Customer Ratings & Reviews

I got the TCL M8LF Series 65 inch Fire TV for my office mancave and it has worked out better than I expected for both gaming and everyday viewing. I have only been using and reviewing it for the last handful of days but already I can say I am very happy with this product. I wanted something that could handle my console without lag while also looking great for movies and shows and this one delivers on both fronts. The Mini LED setup with local dimming paired with the high contrast HVA panel makes a real difference. Blacks look deeper and the bright parts of the image stand out more which brings out extra detail in scenes. Combined with the 4K resolution and the High Brightness plus feature the picture stays clear and lively even when some light is coming in. Movies look sharp and realistic and the overall image has a solid sense of depth that makes longer viewing sessions more enjoyable. For gaming the native 144 Hz refresh rate is a big plus. Motion stays smooth during sports or fast action and the Motion Rate 480 with MEMC helps keep everything looking fluid. The Game Accelerator Auto Game Mode and Game Bar make it simple to get low lag performance and tweak settings without digging through menus. I keep my console plugged in and the response feels tight enough that I can treat this as my main gaming screen without missing a dedicated monitor. The four HDMI inputs mean I can leave everything connected at once which keeps the setup clean. Sound is better than I usually get from built in speakers thanks to Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual X. It fills the room decently for movies though I still use headphones sometimes. The Bluetooth Personal Audio option makes private listening easy when I do not want to disturb anyone nearby. Alexa plus and the hands free voice control are handy for jumping to apps or adjusting the volume without grabbing the remote especially when my hands are busy with the controller. Overall this TV fits my office mancave use really well. It handles console gaming with the speed and clarity I need and then switches over to movies without feeling like a compromise. The picture stays strong the connectivity is practical and the smart features stay out of the way until I need them. I would recommend this to anyone who needs a larger screen to game without having to purchase a gaming monitor. After just a handful of days with it I remain very happy with the choice and it has already become a regular part of both my gaming nights and quieter viewing.

The TCL M8LF is a superb Mini LED Smart TV. It offers outstanding picture quality for HDR and SDR content. It is unbelievable how great the picture quality is for the price! Features and processing capabilities have trickled down from the premium models to mid range models, such as this one. This line is available in different sizes, but all of my observations should apply to all of the sizes. As far as I am aware, the M8LF model line is exclusive to Best Buy. After I got the TV out of the box and attached the legs, setup was fast and easy. Once I was connected to Wi-Fi, the TV was ready to use. This model uses Fire TV as its OS. I did not fully set up Fire TV on the Home Screen because I prefer to use a Roku Ultra Streamer that I had fully set up and was using with my old TV. Overall the picture quality of this TV is outstanding. It uses full array local dimming so contrast is excellent. Black are deep and makes colors noticeably pop in light/dark scenes. Colors are vivid and bright. HDR content is noticeably bright which is to expected with a Mini LED TV. I am unable to measure the brightness in Nits and the peak measurement is not listed. But I can say that this TV gets powerfully bright and will have no power overcoming glare in a bright room. I like to use Dolby Vision when it is available so I am very familiar with it across several different TV’s and platforms. I found Dolby Vision to be no exception to the excellent picture quality I previously mentioned. As long as you are not expecting OLED level performance, I think most users will be very pleased with the picture quality this model provided. The sound quality is average and I recommend using headphones or a soundbar. I have a PS hooked up and found the gaming experience to be great. It has a game mode and the high refresh rate creates a smooth gaming experience. TCL has developed an excellent reputation for LED displays that are great for gaming and watching shows and movies. If you are looking for a great TV at a great price you can’t go wrong with this model.

The TCL - 65" Class M8LF is a solid looking TV, with a bright crisp display out of the box. Even with my prior set being 4k display, this unit noticeably out shines it. Must be the thousands of mini LEDs along with the faster refresh rate of 120Hz. Now that most streaming services support Dolby Vision HDR format, this TV has the technology to provide optimal viewing experience. I will admit, I haven’t paid too much attention to the sound quality as I pass the audio to a receiver for best sound. Now let’s get to the operating system. This model uses Amazon Fire, which I must admit is better than I expected. I have always opted for a separate media player as historically I found built in apps to be slow. If this unit is slower than my media device, I don’t notice it at all. The layout is nice and easy to navigate to different streaming services, but you are able to scroll through shows and movies in the home screen that is not just Amazon content, which is great. The Alexa feature is nice, not perfect but I can see it being useful. I can ask Alexa to find or play a particular movie, change the volume to a specific number. There is a setting that allows you to set the TV as priority if you have other Amazon devices nearby which is a nice feature. You can tell Alexa to turn off the TV but the only down fall to this feature is that it won’t turn on via Alexa. Would have been nice to have the ability to do so then the use of the could be limited even more. For those who don’t like having devices constantly listening, you do have the option to use Alexa via the remote and pushing the microphone button. The remote itself feels cheap, and the power button is a bit hit or miss. You have to have it pointing perfectly in the right spot for the TV to turn on or off with this button. Oddly enough, the center button ton the control pad will also turn on the TV and you could be pointing the remote in the opposite direction and it will work fine. I still use an antenna for local channels, and I find that this interface makes switching to TV broadcast very simple without having to change inputs. Like a streaming app, there is a TV icon that will bring up your saved favorites for digital TV as well as online channels. So besides the remote issues, which is pretty minor, I would highly recommend this TV set as it has the latest features and picture quality and performance is great. I no longer feel the need to use a separate device for streaming which eliminates the need for input switching as well has cuts down on remotes as the TV remote will control the volume on my audio receiver.

