Customer Ratings & Reviews

I’ve known TCL for years as a manufacturer of giant, super-bright TVs, but I’ve never known them for monitors. Decidedly more modest-sized than their 98” behemoths, this 27” monitor, the TCL G64, ticks a lot of boxes for gaming, especially for those who want to combine high refresh rates with strong contrast. And while the screen itself is surrounded by black trim on the bezels, I really liked the overall different look of the gray and black on the back. Out of the box, I like the way TCL has things arranged for setup. It’s super easy to attach the base to the arm, and then connect to the back of the panel itself, allowing for easy removal from the packaging without getting your fingers on the screen. The mount is highly adjustable, with height adjustment, tilt, and rotation. (Though it’d be odd for a gaming monitor, you can run this in portrait mode just fine.)The footprint of the stand is fairly large, but it results in a stable setup for the monitor, with no wiggle or balance issues. Included with the monitor is a DisplayPort cable and a surprisingly large external power brick. Connectivity on the back is fairly generous, with one DisplayPort and 2 HDMI connections. I tested this monitor with a personally-built gaming PC running an AMD RX 9070 XT graphics card. I used the included DisplayPort cable. Upon connection, I was surprised to see Windows report 165Hz as the maximum refresh, and AMD’s Adrenaline software did not see it as a Freesync monitor. It turns out that there’s a toggle in the monitor menu (more on that later) to enable Freesync, and as soon as that was enabled I had the monitor recognized for Freesync and 180Hz for the refresh rate. A key feature of this monitor is that it’s an HVA panel. This is a subtype of the common Vertical Alignment (VA) panel that addresses one of the issues of that type: while they have superb contrast, they suffer from “black smearing” with high refresh rates, as well as poorer viewing angles. This evolution of the panel type fixes these flaws with improved viewing angles and greatly reduced smearing, so you get the superb contrast of the VA panel (which helps HDR to “pop”) with the fast response typical of IPS panels. The HDR 600 rating is perhaps not the highest, especially in an age where top end TVs will have brightness topping out at 3000 nits or greater, but 600 is sufficient (especially with the good contrast) to provide a solid HDR experience (see below). Another feature I really liked is that TCL’s monitor menu is both pretty intuitive to use and has lots of options, much like a TV. This extends even to how aggressive you want the local dimming of the Mini-LED backlight to be, depending on your tastes–the more you engage the dimming algorithm, the better the contrast, but this usually comes at the expense of a little latency. So it depends on what type of games you play–if you’re mainly playing competitive FPS you may want minimal, or if you’re more like me (RPGs with the eye candy turned up) you might well prefer the additional contrast of the high setting. All the menu options are controlled by a single four-way toggle/power button underneath the center of the bottom bezel, and I found it quick to zip through the various menus. I tested this monitor with Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. I chose this title for a couple of reasons. First, it supports FSR4 fully, including for frame generation. This is exactly the sort of situation where frame generation can be leveraged to make the most of high frame rate monitors like this one, especially since the 9070 XT is capable of generating very playable frame rates in this game natively. Sure enough, I was playing a consistent 160-180fps with frame generation, and since the base frame rate was still high, it felt silky smooth. Secondly, HDR presentation. HDR can be hit or miss on the PC as you juggle game engines, Windows, displays, and graphics cards, but consoles, with their controlled hardware/software implementations, generally do very well with it. Since HZD was originally a PS5 game, it provides a good comparison for the HDR capabilities of this monitor. And what I saw was very pleasing–a vibrant, colorful, and impactful HDR image. The bright sun in the desert area outside Meridian especially popped. I also took note to look for banding in areas like the sky and didn’t notice any, so at least in that game, it handled gradients well. If HDR is important to you, I’d recommend turning the local dimming to high. Overall, this is a terrific monitor for a lot of gamers. With 1440p resolution and a 180Hz refresh rate, this monitor pairs really well with a variety of graphics cards, depending on your tastes in upscaling and frame generation to maximize the use of those specs. And 1440p is a sweet spot for still looking sharp on a 27” screen–1080p is too fuzzy in my view, and 4K is often overkill. I like the full-featured menu, the gray/black aesthetics, and especially the multi-directional ergonomics of the stand. With the HVA panel’s contrast, quantum dot color, and Mini-LED backlight, this monitor also gives a very creditable HDR presentation as well that I think many would be delighted with. Highly recommended!

