TCL’s X915 8K UHD deal: a 75-inch 8K smart TV on special at $4995

TCL is selling a huge 75-inch 8K smart TV for $4999. The deal looks too good to be true, so what‘s the catch?

TCL 75-inch 8K QLED smart TV.

Paying just $5000 for a huge 75-inch 8K smart TV with 33 million pixels on the display sounds too good to be true. But truth is Stranger Than Fiction. That’s the story of TCL’s X915 8K UHD Android TV being rolled out in Australia.

The case for 8K may not look easy to make. There is little 8K content available in Australia. The only place where I’ve seen 8K more broadly adopted is Japan, where broadcaster NHK offers 8K via satellite.

I visited NHK in Tokyo last year to discuss 8K and the coming Olympic Games. Sadly, things have changed so radically since that time due to coronavirus.

Many of us regard 4K as the standard for high-resolution television and 8K as a novelty that will be expensive especially in its early stages – something just for cashed-up early adopters.

Nevertheless there is a case for 8K. As TVs become increasingly larger, there will be a noticeable difference in the detail offered on 4K and 8K sets. But these need to be very large TVs, and 75-inches is big enough to see some difference in clarity, but at the bottom end of the scale where this is feasible.

There is also future proofing. For example, Sony will offer 8K resolution on its PS5e gaming console as will Xbox Series X. Don’t expect 8K games for a while, but they will come.

TCL has two models of its X915 8K/UHD Android QLED TV available in Australia. The 65-inch and 75-inch models cost a recommended $4299 and $5999 respectively, although the Good Guys currently sells them for $3695 and $4995. The Good Guys is the only retailer stocking X915s currently, however TCL expects broader distribution soon.

I took a close look at the 75-inch 8K set last week. It is basically a huge frame with a very thin border around the edges, and is attached to two small legs at the left and right of the set. There are no frills. It is a minimal design. It’s not the thinnest TV on the market, but it is thin and wall mountable.

Audio on this set is handled separately by a long sound bar that sits neatly underneath and is connected by a short cable. The soundbar contains two mid-bass 15 watt speakers and two 10-watt speakers. You need to use this soundbar as there are no internal speakers in the TV panel. You’ll need to mount the soundbar if you mount the TV.

Sound is clear and rounded rather than thumping. TCL says the audio is tuned by Japanese premium home cinema and audio firm Onkyo.

TCL has no pretentious about this smart TV being a near OLED viewing experience. It’s not an expensive OLED or Samsung ULED panel. It’s an LED panel with an enormous 7680x4320 pixel resolution, with 120 dimming zones that handles the display of pixels in those zones. Pixels are turned on and off in groups rather than individually with OLED.

TCL 75-inch 8K QLED smart TV

The result is still a picture that’s incredibly high resolution. I looked at vision on it, in both 4K and 8K and I could see more detail in smaller objects, for example the detail of trees in the background of a shot. You just don’t get the dramatic blacks, whites and contrast as you would with OLED.

Nevertheless, the LED picture quality is very good, with a wide gamut of colours thanks to Quantum Dot technology and it’s bright at 450 nits.

The set supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ for colour accuracy and has a clear motion rate of 200. I was told the refresh rate equivalent is 100 Hertz.)

There’s an upscaler that converts 2K and 4K content to 8K and TCL says it has reduced the lag time in gaming to 8 milliseconds from games console to TV.

The TV has 3 HDMI ports for adding consoles and media players, which is less than the usual four on TVs. One is HDMI 2.1, the other two are HDMI 2.0. There are three USB 2.0 ports, optical audio out and a LAN slot for wired internet connectivity as well as wireless LAN support.

The menu and software on this TV is good. TCL decided to go with the standard Google Android TV operating system which is advanced and offers a range of local content.

There are thousands of Android TV apps you can install. All the major local catch-up TV services are available: ABC iView, SBS On Demand, 9 Now, 7plus and 10 play. There’s Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime and Binge for movie content, along with Kayo, Optus Sport, Spotify and Plex, to name some.

The TV has Google Chromecast built in, as Android TVs normally do. You can stream to the big screen from your phone.

Google Assistant also is built in. You can stand in front of the TV and issue voice commands without even needing a remote. TCL has included a switch to turn off Google Assistant listening for your voice if you are worried about the privacy implications of the TV being a spy.

You can search for content by voice, however the TV doesn’t search across different streaming sources. For example, a voice search for “Movies with Jack Thompson” displayed covers of plenty of Jack Thompson movies in the Google Play Store. Some TVs might also return movies of him in, say, Netflix or Stan and other media.

The X915 also supports Amazon Alexa voice commands, however it’s not as self-contained as with Google Assistant. You need to have a separate Alexa device installed in your network and Alexa can’t turn the TV on and off when prompted with your voice.

The set has a built-in 1080p camera but you can slide it down behind the frame where it sees nothing when not in use.

In the end, the X915 is excellent value for money. TCL may have compromised on not having the highest screen quality, but you get an enormous panel with a big range of features on a well crafted smart TV at an affordable price.