TCL - 85" Class RM9L Series 4K UHD HDR RGB-Mini LED Smart TV with Google TV (2026)

I have had a TCL model 65QM850G mini-LED for 3 years and it has performed flawlessly. So, I was really looking forward to having an opportunity to review TCL’s new RM9L RGB-Mini LED series. It’s out of the box performance and extremely easy Google TV setup made for a great initial user experience. Unboxing was typical - it comes with 2 small lite weight stands that attach with 3 screws at each end of the TV (adds less than 4 lbs. when attached, in comparison my 85-inch Hisense stand adds 20lbs.). The stands allow for 2 different height adjustments with highest being about 3.5 inches. Be careful when moving as the stands are a tad flimsy and at 67 inches, they were wider than my current TV stand (I put down 80 by 3/4-inch plywood temporarily to allow for added width) until wall mounted. It uses Google TV (which I prefer) and during setup if you already have a Google account you can use a QR code to migrate over other TV settings. That was very nice although you still will need to sign into any streaming services. It also supports Apple Home, Google Home, and Googles AI assistant Gemini – which allows for connection to other devices, can create your own screen savers, picture/gaming adjustments, office, etc. There is a whole litany of advancements/improvements listed for this TV, which I think is better suited to be reviewed on TCL site as most of the technical info is beyond my scope to discuss. I had no problem viewing the TV in a very bright or dark room. There was no washing out if viewed from the extreme side, high or low angles - but it is a tad reflective depending on scene viewing (but not obtrusive). While picture quality is very subjective, I found the screen colors really pop with very deep blacks and nice contrast. The picture has a wide array of preset options as well as “intelligent” settings. I normally turn off most if not all “intelligent” options as they just never seem to give me the consistent picture I want. Having said that I did like the “intelligent” and filmmaker screen options. Suffice to say that I will be spending the next couple of weeks to tweaking looking for my “perfect” settings. Watching action movies, auto racing, baseball, and golf all looked good with virtually no ghosting with 144Hz. A completely black screen was consistent over the entire screen – even the corners. Picture supports Dolby Vision, Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG), HDR 10+, HDR 10, IMAX Enhanced Certification and BT 2020 compliant. BB states 9000 nits but TCL site states max of 4000. Speakers are Bang and Olufsen using its audio system. Includes a built-in sub-woofer. Sound is fine (could not find wattage specs) but can’t compare to external speakers. It seems you can add wireless B&O subwoofer and rear speakers if wanted. I added my soundbar using eARC and it was picked up with no issues. I sometimes turn off the soundbar when listening to certain sporting/racing events as the crowd/engine noise drowns out the voice. Make sure to set sound input to auto so when soundbar is off TV will use internal speakers. It has an extremely small bezel/border with 0 gap between it and the actual picture. I was planning on mounting to the wall replacing an 85-inch TV. I naively thought there might be only an inch or two difference between the TV’s so it would be as simple as taking down the old TV, installing mounting brackets on TCL and setting it on the wall. Unfortunately, the mounting holes on TCL are at the top of the TV – not the middle and has been the case for every other TV I have owned. The difference is 15 inches meaning the bottom of the TCL would be 15 inches lower than previous TV. This would not clear my TV stand. So be aware if planning on wall mounting as you will need to account for most the height of TV. It uses a 600mm x 400mm mount. TCL site indicates it has an optional mount for purchase, but I could not find the particulars. There are plenty of connections; 3 HDMI 2.1 (4K @ 144Hz) 1 HDMI 2.1 (4K @ 144Hz - ARC/eARC) 2x USB 2.0 0.5A 1x SPDIF Digital Audio Optical RF connection (cable/antenna) Ethernet (LAN) input No Composite input No RS-232C No Headphone jack All connections are on the right side (looking at screen from front) with power connection on left. No connections come directly out the back of set, making for sleeker/better wall mounting. Supports FreeSync Premium Pro and HDR+ Gaming. Wi-fi 6 supported also has LAN attachment Bluetooth 5.4. Remote is connected using this so no chance connection will be “blocked” to TV. I easily connected to a pair of headphones, but sound still only came through soundbar. I had to turn off soundbar to get headphones to work. Dis-appointing as I have a couple of other TVs with soundbars and I do not have to turn them off for headphones to work. I attached a 2TB USB drive (NTFS format) and it recognized it with no issues. I played several movies (m2ts and mp4 formats at 720P & 1080P) and the picture was excellent as well as recognizing Dolby Atmos sound processing. Could also control CC including size, color and position. Remote has backlight and is well thought out with reasonably sized/tactile buttons. Has voice control, which I found works well. As mentioned, it connects to TV by Bluetooth.But I am not a fan of the VERY bright and reflective stainless-steel look. Very difficult to see buttons and have to tilt for better view. It is so irritating I may synch with my other TCL remote as it is black and very easy to view. 1-year limited warranty Negatives; I am dis-appointed with the wall mounts as well as headphone/soundbar connection. And am VERY irritated at the remote design. But the TV makes up for it by providing high performance viewing and is overall, a worthy option and do recommend.

