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We published new results of an investigative study on the long-term durability of TVs, revealing significant durability issues with popular edge-lit models. Read the full details here.

TCL QM7/QM751G QLED TV Review

Tested using Methodology v1.11
Reviewed Aug 21, 2024 at 10:16 am
TCL QM7/QM751G QLED Picture
8.1
Mixed Usage
Value for price beaten by
: Hisense U8/U8N
7.5
TV Shows
Value for price beaten by
: Hisense 75U8N
7.7
Sports
Value for price beaten by
: Hisense U7N [U7, U75N]
8.7
Video Games
Value for price beaten by
: Hisense U8/U8N
8.2
HDR Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Hisense U8/U8N
8.7
HDR Gaming
Value for price beaten by
: Hisense U8/U8N
8.5
PC Monitor
Value for price beaten by
: Hisense U7N [U7, U75N]

The TCL QM7/QM715G QLED is a mid-range TV and sits between the high-end TCL QM8/QM851G QLED and budget TCL Q6/Q651G QLED in TCL's 2024 lineup. It uses TCL's AIPQ PRO processor and is advertised as being capable of hitting up to 2,400 nits, with up to 1500 dimming zones depending on the size, dwarfing the zone count of the preceding TCL Q7/Q750G QLED. It's loaded with features like Dolby Vision and HDR10+, HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, 4k @ 144Hz, 1080p @ 240Hz, and VRR support. The TV has the IMAX Enhanced Certification and supports DTS and Dolby advanced audio formats through its eARC HDMI port. It uses the popular and easy-to-use Google operating system. It has hands-free voice control through Google Assistant, as well as working with the Amazon Alexa and Apple Homekit smart assistants. We bought and reviewed the 65-inch model, but the TV is available in five sizes: 55, 65, 75, 85, and 98 inches.

Our Verdict

8.1 Mixed Usage

The TCL QM7 is a very good TV for mixed usage. It looks fantastic in a dark room thanks to its outstanding contrast, with highlights that stand out in HDR content thanks to its excellent HDR brightness. It's also suitable for bright rooms due to its amazing SDR brightness and decent reflection handling. The TV's fast response time means there's minimal blur behind fast motion, so it's great for watching sports, playing video games, or for use as a PC monitor. It's a great option to pair with current gaming consoles and PCs due to its modern gaming features. Unfortunately, the TV isn't well-suited for use in a group setting due to its rather narrow viewing angle. It also isn't a good fit for anyone who cares about color accuracy in SDR, as the TV is disappointing in that regard.

Pros
  • Outstanding contrast delivers deep blacks.
  • Excellent HDR brightness for bright highlights that stand out.
  • Removes judder from all sources.
  • Excellent response time for minimal blur behind fast motion.
Cons
  • Image degrades when viewed from the sides.
7.5 TV Shows

The TCL QM7 is good for watching TV shows. Its amazing SDR brightness and decent reflection handling make it suitable for a bright room, as it overcomes glare without much difficulty, although it struggles a bit more with reflections from sources of light placed directly opposite to it. The Google TV interface is loaded with apps, so it's easy to find the newest popular shows. It has good upscaling capabilities and very good low-quality content smoothing, so older shows on DVD or low-quality streams don't look overly soft. The TV doesn't have a wide viewing angle, so its image isn't quite as pleasant when viewed from the sides compared to when watching the TV from the front.

Pros
  • Removes judder from all sources.
  • Very good low-quality content smoothing for low bitrate content.
Cons
  • Image degrades when viewed from the sides.
  • Disappointing SDR pre-calibration accuracy.
7.7 Sports

The TCL QM7 is good for watching sports. The TV has an excellent response time, so there's minimal blur behind quick-moving players and objects. It also has good gray uniformity with only a bit of the dirty screen effect, so you aren't distracted when watching sports with large areas of uniform color, like football and hockey. The TV overcomes glare in a bright room thanks to its amazing SDR brightness and decent reflection handling, although try to avoid placing lights directly opposite the screen as its reflection handling struggles a bit more with those. Its viewing angle is passable, but the TV is best viewed from the front as its image degrades when viewed from the sides.

Pros
  • Removes judder from all sources.
  • Excellent response time for minimal blur behind fast motion.
Cons
  • Image degrades when viewed from the sides.
8.7 Video Games

The TCL QM7 is excellent for playing video games. It's a great choice to pair with gaming PCs and modern consoles thanks to its HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, up to 4k @ 144Hz, and VRR support, although there's an issue that affects the TV's response time when it hovers around 65Hz when using VRR. It also has incredibly low input lag and an excellent response time, so there's no noticeable delay between your controller inputs and the action on screen, and there's minimal blur behind fast motion. Finally, Game Mode looks the same as using the other picture modes, so you don't have to worry about trading in picture quality for performance.

