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TCL QM8B, MQLED80 and T7B: what they ship with and what comes off

· 9 min read

Specification card for the TCL QM8B, MQLED80 and T7B showing its main figures
TCL QM8B, MQLED80 and T7B: the figures that define the set
Specifications
Year2025 for the K generation, 2026 for the L, per EPREL
SystemGoogle TV on Android 12 (`ATV 12.0`)
Resolution4K UHD
PanelQD-Mini LED on the website; `QLED LCD` in the regulated fiche
Refresh rate144 Hz in the headline; `120 Hz` in its own table and EPREL
Memory3 GB of DRAM; storage is not published
Sound`2x15 W`, a `2.0` system, no audio brand
Connections`4 x 2.1`, `eARC HDMI 4` and a single USB 3.0
HDRDolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG
BrightnessNo nits: only "4K HDR PREMIUM 1300" or "1500"
Dimming zonesAbsent from every source
EPRELZero records as QM8B; eight as MQLED80
Sizes50", 55", 65", 75", 85" and 98"

In Spain, TCL sells a QD-Mini LED called the QM8B, from the C80 series. In Germany it sells one called the MQLED80. Same six screen sizes, same day of consultation, two different product pages on the same maker's site.

They are the same television. And here that is not down to whoever supplies the board: in Google Play's official device list, TCL has twenty television platforms and all twenty are its own, while 401 of the 439 brands in that file have none at all. Nobody else builds this set. TCL simply calls it something else on each side of the border.

The comparison, field by field

The spec tables on tcl.com are not in the HTML: they are fetched separately, as JSON, one per screen size. With all twelve downloaded (six Spanish, six German) and compared cell by cell, of the 78 fields that exist in both, between 72 and 74 match at each size once is levelled with Ja and 65% with 0.65. At five of the six sizes the only technical difference is DiSEqC: v.1.0 / ver. I & II in Spain and v.1.0 / ver. I in Germany.

Everything else is identical down to details no coincidence repeats: 4 x 2.1 of HDMI with eARC HDMI 4, 2x15 W of sound in a 2.0 system, AiPQ 3.0 Processor, an RC833 remote, GoogleTV (ATV 12.0), 1 x 3.0 of USB, Built-in ac/n/g 2.4/5Ghz MIMO for Wi-Fi, and the same millimetres and the same kilos at every size.

Two things break the pattern. The fields only one table carries: the model name (65QM8B) and Game master on the Spanish side, Stromzufuhr (220-240V~50Hz) and lead on the German. And the 98 inch, whose Spanish table comes out entirely in English and is the only one with three differences of substance: Dolby Vision against Dolby Vision IQ, AiPQ 3.0 Engine against AiPQ 3.0 Processor and Machine Learning against Deep Learning.

The 3 GB that appear nowhere else

In the smart content tab there is one field worth stopping at: System memory (DRAM), value 3 GB.

It is almost the only memory figure TCL publishes. Of the 92 spec tables downloaded from its Spanish, German and British sites (Q6C, Q7C, T7B, T8B, Q8C, C9K, S5K, S4K, V5C, A400U and Q7D Pro included), only twelve carry it, and all twelve are this television under its two names. In the other eighty it does not exist, and in the 23 European regulated fiches it does not appear either: the regulation does not ask for it.

There is one exception, and it comes from the long table format: the German page for the 32SF540 does publish Systemspeicher (DRAM) = 1.5 GB and Interner Speicher = 8GB. It is covered in the sheet on repeated names.

Memory decides how many years a connected television lasts: once it runs short, apps stop updating and in the end the set cannot apply its own update. That TCL publishes it exactly once across its whole catalogue says plenty about how normal it is to keep quiet.

What is still missing, here too, is the storage. There is DRAM and no ROM. No dimming zones either, no nits figure (only the "4K HDR PREMIUM 1300" stamp at 50, 55, 65 and 75 inches, and "1500" at 85 and 98), and no Bluetooth version.

Eight European fiches for one, none for the other

Here is the hole. The EPREL API, the European energy labelling register, searches by substring of the model identifier. Queried today:

  • QM8B: zero records. Zero as well for 50QM8B, 55QM8B, 65QM8B, 75QM8B, 85QM8B, 98QM8B and QM8BX1.
  • MQLED80: eight records, all from TCL Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., in two generations, K from 2025 and L from 2026. All eight declare QLED LCD, 120 Hz, eight years of updates, eight of spare parts, eight of support and two of warranty.

The eight are 55, 65 and 75 in the K generation, and 55, 65, 75, 85 and 98 in the L. None is the 50 inch, and the 50 inch is the one both websites sell, with its page, its full table and its declared energy class.

