TCL QLED 65-Inch Q6 65" 2023 Review

A big, basic QLED that's perfect for casual streaming but forgettable for everything else. You get what you pay for, and here you're paying for size and Google TV.

The TCL Q6 is the TV you buy when you want a big, decent-looking screen for under $600 and you don't want to think about it too hard. It's the definition of 'good enough.' The one thing to know? It's a solid streaming machine with Google TV, but its picture quality and gaming chops are firmly mid-pack. It's a budget-friendly 65-inch QLED that gets you in the door, but don't expect it to blow your socks off.

Looking at our database, the numbers tell a clear story. Its smart features land in the 80th percentile, which is great—Google TV is snappy and intuitive. But then you see the picture quality score in the 45th percentile, and the gaming score in the 37th. That's the surprise, and not a good one. For a TV that touts 'Game Accelerator 120,' its overall gaming performance is just okay. It handles motion fine for movies, but hardcore gamers will feel the limitations.

At around $570, it's a decent value if your main goal is screen size and smart features on a tight budget. You're paying for the panel and the OS, not for top-tier performance. For the price, it's worth it. But spend $100-$200 more, and you can get a significantly better picture.

This sits in a crowded field. The Hisense U6 Series is its direct rival, often trading blows on price and offering similar, if not slightly better, mini-LED picture quality in some models. The TCL Q6 loses that fight on pure specs. If you care about picture above all else, the step-up TCL QM8 is in a different league with its mini-LED backlight, but it costs more. For gamers, the Samsung QN90F or even last year's models will run circles around the Q6's gaming features. The Q6 wins on simplicity and the Google TV interface.

Skip this if you're a cinephile or a console gamer. The middling picture quality and so-so gaming performance won't cut it. For you, the target is the TCL QM8 or a sale-priced LG OLED. This TV is for background watching, not your main home theater.

We recommend the TCL Q6 65-inch if you're a casual viewer who streams Netflix and YouTube on a budget and values a good smart TV interface over reference-level picture quality. It's a workhorse, not a showhorse. If you watch a lot of movies in a dark room or are serious about gaming, you'll outgrow its limitations fast. In that case, save a little longer for something better.