Verdict
TCL continue to shake up the TV world with another absolute bargain – and this one ’s big enough to have some quarters of the projection world tremor in their boots .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
You do n’t have to be a home cinema genius to translate the appeal of TCL ’s 85C805K. It ’s an 85 - in screen repulse by Mini LED lighting and 100 of zona of local dimming for the princely sum of just £ 1,599 .
That ’s a damage that until late would have been unthinkable for a TV handsome than 75 - inches , never take care one with such a premium picture do up . But is it the Billie Jean Moffitt King - sized bargain it first appears , or are there catch to be found once you look beyond the screen ’s sheer epicness ?
Availability
The TCL 85C805 K is uncommitted in the UK for £ 1,599 at the prison term of review article . As is coarse with TCL ’s global ranging , there ’s no listing for the C805 K range in either the US or Australia . Australia has a pick of TCL C8 ranges available , but most are less well specify than the C805 K despite some of them give seemingly ‘ higher ’ exemplar numbers .
The £ 1,599 price is middle - catchingly gloomy for such a massive covert that expend a combining of Mini LED lighting , local dimming and Quantum Dots to make its pictures . For perspective , there are 65 - inch television out that cost twice as much . So if TCL ’s model prove as honorable as I ’m hoping , it has the potential to be the domicile cinema buy of the twelvemonth .
Design
The TCL 85C805 K basically relies on the jounce and awe make by the gossamer sizeableness of its CRT screen to disguise the fact that in some ways it ’s not exactly the most glamourous TV .
Its main bodywork is blue and made of ( admittedly heavy responsibility ) plastic that TCL has n’t attempted to disguise with any sort of gleam metal surface last . Its frame is fairly narrow considering the projection screen land area it holds , but its rear marijuana cigarette out more than most of today ’s skinny supermodel .
The goggle box is mounted on a cardinal pedestal outdoor stage , making it easy to set its giant screen on even relatively narrow-minded bits of piece of furniture . This stand sport a healthily robust metal designing , too .
you’re able to also wall mount the TV provided you have a wall able to take its near 40 kg weight . No wall mount is render , but meet points are provided on the telly ’s posterior for a third - company mount in the VESA 600×400 format .
The television set is partnered with a long , tenuous remote controller that while a scrap plasticky proves comfortable to hold and pretty easy to learn your way circular . specially as there ’s a handy bank of direct swarm app push on its lower end .
Features
UsingMini LEDsto straighten out the 85C805 K ’s projection screen instantly gives TCL the chance to extradite more brightness and localised light command than you get with most television . It ’s an opportunity it grabs with both hand by partnering a high claimed peak light of 1500 nits with local dimming across 880 on an individual basis controlled zone .
Both of these figure are significantly high than I ’d expect to see from such an affordable king - sized TV , raising the outlook of an accidentally serious gamy dynamic chain experience . bring home the bacon that these core picture elements are controlled well – a job that falls to TCL ’s own AiPQ engine , which also take on such extra feature as motility control , noise reduction and colouration management .
There ’s plenty of coloration to care , too , good manners of the 85C805 K ’s consumption of Quantum Dots to produce its colours rather than a basic RGB filter organisation . The TV ’s VA type of LCD panel may mean the intensity of these colours cut if you ascertain at an angle , but on the other hand , VA panel tend to produce better direct contrast than their all-inclusive consider angle IPS rivals . And for the sort of film fan most potential to be incisive on an 85 - inch goggle box , the extra demarcation is will likely scoop some potential reckon slant limitations .
The 85C805 thou ’s premium features poke out to its HDR sustenance , which cover all four of the key base amusement format of HDR10,HLG , HDR10 + andDolby Vision . This intend the TV will spiel the best variant of any seed you encounter into it ; there ’s no forcing you to pluck betweenHDR10+or Dolby Vision like you would have to if you bought a Samsung , LG or Sony TV .
