Prime Day 2025 is the best time this year to get a big-screen TV. Sure, there are deals in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, but those are generally on the previous year’s TV because most new models haven’t been released yet. Prime Day, however, comes after most major TV refreshes — including the 85-inch TCL QM8K, available for a limited time at Amazon and Best Buy for $2,499.99 ($1,300 off).
For its size and overall brightness, especially if you’re looking for a bright-room TV, the QM8K is one of the best buys during the next few days of sales.
TCL has built some great midrange TVs for the past few years, but the 2025 models are a step above its previous models. The QM8K, especially, brings TCL into strong competition with Samsung, LG, and Sony. It can get incredibly bright, making it an excellent choice for a sunny room where ambient light is difficult to control. When I recently had one in for testing, I measured a peak output of over 3,400 nits from a 10 percent window in Filmmaker Mode, the TV’s most accurate picture mode. To put that into perspective, the LG G5 tops out at a little over 2,400 nits with the same test. Under certain circumstances, the TCL QM8K can reach a brightness of 5,000 nits.
TCL’s panel advancements also allow it to limit blooming — where the light from bright images creeps into the surrounding black space of an image — which is an inherent drawback of mini-LED technology. With the QM8K, a new lens design better focuses the light toward the viewer. The optical distance between the backlight and the diffuser plate is smaller than in previous models, so the light has less opportunity to spread into dark areas, providing a sharper delineation between bright and dark.
One of the draws of getting a big-screen TV like the 85-inch TCL QM8K is to share it with your friends for game day or movie nights. Another improvement made with the QM8K is an increase in viewing angles, so the image vibrancy and brightness for those off to the left and right of your seating area is still close to what the person directly in front sees.
