Compare: TCL MQLED85 / C765 vs Sony Bravia 7 (XR70)

TCL MQLED85, or model C765, is a television that can truly surprise, especially in this price range. It is one of the cheapest models featuring mini-LED technology, which is immediately evident in the picture quality. The blacks are deep, and the brightness is sufficient even in a brightly lit room. Thanks to the large number of dimming zones, watching movies in the evening is a pleasure – the blacks are really deep, and the picture in dark scenes looks clear. However, it's not perfect – in some scenes, you may notice minor issues with small bright elements, but this is really a minor detail compared to what this model offers. Google TV performs excellently here – there are plenty of apps, and using the system is simply convenient. Voice control in Polish works flawlessly, which can be particularly useful if you don't want to type movie titles using the remote. Of course, there are minor shortcomings, such as the lack of recording capabilities, but these are not things that interfere with daily use. For gamers, it is also a fantastic option. Support for HDMI 2.1, VRR and low input lag means the television handles consoles well and competes effortlessly with more expensive models from Korean or Japanese manufacturers. At this price, it's hard to find something better when it comes to smooth and responsive gameplay. During testing, we encountered a few minor software issues, but it's hard to say whether that's a serious downside. We hope that TCL will release updates, so there’s a chance this issue will be resolved quickly. TCL MQLED85/C765 is an excellent choice if we are looking for a television with good picture quality and modern features at a reasonable price. It is a model that combines affordable mini-LED technology with a convenient Google TV system, and it’s also great for gaming. Minor software shortcomings are something you can live with, especially considering what this television offers in its class.

Testing the Sony Bravia 7 quickly revealed that this television can really do quite a bit. Although it is the "lowest" model from the Japanese manufacturer in the new 2024 lineup, it doesn’t feel like a compromise at all. The picture impressed us with its depth of black and the detail in bright scenes – thanks to the Mini LED technology that makes a difference. When we watched movies in Dolby Vision, it was immediately evident how much HDR adds life to every scene. The intense colours and great dynamics made watching evening screenings a genuine pleasure for us. Using this television daily also surprised us positively. The Google TV system worked flawlessly, and the selection of apps was large enough that we easily found everything we wanted to watch. The backlit remote is a small but practical addition – in the evenings, we greatly appreciated not having to fumble around for the buttons. The older content we watched improved in quality thanks to advanced image processing. When we checked the TV for gaming, it also made a good impression on us. The 120 Hz refresh rate ensured smooth visuals, and the low input lag allowed us to enjoy fast-paced and dynamic gameplay. We particularly liked the Game Bar feature – easy access to settings during gameplay is something that every gaming enthusiast will appreciate. The television handled even more demanding titles excellently. However, not everything was perfect. Only two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which is designated for eARC, could be an issue if someone plans to connect multiple devices at once. Additionally, when we watched the television at an angle, we noticed that the picture quality was not as good as when viewed head-on – the lack of a layer improving viewing angles was noticeable here. Nevertheless, the Bravia 7 is a television that pleasantly surprised us. It combines excellent picture quality with functionality that works well both in everyday use and during evening screenings or dynamic gaming sessions. The minor limitations are noticeable, but they do not overshadow the whole package, which definitely deserves the attention of buyers.

TCL MQLED85/C765 stands out due to its use of a VA panel and Mini LED backlighting, which makes a huge difference compared to traditional backlighting systems. Mini LED, with its significantly smaller diodes, allows for more precise control of the screen's backlighting, resulting in much better contrast and deeper blacks. The model with a 55-inch diagonal that we are testing has an impressive number of over 700 local dimming zones, providing exceptional precision in image display. It's worth noting, however, that the number of backlighting zones may vary depending on the screen size – for larger diagonals, the number of zones naturally increases due to the larger screen area, allowing larger sizes to achieve better results in terms of contrast and black levels. Thanks to the enormous number of zones, the TCL MQLED85/C765 achieved results comparable to OLED screens on our first test pattern from the movie "Oblivion," offering nearly reference-level contrast. But what happens when we test this model in even more demanding conditions? How will the TV perform in tougher scenarios? Overall, the TCL MQLED85/C765 performs very well with black levels, but in some cases, the local dimming algorithm is not perfect. On dark backgrounds, smaller bright elements can lose clarity and brightness, as confirmed by our latest pattern from the Pioneer Kuro test disc. Despite some imperfections in the local dimming algorithm, and thus a slight occurrence of the HALO effect (which is a bright halo around bright objects on a dark background caused by deficiencies in the screen's local dimming), the results achieved by the TCL MQLED85/C765 are impressive, especially considering its price. This TV offers contrast and black depth that can compete with models that are even twice as expensive.

