TCL has finally revealed its first RGB LED TVs, which are widely acclaimed as being superior to standard Mini-LED, but surprisingly its flagship model for next year won’t be using that technology. Instead, the TCL X11L will be equipped with another new flavour of Mini-LED technology, known as “SQD mini-LED”, which will enable it to achieve an astonishing 10,000 nits peak brightness.
The TCL X11L was announced at a special event in China last week and is positioned as TCL’s top-tier television for 2026, and sitting right below it will be the company’s first RGB LED models, the TCL Q10M Ultra and TCL Q9M.
All three of the televisions will launch in China first, but TCL said it’s planning a big announcement at CES 2026 in January, where we expect it will debut the U.S. and European versions of the same models.
The X11L TV has been labeled by TCL as its new “King of TVs”, but the real surprise is that it does not use RGB LED like most other brand’s newest LCD flagships. The company says it elected not to use RGB LED for its best model because there are still challenges in terms of being able to mix the red, green and blue LEDs that make up the backlight, and it’s worried that this may impact picture accuracy.
As such, it has instead gone for an entirely new tech called Super Quantum Dot Mini-LED, which makes use of a single white LED in each local dimming zone, as opposed to the blue LEDs found in standard Mini-LED televisions.
The advantage of this is that SQD Mini-LED displays can be made incredibly bright, with notably clean and colour-rich images. TCL claims 10,000 nits peak brightness, though we assume this can only be reached when using some kind of special picture mode. The technology is based on TCL CSOT’s improved WHVA Pro LCD panel, which allows for increased viewing angles.
TCL said the new technology enables it to boost the number of local dimming zones to between 14,400 and 20,736, depending on the size of the display. The latter is the highest number of dimming zones ever used in a Mini-LED television, the company proclaimed.
Buyers will be able to choose from 75-inch and 85-inch sizes, and both variants will be just two centimetres thick, the company said. The incredible visuals will be accompanied by a premium Bang & Olufsen speaker system to pump out atmospheric surround sound, though the company didn’t talk about the specifications of this.
The TCL X11L on show in China was powered by the company’s homegrown Linkong operating system, but when it comes to European and U.S. markets we expect this will be swapped out for the Google TV platform. As for the price, the smaller of the two will cost 19,999 yuan in China, which equates to around $2,811 or £2,080, making it surprisingly affordable for a flagship.
Whether or not the X11L actually comes to the U.K. remains to be seen. It’s the successor of this year’s X11K, which is not sold on these shores, but can be found in the U.S. and in select European markets.
Although RGB LED isn’t featured in TCL’s flagship, the company has decided to embrace it anyway, announcing two different models that feature the new display technology.
The more premium of the two is the TCL Q10M Ultra RGB Mini LED 4K TV, and it’s said to boast industry-leading colour accuracy with 100% coverage of the BT.2020 colour palette, matching that found on Samsung’s already-available Micro RGB TV.
The size options include 85-inch, 98-inch and 115-inch versions, and these will provide 8,736, 11,520 and 16,848 local dimming zones, respectively, with the biggest model delivering peak brightness of 9,000 nits.
As with any TV featuring new and exciting display technology, the Q10M Ultra doesn’t exactly come cheap, but then again, it is not in the eye-wateringly expensive price range of Samsung's Micro RGB TV or Hisense’s 116UX TV RGB-MiniLED TV, which both cost around £25,000.
TCL said the smallest 85-inch version will cost 27,999 yuan when it goes on sale in China in the coming weeks, which works out at around £2,915. That rises to 99,999 yuan, or a very reasonable £10,400 for the biggest 115-inch model.
What’s even more tantalising is that TCL has a second, smaller RGB LED model slated to release next year in the shape of the TCL Q9M. It’ll be available in a much more practical 65-inch size and cost an incredibly affordable 7,999 yuan or £830 when it goes on sale. For that money, you’ll be getting an RGB LED panel with 2,880 local dimming zones and up to 2,000 nits peak brightness. The panel has a refresh rate of 288Hz, and will cover 100% of the BT.2020 colour space.
This makes the TCL Q9M an extremely appealing option. While Hisense has also promised to launch smaller and more affordable RGB LED TVs next year, its cheapest model will still cost around £1,300, so the TCL Q9M is almost £500 cheaper.
We can't yet say if TCL's RGB LED TVs will match the quality of Samsung's or Hisense's versions, but if you want to learn more about the underlying tech, check out this video:
