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Last month at CES, while nearly every major TV brand was showcasing tantalizing RGB LED TVs featuring exciting new display technology, TCL was putting the X11L SQD Mini-LED TV on its highest pedestal. Unlike the parade of RGB LED TVs (which make use of an all-new type of display technology), the X11L — named after TCL’s Super Quantum Dot technology — is built around a souped-up, refined version of a classic Mini-LED screen.
We’re still weeks away from getting our grubby paws on an RGB LED TV from Samsung, LG or Hisense, but we have had a chance to test drive the TCL X11L. And, while our official review is still being prepared, I can give you a sneak-peek.
TCL has boasted about the X11L’s color, and I can see why. The question now is whether or not these incoming RGB LED TVs can give the X11L a run for its money.
TCL X11L color: how does it stack up?
I'll let our upcoming TCL X11L review speak for itself in the coming weeks, but I wanted to highlight one of the TV's color metrics for a few reasons. First, color volume has been an area of performance where Mini-LED TVs (like the X11L) have lagged behind quantum dot-enhanced OLED TVs in recent years.
Secondly, color is at the heart of what TCL's new TV is all about. This so-called Super QLED leverages TCL's all-new Deep Color System, which I'll explain shortly.
So, while we don't yet have data from any competing RGB LED TVs, we can see how the X11L stacks up to the Hisense U8QG (a Mini-LED TV with excellent color volume) and two quantum dot-enhanced OLED TVs that feature some of the best color we've ever measured.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | TCL X11L | Hisense U8QG | Sony Bravia 8 II OLED | Samsung S95F OLED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BT.2020 Gamut Coverage | 91.77% | 83.98% | 90.55% | 90.47% |
Here's a quick refresher: BT.2020 (also known as Rec.2020) is an international color space standard for newer displays. The percentages describe how much of that color space these TVs are capable of covering.
As you can see, the Sony Bravia 8 II and the Samsung S95F — two QD-OLEDs that previously put up some of the best BT.2020 measurements we've ever measured — are a hair behind the X11L.
The X11L is significantly ahead of the Hisense U8QG, another quantum dot-enhanced Mini-LED TV that specializes in bright, punchy color. In other words, the bar for Mini-LED-based color was just raised — all the way above QD-OLED.
To be fair, with the right content and the best picture mode, all of these TVs look absolutely stunning. They're bright, high-contrast screens backed by powerful picture processing algorithms. There's a good chance that, from a color perspective, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between these sets unless they were set up side by side.
TCL just demonstrated that a Mini-LED display can be pushed into the color realms we've come to expect from premium, quantum dot-enhanced OLEDs.
Nevertheless, what we have here is a proof of concept. TCL just demonstrated that a Mini-LED display can be pushed into the color realms we've come to expect from premium, quantum dot-enhanced OLEDs, provided you have access to TCL's engineering.
Now, all we have to do is wait and see how RGB LED TVs from Samsung, LG and Hisense stack up. These brands, too, have promised big performance numbers when it comes to RGB LED's color capabilities.
Super Quantum Dot vs RGB LED: what's the difference?
The TCL X11L's secret sauce is made up of a few ingredients: reformulated quantum dots (now dubbed "Super Quantum Dots"), a new color filter for said quantum dots and some algorithmic tweaking designed to keep colors consistent (which TCL is calling its Advanced Color Purity Algorithm). Together, these elements define TCL's Deep Color System.
It's all very familiar in the world of traditional Mini-LED displays, albeit upgraded and refined. RGB LED, meanwhile, is a whole different story.
Like the best Mini-LED TVs, RGB LED displays leverage an array of ultra-small LEDs that can be broken up into dimmable zones. This goes a long way towards enhancing contrast and brightness in TVs like the TCL X11L.
Unlike the X11L, however, RGB LED TVs have a secret weapon: Their LEDs are red-, green- and blue-tinted. While the white light of Mini-LEDs like the X11L rely on a color filter, RGB LEDs do not.
Like TCL's Super QLED TV, the primary purported benefit of RGB LED TVs is color, and in some reported cases, brands are reporting that their RGB LED TVs are capable of reaching up to 100% of BT.2020.
Here's the thing: In a TCL X11L press release, TCL also claims that SQD TV can reach "100% of BT.2020 color." We, of course, only measured 91%.
Crucially, they add the following footnote: "Actual results may vary based on specific units, environmental conditions, source material, and testing equipment." This qualifier makes sense, too — TV-testing is a finnicky process.
TCL 2026 TVs: outlook
The TCL X11L SQD Mini-LED TV will be available in 75-, 85- and 98-inch sizes, so if you were hoping to buy a new 55- or 65-inch TV in 2026, the extra-large nature of the X11L may not be for you.
The good news is that the 2026 TCL TV lineup will also feature two new TVs that are reported to make use of the brand's SQD technology: the QM7L and the QM8L. They're new versions of the TCL QM7K and the QM8K, two quantum dot-enhanced Mini-LED TVs that have proven quite popular. I'm eager to see how their performance compares to the ultra-premium X11L.
TCL is also launching an RGB LED TV of its own. Not much is currently known about the TCL RM9L, but so far, it's been announced exclusively in big-screen sizes: 85, 98 and 115 inches.
It may not be a matter of if these TVs make our list of the best TVs, but a matter of when.
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