The Sony BRAVIA 7 television with a VA panel and MiniLED backlighting technology offers excellent black quality. The tested 65-inch variant is equipped with 512 dimming zones, allowing for very good contrast, particularly during demanding movie scenes. Naturally, larger sizes of the television have more zones, which positively affects contrast and image depth. During tests, in scenes from the film "Oblivion," the BRAVIA 7 handled dark and bright areas exceptionally well, providing decent separation of lights (the light effect did not merge into a large blob) from deep blacks. However, as is often the case with televisions featuring local dimming, certain difficulties arise with small, bright light sources. In more challenging sections (e.g., scenes 4 and 5), it's noticeable that the television "struggles" to maintain high brightness for these elements, which impacts contrast – bright objects are either too dark (resulting in poor contrast) or exhibit a slight halo effect around them. In a scene from the film Sicario 2, the operation of the zones can be seen, causing the aforementioned effect, though it is minimal. Despite these minor imperfections, the overall impression is positive – the local dimming algorithm works quite well, ensuring that the picture maintains high contrast, and the quality of blacks and details is satisfactory.

The television TCL MQLED85/C765 performs well in handling HDR. In the tested movie scenes, where the screen is at 100% brightness, the model achieves impressive results around 1000 nits, providing intense and realistic rendering of HDR content. However, similar to contrast, the dimming algorithm may show some limitations. Despite a large number of Mini LED zones, the television does not always manage to "wow" the user with brightness in very challenging test scenes. For instance, in the scene from the film "Life of Pi," where a bright moon appears against a dark background, and in another scene from "Sicario 2," where a very bright light effect is visible against a dark background, the television did not reach maximum intensity. For users expecting a perfect HDR effect in such extreme cases, the TCL MQLED may come up a bit short. However, in terms of colours, the television stands out with a very high coverage of the DCI P3 colour gamut at 95%, which is an impressive result comparable to much more expensive models. TCL MQLED85 / C765 offers support for various HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+, which is crucial for cinema image fans. Although this model achieves brightness over 1000 nits, the TCL MQLED85 may struggle to reflect details in very high-contrast scenes. For better HDR quality control, the C765 is equipped with dynamic tone mapping, making the image more realistic and natural depending on the content.

Now that we know the TV handles contrast well, let’s check how it performs in terms of HDR effects. The luminance graph shows very high capabilities for this model – 1500 nits is truly an impressive result. HDR effects are particularly striking in scenes where most of the screen is covered in light, such as in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th test scenes. Minor imperfections, typical of this technology, are still visible with very small light effects, as seen in the scene from the film "Sicario 2," where brightness drops to 500 nits. Although these aren't staggering results, they can be considered decent. Additionally, it's worth praising the TV for its high coverage of a wide colour gamut – DCI-P3 at 96%, which allows for vibrant, saturated colours.

The television TCL MQLED85/C765 was tested in movie mode, which, while seeming to be the best setting from the manufacturer, is not without its flaws. The colour reproduction in HD/SDR mode MQLED85 shows certain shortcomings. In the analysis of white balance, there is a significant lack of blue colour, which can affect the overall image quality, particularly in bright scenes where blue shades are crucial for natural representation. The overall image may then appear too warm. As for gamma contrast, the graph shows that there is a large jump above the reference line of level 2.4 at the beginning, which may suggest significant dimming of brightness in darker areas, leading to loss of detail in blacks. Then for most of the time, the values are below this line, which can lead to loss of detail in the brighter parts of the image. Such a distribution may negatively impact the perceived image quality, especially when watching regular TV in HD quality.