Pros
  • Removes judder from all sources.
  • HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, up to 4k @ 144Hz, and VRR support.
  • Excellent response time for minimal blur behind fast motion.
  • Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
Cons
  • VRR issues around 65Hz.
  • Disappointing SDR pre-calibration accuracy.
8.2 HDR Movies

The TCL QM7 is great for watching movies in a dark room. Its outstanding contrast means the TV displays deep blacks in a dark room, and they stay deep when bright highlights are also on the screen. It also has excellent HDR brightness, so bright highlights in HDR movies stand out well. The TV has a wide color gamut and great color volume, so colors in HDR content are vibrant, lifelike, and bright. It also automatically removes judder from all sources. Unfortunately, the TV's pre-calibration SDR accuracy is disappointing, so you'll need to get the TV calibrated if you care about accuracy in SDR.

Pros
  • Outstanding contrast delivers deep blacks.
  • Excellent HDR brightness for bright highlights that stand out.
  • Removes judder from all sources.
  • Wide color gamut and great color volume for vibrant, lifelike, and bright colors.
  • Dolby Vision support.
  • DTS Audio support.
Cons
  • Image degrades when viewed from the sides.
  • Disappointing SDR pre-calibration accuracy.
8.7 HDR Gaming

The TCL QM7 is excellent for playing games in HDR. The TV has excellent HDR brightness and outstanding contrast, so highlights really stand out in HDR games. There's no impact on the image while using Game Mode, so you get the best possible performance without sacrificing picture quality. The TV's incredibly low input lag provides a responsive gaming experience, whilst its excellent response time provides fast motion with minimal blur. It's also a great choice to pair with modern consoles and gaming PCs thanks to its HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, up to 4k @ 144Hz, and VRR support, although there's a response time issue when the TV hovers around 65Hz when using VRR.

Pros
  • Outstanding contrast delivers deep blacks.
  • Excellent HDR brightness for bright highlights that stand out.
  • Removes judder from all sources.
  • Wide color gamut and great color volume for vibrant, lifelike, and bright colors.
  • HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, up to 4k @ 144Hz, and VRR support.
  • Dolby Vision support.
  • Excellent response time for minimal blur behind fast motion.
  • Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
Cons
  • VRR issues around 65Hz.
8.5 PC Monitor

The TCL QM7 is excellent for use as a PC monitor. It overcomes glare in a bright room thanks to its amazing SDR brightness, although try to avoid placing bright lights directly opposite the screen as it struggles more with those than it does with glare from ambient lighting. The TV has good gray uniformity, so you don't see too much of the dirty screen effect when looking at large areas of uniform colors, like when browsing the web. You also get a responsive desktop experience thanks to its incredibly low input lag, and its excellent response time provides minimal blur behind fast cursor movements or other fast motion. The TV displays chroma 4:4:4 properly, but since it uses a BGR subpixel layout, there are some minor text clarity issues that will bother some people. The TV's viewing angle is passable, so try to stay centered when using it, as that's where the image looks its best.

Pros
  • Removes judder from all sources.
  • Excellent response time for minimal blur behind fast motion.
  • Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
Cons
  • Image degrades when viewed from the sides.
  • 8.1 Mixed Usage
  • 7.5 TV Shows
  • 7.7 Sports
  • 8.7 Video Games
  • 8.2 HDR Movies
  • 8.7 HDR Gaming
  • 8.5 PC Monitor
  1. Updated Aug 21, 2024: Review published.
  2. Updated Aug 16, 2024: Early access published.
  3. Updated Aug 01, 2024: Our testers have started testing this product.
  4. Updated Jul 08, 2024: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
  5. Updated Jun 18, 2024: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Differences Between Sizes And Variants

We bought and tested the 65-inch TCL QM7, and these results are also valid for the 55, 75, 85, and 98-inch models. The 98" model has feet instead of a center-mounted stand like the smaller sizes have. The TCL QM7 is currently only available in North America; in Europe, TCL released the similar TCL C805 instead. Typically, similar models from other regions perform differently, so these results aren't valid for it.

Note: TCL hasn't yet confirmed the number of dimming zones for each model size, although they did say that the TV had up to 1,500 dimming zones. We'll update this table as we find out how many dimming zones each size has.

