TCL 8K 6 series (R648) TV test: Far more than 8K
RRP $ 3,000.00
"An absolutely stunning television for the price."
advantages
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Excellent picture quality
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Surprisingly good sound
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Improved Roku TV remote control
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Easy adjustment
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Excellent for playing
disadvantage
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Bad off-axis performance
Given the popularity of TCL's 6-series 4K TVs in recent years, it might be easy to dismiss the company's move of adding an 8K model as a trending wallet. Fortunately, that's not the case at all. The new 8K version of the 6 series from TCL (series model R648) offers significant upgrades in the right places compared to the 4K-based R635 version, which I rated quite positively.
That the R648 is the cheapest 2021 8K TV you can buy is just the icing on the cake. Read on to learn why this is one of the best TVs to buy this year, 8K or no 8K.
Video review
Out of the box
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
The TCL 8K 6 series TV has a lot more than just an 8K resolution screen, and that was obvious at first glance on the packaging. A colorful graphic shows the TV with a central, brushed metal stand as opposed to the independent stands that we installed on the other sides of previous TCL TV models. This is great news for anyone interested in a big TV screen but short of media stand space.
The 75-inch model 75R648 that I received for review was very well packaged. Unpacking the TV was a bit more complicated than I'm used to, but the likelihood that the TV will be damaged in transit is extremely low.
In the box with the television I found the aforementioned TV stand, screws to attach the stand to the television, some product literature, two AAA batteries for the remote control and a completely redesigned Roku TV remote control.
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Consider the R648's audio system properly updated.
When I removed a protective plastic bag from the TV, I noticed another major design upgrade: the presence of a subwoofer driver on the back of the TV. The subwoofer is glossy, black, exposed (not covered by a plastic grille) and has a flat surface rather than a traditional conical shape.
When I saw the subwoofer above, I couldn't help but look over the plastic grids that lined the bottom of the TV while installing the stand (which took four screws, a screwdriver, and about 30 seconds of my time). To my surprise, TCL equipped the R648 with independent tweeters that mate with two oval, downward-facing mid-range speakers.
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Seeing an independent subwoofer on a television is rare enough, but one with stereo tweeters and mid-range speakers is virtually unknown. Consider the R648's audio system properly updated.
With the TV in place and plugged in, I clicked the power button on the remote and settled for a 20 minute setup routine.
TCL 8K 6 series (R648) TV details
While we tested the 75-inch model 75R648, our test also applies to the 65-inch model.
| Screen size | Model no | RRP |
| 65 inches | 65R648 | $ 2,200 |
| 75 in | 75R648 | $ 3,000 |
To install
I've complained extensively in previous TCL TV reviews that getting the TVs Roku TV operating system up and running was slow motion and that optimizing and applying the TV's picture settings to apps and all HDMI inputs was both a significant hassle and a hassle as well does not match Roku's historically user-friendly approach. To my delight, my complaints have been heard and the R648 now supports a remarkably quick Roku TV setup process along with one of the most intuitive picture adjustment applications I've seen in over 10 years of reviewing TVs.
Once the 75R648 was powered on and connected to the internet, it began running its own Roku TV software update. This only took a few minutes. From there, I was asked to enter the email address associated with my Roku account and received an activation link. After clicking the link, the TV asked if I would like to install a couple of apps (some of which are already part of my Roku profile) which felt a bit like a sponsored advertisement but was quickly over. Then when it came time for the TV to download apps or update pre-installed apps, I expected to go out and have lunch. Fortunately, this process only took a few minutes.
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
However, what I really enjoyed was how quickly I was able to apply my preferred image settings to multiple HDR formats and multiple inputs. After selecting the movie picture mode for its more accurate color temperature and lack of motion smoothing settings, I found that I could change the backlight intensity from normal to bright or brighter depending on how much ambient light was entering the room or how bright the overall picture looked target.
This is a good start, but I expected to repeat this process again for High Dynamic Range (HDR) and then again for Dolby Vision; and not just for every single app I wanted to use, but for every single HDMI input I wanted to use. As you can imagine, this is a lot of work.
But the R648 series figured out what I was up to and had already selected the appropriate HDR and Dolby Vision mode based on my preference for movie preset in SDR for the Netflix app. It also made similar settings for YouTube and all the other apps I like to use. It was similar with the HDMI inputs, where the settings for all inputs were globalized by default, but I could adjust them if I wanted. This is how it should be done folks.
In any case, it should be noted that as complicated as TV setup can be for those of us who love to peak and tweak our picture settings, the R648 made the process a breeze.
Specifications and dimensions
I knew immediately that this TV was something special. I check enough TVs that I can just spot before I start breaking out the target wheel or making calibration adjustments. The HDR images just popped off the screen, the colors were well saturated, bright lights popped up at me, and perhaps most importantly, the black levels and shadow detail looked really good.
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Confusingly, however, if you look at the data sheet for the TCL R648, the TV looks very similar to the 4K R635 TV, but with an upgrade to 8K resolution. The processor looks the same, the mini LED backlight looks the same, the Roku OS looks the same. However, when I started measuring the TV's performance, it immediately became clear that the R648 runs with significantly more horsepower than its 4K cousin.
Using a C6 colorimeter profiled on an xRite I1Pro and Calman software, I measured the maximum brightness output of the R648 in film image mode with the backlight setting to normal, bright and brighter. Here is what i got.