The 85C805 K ’s smart feature article are cater by Google TV , which brings with it the usual benefits of a huge app assembling , Google Assistant voice ascendancy , and meliorate bill of fare design versus its Android video predecessor . It also boast the usualGoogle TVbrickbats of a rather unfocused , basic and dictatorial ( rather than responsive ) contented testimonial system , and a number of missing cardinal UK snatch up apps – including the BBC iPlayer .
TCL does province that it will send off a Roku boob tube stick to anyone who asks for one , but obviously this is n’t as convenient as all the UK services just being construct into the boob tube as banner .
TCL has done a very secure line of work indeed over the retiring year or two of embracing television gamers , and the 85C805 K carry on this motif by supporting 4 K streams at 120Hz ( actually 144Hz ) , variable refresh pace in the standard HDMI and AMD FreeSync formatting , and reach a very respectable 13.4ms persona rendering time if you choose the Game picture preset .
Picture Quality
The 85C805 green suffers with wanted few of the weaknesses I ’d have a bun in the oven to find with such an affordable king - sized tv set – and the resulting images are spectacular .
For starters , this video is smart . While many what might be considered ‘ budget ’ boob tube struggle to get beyond 600 to 700 - nit light peaks , TCL ’s goliath manages to achieve a banging 1,350 nits from a white HDR window taking up 10 % of the screen . This is enough to accomplish a startlingly efficient and punchy rendition of high dynamic range images – with the results made all the more striking by the fact they ’re being return on such a fantastic ordered series .
The 85C805 K retains more than 700 nit of this cleverness even when it has to show a really shining full - screen door HDR image – a human body which compares handsomely with the 400 nit or so that even the most high - end and cut edgeOLED screenscan accomplish in the same lot ( though those OLEDs can , of course of action , deliver pixel level promiscuous mastery ) .
The encroachment and dynamism of these full silver screen HDR images is sincerely a sight to lay eyes on on an 85 - column inch silver screen – and something that should send a shudder down the spikelet of the ultra short throw projector worldly concern .
After all , even the shiny UST projector ca n’t render HDR with nearly as much encroachment as this TCL goggle box can , with its direct light-emitting diode lighting and local dimming controls . Most UST projectors can save painting up to 100- or even 120 - inches , but I reckon there are plenty of home cinema fans who may feel this TCL ’s startlingly low-cost 85 - inches of extra vibrancy and brightness are the more hardheaded and ultimately rewarding itinerary to family movie theatre heaven .
Brightness , however , is distinctly far from the only thing that matters for a compelling home movie house picture . In fact , brightness can actually be a problem if it ’s not follow by beneficial enough brightness controls to maintain compelling black levels and obscure colour alongside all the gleaming stuff and nonsense .
Here again , though , the 85C805 K deliver the good to a degree you ’ve no right to bear for its combining of screen size of it and cost . Those 880 disjoined dimming zones – 10 times as many as on some mid - range LCD TVs – help it produce depths of shadow that remain deep and convincing disregarding of whether you ’re follow a mostly very coloured shot or search into a dark part of a preponderantly bright spot .
Even better , unlike some even quite premium rival topically dimmed TVs , the 85C805 K does n’t want to intemperately dim down vivid elements when they come along against dreary background to avoid distracting ‘ bloom of youth ’ of unwanted light come along around the bright object .
The 85C805 kilobyte ’s light restraint are good enough to birth upright amounts of subtle blending item in dark corners , helping dark scene look almost as three - dimensional and detailed as bright ones . Colours can become marginally desaturated in dark areas , but seldom enough for you to feel distracted by it unless you ’re specifically look for it .
Colours in bright scenes are vibrant but also polished and balanced , as the combining of the screen door ’s Quantum Dots and solid AiPQ processing avail the 85C805 K avoid the common low-priced TV government issue of color saturations becoming washed out in the brightest HDR country .
I would suggest stave off the TV ’s dynamical modality , since this pushes colour saturation so hard they no longer wait credible . Otherwise , color is another sphere where the 85C805 K do well beyond its price level .
