You’re standing in the middle of a Best Buy or scrolling through Amazon, and there it is. A screen so big it basically has its own zip code. The price tag on a TCL 85 inch TV usually stops people in their tracks because, honestly, it’s often cheaper than a 65-inch OLED from the "big guys" like Sony or Samsung. It feels like a glitch in the matrix. How can that much glass cost that little?
Buying a TV this size is a commitment. It’s not just about the money; it’s about the fact that you’re essentially mounting a piece of furniture to your wall that weighs as much as a medium-sized dog. TCL has shifted from being the "budget brand your parents bought" to a legitimate powerhouse that's actually out-engineering the legacy brands in the Mini-LED space. But there’s a catch. Or rather, a few things you need to know before you try to fit an 85-inch box into a Honda Civic.
The Mini-LED pivot changed everything
TCL didn't just get lucky. They own their own panel manufacturing through a subsidiary called CSOT. This is huge. While other brands are buying panels from third parties and slapping their logo on them, TCL controls the recipe from the ground up.
Most people looking at a TCL 85 inch TV today are eyeing the QM8 or the QM7 series. These aren't your standard, washed-out LCDs. They use Mini-LED technology. Imagine thousands of tiny, microscopic LEDs packed behind the screen instead of a few dozen chunky ones. This allows for "local dimming," which basically means the TV can turn off parts of the screen to get deep blacks while keeping other parts blindingly bright.
If you’ve ever watched a space movie and the stars looked like they had a gray "glow" around them, that’s poor dimming. The QM8 specifically has been measured by reviewers like RTINGS to hit over 3,000 nits of peak brightness. To put that in perspective, your average smartphone is maybe 800 to 1,000 nits. It’s bright enough to cause a squint if a flashbang goes off in a game of Call of Duty.
Size matters, but distance matters more
The biggest mistake people make? Sitting too close. Or too far.
For an 85-inch screen, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) suggests a 30-degree field of view, but for that "cinematic" feel, you want 40 degrees. In plain English, if you're sitting 12 feet away, an 85-inch screen starts to look like a "normal" TV. To actually feel like you're at the movies, you want to be about 8 to 10 feet back.
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It’s massive.
Seriously. An 85-inch TV is roughly 74 inches wide. If you have a standard 60-inch media console, the TV is going to overhang on both sides like a bad haircut. You also have to consider the weight. We're talking 100+ pounds. If you’re mounting this, you cannot—under any circumstances—use drywall anchors and a prayer. You need to hit studs. Two of them. Minimum.
Why gamers are actually the ones winning here
While movie buffs love the contrast, the gaming community is where the TCL 85 inch TV really shines lately. Most of their high-end 85-inch sets now support a 144Hz refresh rate. Some even push to 240Hz with "Game Accelerator" tech (though that drops the resolution a bit).
- Low input lag that rivals high-end monitors.
- ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) so the TV knows you're gaming and turns off the "soap opera effect."
- VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) to prevent screen tearing when your PS5 or Xbox Series X is struggling with a heavy scene.
I’ve seen people replace projectors with these. Why? Because projectors suck in the daylight. A 100-inch projector screen looks like a gray ghost if you have one window open. A QM8 or even the mid-range Q7 series can fight through direct sunlight like a champ.
The "Silicon Lottery" and QC concerns
Let’s be real for a second. TCL is a high-volume manufacturer. When you produce millions of panels, the quality control isn't always as surgical as a $5,000 Sony Master Series.
There is a phenomenon called "The Panel Lottery." Sometimes you get a screen that is perfectly uniform. Other times, you might see "dirty screen effect" (DSE), which looks like faint, dark smudges when you’re watching hockey or something with a solid white background. It’s the trade-off. You’re getting 85 inches of high-end tech for a fraction of the price, but you might have to swap it out if you get a dud.
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The software is another point of contention. TCL uses Google TV. Personally, I love it because the app support is unmatched. You get Netflix, Disney+, and all the niche stuff without needing a Roku stick. But it can be "heavy." Sometimes the menus lag for a second after you turn it on. It’s not a dealbreaker, just a reminder that there’s a processor in there trying its best to run an entire operating system.
Breaking down the current lineup
You shouldn't just buy "the 85 inch TCL." There are levels to this.
- The S Class (S4/S5): These are the "I just want a big TV for the basement" models. They aren't Mini-LED. They aren't very bright. If you put this in a room with lots of windows, you’ll be looking at your own reflection more than the movie.
- The Q6: A step up with Quantum Dots for better color. It's okay, but it lacks full-array local dimming. The blacks will look more like dark gray.
- The Q7 / QM7: This is the "sweet spot." It has the brightness and the dimming zones to actually make HDR look like HDR.
- The QM8: The flagship. This is the one that competes with the Samsung QN90 series. It’s heavy, it’s bright, and it has a built-in subwoofer that actually sounds decent (though you should still buy a soundbar).
The sound problem
Standard TV speakers are getting worse because TVs are getting thinner. There’s no room for air to move. Even though TCL puts "Onkyo" branded speakers in some of their high-end 85-inch models, physics is a jerk. You’re getting a massive, 4K, HDR-popping visual experience matched with sound that sounds like it's coming from a tin can at the end of a string.
Budget for a soundbar. Or better yet, a dedicated 5.1 system. If you spend $1,500 on a massive screen and $0 on sound, you're doing it wrong.
Is the 85-inch the new 65-inch?
Five years ago, a 65-inch TV was the standard "big" TV. Today, the 85-inch is rapidly taking that spot. Manufacturing yields for these massive pieces of glass have improved so much that the price difference between a 75 and an 85 is sometimes only a couple hundred bucks.
If you have the wall space, go for the 85. Nobody ever bought a TV and said, "I really wish I got the smaller one," unless they couldn't fit it through the front door.
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Actual steps to take before hitting "Buy"
Measure your stand. Then measure it again. Most TCL 85-inch models use feet that are positioned toward the edges of the screen. If your stand is 60 inches wide and the feet are 70 inches apart, you’re going to have a very bad Friday night. Check if the model you're looking at has "adjustable feet" positions; some higher-end TCLs allow you to move the feet closer to the center.
Check your VESA mount. If you’re reusing an old mount from a 55-inch TV, it likely isn't rated for the weight or the hole pattern of an 85-inch beast. Look for a mount rated for at least 125 lbs and VESA 600x400 or 400x400.
Update the firmware immediately. TCL pushes out "over-the-air" updates that often fix dimming algorithms and software lag. Don't judge the picture quality straight out of the box until you've let it update and switched the picture mode from "Vivid" (which looks blue and gross) to "Movie" or "Calman."
Verify your HDMI cables. If you're going to play 4K games at 120Hz or 144Hz, your old cables from 2015 won't work. You need HDMI 2.1 "Ultra High Speed" cables. Without them, you’ll get black screens or weird flickering.
Decide on the "extended warranty." Usually, I say these are a scam. But for an 85-inch TV? If a line of pixels dies two years in, you can't just throw this in your trunk and take it to a repair shop. Having a warranty that includes "in-home service" for a screen this size is actually a pretty smart hedge against a very expensive paperweight.
The TCL 85 inch TV represents the peak of the "price-to-performance" curve right now. It isn't perfect, and it doesn't have the brand prestige of a Sony, but when the lights go down and the movie starts, your eyes won't care about the logo on the bezel. They'll be too busy trying to take in 3,000 square inches of 4K glory.