The TCL 27" G64 Series 180Hz Mini LED Gaming monitor finally gives the mid-range gaming market the opportunity to game with deep blacks, fast response time, high contrast, vibrant colors, and motion clarity. I've had time to determine whether it hits the mark on value and still delivers what we require as gamers. Overall, TCL cut a few corners to give us what I would call an Essential gaming monitor with the core features intact. - Design/Build/Unboxing - TCL provides the typical cabling and packing along with an HDMI cable, DisplayPort cable, power brick and cable, and a rectangular base. Stand: The base is flat and doesn't take up much space on your desk. It's flat enough that you can place a few items on there to reclaim space if necessary. It's a light gray color so it clashes a little with the color of my desk. Ergonomics: The stand can be adjusted up and down in the Y-axis, angle left to right, pivot to portrait mode, and tilt up and down too. Bezels: There are 3 sides that are borderless with a thicker bezel on the bottom. Underneath the bottom center is your OSD control. Connectivity: - (2) HDMI 2.1 for Console Gaming - (1) DisplayPort 1.4 for PC - (1) 3.5mm Audio Out for Headphone or Speakers There is no USB Port(s) for peripherals and no USB-B or USB-C upstream port for data (No ability for firmware updates.) This is a significant corner cut. However, there is a Monitor Color Calibration Factory Report in the box. My Report looked great with accurate colors, correct white balance, proper gamma, and good consistency across tones. These are great results for gaming, content work, and general productivity. - Specs/Features - Resolution: 2560 x 1440 QHD, 27 inches, pixel density of 109 ppi Refresh Rate: 180Hz Backlight: 180-zone Mini LED array. This is modest compared to higher end models but the 5000:1 contrast ratio does it's job to mitigate any potential blooming. - OSD Settings - Color: Color Temperature, Saturation, ColorTone, Color SpaceStandard, Office, FPS, RPG, RCG, Movie, Eye Saver, and E-Book Game Mode: FreeSync, Dark Part Brightening, Response Time, Crosshair, Timer, Refresh Rate On/Off Local Dimming, Brightness, Contrast, DCR On/Off, Sharpness, Gamma Settings: Rotation, OSD Display Time (I changed this to 40 to give me more time to adjust settings), Reset Settings, Factory Reset Personally, I adjusted the Picture Mode to "Movie" for General web browsing. For gaming, I use FPS. At night I switch to Eye-Saver. Note: E-Book setting is Black & White. I set local dimming to Medium to preserve shadow details. I use Gamma 1 when there's more ambient light in the room and Gamma 2 under normal indoor light. I set the Overdrive to Fast. - Performance - PC: In fast paced games like COD or Apex the 180Hz refresh rate and motion clarity perform well. Note: When setting overdrive to Fastest I noticed ghosting and halos trailing behind enemies. When set to normal or fast, ghosting disappears and black smearing is minimal. Console: I hooked up my Xbox Series X and the TCL 27G64 is a diamond in the rough. It downscales the 4K signal from the console to 1440p resulting in a super sampled image that looks sharper than native 1440p. It supports 120Hz output with Variable refresh rate making FPS feel really responsive. Overall, this is a great find and produces deep blacks, vibrant colors, and low input lag all at an affordable price. TCL Pairs a high contrast HVA panel with a modest but effective Mini LED array. Essentially, you're sacrificing USB ports, viewing angles, and firmware updates for raw picture quality and performance that was previously unavailable in this mid-range category. I recommend it for serious gamers. - Pros & Cons - *Pros* - 5000:1 Contrast/Local Dimming creates Inky Blacks - 97% DCI-P3 coverage - Brightness peaks over 800 nits - 180Hz refresh is smooth and responsive - Extremely low input lag - Practical stand - Clean aesthetics - Unbeatable value *Suggestions/Needs Improvement* - No USB means no firmware updates - 180 zones is entry level - Potential for VRR FLicker in menus/loading screens - Viewing angles could be better