Add to all the above enough dimming zone sophistry to nullify inconsistency and unstableness when handle slight shifts of both local and overall brightness with dark view , and you ’ve got a picture that is almost frighteningly easy to become immersed in . For games as well as films .
This is not to say that TCL ’s low-cost behemoth is a restriction - free zona . While colour are bold but still balanced , for illustration , they can lack a little delicacy . Especially with tegument tones , which can sometimes look a spot too smooth and drone . Though I ’d take this over the block and make noise some other similarly value - base TVs can suffer with .
The pic is n’t quite as shrill as some premium bounteous - screen TVs , either – at least with video ( rather than gaming ) imagery . Some of this is down to the slightly deficiency of colour finesse I just mention , some of it is down to slim motion fuzz , and some of it is down to the 85C805 K ’s upscaling of non-4 K sources not being quite as powerful and canny at removing noise while adding details as that of some of the TV world ’s most bounty sets .
But honestly , this is all only to be ask sacrifice the 85C805 KB ’s price , really – and while its photograph might not be quite as emphatically snappy as those of some high - end competition , the slight softness is n’t even close-fitting to becoming a serious misdirection .
More distracting is the reduction in direct contrast and color intensity you see if you watch the 85C805 K from much of an slant , and the screen ’s tendency to be quite pondering of strong promiscuous sources in your room . Both of these issues can be void by just sitting as straight on to the screen as you’re able to and keep the lights low for serious film nights .
Sound Quality
While the 85C805 cat valium ’s built in audio system is n’t as powerful or delivered through as many channels as some of TCL ’s more agiotage models , it still delivers enough scale and index to give its jumbo movie more than adequate company .
Designed in conjunction with audio specialist Onkyo , the sound degree spread comfortably beyond the boundaries of the TV ’s forcible bodywork while also for a 2.0 - channel speaker set up , manage to drive home a obtrusive upright layering result that help Dolby Atmos soundtracks vocalise bigger and cleaner .
There ’s enough superpower behind the sound scaffolding to ascertain that neither the outer edge nor the bright trebles sound thin or obscure , while the levelheaded direction is clever enough to lock dialogue to the screen even when the rest of a sound mix is being spread far and wide .
The lack of a dedicated bass verbaliser means downhearted frequencies do n’t reach as deep or stand as stiff in the mix Libra as I ’d ideally like them to . Though the mid - kitchen range is open and grand enough to contain even viciously loud military action scene crescendos from sounding flimsy , rough or congested .
My main ill about the TCL 85C805 K ’s speech sound is that there ’s a slightly vulgar feeling to it ; a slight raggedness , at least at gamey bulk , that suggests the speakers are n’t specially refined and are being pushed right to the limitation of their capableness . They seldom push fully past that terminus ad quem , though , to the point where really stark overrefinement kvetch in .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
With its local dimming , Mini light-emitting diode lighting and Quantum Dot colour , the 85C805 K delivers a fantastical level of spec for its money .
TCL ’s Google TV smart system does n’t support all of the primal UK catch up streaming services – including BBC iPlayer . Though TCL assurance to commit you a Roku streaming stick if the miss snatch up service really weigh to you .
Final Thoughts
The TCL 85C805 K is another 2024 boob tube plot auto-changer , serving up pictures that are street ahead of anything we ’ve experience before on a ( comfortably ) sub-£2k over 75 - inch TV .
right HDR - friendly domicile film thrills have never been so affordable – and TCL ’s threat to the established television fiat has never felt more palpable .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every boob tube we review exhaustively over an elongated period of clip . We expend manufacture standard tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
witness out more about how we screen in ourethics policy .
FAQs
A system of illume TVs that utilise much smaller light-emitting diode than common , to deliver potential luminousness , demarcation and energy advantages .
The 85C805 K brook 4 K at 120Hz , 4 K at 144Hz , variable refresh rate , HDR gaming ( including a Dolby Vision secret plan mood ) and auto downhearted latency style shift .
Google TV – and this is not backed up as it on some other brands by the Freeview turn app to bring onboard a few UK catch up service Google TV does not carry as standard .
