TCL’s new 8K Mini LED Smart TV costs as much as a Panda

A huge television that brings together two cutting-edge technologies: TCL X925 is 85 inches big and has an 8K Mini LED panel with Quantum Dot.

The era in which Chinese giant TCL produced only low-cost Smart TVs for the mass market is long gone: the latest model unveiled by the company is a jewel of technology that costs as much as a small car. It's called TCL X925 8K OD Zero and it's a huge 85-inch TV stuffed with cutting-edge technology.

In fact, it's not the huge size that distinguishes this Smart TV from the (few) competing models, but the use of a sophisticated Mini LED panel with 8K resolution and proprietary AiPQ Engine technology to improve images, based on machine learning and compatible with Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG standards. To this panel of the highest quality TCL has combined an audio section of equal level, signed Onkyo, and the Google TV operating system that guarantees the availability of hundreds of apps to expand the potential of this giant. The price, of course, is as big as the product.

TCL 8K Mini LED X925: technical specifications

The new 85-inch Smart TV XL from TCL combines two technologies to offer a superior quality vision: the Quantun Dot LED (QLED) and the Mini LED. Recall that, contrary to what the name would suggest, Mini LED technology is an evolution of LCD and not OLED.

In a MiniLED panel, pixel light is not created by a colored organic LED but by a panel of classic LEDs that "shoot" light to a series of filters that color individual pixels. The higher the number of LEDs (because they are smaller), the higher the accuracy of the final result.

In this model TCL has integrated "tens of thousands" of tiny LEDs, which allow the creation of "thousands" of contrast zones, i.e. the areas of the panel that can be turned on or off individually (the more zones there are, the greater the contrast that can be created between one part of the image and another, even in the smallest details).

The light produced by the LEDs passes through a layer of liquid crystals with Quantum Dot technology that colors it, pixel by pixel, to over 1 billion possible colors. The result, according to TCL, is a color volume equal to 100% of the DCI-P3 color space.

Thanks to the combination of all these technologies, the new 85-inch TCL Smart TV is extremely thin, which on one hand is great but on another (that of sound) is a problem: since there is not enough space (depth) it is not possible to insert good quality speakers in the TV.

TCL has solved the problem by cutting the head off and adding a soundbar, included in the price. It is a device made by Japanese Onkyo, 160W and equipped with no less than 25 speakers, Dolby Atmos 3D compatible and in 5.1.2 configuration. The soundbar is detached from the body of the TV, so it can be positioned at will.

TCL 8K Mini LED X925: price and availability

Those who dream of putting the new 85-inch Smart TV TCL 8K Mini LED X925 in the living room right away will have to contend with two major limitations: initially it will be marketed only in the North American market and will be priced at $9.999.99 dollars.

If ten thousand dollars for a television seems too much to you (with the same money today we buy a hatchback), you should think about what the competition offers at similar prices. In fact, the Sony Bravia XR Z9J, an 85-inch 8K TV of comparable quality, costs the same amount but doesn't have Mini LED technology or a built-in soundbar.