Is this the game-changer? TCL's new micro-LED TV massively cuts the price of the 'OLED-killer' tech — and it launched a new 300 Hz 'Super Quantum Dot' TV too | Tech Radar

Overview

Is this the game-changer? TCL's new micro-LED TV massively cuts the price of the 'OLED-killer' tech — and it launched a new 300 Hz 'Super Quantum Dot' TV too

TCL's micro-LED TVs are half the price you'd expect

Details

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The good news: TCL launches 163-inch micro-LED for under $40K

The bad: currently only in China, and it's also quite large

TCL is also launching a mainstream SQD mini-LED TV in China

TCL has unveiled two enormous micro-LED TVs — and while they're expensive, they're not as costly as you might expect.

Micro-LEDs have been ruinously expensive to manufacture, which is why you'd expect a 100-inch micro-LED TV to cost around $100,000. But TCL's micro-LEDs are much cheaper than that.

As Notebookcheck reports, the more affordable of the two models, the TCL Max 163M, has a price in China of 249,999 yuan. That's about

36,375 / £27,410 / AU

51,615. The more expensive is TCL Max 163M Pro is 349,999 yuan, which works out at roughly

50,925 / £38,375 / AU

72,259 before taxes and tariffs.

Don’t expect micro-LED TVs to get cheaper yet, based on this cost breakdown

TCL launches next-gen SQD mini-LED TV at CES – the ‘best TV in the market’

TCL’s clever ‘SQD mini-LED’ TV tech has arrived in its first set, and we’ve measured it

These are amazingly low prices for micro-LED TVs, and looks like a game-changer. While we can't assume that the Chinese price will translate directly to what it would cost in the US (the shipping alone…), consider this: the 116-inch Hisense 116UX RGB mini-LED costs

30,000, so paying

36,000 for a 163-inch TV actually looks right in line with that.

TCL's micro-LED and Super Quantum Dot TVs: key features

The TCL Max 163M TVs both feature a 163-inch micro-LED screen that the company says is capable of up to 10,000 nits of HDR brightness and 100% of the BT.2020 color gamut.

The screens are low-reflection and smart functions are powered by TCL's Control System 3.0. Ports are four HDMI 2.1, one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0. The Pro model has a higher refresh rate than the standard model: 4K at 120 Hz. TCL hasn't shared the spec of the other TV just yet, but I guess we can assume 60 Hz.

Both TVs are currently exclusive to the Chinese market and it's unclear whether they'll be coming to other markets.

Chinese customers can also buy a new quantum dot mini-LED, the TCL Q9M Pro SQD. This will be available in 55-, 65-, 75-, 85- and 98-inch sizes. The SQD stands for Super Quantum Dot, and we've just measured a version of this technology in the TCL X11L TV. The panel has a native 150 Hz refresh rate that can be boosted to 300 Hz (presumably at a lower resolution).

It's very similar to the previous generation, the Q9L Pro, and retains the Onkyo 2.2.1-channel sound system of its predecessor, but the panel is brighter, with TCL claiming 5,000 nits compared to 4,500 in the Q9L Pro. There are four HDMI 2.1 ports and Wi-Fi 6.

As with the micro-LED TVs, there's no news of pricing or availability outside China just yet, but the price in that market ranges from 6,199 yuan for the 55-inch to 19,999 yuan for the 98-inch. That works out as roughly

898 / £677 / AU

1,275, rising to

2,899 / £2,185 / AU

4,110 for the largest model.

A report details how much more expensive 130-inch TV screens are to make

Samsung built a stunning micro-LED TV where the bezel is also a screen

The 7 best TVs of CES 2026, from brighter OLEDs to giant next-gen RGB TVs

TCL's current X11L SQD range in the US tops out at just under $10K for the 98-inch model, so these new TVs could be significantly more affordable — based on the name, it seems like it may sit above the TCL Q9M RGB TV but below the X11L super-flagship.

Try our TV size and model finder! You tell it how far you sit from your TV, we'll tell you what size to buy based on viewing angle advice from image quality experts, and we'll recommend our three top TVs at that size for different prices.

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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

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Key Takeaways

Is this the game-changer
TCL's micro-LED TVs are half the price you'd expect
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission
The good news: TCL launches 163-inch micro-LED for under $40K
The bad: currently only in China, and it's also quite large