TCL is mostly known for their TV’s and this is one of their first gaming monitors that they have released into the states. So, I was very intrigued by this monitor because instead of using a TN, VA, IPS, or OLED panel they went with QD-Mini LED. Which are normally found in TV’s and a couple of gaming monitors, but not many as of now. So right out of the box you will notice that it will be brighter than most other monitors out there in this price range and supports HDR 600. One of the first things that stood out is the 180Hz refresh rate. Everything feels incredibly smooth, especially in fast paced games like Arc Raiders, Battle Field 6 and Fortnite. Movement in game feels fluid, tracking enemies feels smoother, and I can tell there is a noticeable improvement over the 144Hz and 165Hz panels I've used in the past. Screen tearing is essentially eliminated, even when frame rates fluctuate with demanding games. Sadly, it only comes equipped with AMD FreeSync and not G-Sync which is kind of a bummer and would have liked to see both, since I have a Nvidia GPU. My worry was that with a lot of gaming monitors with TN IPS, and VA panels you can get a lot of black light bleed and blooming especially on black backgrounds. With the G64 it's not as noticeable since there are more dimming zones with it being QD-Mini LED, but there is some bleed in the corners of the monitor but not as noticeable as those other displays. The QHD resolution (2560×1440) at 27 inches is the sweet spot of competitive videogames where it has the perfect balance of sharpness and performance, while not being too demanding on your hardware. Text looks crisp, games have excellent clarity, and it’s much easier to push those higher frame rates compared to 4K. This makes it a good option for both mid-range and high-end gaming PCs. The 1 millisecond response time does a great job keeping motion blur and ghosting under control. Fast movement remains sharp, and input responsiveness feels immediate. Competitive games benefit the most here, but even general desktop use feels snappier and more refined. In terms of design it's a pretty standard look for a gaming monitor, with sharp angles on the back of the monitor, along with a stand that doesn't take too much space on your desk. That being said, the hinge they use to connect the monitor to the stand has a considerable amount of wobble when you try to adjust it and will shake for a good second or two after adjusting it. So, if that's something that might bother you, I’d look into a monitor arm for this. This monitor is light on I/O in that it has 1x DisplayPort 2.1, 2x HDMI 2.1 and a 3.5mm headphone jack for a headset and does not have built in speakers. With HDMI 2.1 support this will also work well with your consoles. While it’s not flawless, it definitely elevates the overall picture quality and makes the display feel more premium than expected. For daily work, browsing, and content consumption, the monitor performs just as well as it does for gaming. Pros Smooth and responsive 180Hz refresh rate Fast 1ms response time with minimal motion blur Vibrant QLED QD-Mini LED panel with strong color reproduction 600 nits brightness delivers solid HDR performance Cons Some blooming may appear in very dark scenes No support for Nvidia G-Sync Stand was a lot of Wobble Overall, the TCL G64 is a good first entry for TCL into gaming monitors and if you're looking for a reliable 1440p monitor at an affordable price, I feel like this is a well rounded display that does what it's supposed to in terms of speed, picture quality, and reliability.

The height adjustable stand is great! I love the screen and the colors are very bright. It’s a big improvement over my older LG monitor. I love playing COD on it because the blacks level contrast is great against the colors of the game.