Size Model Dimming Zones
55" TCL 55QM751G Unknown
65" TCL 65QM751G 1,248
75" TCL 75QM751G Unknown
85" TCL 85QM751G Unknown
98" TCL 98QM751G ~1,500 

You can see our unit's label here.

Compared To Other TVs

The TCL QM7/QM751G QLED is a great TV, and is sure to please anyone who buys it. It has outstanding contrast, is very bright in HDR and SDR, and has a ton of gaming features. It's an incremental, but noticeable, improvement over 2023's TCL Q7/Q750G QLED, as the newer model is much brighter in HDR, even if the older model has a slight edge in contrast. Still, anyone shopping for the TCL QM7 should first consider the slightly better Hisense U7N; the latter is a bit dimmer than the TCL, but has far better reflection handling, giving the Hisense TV the clear edge when watched in bright rooms. The Hisense is also more accurate in HDR and SDR, making it the better package of the two TVs, even if it's very close overall.

 For more options, check out our recommendations for the best TVs, the best QLED TVs, and the best 4k gaming TVs.

TCL QM8/QM851G QLED
65" 75" 85" 98"

The TCL QM8/QM851G QLED is better than the TCL QM7/QM751G QLED. With a few exceptions, notably viewing angle and PQ EOTF tracking, the QM8 does everything better than the QM7. The QM8 is noticeably brighter in HDR and SDR, has better contrast, and is more accurate in SDR prior to calibration. It also has much better reflection handling than the QM7, making it a far better option if you like to watch TV in extremely bright rooms. Overall, the 2024 QM8 is a noticeable upgrade over the QM7.

Hisense U7K [U7, U75K]
55" 65" 75" 85"

The Hisense U7K and the TCL QM7/QM751G QLED are closely matched. The TCL offers a more impactful viewing experience overall due to its better contrast and brightness, although the Hisense looks about as good in very bright rooms due to its much better reflection handling. The Hisense TV is, however, vastly more accurate pre-calibration than the TCL is; if you care about color accuracy yet aren't interested in having your TV calibrated, then the Hisense is for you.

Hisense U7N [U7, U75N]
55" 65" 75" 85"

The Hisense U7N and TCL QM7/QM751G QLED are closely matched, with the Hisense U7N having a very slight edge overall. The Hisense has better contrast with local dimming enabled, but the TCL has better blooming and lighting zone transition performance. The TCL is also a bit brighter in HDR, but the Hisense is much more accurate in HDR and SDR. The Hisense also has much better reflection handling, making it the far better choice when watching content in bright rooms, with the two TVs being more or less evenly matched in darker rooms. 

TCL Q7/Q750G QLED
55" 65" 75" 85"

The  TCL QM7/QM751G QLED is a bit better than the TCL Q7/Q750G QLED. The older TCL has slightly better contrast, but the new TCL QM7 has much better lighting zone transitions. Otherwise, the QM7 is noticeably brighter in HDR and is the more colorful of the two, providing a better HDR experience overall. Overall, the newer QM7 is an incremental improvement over the Q7

TCL QM8/QM850G QLED
65" 75" 85" 98"

The TCL QM8/QM850G QLED is better than the TCL QM7/QM751G QLED. The QM8 does most things noticeably better than the QM7; it has better contrast with local dimming enabled, a brighter presentation in HDR and SDR, is more accurate in SDR prior to calibration, and has much better reflection handling. The QM7 does have a slightly wider viewing angle, but they're both underwhelming in that regard. Overall, the older 2023 QM8 is still a notably better product than the newer yet lower-end QM7. 

Hisense U8/U8N
55" 65" 75" 85" 100"

The Hisense U8/U8N is better than the TCL QM7/QM751G QLED. The Hisense has far better contrast, giving a more impactful experience in darker rooms than the QM7 does. The Hisense is also much brighter in HDR and SDR, and has far better reflection handling, making it far superior in brighter rooms as well. Compared to the TCL the Hisense is also far more accurate in SDR prior to calibration. Ultimately, the Hisense TV has the edge in every category except viewing angle, but on that front, they're both underwhelming. 

TCL Q6/Q651G QLED
43" 50" 55" 65" 75" 85" 98"

The TCL QM7/QM751G QLED is better than the TCL Q6/Q651G QLED. The QM7 is significantly brighter, so it overcomes a lot more glare in a bright room and displays much brighter highlights in HDR. Colors are also more vibrant, lifelike, and bright on the QM7, and its local dimming feature makes displays much deeper blacks that stay deep when highlights are also on screen. The QM7 is also much better for gamers due to its HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, 4k @ 144Hz, and faster response time.

