TVs and monitors · TCL
Owners keep the C8K as a very bright, well-priced Mini LED TV for bright rooms and gaming, and accept some blooming on small bright details as the trade against OLED.
Brightness is clear praise. Owners call it very bright, and one says no OLED can match it when a full window of HDR fills the screen. One owner points out that in a bright shop setting, OLEDs next to it can sometimes look brighter because of their contrast.
Contrast is praised overall, but the main point against the set sits inside that theme. One owner finds the blooming around subtitles and small bright spots distracting next to OLED, and another owner, though happy, also names blooming on small bright objects as the biggest difference.
The TCL C8K is a large 4K TV from 2025 that uses a Mini LED backlight with quantum dots, and it runs Google TV. It's meant for people who want a big, bright screen for films, sport and gaming without paying flagship prices. It was sold in Europe, the UK, Australia and the Gulf. The US version is the QM8K.
| Screen sizes | 65, 75, 85 and 98 inches |
|---|---|
| Panel type | QD-Mini LED, CrystGlow WHVA panel (up to 3,840 dimming zones on the 98-inch) |
| Resolution | 4K |
| Refresh rate | 144 Hz native; up to 288 Hz VRR for games on HDMI 1 and 2 |
| HDR | Up to 4,500 nits peak brightness (65 and 75 inches) |
| Inputs | |
| Smart platform | Google TV |
| Warranty |
From the maker's spec page, checked October 9, 2026. A blank row means the maker does not state it.
144 Hz means fast motion, like sport or fast games, looks smooth. A gaming PC or a fast console can push up to 288 Hz through two of the HDMI ports. The high brightness and thousands of separately dimmed zones mean the TV stays easy to see in a sunny room, and dark scenes have deep blacks. Google TV gives you the usual streaming apps and casting from your phone.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
What keeps owners happy is how much picture they get for the money. One owner says the contrast and color still impress them and that it comes surprisingly close to OLED in real scenes. Another, who later bought an OLED for the same room, still says they would recommend the C8K. Owners who paid half the price of a Sony set say they are glad they did, and one plans to buy the next TCL generation as a replacement.
The adjustments are the usual ones for this type of panel. Gamers mention smearing on dark moving objects, though they also describe low input lag and high refresh rates that make it a good choice for PC and console play. One owner found the built-in software fine but added an Apple TV to get Steam on the TV.
Owners describe the set as still performing well in daily use, including in bright living rooms and for regular gaming. None of the supplied accounts reports a fault, failure or repair.
That said, the long-term picture is thin. These accounts are about picture quality, value and comparisons with OLED, not about how the set holds up after years of use. Nobody here says how the panel, backlight or software behaves over time, so durability is still an open question.
From 3 owner accounts that said how long they have had it. Own one? Add how long yours has lasted.
Nothing has a clear majority against it yet. Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
11 more subjects came up from fewer than 4 owners each, which is not enough for a fair reading. To see how it stacks up, compare it with another machine.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
Two questions: how long you have had it, and anything you would like to say about it. Then we ask again as it ages. This helps our mission.
More in tvs and monitors: Samsung QD OLED, LG CX, LG C9.
Among the 3 owner accounts here that gave a duration, 1 described a failure. Parts named most: panel.
Before you buy one used, ask the seller: how old it is, whether it was ever repaired and by whom, and whether any of the parts above have been replaced. Ask to see it run. A receipt tells you the warranty start date; most makers honour the term only for the first owner.
Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
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