I’ve been wanting to try a Mini LED monitor since they came out but have always ended up going with an OLED monitor instead due to features. I needed another monitor for a mid-range build, that’s when I saw the TCL had released the 27” G64 Series QHD monitor which was within budget. So, I decided to pick it up! Pros: - Local Dimming and Brightness stand out. - Color is on par with OLED. - Easy to navigate menus. - No burn in risk. Cons: - Settings need tweaking for best results. - No USB-C ports or upstream USB-A on the monitor. Setup: TCL made it easy to get the 27G64 Series out of the box by placing instructions on the outside of the box for how to remove the monitor and all the parts quickly and easily. Once out of the box, all the monitor stand parts and cables are on the back side of the packaging fit into the monitor’s Styrofoam packaging. The monitor stand only requires screwing in the bottom baseplate, then attaching to the monitor is simply a snap in place with a quick release lever. The monitor supports VESA 100 mounting. There are 2x HDMI 2.1 ports and 1x DisplayPort 1.4, with an audio jack for headphones. The HDMI 2.1 only allows 2K at 144Hz, so if you want to get the full use of the monitor than I would recommend the DisplayPort 1.4 as that provides 2K at 180Hz, which is the maximum of the monitor. Monitor Settings & Software: The main draw for the 27G64 is the Mini-LED (QLED) panel type. The monitor size is 27in with a maximum resolution of 2560 by 1440 (2K) with a maximum refresh rate of 180Hz. I find that 2K at 27in is the perfect size for the resolution, as 1080 at 27in seems stretched, as does 2K at 32in. One of the biggest benefits of the Mini-LED panel is the local dimming with 180 local dimming zones, paired with a Brightness of 600 Nits helps provide brighter and darker colors across all scenes. This enables a much wider dynamic contrast ratio of 6 Million, though I would look at the Native Contrast Ratio of 5000:1 for better comparison to other panel types. Though this is where I find my only complaint about the monitor, the preset calibration of color, brightness, and contrast could be a little better as I found the default settings to be too bright on vivid colors, creating an unrealistic brightness to red and yellows. It was on the boardline of being too painful look at. Adjusting the color profiles and tone helped, but I found even with all the pre-defined combinations, I couldn’t get the color just right. It was either too bright or dull in different scenes. To be clear, this is me being extremely picky due to my work with color calibrated displays for real world color accurate applications. But the one benefit that came from all this tweaking was noticing how easy it was to access, navigate, and change the settings of the monitor. I like the old school simplistic menus that don’t have all the extra “smart” features to them, as often the added features either add bloatware or complicate the process of adjusting the image settings. I had no issues at all with TCL’s menu. Display: Using the TCL 27G64 has been amazing with HDR enabled, the colors are very vivid, darks are darker and brights just pop. The difference between the 180 dimming zones provide is obvious improvement in contrast. Especially in scenes with a single source of light and the rest of the image is dark, like a movie scene in a cavern with a torch or in an FPS game with a flashlight. As mentioned above, the colors need a little tweaking as the brights by default are a little too vivid and intense, which make it come off as unrealistic. But with tweaking the colors balance well, I often tend to prefer cooler color tones than warm as it helps bring down the pop of color on displays like the TCL 27G64 There is no haloing effect and very little to no backlighting bleed effect. There is zero ghosting with the 180Hz Refresh and 1 MS Response, making transitions and fast paced game play smooth as possible. I found the images looked cleaner and crisper than on an OLED but they were a little more washed out or over saturated under the same settings, as I had a side by side comparison with another OLED screen. If color accuracy is a concern, I’d spend both time and money to get a color calibration tool but for my intended purpose as a gaming monitor, I didn’t want to spend too much time getting it perfect. The preset settings were good enough. One of the biggest benefits the Mini-LED’s have over the OLED is the lack of Burn-In risk, where the pixels get stuck with a ghost image of a static image that has been on the display for too long. For the most part, Burn-In isn’t much of an issue with more recent OLED displays, so I don’t think that should be a major deciding factor but if it’s between two monitors and everything else is the same, the Mini-LED would be my recommendation for the benefit of Local Dimming and no Burn-In risk. Conclusion: If you’re looking to upgrade from a traditional LED display to a modern display with better color and more features, like HDR, the TCL 27G64 QD-Mini LED Monitor is a solid choice for both the size, specs, and price range! I found the Local Dimming and HDR worked amazingly well while playing games, helping dark scenes pop and preventing backlight glow. Paired with the 180Hz Refresh Rate and 1ms Response Time, the game play was smooth and flawless, with no ghosting or distortions. I’ve really enjoyed playing on this monitor and look forward to trying out some more games soon!

TCL is stepping up their game in the right direction. 27" of QD Mini LED goodness, it is a great overall size and quality display. If you are thinking you are trying to take advantage of 1440p gaming with great visuals, this monitor may be for you. It is a gaming monitor, you get a fast 180hz refresh rate and the local area dimming is adjustable to help improve your quality of visuals. AMD Freesync is built into the monitor as well which eliminates screen tearing, stuttering, and input lag for much more smoother gaming experience. It isn't the brightest monitor, at 600 peak nits but it is plenty to take advantage of most games now a days with HDR600. To test, I booted up a few hours of Battlefield 6 and was able to adjust in monitor settings plus in game settings to get a very good cinematic gameplay experience. Keeping in mind that I have a GPU that allows me to bump my video settings to max at 1440p, I quite enjoyed the 150+ fps. There was on occasion a few hiccups but I believe that freesync settings need to be further looked into in game. I can recommend this knowing that for a display of this quality to come from TCL, I am impressed it can keep up with some of the top brands.