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Test Results

perceptual testing image
Design
Design
Style
Curved No

The TCL QM7 has thin bezels on three sides with a slightly thicker bottom border and branding near the top right corner when viewing the TV from the front. The branding is reflective; this can be distracting if you have lights shining directly on the TV. Otherwise, the borders have a sleek metal-brushed finish, and the stand is made of metal but enclosed in a plastic shell.

Design
Accelerated Longevity Test
Uniformity Pictures N/A
Design
Stand

The TV comes with a metal center-mounted stand that doesn't require a large table to place the TV on. The stand holds the TV well, even if the TV does wobble a bit when pushed. The stand lifts it about 3.5 inches above the table, so most soundbars fit underneath without blocking the screen.

Footprint of the 65-inch stand: 14.37" x 13.62".

Design
Back
Wall Mount VESA 400x400

The back is made of plastic and has a grid-like pattern reminiscent of the TCL Q7/Q750G QLED. Most of the inputs are side-facing, but they're located in a recessed cutout that makes them a bit hard to access if you have the TV wall-mounted. The TV has a built-in subwoofer located in the middle of the back of the TV. You can also funnel cables through the TV's stand to help with cable management.

Design
Borders
Borders 0.31" (0.8 cm)
Design
Thickness
Max Thickness 3.11" (7.9 cm)
8.0
Design
Build Quality

The TCL QM7 has very good build quality. It's mostly made of plastic, but it's sturdy and well-built overall. There is some flex on the back of the TV, mostly around the middle of the back pane and around the inputs, but it doesn't cause any issues. There's no issues with quality control on our unit.

Picture Quality
9.2
Picture Quality
Contrast
Contrast
66,900 : 1
Native Contrast
8,264 : 1

The TCL QM7 has outstanding contrast. Its native contrast is excellent, but with local dimming enabled, the TV displays very deep blacks that stay deep when brighter highlights are also on screen. Still, it's a slight downgrade from the TCL Q7/Q750G QLED.

7.5
Picture Quality
Blooming

The TV has good blooming performance, but there is still noticeable blooming around bright objects set on a very dark background.

8.0
Picture Quality
Lighting Zone Transitions
Local Dimming
Yes
Backlight
Full-Array
Dimming Zones Count Of Tested TV
1,248

The TV has great lighting zone transitions. The TV's processing keeps up well with fast-moving objects, although there is some visible darkening on the leading edge of bright objects. Still, it's not very noticeable.

9.0
Picture Quality
Contrast And Dark Details In Game Mode

There's no visible difference in dark scene performance when the TV is set to Game Mode.

8.8
Picture Quality
HDR Brightness
Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)
828 cd/m²
Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)
397 cd/m²
Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)
299 cd/m²
Peak 2% Window
1,315 cd/m²
Peak 10% Window
1,555 cd/m²
Peak 25% Window
1,449 cd/m²
Peak 50% Window
899 cd/m²
Peak 100% Window
564 cd/m²
Sustained 2% Window
1,115 cd/m²
Sustained 10% Window
1,527 cd/m²
Sustained 25% Window
1,428 cd/m²
Sustained 50% Window
897 cd/m²
Sustained 100% Window
564 cd/m²
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
0.052

The TCL QM7 has excellent HDR brightness, so highlights really stand out during darker scenes. Combined with its outstanding contrast, this TV provides an impactful HDR viewing experience.

These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:

  • HDR Picture Mode: Movie
  • Brightness: 100
  • Contrast: 100
  • Local Contrast: High
  • Gamma: 2.2
  • Micro Contrast: off
  • Color Temperature: Warm -5
  • Dynamic Tone Mapping: Off

Here are measurements with Dynamic Tone Mapping set to each of its three settings, all in the 'Movie' HDR Picture Mode:

  • Dynamic Tone Mapping: Detail Priority
  • Hallway Lights: 828 cd/m²
  • Yellow Skyscraper: 509 cd/m²
  • Landscape Pool: 385 cd/m²
  • Dynamic Tone Mapping: Balance
  • Hallway Lights: 813 cd/m²
  • Yellow Skyscraper: 548 cd/m²
  • Landscape Pool: 407 cd/m²
  • Dynamic Tone Mapping: Brightness Priority
  • Hallway Lights: 797 cd/m²
  • Yellow Skyscraper: 585 cd/m²
  • Landscape Pool: 439 cd/m²

8.7
Picture Quality
HDR Brightness In Game Mode
Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)
796 cd/m²
Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)
400 cd/m²
Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)
293 cd/m²
Peak 2% Window
1,297 cd/m²
Peak 10% Window
1,466 cd/m²
Peak 25% Window
1,378 cd/m²
Peak 50% Window
862 cd/m²
Peak 100% Window
543 cd/m²
Sustained 2% Window
1,098 cd/m²
Sustained 10% Window
1,443 cd/m²
Sustained 25% Window
1,364 cd/m²
Sustained 50% Window
860 cd/m²
Sustained 100% Window
542 cd/m²
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
0.052

The TV is a bit dimmer in Game Mode. It's barely noticeable, and highlights still really pop out during darker moments in games. Combined with its outstanding contrast, this TV provides a very impactful HDR gaming experience.

