TCL RM7L vs Philips PQS9011 / PQS9001 (The One 2026)

TCL RM7L is a bright TV. In our measurements its peak brightness hovered around 1600 nits. That is clearly less than the C7L, which can approach 2600 nits, but in real film scenes the difference between the models is not that large. In less demanding shots with many bright elements, the RM7L can sustain about 1000 nits, and sometimes even a little more, getting close to 1500 nits. It performs worse in dark scenes with small points of light, where their brightness can fall to around 500 nits. This is not random behaviour. The TV intentionally dims fine details to better control the backlight and preserve higher contrast. That comes at the expense of their intensity, but it is typical behaviour for TVs with local dimming in a similar price bracket.

Colour gamut coverage

In HDR not only brightness matters but also colour. And here the RM7L has plenty to show. Colours are highly saturated and a wide colour gamut is one of its major strengths. In our DCI-P3 measurements it reached about 96%, and BT.2020 around 83%. It is worth remembering that on a TV with this kind of backlight the result can vary depending on the scene. On test patterns colours look best, while in films their saturation is sometimes a little lower than on SQD Mini LED or QD-OLED TVs. The construction of the backlight itself is also interesting. The RM7L does not use the classic red, green and blue LED set. TCL used two green LEDs and one blue, with the red produced by a PFS phosphor. This shows up in spectrometer measurements, but it does not have a major impact on the picture. Colours are still rendered correctly.

Philips PQS9000 is a moderately bright TV. In our HDR scenes it reached roughly 450 to just over 500 nits. That's enough to notice a difference compared with SDR. Reflections of the sun, lamps or flares have a bit more sparkle than on basic TVs, whose brightness often tops out around 300 nits. However, it is not a level at which bright elements make a particularly strong impression. The biggest limitation remains contrast. Without local dimming, when the TV brightens a bright object it also raises the black level around it. There is therefore no clear separation of strong highlights from a dark background, and it is that contrast that can show what HDR can do. The PQS9000 offers more than the cheapest models, but despite decent brightness the effect remains fairly basic.

Colours

Philips deserves praise for the colours. Although the manufacturer calls this model QLED, in reality a PFS phosphor is used here instead of quantum dots. That choice does not prevent the TV from achieving good results. On both test patterns and in measurements of film scenes we recorded about 94% coverage of DCI-P3 and 75% of BT.2020. For this class of TV that is really good. In practice this means that the vast majority of colours used in HDR films and series will have appropriate saturation. Vibrant green or intense red are not much of an issue and add appeal to the picture. Limitations are easier to notice in some games and in rarer content that use the most saturated shades of the wide BT.2020 gamut. In such situations, displays with wider colour coverage, such as SQD or RGB LED, can show more. In its price bracket, however, the PQS9000 has nothing to be ashamed of.

We checked the out-of-the-box colours in Filmmaker Mode, the best picture setting available to the user. TCL has been using it in its TVs for two years, and its aim is to reproduce the image as faithfully as possible in line with the creators' intent. On the RM7L it was indeed the most accurately set mode, although it was not without flaws. The biggest problem was the white balance. Too much red and blue made the image shift towards slightly pink tones. This was visible in both SDR and HDR. On top of that the brightness response was slightly boosted, making the picture appear a little brighter but at the same time less contrasty than it should be.

Unfortunately, the factory picture settings for Film mode on the PQS9000 need refinement. In SDR the most noticeable problem is an excess of red in the white balance, which makes whites, greys and skin tones too warm, sometimes even slightly pinkish. On top of that the gamma runs below the reference across most of the range. The TV therefore brightens midtones and highlights, making the overall image look flatter than it should.

In HDR the white balance itself is much better. Apart from minor deviations the RGB components track closely, so there is no pronounced colour cast as in SDR. However, the EOTF curve shows a slight brightening of parts of the image, and the biggest issue appears in measurements of the wide colour gamut. Many hues deviate significantly from the target, with errors reaching levels of 8–9. The good gamut coverage we praised earlier therefore does not mean the TV hits specific colours equally well. It can display a wide colour range, but out of the box it does not use it very precisely.

Thanks to the fairly extensive calibration menu we were able to correct the vast majority of the previously described issues. The biggest change concerned the white balance. After calibration it now looks very good, so the picture shed its pinkish tint and became much more neutral. The luminance response has also improved. Both the SDR gamma and the HDR EOTF curve are now much closer to the reference values. The picture is no longer unnecessarily brightened, and darker areas look more natural and have greater depth. Better luminance accuracy also affected the colours, which after calibration are noticeably more accurate. Not everything could, however, be set perfectly. With HDR material the RM7L still interprets part of the signal in its own way and does not always follow the reference curve precisely. This is most apparent in some darker scenes, where the TV can either slightly lift the shadows or darken them completely. That is where the earlier impression of a slightly brightened, less contrasty picture came from. Despite this, the calibration delivers a very good result. It removes the most visible errors and, above all, makes the picture much closer to how it should look.