Smart TVs have come a long way since the days of having a small flat panel TV was financial decision more akin to buying a used car than a night out on the town, but here we are in 2026 getting massive amounts of value in TV for cheaper than what it costs to go to an NFL game. The 65” TCL M8LF TV that I have been using for the past couple of weeks now brings all the latest features in display technology at an absolutely incredible value. This big feature that this TV brings is Mini LED technology. Mini LED technology is what makes your picture bright and vivid. In the past, screens were divided into zones, and those zones could be lit or not lit – sometimes there were tens of zones, and as time went on some of those TVs brought hundreds of zones. If a zone is lit, everything in that zone is lit – so if you have a high contrast scene – think a moon in the night sky, the lighting of the moon would light up that zone and the night sky around the moon may appear gray. Mini LED technology is effectively a full array of LEDs behind the screen allowing for many more, smaller zones– allowing for much more precise areas of the screen to be lit while not washing out adjacent dark areas of the screen. In the scene described above, the moon can be fully lit while the night sky around it remains inky black. The TCL M8LF delivers here with those beautiful inky blacks and bright lit details next to one another with no perceptible light bleed. Aside from the Mini-LED being the star of the show, the TV brings all the features you expect from modern TVs – 4K resolution, HDR, a native 144Hz panel and motion smoothing. Aside from nuts-and-bolts features, the TV is an Amazon Fire TV – which brings a familiar interface as well as easy setup if you are already a member of the Amazon Alexa/FireTV ecosystem. Setting up the TV is simple – unbox, attach the feet or a wall mount, and power it on. The built in FireTV setup has you connect to Wi-Fi, log into your Amazon account via a QR code, and I was able to restore from a recent backup of another FireTV in the home – I was up and going in less than 10 minutes from the time I plugged it in to the time I was watching my favorite apps. One cool feature of the built in FireTV is that it gives you a really cool interface for your antenna channels – with a full guide. Connecting to the antenna we have in the attic, I had it scan for channels and it found all of our channels and displayed the guide in the native FireTV interface. FireTV also becomes another Alexa device in your home, and I can easily ask Alexa via the included remote to play music via Apple Music or even show me my Ring Cameras. One other feature I really like is the Bluetooth personal listening – I can pop on my headphones, watch something on the big screen without bothering others in the room – so simple, but a very useful feature! All in all this TV brings the latest picture technology paired with FireTV for an incredible value. We are super happy with this TV and would consider another TV in this series if we were buying for another room in the house.

When in the market for a new TV, historically, I usually shop among the “big three” brands. Having had the opportunity to try out this new TCL model M8LF, I am very impressed with how much there is to like about this TLC. Plus, you can purchase it within a price range that is, comparatively, easy on the wallet. The many features of the M8LF Series include: *Fire TV, if you are not familiar with it, is a smart platform for internet connectivity and access to numerous streaming services. Apps are already onboard for many of the most popular sites. There is also a wide range of free programing available. *Voice assist is provided by Alexa+. For those of us who rely on Alexa for music, as well as managing many tasks, this is a definite benefit. For Apple fans, the TV works with Apple Home. *Display is 4K UHD Mini-LED. This provides bright pictures in most room settings and excellent picture contrasts. Even live viewing is excellent. The High Dynamic Range (HDR) feature incorporates Dolby Vision. What Dolby has long done for sound, Dolby Vision does for viewing…greatly enhances the experience. *Connectivity offers plenty of wired outlets (4 HDMI and 2 USB), plus wireless via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. *If you are a gamer and want to do it on a very large screen, there is a game mode with an accelerator to ensure lag free gaming. There are more features, all to enhance the viewer’s audio and video experience. I am so liking this TV that it is going to replace my less than a year-old living room TV from one of the “big three” brands. Among all these great features, there are two easy-fix suggestions I have for TCL: 1. Ensure that the batteries that come with the remote work. It was so easy to set up the TV, but I couldn’t turn it on. After several attempts and wracking my brain, I thought perhaps it could be the batteries. I replaced them, and the TV came on. 2. I like the remote design, because I find it hand-comfortable and the key functions are nicely depicted…except the black-on-black toggle. In a lighted area, no problem. When lighting is dim, black on black is not vision friendly. All it needs is contrast as on the other buttons/toggles. All in all, I sincerely consider this TCL M8LF Series 4K UHD an excellent choice for TV video and audio performance. I am enjoying the TCL experience and would definitely recommend it to others.