These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:

  • HDR Picture Mode: Game
  • Game Master: On
  • Brightness: 100
  • Contrast: 100
  • Local Contrast: High
  • Gamma: 2.2
  • Micro Contrast: off
  • Color Temperature: Warm -5
  • Dynamic Tone Mapping: Off

Here are measurements with Dynamic Tone Mapping set to each of its three settings, all in the 'Movie' HDR Picture Mode:

  • Dynamic Tone Mapping: Detail Priority
  • Hallway Lights: 786 cd/m²
  • Yellow Skyscraper: 532 cd/m²
  • Landscape Pool: 379 cd/m²
  • Dynamic Tone Mapping: Balance
  • Hallway Lights: 770 cd/m²
  • Yellow Skyscraper: 573 cd/m²
  • Landscape Pool: 396 cd/m²
  • Dynamic Tone Mapping: Brightness Priority
  • Hallway Lights: 761 cd/m²
  • Yellow Skyscraper: 596 cd/m²
  • Landscape Pool: 416 cd/m²

7.7
Picture Quality
PQ EOTF Tracking
600 Nit Tracking Delta
0.0156
1000 Nit Tracking Delta
0.0155
4000 Nit Tracking Delta
0.0156

The TCL QM7 has good PQ EOTF tracking. Still, most content is slightly overbrightened, more so for blacks and dark shadows, and even some midtones. The TV hard clips when it reaches its peak brightness with content mastered at 600 and 1000 nits, but no roll-off is necessary since the TV is bright enough to fully display most content mastered at those brightness levels. With content mastered at 4000 nits, there's a slight roll-off to maintain some detail in very bright specular highlights.

8.8
Picture Quality
SDR Brightness
Real Scene Peak Brightness
604 cd/m²
Peak 2% Window
1,222 cd/m²
Peak 10% Window
1,509 cd/m²
Peak 25% Window
1,406 cd/m²
Peak 50% Window
844 cd/m²
Peak 100% Window
532 cd/m²
Sustained 2% Window
1,031 cd/m²
Sustained 10% Window
1,487 cd/m²
Sustained 25% Window
1,329 cd/m²
Sustained 50% Window
840 cd/m²
Sustained 100% Window
531 cd/m²
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
0.053

The TCL QM7 has amazing SDR brightness and easily overcomes glare in bright rooms.

These measurements are after calibration with the following settings:

  • Picture Mode: Movie
  • Brightness: 100
  • Contrast: 100
  • Black Level: 50
  • Dynamic Contrast: Off
  • Black Stretch: Off
  • Dynamic Brightness: Off
  • Local Contrast: High
  • Micro Contrast: Off
  • Gamma: 2.2

8.6
Picture Quality
Color Gamut
Wide Color Gamut
Yes
DCI P3 xy
94.71%
DCI P3 uv
97.24%
Rec 2020 xy
76.39%
Rec 2020 uv
78.48%

The TCL QM7 has an impressive HDR color gamut. It has fantastic coverage of the commonly used DCI-P3 color space, with incredible color accuracy, although cyans lean a tad green and purples a tad red. The TV has good coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space, but there's a lack of vibrancy in the most saturated colors.

8.8
Picture Quality
Color Volume
1,000 cd/m² DCI P3 Coverage ITP
82.8%
10,000 cd/m² Rec 2020 Coverage ITP
44.8%
White Luminance
1,199 cd/m²
Red Luminance
291 cd/m²
Green Luminance
826 cd/m²
Blue Luminance
91 cd/m²
Cyan Luminance
920 cd/m²
Magenta Luminance
383 cd/m²
Yellow Luminance
1,117 cd/m²

The TV has excellent color volume. It displays a wide range of colors at high luminance levels, and dark saturated colors are displayed well due to its outstanding contrast.

