North Americans can finally get their hands on TCL’s most advanced Mini-LED TVs, as the company has just announced the launch of its newest flagship model, the TCL QM9K.
It’s really just a regional variant of the TCL C9K Mini-LED TV that launched in Europe and the U.K. earlier this year, but there’s a lot to like here, with more than 6,000 local dimming zones and an eye-searing 6,500 nits of brightness making it one of the best TVs in its class that money can buy.
Like the C9K, the TCL QM9K features TCL CSOT’s new WHVA LCD panel, which provides noticeably wider viewing angles than other Mini-LED TVs, as well as a slimmer bezel.
Announced at the CEDIA Expo 2025 earlier this week, the TCL QM9K is said to offer “next-generation picture quality”, together with “ultimate brightness and ultimate black levels”. It’s also the first TV to go on sale in North America that features Google’s new Gemini AI assistant tech, bringing a new conversational experience to the challenge of TV navigation.
The exact brightness of the QM9K depends on which screen size consumers choose, with 65-, 75-, 85- and 98-inch models available. The bigger you buy, the brighter it will be, and the same thing applies to the number of dimming zones, with 6,000 in the largest version. In any case, TCL said the QM9K is around 30% brighter than its existing QM8K model, and has 57% more dimming zones, allowing for incredibly detailed pictures.
TCL explained that it uses a new kind of “boost system” to reach those insanely high brightness levels, but as FlatpanelsHD pointed out, this does have a downside. The issue is that the boost only kicks in under specific conditions, and it can only be sustained temporarily before it needs to cool down. While it can be impressive, it does mean that the brightness performance can be somewhat unpredictable and struggle to maintain the kind of balance and precision that might be expected from such a high-end TV.
The WHVA LCD panel offers 4K resolution and a refresh rate of 144Hz, supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+, as well as Filmmaker mode. The TV is powered by TCL’s latest AIPQ Pro video processing chip.
TCL has also created a new Dolby Atmos surround sound system in partnership with Danish audio company Bang & Olufsen. Other features include Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 6 and an ATSC 3.0 tuner, which is becoming increasingly essential for U.S. audiences.
As with all of TCL’s premium televisions these days, the QM9K runs the Google TV operating system, and it stands out as the very first model in the world to come with the new Gemini AI assistant, which provides generative AI capabilities and replaces the old Google Assistant tech that’s rapidly being phased out on all televisions. So users will be able to speak to their TV as if it were a person, asking natural questions such as “what’s the name of the main child actor in Adolescence?”, or “I wanna watch something similar to Mad Max” and it will return a cohesive, and we assume, accurate response.
The TCL QM9K is also the first to come with Google TV’s Ambient Display technology, which makes it possible for the TV to wake up from standby mode when someone walks into the room. It does this through an ambient sensor built into the TV frame that detects their presence. Those who don’t want to enable this feature can instead wake up the TV by addressing Gemini, which detects voices using an integrated far-field microphone.
TCL is the first to get Gemini AI and Ambient Display, but these features will soon become quite commonplace, with Sony and Hisense expected to have them when they launch new Google TV models in 2026.
According to TCL, the QM9K will go on sale at Best Buy and other retailers later this month, but it hasn’t yet said what kind of prices it’s asking for.