In the case of the 4K HDR image quality of the TCL MQLED85/C765 television, there is a noticeable excess of red colour in the analysis of white balance. This excess can significantly impact the viewer's experience, leading to several notable effects. First and foremost, an excessive amount of red can make other colours, such as green or blue, appear muted or unnatural. This distortion of colour balance can result in an overall impression of "oversaturation," which detracts from the image's naturalness and authenticity. In terms of contrast, the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) graph indicates that most values are above the reference line, suggesting an intense boost in brightness in the bright areas of the image. However, the exception is the start of the graph, where the EOTF line is below the reference, which may lead to excessive dimming of small light elements.

Users should be aware that despite using the best mode, which is movie mode, the television is not free from flaws in the context of image settings, so it is worth considering adjusting the settings to achieve better results.

The IMAX Enhanced mode on the Sony BRAVIA 7 TV is definitely the best mode available on this model, although it is not without its flaws, as its name might suggest. The biggest issue is white balance – both in HD and 4K HDR content, there is a noticeable dominance of the red colour, which causes the image to take on pinkish hues. This is particularly evident on the test image with snow, where the pinkish tint becomes very noticeable. Errors in the Colour Checker test also confirm these deviations – although they are not catastrophic, there is a tendency to lean towards warmer tones. In terms of brightness characteristics, the gamma remains at a decent level with a slight spike but without major issues. However, the biggest challenge is with 4K material. It is clear that the EOTF curve is significantly above the reference graph, making the image appear overly bright.

After professional calibration of the television TCL MQLED85/C765, its colour properties in film mode have significantly improved, resulting in much more satisfying visual experiences. Both in SDR and HDR modes, the white balance shows no serious errors, and the graph appears to be much better harmonised. Users can now enjoy natural colour reproduction, which is crucial for achieving an authentic experience while watching films. It is worth noting that in HDR content, there may be minor colour reproduction errors at the end of the graph, but these are significantly smaller than before calibration. As a result, characters and landscapes become more realistic, enhancing the depth of immersion in the story.

Regarding contrast, the gamma curve, responsible for HD quality, has been completely free of drops below the reference line, which means better visibility of details in dark scenes. However, there is still a slight boost at the beginning of the graph, which may affect the perception of bright elements. For HDR content, the EOTF curve also shows fewer errors, although some issues with reproducing mid-tones may still be noticeable. The EOTF curve measured on real film scenes still shows a significant brightness boost, so the image may appear more intense but artificially brightened. This is a typical problem for TCL brand televisions, which may appeal to untrained viewers but can frustrate those more familiar with an ideal image.

What benefits does professional calibration bring to film enthusiasts? Thanks to it, viewing becomes even more realistic and immersive, allowing every scene to be experienced fully, preserving details and natural colours.

Sony BRAVIA XR70 offers a wide range of tools that allow you to customise the image to your own preferences, enabling significant adjustments to the settings. White balance has been freed from the red colour dominance issue – snow no longer takes on pink hues, which was previously noticeable. Although there are slight deviations in the final part of the white balance chart regarding a drop in blue colour, they are acceptable and difficult to notice in everyday use. The Colour Checker test confirms that colour reproduction errors are no longer as pronounced and rarely exceed a value of 2, which is a very good result. As for brightness, gamma, although it didn't require major improvement, has been slightly adjusted. However, the most significant change has been noted in the EOTF curve – the television no longer has issues with excessively brightening the entire image in 4K materials. However, upon closer examination and incorporating the EOTF characteristics in film materials, some limitations of the television become apparent due to the previously discussed dimming algorithm. Some small elements may be slightly more illuminated, but these errors are minor enough that most users won't notice them. Overall, the calibration results are very, very positive.

The fluidity of tonal transitions in the TCL MQLED85/C765 television is decent, although noticeable issues arise in both bright and dark test scenes. Particularly evident are the colour joins in the scene from the film "The Green Knight", where the red colour of the water transitions to black. Despite these imperfections, the overall gradient quality is acceptable and does not overly detract from the visual experience. The television handles most scenes well, offering satisfactory tonal transitions, contributing to an overall satisfying visual experience that won't spoil our cinematic enjoyment.

