanding coverage of the commonly used DCI-P3 color space, but most colors are undersaturated, with some minor color mapping issues. The TV has okay coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space, but vibrant colors are inaccurate and undersaturated.
The TV has satisfactory color volume, but it doesn't do a very good job of displaying dark saturated colors due to its lack of local dimming, even with its good native contrast. It's also not bright enough to display vibrant colors.
The TV has disappointing pre-calibration accuracy. Its white balance is very poor, with significant accuracy errors throughout every range of gray except blacks, with more errors in brighter grays. Reds, in particular, are significantly overrepresented in most grays, and so are blues, but to a lesser extent. This does make its color temperature too warm overall. The TV's color accuracy is alright, but undersaturated colors show a lot of accuracy errors, although the errors go down as the colors get more saturated.
The TV has fantastic SDR accuracy after calibration, and it's easy to calibrate. Any issues with white balance are gone, and the color temperature and gamma are essentially perfect. Color accuracy is also now outstanding.
You can see our full calibration settings here.
The TV's gray uniformity is just alright. The sides of the screen are darker than the rest, and there's some noticeable dirty screen effect throughout. On a very dark or near-black screen, its uniformity is great, with only the edges being slightly lighter than the rest of the screen, but it's hard to see unless you're looking for it.
The TCL NXTFRAME has an inadequate viewing angle, so it's not suitable for a wide seating arrangement. As you move off-center, there's significant gamma shifting, black level raise, brightness loss, and colors look increasingly washed out.
This TV's overall reflection handling is good, especially when it's dealing with glare from direct sources of light, like lights or windows placed directly opposite of it. However, its matte coating diffuses glare from ambient lighting to the point where the resulting smudges reduce the TV's perceived contrast, impacting its picture quality in the process.
The TV has good HDR gradient handling. There's noticeable banding in dark grays, reds and greens, but other color gradients have minimal banding.
The TV does a good job with upscaling low-resolution content like DVDs, standard definition cable channels, and lower-resolution streams. Details are clear enough, but finer details and small hard-coded text are hard to make out.
Sharpness processing was calibrated with no over-sharpening for low-resolution content with the following settings:
The TV uses a BGR (Blue-Green-Red) subpixel layout instead of the traditional RGB layout. This doesn't cause any issues for video or gaming content, but it can be a problem for PC monitor use as it impacts the text clarity, although not everyone will notice this.
The TV uses a KSF phosphor coating to produce red light and a quantum dot color converter to produce green light, as confirmed by the TV's spectral power distribution (SPD).
The TCL NXTFRAME uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to dim its backlight, and it flickers at 150Hz, which is low enough to be noticeable by users who are sensitive to it. Fortunately, the TV is flicker-free in all modes just as long as the brightness is set to 29 or higher.
The TV doesn't have an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion (BFI), to help reduce persistence blur.
The TV has an optional motion interpolation feature to improve the clarity of motion, but it doesn't work very well in faster scenes. It does a better job in slower scenes, as it smoothes out motion without introducing too many artifacts.
Due to the TV's response time, there's some minor stutter when watching movies or TV shows, and it's most noticeable during slow panning shots.
The TV automatically removes judder from all sources when watching movies or shows that are in 24p, even if they're in a 60Hz signal, like from a cable box.
The TV supports all three types of variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to reduce screen tearing. Its VRR range caps out at 144Hz, 120Hz, or 240Hz, depending on the resolution. Unfortunately, it uses different overdrive settings under and above 65Hz, and also 144Hz if you're gaming at 1080p @ 240Hz. At 144Hz, the TV also seemingly uses different gamma settings, causing the entire screen to flash.
This TV has incredibly low input lag when set to PC Mode or Game Mode, which ensures a very responsive gaming experience with very little delay between your actions with your controller or mouse and the action on-screen. In 1080p @ 240Hz, the input lag is 4.6 ms.
The TCL NXTFRAME supports all common resolutions up to 4k @ 144Hz, as well as 1080p @ 240Hz. For 144Hz and 240Hz to work, you must enable 'High Frame Rate Mode.' Unfortunately, it doesn't support chroma 4:4:4 when set in Game Mode and needs to be set to PC to display chroma 4:4:4. VRR also only works properly in Game Mode, which means that you need to choose between displaying 4:4:4 or VRR when gaming.
The TCL NXTFRAME is fully compatible with everything the PS5 offers, like 1440p @ 120Hz and 4k @ 120Hz, as well as HDMI Forum VRR. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about manually switching to Game Mode to get the lowest input lag.
The TV is fully compatible with everything the Xbox Series X|S offers, including 1440p @ 120Hz, 4k @ 120Hz, HDMI Forum VRR, FreeSync Premium Pro, and Dolby Vision gaming. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about manually switching to Game Mode to get the lowest input lag.
The TCL NXTFRAME has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on HDMI ports 1 and 2, with both supporting up to 4k @ 144Hz. Unfortunately, unlike some of TCL's other 2024 TVs, the HDMI 1 port is the eARC port, so you lose one of your high-speed ports if you have a connected soundbar. It supports all HDR formats.
The TCL NXTFRAME supports eARC, which lets you pass high-quality, uncompressed audio to a compatible receiver or soundbar through an HDMI cable. It supports all major audio formats, so you don't have to worry about compatibility with external sources.
The TV has a sub-par frequency response, especially when it comes to its bass response, which is non-existent. Still, outside of the complete lack of bass, the TV's sound profile is very clear at almost all listening levels, although it's mediocre at max volume. Overall, it's a solid TV for dialogue, but inadequate for listening to most music or for watching booming action movies.
The TV's distortion performance is poor. Distortion is audible at all volumes and even more so near and at max volume. Not everyone notices distortion, but try to keep the volume at a moderate level to minimize it.
The TCL NXTFRAME has a fantastic selection of apps, so it's easy to find your favorite content. You can also cast content from your phone onto the TV or play videos directly from a USB stick.
The TCL NXTFRAME comes with a similar remote to some of TCL's other 2024 TVs, although it isn't as long, and comes in white to match the TV's color scheme. It has an art mode button, as well as buttons for popular streaming services, and you can use the built-in microphone to switch inputs, change apps, search within apps, and ask for the weather and time. Unfortunately, you can't change the settings on the TV using the voice controls.