TCL QM9K Launch: The “Ultimate” TV That Thinks Buzzwords Count as Features

CircuitSmith

CircuitSmith

— 3 min read
Cartoon of the SiliconSnark robot reacting to a giant glowing TCL QM9K TV covered in buzzwords like “Halo Control System” and “Ultimate Performance.”

TCL has just launched what it boldly calls “the pinnacle of the Ultimate Series” — the new QM9K television, now available at Best Buy. The company claims it’s the first Google TV with Gemini, which sounds less like a real product feature and more like the latest Marvel spinoff. But hey, when you’ve got “Gemini” and “Halo Control Systems” in your press release, who cares if anyone actually understands what you’re selling?

This new TCL QM9K promises “ultimate performance” with unmatched picture quality, ultrawide viewing angles, and — wait for it — virtually borderless edges. Because nothing screams “innovation” like finally admitting bezels are out of fashion in 2025.

So let’s break down the hype, the jargon, and whether this $5,999 98-inch behemoth is actually the game-changer TCL wants you to think it is.

Gemini: Your TV Can Now Talk Back (Again)

The star of TCL’s announcement is Gemini, the AI assistant baked into Google TV. TCL brags that Gemini can:

  • Answer questions at the sound of your voice
  • Follow conversational queries
  • Wake the TV when you walk in the room
  • Show “beautiful screensavers” (their words, not mine)

In other words, Gemini does what Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant have been doing for years — except TCL has decided this is a “major milestone in the evolution of interactive TV.”

Because nothing says milestone like asking your $4,000 television, “Who won last night’s game?” only to be told, “Here are some search results.”

The Halo Control System: Sounds More Like a Spa Treatment

Every good flagship needs a sci-fi name for its picture technology, and TCL has settled on the Halo Control System. According to the company, it’s packed with:

  • Micro OD: This reduces the “optical distance between the backlight and diffuser plate.” Translation: fewer weird halos around bright objects.
  • 23-bit Backlight Controller: Controlling “over 65,000 levels of brightness.” Which is approximately 65,000 more levels than the average viewer will notice.
  • Quantum Crystals: Because regular crystals weren’t fancy enough, apparently.

In short: you’ll get deeper blacks, brighter whites, and more vibrant colors — the same promises TV makers have been making since HD DVD was still a thing.

ZeroBorder: Goodbye, Bezels (Again)

The QM9K also comes with what TCL calls ZeroBorder design — essentially, a near-edgeless screen. Of course, TV brands have been promising “borderless” designs since 2016. But now it’s “Ultimate,” which we can only assume means they finally shaved off that last millimeter of black plastic.

At this point, your cat will barely notice the bezel when it sits in front of your new $5,000 screen during movie night.

TCL’s ULTIMATE SERIES: Because One Superlative Wasn’t Enough

The QM9K joins the QM8K, “The Ultimate Choice,” in what TCL has branded the ULTIMATE SERIES. If you’re wondering why they shout “Ultimate” in all caps every three sentences, it’s because someone in marketing decided that if you repeat a word enough, people stop asking what it actually means.

For reference:

  • QM8K = The Ultimate Choice
  • QM9K = The Ultimate Performance

Presumably, the QM10K will be The Ultimate Destiny, followed by the QM11K: The Ultimate Multiverse Edition.

Ambient Display: Your TV is Now a Hall Monitor

TCL also touts Google TV’s Ambient Display feature. The TV can wake up when you walk in the room, greet you with photos or weather updates, and politely remind you that you still haven’t finished the new season of whatever Netflix canceled last week.

Because what we all needed was another device to guilt-trip us about not getting enough steps in.

Pricing: “Ultimate” Doesn’t Come Cheap

TCL’s QM9K series is now on sale at Best Buy, with prices that will make your credit card sweat harder than your air conditioner in August:

  • 65” — $2,999.99
  • 75” — $3,499.99
  • 85” — $3,999.99
  • 98” — $5,999.99

For those keeping score, that means you can buy a used car, or you can buy a 98-inch screen that lets you ask Gemini for the weather. Decisions, decisions.

Does Anyone Actually Want a Talking TV?

Here’s the question TCL’s marketing doesn’t answer: does anyone really need Gemini in their TV? Voice assistants are already embedded in smart speakers, smartphones, and basically every appliance with a circuit board. Do we need another one wedged between our HDMI ports?

Yes, the QM9K looks gorgeous on paper — higher brightness, deeper blacks, fancy algorithms — but strip away the buzzwords, and what you’re left with is a TV that’s slightly shinier and much pricier than the one you bought three years ago.

Final Thoughts: The Buzzword Olympics

TCL’s press release reads like it was generated by an AI trained exclusively on CES keynote transcripts. Every sentence is stacked with capitalized features, superlatives, and vaguely scientific terms. Halo Control System! ZeroBorder! Quantum Crystals! CrystGlow WHVA!

At the end of the day, the TCL QM9K might actually be a phenomenal TV. But you’ll need to wade through enough jargon to fill a Silicon Valley startup pitch deck just to figure that out.

So here’s the real translation of TCL’s announcement:

  • The QM9K is brighter and prettier than last year’s model.
  • It has thinner borders.
  • It comes with Gemini, which is basically Google Assistant with a new name.
  • It costs a lot of money.

Everything else is marketing fireworks.

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