The figures do not line up with the table either. The website gives class G / G on the four sizes where it gives anything, and leaves the field empty at 85 and 98. EPREL says something else in every case:

Inches Website (ES and DE) EPREL K EPREL L
50 G / G, 71 / 185 W does not exist does not exist
55 G / G, 83 / 200 W F/G, 76 / 242 W E/G, 58 / 168 W
65 G / G, 111 / 240 W E/G, 85 / 260 W D/G, 67 / 225 W
75 G / G, 140 / 310 W E/G, 107 / 365 W D/G, 85 / 280 W
85 empty does not exist D/G, 100 / 340 W
98 empty does not exist D/G, 120 / 380 W

What stands out is the direction of the error: the website declares the worst class on the scale for a set its own maker registered as D or E. And the two sizes its table leaves blank do carry a badge in the listing, with the letter inside the icon filename: arrow-F_col_d.png on the 85 and arrow-G_col_d.png on the 98, both registered as D.

Then there is the link. The Spanish QM8B page, and the German MQLED80 one, carry one labelled "Ficha de información del producto". It does not go to EPREL: it goes to tclo365.sharepoint.com, answers 200, and what comes back is a Microsoft screen reading "Sign in to your account". And it is not that TCL cannot link EPREL: on those same pages, the Spanish C855 and the German V6B take their label to eprel.ec.europa.eu/labels/. The QM8B, the MQLED80 and the T7B do not.

Illustration. Decorative: the diagrams in the text carry the detail.

The T7B contradicts itself on its own page

The T7B is TCL's "Online range", the one sold without a shop. Its Spanish page has bullets at the top and its table further down, and they do not agree.

At the top, verbatim: "Game Master 3.0 + Acelerador de Juegos de 120Hz", "2.1 ONKYO Dolby Atmos", and a band repeating "Claridad de Movimiento PRO a 144Hz".

Below, in its own spec sheet: "Claridad de movimiento: 60 Hz de judder, Cinema motion", "Game bar: 2", "HDMI: 3 x 2.1" and "Procesamiento de la imagen: AiPQ Processor". The entire audio tab holds two cells, DTS-HD and Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual-X, and the word ONKYO never appears: no power field, no speaker type, no subwoofer.

The German table for the same T7B does carry the field the Spanish one is missing, and it reads Bildwiederholfrequenz: 50/60Hz+FRC / 120Hz FHD. And its game bar is not the 2: it says Spiel-Leiste: 1.0.

Where the ONKYO 2.1 does exist is in the page's own small print: under the sound block, an asterisk reads "Solo válido para 85"". The picker offers 85, 75, 65 and 55; the note next to it lists "75"/65"/55"/50"/43"", two sizes not sold there at all.

For comparison: the T8B, in the same range, does declare Calidad de audio por: ONKYO, 4 x 2.1 and 120 Hz de judder. And the T7B, like the QM8B, has zero EPREL records under any variant of its name.

What it ships with

Google's part. The launcher (com.google.android.tvlauncher), recommendations (com.google.android.tvrecommendations), voice search (com.google.android.katniss) and services (com.google.android.gms).

TCL's part. Its free channels, TCL Home and the setup assistant. With ATV 12.0 declared, it is an Android 12 in a set the European fiche promises to keep for eight years.

Third parties. Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ arrive by commercial agreement, not because the set needs them.

What comes off without much thought

The streaming apps you do not use and the free channels that fill the home screen. With 3 GB of DRAM and storage nobody publishes, each one is room you might need. If you subscribe tomorrow, it is back in two minutes.

What deserves a look first

The recommendations engine: removing it leaves the home screen clean, but empties the "continue watching" row. And before any package, look in the privacy settings at what the set is sharing.

What not to touch

Google Play services. The launcher, as long as you have no other one installed and working. And anything starting with com.android. you cannot identify: com.android.systemui is the interface and com.android.settings is the settings app itself.

How to tell which one you have

Under Settings → System → About you get the model and the Android version; with ADB, getprop ro.product.model. The rear label reads 65QM8B or 65MQLED80; in EPREL that set is 65MQLED80KX1 (registration 2218569) or 65MQLED80LX1 (2705022).

If you own one

What this one needs is the single thing its maker leaves out while keeping the field open: the output of df -h /data. The DRAM it publishes; the storage it does not. With two or three replies, this page will say how much room is really left after setting up Google TV.

Everything here applies to a device you own, and every removal is reversible. The limits of this project: What we do and do not do