The Sony XR70 TV handles gradation exceptionally well. In the test sequence, only a few scenes show slight problems with tonal transitions in darker areas, but most of these issues disappear when the gentle gradation option is activated. Overall, the TV offers excellent gradation that will satisfy even the most demanding users.

We will now take another look at the tonal transitions on the TCL MQLED85/C765 TV, but in the context of lower image quality. Despite the presence of the "Gradual Smoothing" option, when set to "low", the effects are practically invisible, disappointing users who expect an improvement in image quality. On the other hand, the "high" setting yields minimal results, and worse still, it can blur important details, negatively impacting the sharpness and clarity of the displayed image. However, in the context of image scaling, the TV successfully displayed the image without overscan, meaning we do not lose any part of the view. The image looks quite decent, and details such as tree branches or the outlines of models do not show significant jaggedness, which positively affects the visual quality.

Since we know that the television handles high-quality content very well, it's worth checking how it performs with lower-quality material. Here, the television shows its potential, and the graphics processor used works remarkably well. On the test screen with the light bulb, there are no issues with colour blending, and the gentle gradation function works very well – we recommend setting it to "Medium".

When it comes to digital processing, or the so-called upscaling, the television sharpens the image quite significantly, which leads to a slight jaggedness, for example on branches in the background, but it doesn't remove desired details. Despite this, the overall appearance is really attractive and may appeal to most users. However, if you prefer a softer, more plastic image, you can reduce this effect in the settings by adjusting the sharpness level to your liking.

TCL MQLED85/C765 is equipped with a standard refresh rate panel of 120 Hz, with the possibility of increasing it to 144 Hz when connected to a powerful computer. The television also offers a multi-level motion smoother, which is mainly aimed at users wanting to improve the fluidity of motion in films. It allows for adjusting the intensity of the effect on a scale from 0 to 10, enabling precise tailoring of the image smoothness to individual preferences. The response time of the panel is decent, but not perfect. We can observe motion blur occurring behind both dark and medium objects.

The Sony BRAVIA 7 TV with a 120 Hz panel will satisfy most users in terms of motion fluidity. Additionally, Sony offers a Motion Flow feature that allows for the selection of three different picture settings, adjusting them to personal preferences: Smoothness – Film: This setting improves motion fluidity, giving the image a more cinematic or theatrical quality. Smoothness – Camera: This setting provides even greater fluidity, useful for watching dynamic scenes like sports broadcasts. Clarity: This setting focuses on minimising noise and motion artifacts, resulting in a more stable and clear image.

TCL MQLED85/C765 has achieved an impressive rating in the gaming features category, making it an excellent choice for gaming enthusiasts. The television supports all the latest technologies that significantly enhance the gaming experience. Among the key gaming features is ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), allowing the TV to automatically switch to low latency mode, minimising response time and ensuring smooth gameplay. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) supported from 48 to 144 Hz eliminates stuttering and screen tearing in dynamic game scenes. Additionally, the TV supports the Dolby Vision Game Mode, which provides better image quality in games with exceptional depth of colour and contrast. TCL MQLED85/C765 also features a decent but not the best implementation of HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group), optimising the display of HDR games, however, in the case of TCL, it causes bright details to wash out, resulting in some elements merging into a white blob - more on this can be read in the colour reproduction section. It supports various resolutions such as 1080p@120Hz, 1440p@120Hz, and 4K@120Hz, allowing gamers to enjoy higher image quality and better fluidity. The Game Bar feature allows for easy switching between game settings and quick control of parameters, which significantly simplifies adjusting the TV to individual needs. With support for G-Sync and FreeSync technologies, users of NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards will be pleased with the refresh rate synchronisation capabilities, eliminating tearing and stuttering issues, ensuring smoother and more immersive gameplay.

MQLED85/C765 is a television that combines advanced technologies and excellent support for gamers, making it the ideal choice for those looking to maximise their gaming experiences.

