First Impressions: TCL 98C805K

From our brief time with the TCL 98C805K, it’s an improvement on the more affordable 98P745K with better picture and sound. If you are looking for a relatively affordable monster TV, this model undercuts the price of Samsung’s QE98Q80C by a considerable amount.

Introduction

The TCL 98C805K is the step-up model in the new 98-inch TV range TCL launched in 2023. Given its status, it should bring to bear a better performance than the 98P745K.

I saw both TVs at a TCL event in Warsaw towards the end of 2023, and out of the brief amount of time I had with these mammoth screens, the C805 was the one that registered with more promise.

Boasting a Mini LED screen, Quantum Dot colour support and a bright HDR performance, the 98C805 is the TV that could give Samsung’s QE98Q80C a few palpitations.

Design

• Slim build quality
• Slim bezel design
• Heavy

Like the 98P745K, the 98C805 was already set-up and the design is identical with its blade feet out towards the edges. It’s remarkably even slimmer at 48mm deep, likely thanks to its Mini LED backlight, and weighs around the same at 54kg. The quality of the TV’s construction also feels near-identical to the step-down model.

Again, the bezels are super-slim, allowing the pictures to dominate the screen, and wide-angle viewing (if you somehow find yourself to the side of this gargantuan screen) is better than it was on the 98P745K.

Interface

• No Freeview Play (yet) for UK
• Hands-free Google Assistant

The TCL 98C805K gets the Google TV interface, and like the 98P745K, the version you get differs depending on where you are based in Europe. Rather than rehashing the details, you can read my impressions of the entry-level 98-inch screen for more info.

What’s certain is that UK owners won’t have access to Freeview Play for the time being, which is still being held up by disagreements. When will it be sorted? I have no idea, but it’s been rumbling on for a few years now…

You’ll need a streaming player for iPlayer and Channel 4 apps, or you can stream from a mobile device through Chromecast. Google Assistant is available in its hands-free form, and Alexa is available through ‘Works With’ if you own a compatible speaker to connect to this TV.

Features

• Native 144Hz screen
• IMAX Enhanced certification
• Low input lag at high refresh rates

The 98C805 boasts a native 144Hz panel, so it can support refresh rates up to that figure. There’s room for 240Hz with TCL’s onboard processing for a more responsive performance but resolution drops to 1080p .

I measured input lag at 13.2ms at 4K/60Hz – the same as on the 98P745K – and TCL says at 240Hz it falls to 2.8ms (and in a demo I saw it did indeed drop to that figure).

Other gaming features include HDMI VRR and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, ALLM switching, the HGiG HDR standard and Dolby Vision Game mode (supported on the Xbox Series consoles). The Game Bar ensures you can edit and keep track of game-related info via a discreet dashboard on the screen.

Connectivity is the same as its less expensive 98-inch sibling with four HDMI inputs (two HDMI 2.1, two HDMI 2.0), USB 2.0 and 3.0 inputs, terrestrial and satellite ports, CI+ 1.4, Ethernet, Digital optical audio out, and a headphone out. The Wi-Fi is upgraded to the faster Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 (SBC streaming) also features.

HDR compatibility includes Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG, as well as certification for the IMAX Enhanced mode.

The 60W Onkyo 2.1 system supports Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual-X soundtracks, and with its eARC HDMI port, it can pass-through immersive audio for a sound system to handle.

Performance

• Can hit over 1000 nits
• Improved contrast and dimming
• Wrings a better tune from the Onkyo audio system

The C805K is a welcome step-up from the step down P745K. Firstly, HDR luminance is much improved, hitting 1299 nits on a 5% HDR window in Standard mode, though brightness hits a more regular rhythm of 972 nits after reaching its peak.

Secondly, the local dimming is better on this model with a massive allocation of 1344 dimming zones. There’s no flashing with the opening credits and logos of Blade Runner 2049, and black levels have more depth and substance with less bleeding in the black bars above and below content, although it’s a little noticeable towards the edges of the screen.

Thirdly, the overall image is sharper and more detailed with contrast much better reproduced due to the precision and depth fed to those black levels married with brighter highlights that have more impact.

White tones are brighter and the range of colours the QD Mini LED panel reveals is wider, though I wouldn’t necessarily call the performance overly punchy or vibrant. Some colour tones (yellows in particular) looked a little washed out rather than saturated in Blade Runner 2049.

The set’s motion processing is not too shabby either – slicker and smoother than the P745’s handling of motion, and the Soap Opera Effect didn’t look as forced with MEMC settings maxed out, though there’s blur in some faster, flowing shots. At 5/5 MEMC settings (blur/judder) there’s a better balance, though a little stutter is evident from time-to-time along with a slight softness to the image with some movement.

With Dunkirk and the scene where a ship is bombed at night, the 98C805 doesn’t offer the deepest blacks. There’s some noise evident, and Blade Runner 2049 there’s a bit of the Dirty Screen Effect manifesting itself, the mist that K walks through on Sapper’s farm was a little green from memory. Levels of clarity and detail felt much higher viewing Dunkirk’s IMAX scenes, especially when in the cockpit of the Spitfire planes.

Like the 98P745, the 98C805 is confident in handling SDR content. A Prime Video stream of No Time to Die is sharper, carrying more clarity and detail. White tones of the snowy home in the pre-credits sequence looked improved too – colours in general were brighter and punchier than the P745 could muster.

The TCL 98C805K could also wring a better tune from its sound system: cleaner, sharper, and clearer with the gunshots in No Time to Die, though it too struggled at communicating an effective sense of bass with some of the weightier effects (the shotgun against the Aston Martin’s window). There’s at least enough bass to feel the thud when Sapper’s body hits the floor after the fight with K in Blade Runner 2049.

Dialogue is also laced with more clarity – the voice Rami Malek employs for Safin doesn’t sound quite as hazy, and Dunkirk’s DTS soundtrack sounds appropriately loud when it needs to shift gears.