I've been testing the new 85-inch TCL RM9L for the last week. For some reason, TCL is downplaying the relevance of this TV, but I think it's the real flagship of their 2026 lineup. The first thing to point out is that this TV is very heavy. I didn't weigh it, but unboxing and assembling this TV really requires three people and an open space. I was able to unbox it and install the stands using only two people, but it felt very risky. The stands do a good job of keeping the TV steady and balanced, but because of the height and weight of the TV, it still wobbles a bit when pushed around the top of the frame. If you use it freestanding and have kids that can climb, I would recommend using a strap to secure it to a wall. Setup was very simple. There was an on-screen guide that walked me through every step and even allowed me to choose all my streaming services. The Google TV OS is perfectly integrated into this TV, and I would say it is the best smart OS in the TV industry. It's very responsive and allows for a lot of customization of the video and sound settings. The remote is light and comfortable to hold. It uses two AAA batteries, and when I pick it up, the backlighting immediately illuminates. Button placement is well thought out, and key presses are registered quickly. However, I've noticed a strange high-pitched sound when pressing the enter key. It doesn't happen every time, but it's something that captures my attention. When it comes to performance, in my opinion, the RM9L delivers near-OLED-level blacks. Anyone who tells you otherwise isn't using the proper video content. I would recommend testing it with demo content from any TV manufacturer or streaming services that provide high-quality content, rather than a random video on the internet. Blooming is present, but it is kept to a minimum. The brightness of the screen is amazing. For me, 61% brightness is good enough for my viewing pleasure; however, my girlfriend prefers it at 100%. While on the topic of brightness, I love that the remote also features dedicated brightness toggles. Colors are extremely vibrant and skin tones are very natural. 1080p content can look washed out, but that's just because of the sheer size of the 85-inch screen and the fact that upscaling does not perform miracles. 4K, HDR, or Dolby Vision content, on the other hand, looks amazing, and I love that the TV gives you an on-screen indicator in the top-left corner to tell you you are receiving true HDR or Dolby content. The built-in B&O speakers sound really good. At 29%, voices were clear, and it was loud and bassy enough to eliminate any need for a soundbar. I would only recommend adding some surround speakers to really make movies more immersive. That said, the RM9L is an excellent choice if you are looking for the most recent display tech, superior brightness, contrast, and color representation. I highly recommend it.

The TL;DR Summary - The Core Appeal: Utilizes the current peak of RGB-Mini LED technology (a backlight system where microscopic diodes directly emit red, green, and blue light without relying on color filters), resulting in colors that are noticeably punchier and more realistic than older Mini-LEDs or even OLEDs. This is especially true for skin tones, which are noticeably more lifelike. - The Hardware: 85 inches packed with 8,736 dimming zones (independent backlight sections that can dim or brighten) and 4,000 Nits of peak brightness, it delivers inky blacks that creep surprisingly close to OLED territory while pushing highlights that will make you squint. It also features an integrated Bang & Olufsen audio system and runs on the Google TV platform. - The Caveat: It isn’t flawless. While high-quality HDR content looks stunning, feeding it lower-bitrate or demanding low bitrate HDR content can introduce noticeable blooming. I would describe this blooming as almost a cloud or fog of light around light-against-dark areas. However, importantly, I did not notice any color crosstalk (where colors incorrectly bleed into one another) in any of my testing. - The Verdict: If you want a TV that effortlessly outmuscles a sun-drenched living room while maintaining reference-level skin tones, very impressive blacks, and incredible gaming performance, this is easily a top-three contender. But it will cost you. BRIGHTNESS AND GLARE: This TV is rated for 4,000 Nits, and while I don’t have calibration equipment to measure raw output, my eyes can confirm the math: in a dark room (where I did most of my testing to intentionally stress the display), peak brightness will make you squint and want to look away during quick transitions to light scenes, literally lighting up the entire room as if you just flipped the light switch. Specular highlights (the small, intense reflections of light on objects) absolutely pop, yet the TV maintains deep blacks. While there are plenty of settings like the Auto Brightness Limiter (ABL), Brightness slider, Peak Brightness, and Local Contrast to kneecap the brightness for dark rooms, I left them off. You don't buy a 