TCL unveils ginormous 98-inch XL TV at CES 2022

The TCL 2022 TV lineup is taking shape with the largest-ever addition to its XL collection, new Mini LED sets, upgraded gaming features and an expansion of Google TV offerings.

While LG might have launched the smallest OLED TV during CES 2022, TCL is doubling down on the big-screen TV push with a 98-inch QLED model coming to the XL series. The company promises this gargantuan TV will cost less than $8,000. That's not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but it should be more affordable than similarly-massive sets from TCL’s high-end competitors.

In addition to the 96-inch TCL XL TV, the new flagship 85-inch TCL 8K QLED X925pro will come with a third-generation of the company’s Mini LED technology. Last year TCL emerged as the best TV brand for finding a fair-priced 8K with the TCL Roku TV 6-Series 8K. The 85-inch iteration with Mini LED is a step up from that, promising “brilliantly smooth luminance and precision contrast for dramatic image depth, dazzling in even the brightest rooms,” while maintaining a thin chassis less than 10-millimeters deep. 

TCL announced that Mini LED will come to more of its TVs later this year, too.

Across the brand’s larger lineup— notably led by the TCL 6-Series that lands on our best TV list with each new iteration — we’ll see some performance updates. TCL is working to bring TrueCut Motion to the high-end models, a content solution and certification program that ensures the filmmaker’s intent is recreated on the company’s screens. Like the big-screen emphasis, TrueCut Motion was made to bring the cinema experience home. When it comes to creating the ultimate theater experience in your living room, TCL is making a convincing case to be the name we think of.

But TCL wants to make some of the best gaming TVs, too. TCL already offered Auto Game Mode for automatic setting adjustments as well as Variable Refresh Rate and HGiG mode. This year the select sets step up from a 120Hz panel refresh to 144Hz for even smoother action and faster game-feel. This is right on trend — we’re seeing more TV makers start to adopt 144Hz refresh rates, hoping to convince shoppers their TV can be their gaming monitor.

The final big announcement from TCL’s 2022 TV news is that the company is pushing forward with the Google TV software. For a long time, TCL provided the ultimate built-in Roku experience to customers in North America. Though it had a few Android TV offerings, Roku remained TCL’s bread and butter.

Last year the company launched the first TV with Google TV built in. Though at the time it had exclusivity, it suffered some software problems with the first wave of 5-Series and 6-Series Google TV models. But having rolled out a fix, TCL isn’t letting the snag stop plans to expand Google TV to more of its lineup.