Sony Bravia 7 has significantly improved its capabilities in terms of compatibility with consoles compared to earlier models. The TV supports variable refresh rate (VRR), which eliminates screen tearing, and it syncs with graphics cards to ensure smooth display. The automatic low latency mode (ALLM) effectively reduces input lag, which is crucial in dynamic games. Dolby Vision with low latency further delivers impressive HDR effects that look great during gameplay.

Sony Bravia 7 also offers a Game Bar feature, providing quick access to settings and monitoring parameters while gaming. An interesting option is the ability to enable a virtual on-screen reticle, which can give a slight advantage in shooter games. However, compared to the Bravia 9 model, the HGIG feature in the Bravia 7 doesn't perform as well, which may be noticeable for more demanding gamers – particularly as the HGIG mode is becoming increasingly popular among gamers as the preferred method for reproducing HDR effects.

A downside is the lack of support for 1440p@120 Hz resolution, which could make gaming easier for users with less powerful graphics cards. Additionally, the Sony Bravia 7 is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which is often used to connect an audio system via eARC, limiting the number of available ports for connecting next-gen consoles.

Latency in the TCL MQLED85 television reaches impressively low levels under any conditions. Even the most demanding gamers will surely appreciate the minimal input lag of just 8 ms at 4K 120 Hz settings with HDR. Moreover, the latency remains at the same level even when Dolby Vision HDR is enabled, which is not the case with many competing models.

Sony BRAVIA 7 delivers outstanding results in terms of input lag, especially with 120 Hz materials, where the delay is around 11 ms – this is an excellent result that will satisfy even the most demanding gamers. The Dolby Vision mode also deserves recognition, as it is usually associated with higher input lag, yet here it performs really well, providing a comfortable gaming experience. However, we deducted 0.3 points for results above 20 ms for 60 Hz content, although we believe that for most users, this difference is more of a placebo effect.

TCL MQLED85 works well as a computer monitor. Thanks to its support for chroma 4:4:4, the text on the screen is sharp and readable, which is essential for people working with text documents or spreadsheets. One of the biggest advantages of this model is its exceptionally low input lag in "PC" mode, which is just 8 ms. This is a reference-level result that ensures smoothness and responsiveness, crucial for both gamers and those involved in video editing. However, it's worth noting that there is a slight issue related to font display on dark backgrounds. Upon zooming in on the tested font picture, it can be seen that horizontal lines are darker compared to vertical ones. This means that the sub-pixels in the TV may not fully illuminate in such cases, which can affect the quality of displayed text. Nonetheless, the overall performance of TCL MQLED85 as a computer monitor is very good and will certainly meet the expectations of many users.

The Sony BRAVIA 7 television works well with computers, providing clear and legible fonts. An input lag of 11 ms is also an excellent result that will satisfy users using the television for gaming and work. However, it should be mentioned that in the case of grey letters, some slight fading of certain pixels can be observed, which somewhat affects the readability of darker fonts, for which we deducted a few points.

The viewing angles on the TCL MQLED85 television are not its strong suit. The use of a VA panel causes the image to lose a significant amount of brightness when viewed at an angle. Changing the viewer's position, especially in a larger group setting, can make colours appear less saturated, and contrast may be less distinct. For this reason, it's recommended to sit directly in front of the screen to fully enjoy the picture quality. Although the television offers excellent colour reproduction from a direct view, the loss of brightness and detail at an angle can be problematic for those who plan to use the television in a larger room or from various locations.

The Sony BRAVIA 7 TV has poor viewing angles, which is typical for VA panels. The picture quickly loses quality when viewed from a greater angle – colours become washed out and contrast decreases. Considering the price of the device, it's a shame that a coating wasn't applied to enhance the viewing angles, which would certainly improve the viewing experience from different spots in the room.

MQLED85 performs reasonably well in daylight conditions, and it's worth noting the satin finish of the panel. While it doesn't excel at reducing reflections, it offers decent performance in various lighting conditions. An average brightness level above 600 nits is an impressive result, allowing for comfortable viewing even in well-lit rooms. As a result, the television performs well both during the day and during evening movie screenings, providing satisfactory picture quality.