4,000-nit TV to throttle it. Where this TV truly flexes is in a bright environment. With the lights on and direct sunlight pouring through the windows, the RM9L easily overpowers the ambient light, remaining bright and eye-catching. TCL’s 0.5% low-reflection film works exceptionally well—unless you are actively hunting for reflections, they are barely noticeable. Additionally, the bright room environment naturally tricks your eyes into seeing even darker average blacks, and the blooming becomes virtually unnoticeable. CONTRAST AND BLACK LEVELS: We are currently dealing with three competing top-tier technologies: OLED (perfect pixel-level blacks), standard Mini-LED (high brightness with increased dimming zones), and now RGB-Mini LED, which historically had fewer dimming zones because every single zone requires dedicated red, green, and blue chips. However, this TCL model represents the pinnacle of current tech, bypassing that limitation by cramming an astonishing 8,736 precise color zones into this 85-inch panel. But this is still limited as the processor itself has now become the bottleneck. To stress-test this, I watched high-bitrate HDR content in a pitch-black room. In visually demanding movies like Encanto, the letterbox bars stayed pitch black, and the space scenes showed pinpoint stars without turning the background into a milky, glowing gray. I did occasionally notice some light spill into the black letterbox bars when a character's bright head moved very close to the edge in a dark scene. Keep in mind, this TV relies heavily on the quality of what you feed it; bad quality compression sticks out like a sore thumb. With SDR content and all processing features turned off (as purists recommend), the blacks occasionally lift into a dark gray, and you will see some blooming in highly demanding scenes. But overall, the synergy of the WHVA 2.0 panel and the massive zone count makes for one of the best contrast experiences you can get without going full OLED. COLOR ACCURACY: REACHING REALISM This is the main reason to buy this TV: the color accuracy here is getting close to realism. TCL claims up to 100% of the BT.2020 color gamut (the widest standardized color spectrum), and practically speaking, it feels highly accurate. This is further supported by their 120-bit precise light and color control. Because RGB-Mini LED doesn’t filter a white or blue backlight to create color, a red fire engine looks perfectly red, and fresh grass looks genuinely green. But the biggest takeaway here is skin tones. I’ve never seen non-white and varied skin tones look more realistic on a display; the clothing textures and high-luminance colors have a uniformity that makes the image feel tactile and real. This absolutely blew me away at first. The longer I watch this TV, the more differences I notice when I switch back to other screens, and I never experienced any color banding. When A/B testing against an OLED or a higher-zone Mini-LED, you do lose a fraction of realism due to the OLED's absolute pixel-level contrast. However, I personally prefer the jaw-dropping brightness "pop" and the raw color accuracy of the RM9L. The whole image feels more realistic despite the contrast difference, and honestly, that contrast difference is minimal. Furthermore, this panel supports an exhaustive list of formats (Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, IMAX Enhanced, etc.), ensuring whatever you watch is optimized. VIEWING ANGLES: TCL’s marketing will have you believe that off-axis viewing on this panel is fully resolved. It isn't. This is still a VA panel, meaning the picture is best viewed dead center. You get a viewing cone of about 90 degrees before you start seeing a shift. The closer you sit, the faster you will notice haloing and blooming in dark scenes as you move horizontally. The vertical viewing angles hold up much better, and thankfully, color shift remains minimal unless you are sitting at extreme angles. The viewing angles are good, but they aren't magic. (For context on how panel technologies stack up: OLEDs offer the best viewing angles, followed by IPS panels, with VA panels like this one coming in last). GAMING PERFORMANCE: I fully expected an 85-inch VA panel to struggle with gaming, but it is surprisingly fantastic. Is it as smooth as an OLED? No. OLEDs have a near-instantaneous 0.03 ms response time, which essentially eliminates motion blur. The RM9L still has some noticeable smearing in fast-paced games, but for a display of this size and tech type, the latency and visual disturbances are minimal. In fact, I think the average layman who isn’t used to pixel-perfect OLED response times wouldn’t even notice the motion blur. Because it’s an 85-inch 4K screen, it has a pixel density of 52 PPI (Pixels Per Inch), compared to the 130+ PPI of standard gaming monitors. You WILL notice lower-resolution textures and draw distances much easier simply due to the sheer size of the TV and the lower pixel density. But firing up Escape from Tarkov, Gran Turismo 7, or Demon's Souls on a screen this