For starters, there's no speakers. Let's just establish that every gaming monitor from here on out should have speakers of some kind or have a pair of starter headphones inside the packaging. 27" is a great size for a gaming monitor. The picture is pretty crisp and runs video games from my Zephyrus PS5, and Xbox series X really well. There is a DPC cable and a power source in the package, but no signs of the obviously required HDMI cable. There are two ports in the back for HDMI 1 & 2, and 1 port for DPC. The power supply port and a 3.5 mm jack are available as well. This is quickly becoming a rant, instead of a review, but the truth needs to be told. TCL's resolution is passible and does look decent. It will even do great for video editing. I'm not crazy about the back panel either. All of that back-end should at least have an RGB strip to give it some flare. The controls are all compressed into one button on the bottom of the monitor, right in the center. There's even a volume option, which really does bother me more that there are no speakers. It's easy to put together and even take down with a simple button press on the tower arm. It is a great starter screen, if I had to say anything nice about it. I would even go so far as to say that it would make for a great monitor for the video editor in the family. But for self? I'm inclined to go for something better.

This is an awesome monitor! Easy to put together and take down. Picture quality and refresh rate is perfect for gaming and work. Not dying due to lag. The great blacks provide amazing contrast. height adjustment is a bonus.

Would recommend. This monitor has a whopping 180Hz built in for massive frame generation, allowing for competitive gaming, well above the bracket of 144Hz. It also includes 3 ports: two HDMI and one display port, so you can choose what cord you want to use for dual monitor gameplay. The resolution Is fantastic, standing at 2560 x 1440, which sits just under 4K graphics but above HDR, which makes it the perfect middle ground. Topped with a 1 millisecond response time to really tie it together and reduce motion blur.

This is the best monitor I have ever owned. The colors are vibrant, the controls are easy to use, and it's just overall a superior monitor. I couldn't be happier with this purchase.

My purposes are general web surfing, movie streaming from Netflix etc and Youtube, and school work. The QD-miniLED colors were colorful & saturated but still looks accurate. However, compared to OLED, this monitor has viewing angle issues, halo'ing and dimming zones stand out in dark scenes which is typical of LED/LCD tech. Some software/firmware maturity required still; it would occasionally look like it's lost some settings and pictures would look fuzzy or not sharp. Required rebooting of my pc or unplugging HDMI cable to get it to re-detect.

After moving to a new AMD based system (Ryzen 9, Radeon rtx9060ti), I wanted to add a second monitor for gaming and was space limited to 27 inch. My primary monitor is a 4K monitor, but really not suited to gaming. I use the same system for video and photo processing as well as gaming. I wanted a QHD monitor as they seem to be the most bang for the buck in gaming monitors and is the sweet spot for the rtx9060ti. The TCL 27" G64 monitor is a QHD LED display with 1ms response time and up to 180Hz refresh. It is Freesync capable. The stand is solid, nicely height adjustable and very secure. The stand does allow some rotation. The build quality is excellent. It has a very thin bezel and a very premium feel out of the box. Assembly was trivial. There are two HDMI inputs and one DP input, which seems standard these days. Power is supplied by a separate power brick. A mini joystick in the center at the bottom of the monitor doubles as an on-off switch and menu navigator. It's nicely obvious, don't have to grope around to find it. The menu system was intuitive and easy to navigate and initial setup went very quickly. One very, very nice feature is that the color schemes are not fixed, you can adjust them to suit your taste and needs. One minor issue is that the menu is not accessible unless a video source is connected. Performance is stellar in games, blacks are deep and the local dimming is very effective. Really not much difference from the OLED monitors I looked at, and the G64 seems much brighter. The image is sharp all the way to the corners, color saturation and accuracy are both excellent. I would say that the claimed HDR600 level has been achieved, and maybe more. In game, there was no tearing, blooming, or smearing, just a really solid image at all times, even in some of the dark shooters. This is a very impressive QHD monitor. It's a bit pricey in it's range, but the image quality is really excellent, rivaling some of the OLED monitors I looked at and should definitely be on your short list. Highly recommended!

If you're looking for a monitor that's not an OLED but has a decent picture that's bright and has crisp, clear vibrant colors like an OLED, this one doesn't disappoint at all. Getting it unboxed was interesting but once out it was super easy to assemble. Just attach the stand to the monitor and you're all set. It uses a 3.94" square VESA mount so is easy to setup with dual monitors, which with QHD is probably the sweet spot as I feel sometimes 4K and dual monitors is almost overkill and QHD strikes a happy medium. Either way, the resolution, contrast and brightness of this monitor doesn't disappoint. It has 2 HDMI ports (2.1 which supports 2K at 144hz) and Displayport 1.4 at 180hz. This is probably the only thing that I would call out is if you want to run this at the 180hz you'll need to plan ahead to use display port and you'll need to ensure you have a cable for it. It does have an audio jack but doesn't have audio built in. It also doesn't have USB ports of any kind, so no hub or KVM capabilities. Which, for most people is probably fine but it's something to be aware of. Outside of those few things, I think this is a great monitor, where it has a superb picture and is just simple to setup and use. It works great for gaming with the 180hz refresh rate and it even supports crosshairs for FPS games, displays frame rates and on my system with an RTX 5070, it had no screen tearing and was smooth during game play. TCL generally makes good displays and I think this monitor definitely fits what you'd expect from TCL, just know that there are a few limitations on features (lacking USB and built-in audio and only one port that technically supports the higher refresh rate).

The TCL - 27" G64 Series QHD HDR QD-Mini LED Gaming Monitor is a great gaming and all-purpose monitor. Set up could not have been easier. Put the 2 parts of the stand together, click the stand onto the back of the monitor and lift it out of the packaging, plug it in and you’re ready to go! I used it for both gaming and general-use. It worked great for both, but it’s clearly built with gamers in mind with its DisplayPort input and up to 180Hz refresh rate. The specs really say it all: * Resolution: 2560 x 1440 * Contrast Ratio: 5000:1 * Response Time: 1 milliseconds * Display Type: LED * Panel Type: QLED * FreeSync (AMD Adaptive Sync) * Aspect Ratio: 16:9 * Brightness: 600 candela per square meter * High Dynamic Range HDR 10 * Horizontal Viewing Angle: 178 degrees * Vertical Viewing Angle: 178 degrees * Anti-glare, Anti-reflective * 1 DisplayPort Inputs (Total) * 2 HDMI * 1 Headphone Jack * Wall Mountable: VESA Wall Mount Standard * Tiltable | Adjustable Stand Height A couple of the specs that stand out for this price-point are the 5000:1 contrast ratio and the 600 candela brightness. It sports deep blacks, strong contrast, and a clean clear picture. I’m definitely enjoying my TCL - 27" G64 Series QHD HDR QD-Mini LED Gaming Monitor!

Fast HVA panel with very minimal black smearing. Highly recommend over an IPS panel.

I've been using this monitor for a couple weeks and it's been great. The unboxing and setup is easy. It's just screwing the base in and then the monitor just snaps onto the base, one of the quickest setups I've had in recent past. The monitor also does have the VESA mount on the back if you wanted to use a multi monitor stand. The provided stand slides up and down which is nice for lining up with other monitors. It can also rotate 90 degrees to portrait orientation if you prefer that for work. The monitor screen is great. It's colors are very vibrant and the motion is smooth and quick. I tested on a 3050 and 3060 setup and they worked great. I'm guessing the Freesync will work very nicely, but even without I didn't have any problems. There are plenty of adjustments available if you want to play with it. The connections will work fine but I do wish it had a USB-c connection. I sometimes hook up my laptop to the monitors and that makes it so much easier to run. The only other gripe I had was that it has an external power block to run it. The monitor is no smaller or thinner than my other monitors that have an internal power supply so the benefit isn't in size. I just prefer to have one less thing sitting on the floor when plugged in, but not a deal breaker. Overall I would recommend this monitor. It compares well to my other gaming monitors and I think it'll work well in my setup.

The TCL - 27" G64 Series QHD HDR QD-Mini LED Gaming Monitor came well packed and in good condition. This monitor in black and gray is a good alternative to what most of us have been using. The monitor is aesthetically pleasing in gray with black trim on the back side of the monitor and a black bezel around the front screen. Overall, the setup is very easy which is always the first thing that I appreciate. I was intrigued when I saw that this was a TCL monitor. At the beginning of 2025, I was in my local Best Buy to purchase a new large screen smart tv. I wound up buying an 83" LG because it was so dynamic and had other traits that I liked, but the salesman also showed us a TCL television of a similar size that was side by side with the LG. So, why do I bring this up? I do so because the salesman himself had recently bought a TCL large screen smart television because he had a smaller budget that he could spend and he thought that TCL produced a very good product for the price, the best bang for his buck. I did not realize that TCL brought their dynamic TV viewing to this gaming monitor technology, also at a good price point, another bang for the buck. So, what are the key reasons that make that so. The refresh rate of 180HZ and the QD-mini-led screen allows such dynamic views because of the great contrast afforded. This higher refresh rate with the other features of FreeSync gives very good contrast and makes the colors pop, the blacks truer, and the activity on your gaming screen more fluid, making you more responsive to what is before you. The TCL 180HZ screen is a solid gaming monitor, especially if you are on a budget and enhancing your rig or putting together your very first rig. However, even though the TCL is a very competent gaming monitor alternative, games may feel a little choppy, especially RPG games may require an even higher HZ such as 240HZ, but with that comes the cost.