5.4
Picture Quality
Pre Calibration
White Balance dE
6.27
Color dE
3.22
Gamma
2.20
Color Temperature
5,794 K
Picture Mode
Movie
Color Temp Setting
Warm -5
Gamma Setting
2.2

The TV has disappointing pre-calibration accuracy. Its white balance is poor, with significant accuracy errors throughout every range of gray except blacks; the brighter the grays, the more errors there are. Reds, in particular, are significantly overrepresented in most grays, with blue being noticeably underrepresented in brighter grays. The TV's color accuracy is decent; undersaturated colors show a lot of accuracy errors, but the errors go down as the colors get more saturated. The TV's color temperature is sub-par, as it's significantly off from our 6500K target, giving the entire image a red tint.

9.7
Picture Quality
Post Calibration
White Balance dE
0.40
Color dE
0.48
Gamma
2.21
Color Temperature
6,470 K
White Balance Calibration
20 point
Color Calibration
Yes

The TV has fantastic SDR accuracy after calibration, and the TV is easy to calibrate. Any issues with white balance are gone, and the color temperature and gamma are essentially perfect. Color accuracy is outstanding.

You can see our full calibration settings here.

7.5
Picture Quality
Gray Uniformity
50% Std. Dev.
3.346%
50% DSE
0.182%
5% Std. Dev.
1.050%
5% DSE
0.084%

The TV has good gray uniformity, but there's some dirty screen effect towards the center of the screen, and the corners are a bit darker than the center. On a very dark or near-black screen, its uniformity is excellent, but the corners and sides of the screen are a bit lighter than the center.

10
Picture Quality
Black Uniformity
Std. Dev.
0.269%
Native Std. Dev.
0.420%

The TV has superb black uniformity. With local dimming disabled, blacks are slightly cloudy and blueish. With local dimming enabled, blacks are deep and uniform across the screen, with only a bit of blooming around bright objects on a dark background.

6.0
Picture Quality
Viewing Angle
Color Washout
23°
Color Shift
65°
Brightness Loss
30°
Black Level Raise
18°
Gamma Shift
20°

The TCL QM7 has a barely passable viewing angle, so it's not suitable for a wide seating arrangement. As you move off-center, there's significant gamma shifting, brightness loss, and colors look increasingly washed out as you move further away to the sides. The TV does perform quite well when it comes to color shifting however, so the colors don't hue shift (i.e. change colors) unless you're viewing the TV from a very wide angle.

7.3
Picture Quality
Reflections
Screen Finish
Semi-gloss
Total Reflections
5.4%
Indirect Reflections
0.5%
Calculated Direct Reflections
4.9%

The TV's reflection handling is decent. It does a good job with indirect reflections, like from ambient sources of light. But with direct reflections, like from lights or windows placed directly in front of the screen, the reflections are noticeable enough to be an annoyance when watching content.

7.5
Picture Quality
HDR Native Gradient
100% Black to 50% Gray
6.0
50% Gray to 100% White
6.0
100% Black to 50% Red
8.0
50% Red to 100% Red
8.0
100% Black to 50% Green
8.0
50% Green to 100% Green
8.0
100% Black to 50% Blue
8.0
50% Blue to 100% Blue
8.0

The TV has good HDR gradient handling. There's noticeable banding in all grays, but other color gradients have minimal banding.

8.1
Picture Quality
Low-Quality Content Smoothing
Smoothing
8.5
Detail Preservation
7.0

The TCL QM7 has very good low-quality content smoothing. It does an excellent job at smoothing out artifacts in low bitrate content, but there is some loss of detail.

7.5
Picture Quality
Upscaling: Sharpness Processing

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:

  • Sharpness: 20

Picture Quality
Pixels
Subpixel Layout
BGR
Type LED
Sub-Type
VA

The TV uses a BGR (Blue-Green-Red) subpixel layout instead of the traditional RGB layout. For video or gaming content, this doesn't cause any issues, but for PC monitor use, it can be a problem as it impacts the text clarity, although not everyone will notice this.

Motion
8.6
Motion
Response Time
80% Response Time
3.5 ms
100% Response Time
9.6 ms

The TCL QM7 has an excellent response time for minimal blur behind fast-moving objects, but it's slower when coming out of dark states, so there's some black smearing in dark scene transitions.

9.0
Motion
Flicker-Free
Flicker-Free
No
PWM Dimming Frequency
10,000 Hz

The TCL QM7 uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to dim its backlight. Fortunately, it flickers at an incredibly fast 10,000Hz in all picture modes and at all brightness levels, so it's not noticeable.

Motion
Black Frame Insertion (BFI)
Optional BFI
Yes
Min Flicker For 60 fps
60 Hz
60Hz For 60 fps
Yes
120Hz For 120 fps
Yes
Min Flicker for 60 fps in Game Mode
60 Hz

The TCL QM7 has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion. This feature is meant to reduce persistence blur and improve the appearance of motion. It works well at both 60Hz and 120Hz, with only some very minor image duplication. Note that enabling this feature reduces the panel's overall brightness.

Motion
Motion Interpolation
Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
Yes
Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
Yes

This TV has an optional motion interpolation feature to improve the clarity of motion, but it doesn't work very well. Even slower-moving scenes have some noticeable artifacts present. It really struggles with faster-moving scenes, and there are distracting artifacts and haloing.

6.7
Motion
Stutter
Frame Hold Time @ 24 fps
32.1 ms
Frame Hold Time @ 60 fps
7.1 ms

Due to the TV's quick response time, there's some noticeable stutter when watching movies or TV shows, and it's most apparent in slow panning shots.

10
Motion
24p Judder
Judder-Free 24p
Yes
Judder-Free 24p via 60p
Yes
Judder-Free 24p via 60i
Yes
Judder-Free 24p via Native Apps
Yes

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.

9.6
Motion
Variable Refresh Rate
Native Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
Yes
HDMI Forum VRR
Yes
FreeSync
Yes
G-SYNC Compatible
Yes
4k VRR Maximum
144 Hz
4k VRR Minimum
< 20 Hz
1080p VRR Maximum
240 Hz
1080p VRR Minimum
< 20 Hz
1440p VRR Maximum
144 Hz
1440p VRR Minimum
< 20 Hz
VRR + Local Dimming Yes

The TV supports all three types of variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to reduce screen tearing. Its VRR range caps out at 144Hz or 240Hz, depending on the resolution. Unfortunately, it uses different overdrive settings under and above 65Hz. If you're gaming and your frame rate hovers between 60fps and 70fps, there's noticeable overshooting, which you can see here.

There's an inconsistent bug that prevents VRR from working at all, especially when sending a 60Hz signal from an NVIDIA equipped PC. Despite the TV saying that VRR is on, there's noticeable screen-tearing. Power cycling fixes the issue, and VRR works correctly.

Inputs
9.4
Inputs
Input Lag
1080p @ 60Hz
14.3 ms
1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
125.2 ms
1080p @ 120Hz
6.4 ms
1080p @ 144Hz
5.1 ms
1440p @ 60Hz
14.2 ms
1440p @ 120Hz
6.2 ms
1440p @ 144Hz
5.3 ms
4k @ 60Hz
14.4 ms
4k @ 60Hz + 10-Bit HDR
14.3 ms
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
14.8 ms
4k @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
124.9 ms
4k @ 60Hz With Interpolation
116.9 ms
4k @ 120Hz
6.0 ms
4k @ 144Hz
5.2 ms
8k @ 60Hz
N/A

This TV has incredibly low input lag when set to Game Mode with 'Game Master' turned on, which ensures a very responsive gaming experience with very little delay between your actions with your controller or mouse and the action on-screen. The input lag is 8.1ms when gaming in 1080p @ 240Hz.

Unfortunately, there's a reoccurring bug that prevents it from having the low input lag that it should while in Game Mode. To fix this, you have to power cycle the TV.

9.6
Inputs
Supported Resolutions
Resolution 4k
480p @ 59.94Hz (Widescreen)
Yes
720p @ 59.94Hz
Yes
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes
1080p @ 120Hz
Yes
1080p @ 144Hz
Yes
1440p @ 60Hz
Yes (forced resolution required)
1440p @ 120Hz
Yes
1440p @ 144Hz
Yes (forced resolution required)
4k @ 60Hz
Yes
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes
4k @ 120Hz
Yes
4k @ 120Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes
4k @ 144Hz
Yes
8k @ 30Hz or 24Hz
No
8k @ 60Hz
No

The TCL QM7 supports all common resolutions up to 4k @ 144Hz. HDMI 1 is the only port capable of 144Hz and 240Hz, while HDMI 2 can be used for gaming up to 120Hz. 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.

Inputs
PS5 Compatibility
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
Yes
4k @ 120Hz
Yes
1440p @ 120Hz
Yes
1080p @ 120Hz
Yes
HDR
Yes
VRR
Yes

The TV 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.

Inputs
Xbox Series X|S Compatibility
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
Yes
4k @ 120Hz
Yes
1440p @ 120Hz
Yes
1080p @ 120Hz
Yes
HDR
Yes
VRR
Yes

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.