massive is incredibly immersive. You almost feel like you’re there. I did extensive testing with Resident Evil: Requiem since it’s a dark game with a fantastic engine. With a few setting tweaks, I achieved near-OLED level blacks and immersion, but with vastly superior colors, highlights, and brightness. It was literally a toss-up whether I wanted to keep playing on the TCL or move to my OLED monitor. The only reason I'd switch back to the OLED is for slightly better blacks and the superior response time with less motion blur. A crucial tip: For consoles, use the built-in Gamebar. It runs smoothly between 48–144 Hz via the four HDMI 2.1 ports, with the hardware capable of boosting the refresh rate to 288 Hz for lower-resolution competitive gaming. However, if you hook up a gaming PC, switch the TV to "PC Mode." I found it significantly reduced motion artifacts and smearing compared to standard Game Mode (on PC only), while perfectly preserving color accuracy and input lag. My casual benchmark tested the input lag around 176–186 ms, with some pretty wild fluctuations (230 – 260 ms), compared to the 140–160 ms range of my OLED, which was a lot more consistent (always less than 200 ms). THE VERDICT: This is undeniably a premium, enthusiast-grade TV, packed into a surprisingly sleek 1.4-inch thin chassis (seriously, couldn’t believe how thin it is for this type of TV). From a practical standpoint, the physical design is well thought out. The stand allows for two levels of height adjustment so you can easily fit a soundbar underneath, and the legs feature built-in cable management. It also covers all modern connectivity bases, including Wi-Fi 6.0, Bluetooth 5.4, Google Cast, AirPlay 2, and a side-mounted USB 3.0 port. It does almost everything at the highest level. If your viewing diet consists entirely of low-quality, compressed SDR cable TV, save your money. But if you feed it modern, high-bitrate HDR or BT.2020 mastered games, it trades blows with the very best OLEDs on the market, making it a matter of user preference rather than a flat-out win for either tech. Yes, for this price, you could buy a smaller OLED TV for the bedroom, a high-end gaming monitor for the gaming room, and likely a solid Mini-LED for the living room. But the RM9L gives you everything in one monolithic package. Walking the aisles of Best Buy, this TV outclassed every other Mini-LED on the wall, except for TCL’s own higher-tier flagship—which had minimally better brightness and contrast, but ultimately lost out on color accuracy. As processors get faster and manufacturers figure out how to pack even more RGB zones into these panels, OLED technology will need to watch its back, because we are already trading blows.

THIS…. IS The 85" TCL RM9L, A giant next generation RGB-Mini LED tv that is purpose built to take down the king of home entertainment: OLED. At the bleeding edge of screen technology and a price tag that reflects it… how does the RM9L stack up when comparing it to the best of the best and does TCL have what it takes to put out a premium TV? Let's take a look at TCL’s RM9L. Taking the RM9L out of its giant box for the first time is a two person job, not just because the tv is over 100lbs… but because at 85” it is over 6 feet wide! That is just as insane as me telling you that 85” is the smallest form factor that TCL makes for the RM9L below their 98” and 115” size models. Enough of that though, taking this out of the box for the first time reveals a very high quality body for the RM9L with premium brushed metal bands around the slim bezels. The RM9L is also relatively pretty thin at just under an inch and a half thick, and while it isn’t ultra thin like its OLED counterparts, it makes up for it in brightness and color accuracy. Moving to the rear of the TV shows several options for mounting and two giant speakers to help illuminate your room with sound and several options for cable management / HDMI inputs. The RM9L has a refined and polished exterior look that does a great job at both blending in and being very functional on the rear. NOW… What we are all here for. Turning the RM9L on for the first time is nothing short of fantastic. From its rich color portfolio and accuracy to its insane brightness to its near OLED blacks… TCL is cooking something good here. Being an RGB-Mini LED tv, each pixel has an actual red, blue and green diode for color when compared to a QD-LED that uses a single color light that is changed with a filter or quantum dot. The outcome is some of the best and brightest color reproductions I think that I have ever seen …. kind of ever? Watching a color demo on this TV demonstrates exactly how it kills oled. It isn’t just the brightness that ruins oleds, but the contrast and accurate color reproduction that really puts the nail in the coffin. While it is hard to say that the RM9L has just as inky blacks as oleds, it is a really close second. With over 5600 local dimming zones, 16000 color zones and over 9000 nits of brightness, the inky blacks are seemingly still there in the stark contrast ratios. I can safely say that the RM9L has virtually no halo or blooming either, which is the glow when going from a bright spot on the TV to a very dark spot such as an image of the moon in space. There is more though, the RM9L is packed with just about every feature you could imagine in a home entertainment centerpiece. 