In normal, I measured 256 nits in SDR and 910 nits in HDR. This is great for a dark or dark room. In Bright mode I have 346 cd / m² in SDR and 1,226 cd / m² in HDR. In Brighter, the TV hit 460 nits for SDR and 1,563 nits for HDR which, believe me, was more than enough in my test room with quite a bit of sunlight. These are very respectable numbers across the board, and they indicate that the TV is versatile enough to cover a wide variety of room environments.
For those interested in the number of backlight zones, the R648 offers 240 zones on the 75-inch model and 160 zones on the 65-inch model.
picture quality
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
It's clear that although TCL uses the same backlight hardware, the R648 has been tuned for higher performance. The peak brightness measurements I took are significantly better than the ones I measured with the R635. However, the improvements are not limited to higher brightness.
I've observed that the R648 handles dark areas of the screen much better than the R635 and offers deeper blacks, even around light objects on a dark background – a difficult trick to pull off with higher brightness values across the board.
The higher contrast performance of this combination extended to color performance as well, delivering better saturated colors at higher brightness levels than I saw with the 4K R635. However, other performance metrics remained more or less the same. The motion resolution was solid without motion smoothing, with little jerking or jerking at 30 frames per second and 60 fps content and no noticeable jerking at 24 fps film content. The handling of low bit depth content, such as YouTube videos, was handled like the R635, which means that it smooths out gradients pretty well, albeit not as smoothly as Sony TVs, for example.
Upscaling also seemed to be handled with the same skill, although upscaling 720p and 1080p content to 8K is significantly more difficult than upscaling to 4K. Overall, I'd say the R648 does a good job with 8K upscaling, delivering as sharp an image as can be expected with minimal artifacts. Even so, no TV is a miracle worker, and most cable / satellite content that comes in 720p saw higher definition content from streaming apps like Disney +, Hulu, Netflix, and HBO max significantly.
I really enjoyed watching this TV every second that I sat in front of it.
The upscaling of high quality 4K content was very good with no noticeable artifacts. Familiar scenes from 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs looked expertly rendered on the 8K screen. Even when I was only 2 meters from the 75-inch R648, I couldn't see any individual pixels. This made for a very immersive experience.
The Achilles heel of the R648 is its off-axis performance. Typically, TVs with a VA LCD panel have difficulty maintaining contrast and color saturation when moving sideways or significantly above / below the TV. While the R648's vertical axis performance is okay, the horizontal axis performance is limited to a very narrow window and off-axis performance is at the limit to be deplorable. If you have a large viewing area and people sit away from the TV a lot, they won't get the same great picture quality sitting right in front of the screen.
Aside from the strict performance analysis, I can say the following about the TCL R648: I really enjoyed watching this TV every second that I sat in front of it. As a huge fan of OLED televisions and their perfect black levels and the complete absence of backlight anomalies, I was amazed at how well the R648 could captivate me without triggering my inflated sense of backlighting and milky black levels. Is the R648 a replacement for OLED in a controlled lighting environment? No, not in terms of contrast and color. But in a brighter room, it performs significantly better than most OLEDs on the market, except maybe the Sony A90J or LG G1 OLED TVs.
Sound quality
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
The R648 has a beefy sound system that only adds value to the television. The included subwoofer offers solid bass and a room-filling presence that few modern televisions have. Dialogue intelligibility is excellent, while stereo effects are present, if not entirely convincing. My only complaint is that the tweeters seem a bit pumped up, which adds a certain harshness to the highs that I could do without. Admittedly, this harshness was more noticeable when listening to music than when watching TV programs or films.
Games
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
If it wasn't clear yet that the R648 offers much more than just an 8K screen, I would like to add a little tidbit on top: The R648 offers two HDMI 2.1 ports and as a bonus they are independent of the TV's eARC port.
Using an Xbox Series X dashboard, I was able to confirm that the R648 can deliver 4K120 / Hz and 8K / 60Hz games with variable refresh rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and HDR at the same time. As with most TVs, 4K / 20Hz gaming is not available in Dolby Vision.
Combine those aspects of picture performance with the respectably low input lag and picture enhancements of the THX game mode and you have one of the best gaming TVs you can buy. Keeping the eARC port free to serve those who have a sophisticated home theater system without restricting any of those HDMI 2.1 ports is an absolute bonus. Only LG can claim to have more gaming-friendly TVs, as it offers four HDMI 2.1 ports in selected models.
Our opinion
The TCL R648 is a standout television and deserves flagship status in TCL's range of products. Its high brightness, solid black level, very good color performance ex works, smooth movements and excellent gaming characteristics make it one of the best televisions you can buy this year. The 8K resolution? That's a bonus. Like most TV manufacturers, TCL reserves its best TV performance for its 8K TV lineup, eliminating the question of whether 8K really matters.
Is there a better alternative?
Not at that price. Samsung's 8K Neo QLED TVs and LG's 8K QNED TVs may offer similar performance in some aspects, but at a significantly higher price. Since the R648 is well above its price, it makes the most sense for anyone who may or may not want to buy a high-end TV with 8K resolution.
How long it will take?
With its two HDMI 2.1 ports, mini-LED backlighting, quantum dot color, and broad support for various HDR formats, the R648 should continue to exist in the future. Future upgrades will likely be incremental. In terms of reliability, TCL's mainstay in TV is growing as TVs from previous years continue to work well.
guarantee
TCL offers a one-year parts and labor warranty on the R648. You can navigate to TCL's registration and warranty information here.
Should you buy it?
Yes. The TCL R648 offers tremendous value for money with excellent performance coupled with a competitive price. While the 8K resolution isn't really what sets this TV apart, it does offer a certain element of future-proofing. You pay a premium for this television but get every penny of performance back.
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