The TCL 27” G64 QHD Mini-LED monitor from Best Buy has honestly been a great surprise. The picture quality is the first thing that stood out — the Mini-LED backlighting and HDR actually make a noticeable difference. Blacks look deep without crushing detail, and bright scenes really pop without being blown out. Colors are vibrant but not over-saturated, which I appreciate. The 1440p resolution at 27 inches feels like the sweet spot. Everything looks sharp, and text is easy on the eyes even during longer sessions. For gaming, it’s been smooth and responsive with no noticeable ghosting or lag. Fast-paced games feel fluid, and the high refresh rate really shows. Build quality is solid and the design is clean without screaming “gamer.” The stand is sturdy and doesn’t take up too much desk space, though I did end up tweaking the settings a bit out of the box to dial in brightness and HDR the way I like it. For the price, this monitor punches above its weight. If you want a sharp QHD display with real HDR performance and solid gaming features without paying flagship prices, this is a really good buy. I’d absolutely recommend it.

TCL’s been in the TV game for a minute, I even have one for in the bedroom, but I’m overall less familiar with their computer & gaming monitors. However, I do have a mini-LED TV from another manufacturer in my living room that provides excellent bright picture and inky blacks, nearly up to snuff with OLEDs but without the fear of burn-in you get with OLED. In terms of picture quality and brightness, the TCL G64 series is a stunner, with all the benefits I’ve experienced with my living room TV: super deep blacks and excellent contrast, with eye popping color (though some tweaking of the picture settings may be required to suite your tastes). And the fact that it has a refresh rate of up to 180Hz is even more impressive, and I never noticed much (if any) change in quality the higher I increased it. To that note though, the HDMI ports are limited to 2K at 144Hz, so use the display port for full 180Hz should you want/need it. In terms of ports, I think the monitor is lacking with 2 HDMI ports, a single display port, and an auxiliary/3.5mm headphone jack output. The biggest knock though is that there’s no USB ports and therefore no way for USB-passthrough for accessories, or easy laptop docking-station type connectivity. The lack of overall ports and connectivity is a bummer if you plan on using this both for work and for gaming in your free time. Overall, this is an great looking monitor that’s excellent for gaming setups and maybe less-so for some work setups due to its lack of ports. But because it’s more media/gaming focused monitor, the pro’s are that you get amazing picture quality and excellent refresh rates all in a nice looking package (I like the gray backing, I think it looks sleek and unique).

I will preface my review by reminding everyone that when EVERY monitor is marketed as a gaming monitor, then it can be difficult to identify something that gives a good gaming experience in a sea of monitors with good specs and disappointing performance. There are a lot of capital letters in the name of this monitor and I was confused by a couple descriptors that I didn’t recognize. While I don’t understand the full technical details of these descriptors, I think I should share their meanings: (1) The mini LED backlighting refers to how the LEDs are grouped into brightness/dimming zones which amplifies the contrast above that of standard LED monitors … combined with (2) The QD (quantum light) “layer” that boosts color saturation and color fidelity. What TCL seems to be producing here is a non-OLED monitor that approaches OLED image quality. And while the image quality on this monitor surely is not OLED quality, it absolutely approaches OLED quality with a significantly cheaper price tag. Colors are impressively vibrant, images are displayed with a satisfying contrast, and blacks are rich and dark and velvety – and the colors and contrast are available to the user in both bright and dim surroundings. The physical monitor feels rock-solid and the stand design makes it actually satisfying to manipulate the height/angle of the monitor. Overall, though, while OLED monitors will always (with a few brand exceptions) give noticeably superior shadow details, color uniformity, and image smoothness, their pricing exceeds their elevation of the experience you will have with this monitor.