BRAVIA 7 performs exceptionally well in bright surroundings. The satin finish effectively reduces reflections, while causing minimal side blur, resulting in very good visibility during the day. A brightness level of 1000 cd/m² in SDR mode is astonishing and ensures that the picture remains clear even in brightly lit rooms.

TCL MQLED85 TV offers many features that enhance user comfort, with the central point of its functionality being the Google TV system. This modern interface allows for easy content browsing, as well as access to apps available in the Google Play store. Users can take advantage of voice search in Polish, which greatly simplifies navigation and allows for quick finding of interesting shows, movies, or apps. It's also worth noting that Google TV is currently the only system on the market that does not restrict Polish users' access to apps, offering the greatest availability among all available platforms. However, in the context of traditional TV watching, this television has its limitations. It does not offer a recording function, which may be a significant downside for those who would like to save their favorite programs. Additionally, the lack of Picture-in-Picture (PIP) option limits the ability to simultaneously track multiple video sources. On the other hand, the TV features a "MultiVision" function, which allows for screen splitting between the TV and a mobile device. This way, users can use apps on their phone while still watching a TV program. This solution will certainly appeal to those who enjoy multitasking and want to watch TV while also engaging with social media or browsing the internet on their smartphone. Despite some limitations, the TCL MQLED85 TV presents itself as a solid option for users who value modernity and functionality.

Sony Bravia 7 runs on the Google TV system, which offers an intuitive and fast interface, providing easy access to a plethora of applications. Google Assistant supports Polish language, making the use of the television even more convenient and personalised. The interface is clear, and access to features and applications is quick and seamless. It's worth mentioning the remote, which is rechargeable via USB-C port. Additionally, the remote is backlit, making it significantly easier to use at night.

Sony Bravia 7 offers a wide range of capabilities that will satisfy most users. The ability to record programs and easily connect devices via Bluetooth are major pluses. Unfortunately, it lacks the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) feature, which could be useful for watching two video sources simultaneously.

XR70 stands out with its practical and elegant design. The television is equipped with a 4-position stand, allowing it to be adapted to various spaces and settings – this is particularly useful when flexibility in interior arrangement is desired. Additionally, the slim aluminium frame gives the device a modern and stylish appearance. Although it is not as slim as some competing Korean models, it still looks very attractive and sturdy.

Thanks to the built-in player, the television is able to play most file formats found on external storage, making it a versatile tool for consuming multimedia. However, there may be some limitations in supporting certain formats, which can be bothersome for more demanding users. Fortunately, the Google TV system allows for the installation of other media players from Google Play, which helps eliminate compatibility issues. This gives users the ability to choose applications that best meet their needs, significantly increasing the functionality of the television.

The built-in player handles most popular video and audio formats, allowing you to enjoy a wide range of content without any issues. Although there are minor shortcomings when displaying photos, thanks to the Google TV system, you can easily install other apps that effectively solve this problem and expand the multimedia capabilities of the television.

The sound of the television TCL MQLED85 can be described as decent, making it sufficient for everyday watching of movies, TV shows, and gaming. The speakers branded with Onkyo offer surprisingly good audio quality, and the sound does not crackle or distort even at higher volume levels.

Although the Sony Bravia 7 TV is only equipped with a 2-channel speaker system (2.0), each channel has two speakers with a total power of 40 W. This results in really good quality sound, and the bass is noticeable, making watching movies and listening to music more enjoyable.

TCL MQLED85 / C765 vs Sony Bravia 7 (XR70)

Advantages

Disadvantages

Our verdict

TV appearance

Where to buy

Contrast and black detail

HDR effect quality

Factory color reproduction

Color reproduction after calibration

Smoothness of tonal transitions

Image scaling and smoothness of tonal transitions

Blur and motion smoothness

Console compatibility and gaming features

Input lag

Compatibility with PC

Viewing angles

TV efficiency during daytime

Details about the matrix

TV features

Playing files from USB

Apps

Sound