144hz on every HDMI port, 100% BT2020 color ratio, unnoticeable crosstalk (color blurring from the small RGB diodes), perfect off-axis color viewing, 288VRR, ALLM, low input latency…. I mean this is really a check every box tv from home entertainment to gaming and beyond. This is truly a masterclass panel and TCL is proving it can make the best TV on the planet. Beyond the picture, the Google TV software is so good that I stopped using my apple tv box… something I never thought I would say! From being able to control the RM9L with my iphone to the blazing fast and easy to navigate UI, It is near impossible to find a weak spot in the RM9L’s UI The giant speakers on the rear of the TV aren’t just for show either, the B&O tuned sound system is the first that I have heard on a TV where I could not only feel the bass… but was genuinely impressed with the room filling sound stage that it was able to provide. So good in fact, that my wife thought that I had our soundbar hooked up to the TV when I was running my first test on it. TCL allows you to expand and integrate the TV’s sound with their soundbar system as well to enhance its sound. The last thing that I wanted to talk about was just how good the remote that comes with the RM9L is, and it is fantastic. It lights up in the dark and has quick buttons for just about every app you could want such as Netflix, Youtube, Prime video and more. One of my favorite features about the remote is the brightness rocker on the right side of the remote that allows you to easily change the brightness of the TV as well as change its picture mode without having to go into settings, another testament to just how bright this TV is! Wrapping this up, all I can say is WOW. I truly haven’t felt this way about a TV since I bought my LG G8 back in 2018… and to think I thought that TV’s would never get better than that! TCL has not only made a world class TV, but proved that they can make the best in the world with the RM9L. With every feature that you could imagine packed into a TV that is just so easy to use… it is hard to say no to the RM9L. Now, there is the SQD X11L that you could compare it to that does cost a little bit less. If you want a TV that is a little bit brighter and has a slight contrast edge, then I would go with the X11L. However! If you want the absolute best colors, deepest and boldest reds and greens, then the RM9L takes the cake by far and I think having tested both TV’s… I would take the RM9L! While it is pricey, the best always has been… and that's what the RM9L is. Until next time :)

[PROS] Vibrant in Every Way: There's so much I can say. First, the richness in color is absolutely astonishing. The color range on this panel is so full that my phone and camera couldn't even capture it accurately. Fortunately, I was able to gather a few images that provides a small glimpse of how wonderful the picture quality is. Secondly, the screen is so bright that I had to turn it down slightly. This is not bad thing at all given that glare in a moderately lit room can be fought off. Furthermore, I was able to enjoy the TV in its standard mode. Most times, I would have to switch to a "Vivid" mode to get a pop in color, but this wasn't the case at all. Top Notch Sound: The most surprising thing about this TV has been the audio quality. When I first set up the RM9L, I forgot to attach my soundbar and subwoofer. I played a number of videos before I realized that what I was hearing was native output. I was highly impressed with how crisp and bold the audio was even without an external device connected. I have a 75" TV, but it doesn't sound anything like this. Excellent Contrast/Deep Blacks: The implementation of contrast is superb. Objects and environments are very distinguishable and standout as necessary in all scenes. Obviously, nothing obtains perfect level blacks like an OLED panel. However, this TV makes the difference extremely negligible. I mean very negligible. From the images, I've attached it's almost as if segments of the screen is off while an image is being projected. It's that good. Other Positives: The Google OS makes the RM9L a pleasant experience. I'm able to search content, tweak settings, and toggle inputs without issue. Game Mode is an excellent feature. Once turned on, I'm able to have a stable, high FPS experience with my PC and certain console titles on my PS5 Pro. [CONS] None. [CONCLUSION] I used to believe that everything outside of OLED was subpar, but this RGB-Mini LED changed my mind. The RM9L is an A+ in the areas of image quality, color, sound, and ease of use. Watching content on it feels like a movie and an overall grand experience. There's so much love about this TV, and I would highly recommend it.