When it comes to the more premium TV experiences, at least in Australia, TCL took longer than most to make the jump from wallet-friendly entry level products to the sorts of screens that could comfortably sit alongside the big players in the 4K and 8K space. You may know them better as Samsung and LG. This is worth stating up front because the TCL 65″ X925 Mini Led 8K Google TV aims pretty high in both the feature department and that of wanting to blow you away with its picture quality and out-of-the-box sound.
And when you’re talking about the sort of TV that will stream the latest content in 4K and be the recipient of a super-fast HDMI 2.1 cable connected to either a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series console, or even modern PC, seeing words like Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in the same sentence carries a fair bit of weight. And in terms of 4K entertainment, the TCL X925 excels. Thanks in part to the decent colour accuracy across its main picture modes, support for things like Dolby Vision (the TV will automatically switch whenever it detects a Dolby Vision source), and impressive black-levels thanks to the Mini LED tech lighting it all. Which also leads to some truly bright and impressive HDR.
There’s even some IMAX branding in here.
Okay, so the HDR is good. That’s nice but one of the first things people actually ask about whenever they’re looking at a high-end TV for all of their next-gen entertainment is related to black levels. The LG OLED range has pretty much changed the game in this very specific way. The black level question is kind of weird too. How good does this TV look when there’s no image on the screen? A sentiment born from the fact that LCD and LED backlight technology has traditionally sucked. It was all about Plasma back in the olden times, before OLED showed up. Grey, washed out, colour bleeding. That was LCD-based tech. Not quite up to the refined standards of a TV connoisseur.
As with QLED the answer for TCL is to ramp up the lighting zones and do so with Mini LED technology so the black levels remain untouched. What we’ve got here is a big step up from where we were even a couple of years ago, and it’s immediately noticeable. The black levels on this TCL TV, especially when watching a movie or series or playing cinematic games, are superb. Our compliments to the chef. Not quite OLED, but then again what is.
So far, so good. And when you factor in TCL’s affordable-for-a-high-end price-point for the X925, you might be thinking that this is case-closed. Don’t bother spending thousands for only a little bit more, you’re sorted. And sometimes, spend more for a display that doesn’t support native 8K content. Which this TCL TV does, it’s in the name.
Okay so where it falters, just to get this side of the TCL 65″ X925 Mini Led 8K Google TV review out of the way, is in its upscaling capabilities, comparatively poor viewing angles, and overall out of whack uniformity when it comes to white-balance and even some colour saturation. At least on the unit reviewed here.
That last bit there basically means that some parts of the screen are brighter than others. Not all that noticeable but here. Still though, if you’re of the sort that’s looking for a display purely for 4K gaming and streaming high-def content, where you’re sitting directly in-front of the screen, then these downsides won’t affect you. Until someone comes round, decides to watch some free-to-air “HD” programming, and you’re taken aback at just how, well, not great it all looks. Or, you know, you like to game on a docked Nintendo Switch.
One great feature is that the TCL X925 comes equipped with an Onkyo soundbar and subwoofer on the back as part of the build. The results are on par with decent off-the-shelf soundbars, which is great, though it does mean the TV is heavy. Like, real heavy. Interestingly, TCL also sent me a TCL Ray-Danz TS9030 3.1 Dolby Atmos soundbar with wireless subwoofer to check out and the difference was noticeable. So yeah, you get great out-of-the-box sound thanks to the Onkyo magic but there’s a definite step up if you opt for a more premium audio experience.
The key thing for a display like this though is how it handles all of the HDMI 2.1 content you can throw at it. In taking the time to lug a GeForce RTX 3090 equipped PC rig over to check out some native 8K gaming on a fairly sizable screen, the results were incredible for the most part. And in the age of the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series consoles, this TV is ready to do its part. VRR support is here (48Hz and up) in addition to HDR10, Dolby Vision HDR, and full 4K 120Hz for the handful of titles that can actually run at that level of performance. But hey, it’s future proofing in a way because even though the 8K portion of the TCL X925 story is a chapter that you’ll most likely skip on the account of 8K not really being a thing yet – 4K 60 and even 4K 120 is becoming the norm.
Well, for those with the latest consoles and PC graphics.
For this review the first game I fired up was Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart on PlayStation 5 followed by Spider-Man Miles Morales and then Returnal. A trio of 4K titles perfect for checking out colour accuracy, brightness, fast motion, and the more cinematic aspects of a display. It’s here where the 4K chops of the TCL X925 shine bright, the HDR impresses, and the overall experience is that of gaming on a high-end TV. Even though colours aren’t perfect (something that had me tweaking settings for quite some time) there’s a clarity that never fades when dealing with a 4K source.
Elsewhere, the competitive side of the TCL X925 is good, but not amazing. The response times and latency unfortunately isn’t on par with more competitive offerings. It’s still serviceable and more than enough for most to not even notice but this is a side of the display I can see TCL improving as newer models arrive on the scene.
This might read like an abrupt conclusion but let’s talk about the UI, setup, and installation process, which was all smooth thanks to TCL opting for the Google TV approach. With a Google account setup is a breeze, especially if you’re plugged into the Goolge-sphere as it can be handled from a smartphone. Or easy-to-read on-screen prompts. When it comes to the UI and operating system side, the TCL X925 is great. This might be personal preference (thanks in part to using an NVIDIA Shield for years now), but the Google TV interface is clean, slick, fast, and great for all apps. Compared to the competition, or non-Google TVs, to me it’s enough of a selling point to warrant an investment.