The TCL 65" M8LF Series 4K UHD HDR Mini LED Smart TV with Fire TV is an excellent TV that provides a great picture and tons of modern features. Setup was very easy. It comes in a box that provides a sturdy base for the TV to sit in while the top part of the box lifts away. There was plenty of screen protection in the box so I had no concerns about potential damage. I covered a table with a blanket and placed the TV on it after lifting it out of the box. The two legs are a hardened plastic and I attached those with 4 included screws. I sat the TV upright on the legs and removed all the protective films that were applied to it. I put the batteries on the remote and plugged in the TV end of the power cord. I moved the TV to where I wanted it placed, and plugged it in. I was able to get it connected to my WiFi and plugged in my other peripherals (soundbar, PS5). It searched for digital channels and then it was on the main screen ready to be used. The remote does accept voice commands to operate the TV, but this is optional. I would encourage any new user to go through the different setting to find the picture settings that they like. From the home screen, all the apps (Netflix, etc) can be setup. I use the apps on my PS5 to watch different things so I was able to set some specific settings for that input to maximize the picture. All the different apps looked great on the TV. I had connected my soundbar to the eARC input and the TV detected automatically that the sound should flow through the soundbar. I setup One Touch Play so that if I touch the PS5 controller it starts the TV and Soundbar at the same time. The mini LED picture looks so good in the light or the dark, and the motion of objects on the screen is so smooth. There is a Power/Options button on the bottom center of the TV, if needed. Ports include a USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Ethernet, 4 HDMI inputs (Ports 1 and 2: 4K/144Hz, Ports 3 and 4: 4K/60Hz, Port 4: eARC/ARC), coaxial for cable/antenna, and optical for digital audio out. I did not wall mount the TV, so I can't speak to that. The transition to the new TV was flawless, except for 1 niche exception. My family uses a PlayStation Portal to connect remotely to my PS5 to play games, and that would no longer work until I changed a setting for the PS5 input in the TV settings (I turned off GameMaster). Once I made that change, it worked fine. Overall, I think the TCL 65" M8LF Series 4K UHD HDR Mini LED Smart TV with Fire TV is a great TV that has modern features and a beautiful picture.

First off, a 65” TV comes in a very large box! And it turns out the TV inside it was almost as large as the box. It was fairly heavy and there are labels/stickers telling you it is a two-person activity to lift/move the TV. Plan accordingly when purchasing. Definitely worth the investment to have a service install, especially if you are hanging on the wall. It took 20 minutes to go through the setup screens. I went through setup with simply the remote control, no app on the phone required. Could have finished in half the time but it took me a bit to get the code for the parental control correct. I do like that the setup process prompts you to set that up, so I don’t have to try to find it later. All said, unpacking and setup was straight forward and done in less than an hour. Walked away to start writing the review and when I came back there is a “screen saver” on the screen, reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism. I like it! The display rotates through a series of pictures. Nice. Downloading the TCL app on the TV, says there are 350+ channels available at no cost. Fabulous! And yes, they are shows/movies you want to watch. This is a Fire TV so it uses Amazon smart TV platform for streaming content via apps or online services. I was able to easily add my Amazon account and watch my Amazon digital purchases. The picture is sharp and crisp. You almost feel like you are in the room of the show because the detail is so amazingly clear. The functioning of the remote; that is what button to press to get what you want, e.g. like when entering your pin, takes a bit to get used to. Worth the two minutes to look at the included Getting Started Guide, page 7. I've had a few models of another brand of TV for last 10+ years. The TCL FireTV has a picture quality equal or better. Love the "screen saver" functionality too.

Overall, this TV has a phenomenal picture compared to others I've tried, but I'm surprised to find it's missing some things that I practically demand in a new TV in 2026. PICTURE: The contrast between the bright scenes and the black behind them was simply astonishing. It reminded me of the first time being in a Dolby theater where they said "this is black." The color crispness and quality (especially at the highest refresh rates) was quite stunning. SOUND: I don't think you're going to bother with a TV of this size and expect its built in speakers to suffice. You could use this TV in a sports bar where the sound is being projected elsewhere perfectly. Personally, I hooked it up via eARC to my receiver. It supports the HDMI controls over that interface which worked out well. TECH: I keep hoping for Fire TV to get better, and I'll admit it's better than the first one I tried years ago. But the way it's better is that it has more app support than back then. Otherwise, the disclaimers required to agree to where it's using everything you do to potentially market to you better is very lengthy. I also found it to be slightly less responsive of an interface than my Roku Ultra (which is my daily driver). I'm also a bit leery of the built-in smart tech in general because it will surely reach its useful life well before the TV will. I'm likely to just use my Roku instead of the Fire app. QUALITY: The picture is great and in-line with the quality you'd expect from TCL. However, I was really disappointed in a few things: 1. Defaulting to "motion enhance" which is such a stupid choice. I never, ever want this as my default. 2. USB port cannot be toggled to provide power even when the TV is off. Besides upgrading the TV's software via that port, what else is someone using it for besides powering a Roku stick? 3. It came with 2 of 4 mounting screws to attach to a mounting kit. Why would you only provide half of what is needed? I would have preferred they provide all 4 or none at all. It was really tough to find the exact right screws to match the two that were provided, such that I ended up buying a 10 pack of different ones that fit according to the manual specs.