Calibration brought a significant improvement, especially in SDR material. We managed to even out the white balance and remove the previous colour cast, and the Color Checker measurements now look really very good. Colours are much closer to what should be on screen, so with ordinary TV or SDR films we can be satisfied with the outcome. Unfortunately HDR somewhat spoils that result. On the one hand it is limited by the panel itself, because calibration won't improve contrast or replace local dimming. On the other hand there remain colour errors that we couldn't correct because the CMS settings, that is the colour management controls, were greyed out and inactive. That costs Philips points with us. The white balance can be fine‑tuned, but without access to wide‑gamut adjustments it's not possible to order HDR colours equally well. It's a shame, because the SDR results show the potential is there, but we weren't allowed to make full use of it everywhere.

Upscaling and digital image processing are not the RM7L's strong suit. TCL has used the MediaTek Pentonic 700 chipset here, designated MT5896, which is not among the best processors when it comes to handling lower-quality source material. The biggest problems appear with heavily compressed content from YouTube or standard broadcast TV. The processor cannot effectively hide posterization and the characteristic banding between tones. The feature intended to smooth these issues does little to help, and can also interfere with the image too much, smoothing, for example, faces or fine textures. For that reason it is best simply not to use it.

Standard upscaling to 4K looks better. Lower-quality content is sufficiently sharp and retains an adequate amount of detail. It is not on a par with the best processors on the market, but for everyday viewing the result is entirely acceptable.

Digital picture processing in the Philips PQS9000 performs well, though we have a few reservations. The "Distortion Reduction" function helps to smooth tonal transitions in lower-quality material, but it works rather unevenly. It can improve one part of the image, only to seem to lose its effect a moment later, still in the same scene, and show banding between shades again. A plus is that it doesn't remove film grain or fine noise, so the image retains its texture. We found the 'Medium' setting worked best and we recommend it. The upscaling to 4K itself is acceptable, although the image is very soft. Edges are heavily smoothed, which may leave some viewers feeling the picture lacks definition. In that case, it's worth slightly increasing the sharpness in the TV's menu, as this will make edges appear more defined. However, don't overdo the sharpening slider, otherwise artificial halos may appear instead of an improvement.

The RM7L features a 144 Hz VA panel, so from the outset it is well suited to sports, gaming and other fast-paced content. The high refresh rate also gives the motion interpolation more scope, allowing it to generate additional frames. On the RM7L it works well and, with the right settings, can noticeably improve motion smoothness without an excessive soap opera effect.

In terms of motion handling the Philips PQS9000 performs exceptionally well for an LCD TV. It's not just the 144 Hz refresh rate, but above all how quickly the panel itself responds. At 120 Hz there are virtually no typical trailing smears behind moving objects. What is particularly pleasing is that this also applies to darker scenes, where many VA panels clearly struggle. Here motion remains clear and, in this respect, Philips pleasantly surprised us.

The "Motion Styles" feature lets you adjust how motion is displayed. It includes two sliders: "Smoothness" and "Blur Reduction", allowing you to tailor the effect to the content you're watching and your own preferences. Our suggested settings are shown in the photo. Treat them as a starting point and try to find the level of smoothing that suits you best.

The RM7L earns almost nothing but praise when it comes to features for gamers. The TV supports ALLM, VRR and Dolby Vision Gaming and works properly with HGiG, so it’s hard to point to any major omissions in that regard. In practice this means automatic switching to a low-latency mode, smoother motion at variable frame rates and accurate brightness reproduction in HDR games. There’s also a very useful Game Bar. From it you can quickly check frame rate, VRR status, signal format or aspect ratio, and change the key settings without leaving the game. TCL has also added a few extra options, such as a crosshair overlay and brightening of dark image areas, which can be handy in some titles. The biggest drawback stems from the use of the Pentonic 700 processor. Only two of the four HDMI ports support the full HDMI 2.1 standard. That won’t matter much with a single console, but if you connect two consoles and a PC you may run out of ports, especially since one of those ports may be needed for eARC and a soundbar.

Gaming features

In terms of gaming features, the Philips PQS9000 has a lot to offer. Four HDMI 2.1 ports let you connect several devices without having to choose which one gets the full-capability port. Consoles can use 120 Hz at Full HD, 1440p and 4K, while a PC can also make use of 144 Hz at 4K or 240 Hz if you drop to Full HD. There's also VRR, which matches the refresh rate to the frame rate and prevents screen tearing. Its range is 48 to 240 Hz, with the upper limit applying in Full HD mode.

ALLM is present, so the TV automatically switches to game mode, and HGiG works properly, which is useful when setting HDR on a console. There's also a Game Bar for quick access to settings and signal information. The list even includes Dolby Vision gaming, but it's hard to enjoy this option because of very high input lag. Aside from that caveat, the feature set is really solid.