Inputs
Inputs Specifications
HDR10
Yes
HDR10+
Yes
Dolby Vision
Yes
HLG
Yes
HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth
Yes (HDMI 1,2,3,4)
HDMI 2.1 Class Bandwidth
Yes (HDMI 1,2)
CEC Yes
HDCP 2.2 Yes (HDMI 1,2,3,4)
ATSC Tuner
1.0
USB 3.0
Yes (1)
Variable Analog Audio Out Yes
Wi-Fi Support Yes (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz)

The TCL QM7 has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on HDMI ports 1 and 2, although HDMI 1 supports up to 4k @ 144Hz, 1440p @ 144Hz, or 1080p @ 240Hz, while HDMI 2 is limited to a maximum of 120Hz at any resolution. HDMI 4 has eARC but is limited to HDMI 2.0 bandwidth, which is nice as you're not losing on an HDMI 2.1 port when you connect a soundbar to the TV. Unfortunately, the TV doesn't support ATSC 3.0, so over-the-air broadcasts are limited to 1080p.

Inputs
Input Photos
Inputs
Total Inputs
HDMI 4
USB 2
Digital Optical Audio Out 1
Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 1
Analog Audio Out RCA 0
Component In 0
Composite In 1 (adapter required, not incl.)
Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1
Ethernet 1
DisplayPort 0
IR In 0
Inputs
Audio Passthrough
ARC/eARC Port
eARC
eARC: Dolby Atmos Over Dolby Digital Plus
Yes
eARC: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Yes
eARC: LPCM 7.1 Over Dolby MAT
Yes
eARC: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Yes
eARC: DTS:X Over DTS-HD MA
Yes
eARC: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
Yes
eARC: LPCM Channels (Bitstream)
7.1
ARC: Dolby Digital 5.1
Yes
ARC: DTS 5.1
Yes
Optical: Dolby Digital 5.1
Yes
Optical: DTS 5.1
Yes

The TV 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.

Sound Quality
6.6
Sound Quality
Frequency Response
Low-Frequency Extension
119.87 Hz
Std. Dev. @ 70
3.63 dB
Std. Dev. @ 80
3.64 dB
Std. Dev. @ Max
4.40 dB
Max
85.9 dB SPL
Dynamic Range Compression
1.69 dB

The TCL QM7 has an okay frequency response. It has poor bass even with its built-in subwoofer, and has some compression artifacts when running the volume at or close to maximum. Considering this TV doesn't get loud, this isn't a good TV to listen to in noisy rooms. However, when listened to at low to moderate volumes, the TV sounds good, and the dialogue is easily understood.

7.5
Sound Quality
Distortion
Weighted THD @ 80
0.171
Weighted THD @ Max
1.604
IMD @ 80
0.59%
IMD @ Max
1.56%

The TV's distortion performance is good. At moderate volume levels, there really isn't that much distortion. At its maximum volume, the distortion is noticeable, which is disappointing since it doesn't get very loud.

Smart Features
8.0
Smart Features
Interface
Smart OS Google TV
Version 12
Ease of Use
Average
Smoothness
Very Smooth
Time Taken to Select YouTube
1 s
Time Taken to Change Backlight
2 s
Advanced Options
Many

The TCL QM7 uses version 12 of the popular Google TV operating system. The interface is very smooth and easy to use.

0
Smart Features
Ad-Free
Ads
Yes
Opt-out
No
Suggested Content in Home
Yes
Opt-out of Suggested Content
No

Unfortunately, like almost all TVs on the market, the smart interface contains ads, and you can't disable them.

9.0
Smart Features
Apps and Features
App Selection
Great
App Smoothness
Very Smooth
Cast Capable
Yes
USB Drive Playback
Yes
USB Drive HDR Playback
Yes
HDR in Netflix
Yes
HDR in YouTube
Yes

The TV 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.

8.5
Smart Features
Remote
Size
Medium
Voice Control
Many Features
CEC Menu Control
Yes
Other Smart Features
No
Remote App Android TV

The TV comes with the same remote as last year's TCL Q7/Q750G QLED. It has a motion-activated backlight, has 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.

Smart Features
TV Controls

There's a single button on the bottom center of the TV that can be used to switch inputs, adjust the volume, change channels, and power the TV on/off. There's also a small switch beside it that you can use to turn on/off the TV's built-in microphone.

Smart Features
In The Box

  • Setup guide
  • Remote
  • 2x AAA batteries
  • Power cable

Smart Features
Misc
Power Consumption 70 W
Power Consumption (Max) 309 W
Firmware V8-T653T02-LF1V097