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In 2026, TV manufacturers pitch RGB Mini LED As the hot new technology for rich, intense colours, but TCL has its own solution: Super quantum dots. The flagship TCL X11L is the first ‘SQD-Mini LED’, and the company says it’s able to achieve 100% of the BT2020 color space, which is a lot.
TCL says its TV is capable of very high brightness, and in my hands-on testing, I found that it got scorchingly bright, especially in standard mode. All the extra light output will likely show up in games on next-gen consoles.
I watched the X11L with a mix of Blu-ray discs and streaming, as well as doing some gaming tests, and found the TCL performed well. However, with a starting price of $7,000, would anyone want to spend that much on a TV? For example, 77 inches is excellent Samsung S95F The plasma may not get as bright as the X11L, but it has a great picture, works better in a bright room, and is half the price. Read on for my thoughts on the first Super Quantum Dot TV.
Read also: The best TVs of 2026
Features
I personally evaluated the 85-inch TCL X11L, but this hands-on also applies to other screen sizes in the series. All sizes have very similar specifications and should provide very similar image quality.
The TCL X11L is a 4K TV that features three different technologies for deeper colors: Super quantum dot crystals (Super QLED), TCL UltraColor Filter, and TCL Advanced Color Purity Algorithm.
The TV uses a MiniLED backlight, which, when combined with the company’s Halo Control system, is designed to reduce the effects of halo in high-contrast images. The company says its TV is capable of up to 10,000 nits of brightness, which, if accurate, would make it one of the brightest TVs ever.
The display features a WHVA 2.0 Ultra panel with edge-to-edge ZeroBorder anti-reflective bezel, reducing visible bezel.
Like most TCL TVs, the X11L features Google TV An interface for streaming and managing your smart home. The TV features almost all the apps you could need and will integrate well with Android devices.
In addition, the TV supports Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10 Plus, HDR10 and HLG technology, and also includes a Bang and Olufsen audio system with support for Dolby Atmos technology.
a test
TCL X11L lag test.
I tested the TCL X11L for brightness, gaming responsiveness and picture quality, and found it to be a really bright TV with excellent color saturation. However, I also watched TV at TCL’s offices, not at cnet tv labs, I wasn’t able to put it through the usual battery of tests. Notably, I wasn’t able to compare it to another TV, which is the main reason I didn’t give the X11L a rating.
Using a portable light meter, I measured a maximum of 3,743 nits, though my PCMag colleague Will Greenwald reached 7,000 nits.
With the lights on, I found that the X11L doesn’t have the light rejection of OLED TVs like the S95F, and I found that a direct light source would still show up on the TCL’s screen. However, the trade-off is that the TCL has better contrast in bright light compared to the plasma’s performance in a brightly lit room.
I watched a number of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray movies, including Mad Max: Fury Road and 1917, as well as streamed the opening scene of It. I tried two different settings — Dolby Vision Dark and Dolby Vision Light — and found that with the former setting I saw better detail under the stairs. As you’ve seen on other recent TCL TVs like the QM9K, the halo control system is very good at preventing backlight bleed. As a result, dark areas didn’t have the washed-out gray look of some LCD screens. Although I didn’t have a TV to compare to, it was difficult to know how shadow detail compared.
Watch the first chapter on TCL X11L. spooky!
In terms of color, the comic book movie Mad Max popped well on the X11L, though I didn’t do any formal color tests. However, based on tests I’ve seen by competitors, as well as by our sister site PCMag, the X11L’s Super Quantum Dots are not yet able to deliver on 100% of the BT2020’s benchmark promise. For example, in her review of the X11L, Tom’s guide I found that TCL was able to hit 91.77%, which is pretty high, but it’s not 100. A bunch of competitive TVs for 2026 make the same major promise about color coverage, but I’m skeptical about their claims, too.
Next, I listened to the speakers on the TCL X11L and dialogue sounded clear, but with a bonus FlexConnect Subwoofer It really brought the action scenes to life. For an additional $300, it’s a no-brainer if you don’t want a separate, more complex sound system.
Finally, I plugged in a Leo Bodnar 4K lag tester and found that the X11L was a little slower than some other recent TVs, getting a result of 11.83ms in game mode. Combined with its very high brightness and huge size, this would make a very enjoyable gaming TV.