TCL's 65-inch QM9K is $999.99 on Amazon, about $200 under its typical price, but Amazon marks it "Temporarily out of stock" with no estimated delivery date, as read on Amazon's US listing at 4:38 PM ET Oct 13. Amazon says you won't be charged until it ships. Keepa tracked the same $999.99 earlier in the afternoon.

The listing shows "-17%" and "Typical price: $1,198.00", a saving of $198.01. It carries a "Lowest price in 30 days" badge, which is Amazon's label, not our finding. Amazon.com is the shipper and seller, with a 30-day refund or replacement window.

How good is $999.99?

Keepa's chart starts in early February and shows the current price near its lowest plotted level. The listing sat near $1,200 for most of July to mid-September, then went to $1,600 until about Oct 4 and $1,400 into mid-October. It had one brief $1,000 dip around Aug 9. We read those dates off the chart by eye.

Amazon's $1,198.00 typical price and Keepa's roughly $1,200 agree, so the saving is about $200. PC Guide reported the same price the same day. The chart is under a year long, so we do not call it a lowest-ever price.

What TCL says it is

  • Panel: TCL's 65-inch spec table lists a QD-Mini LED 4K panel, a native 144Hz refresh rate and VRR up to 144Hz. TCL's copy describes an anti-reflective screen.
  • Brightness: TCL's table says "HDR 6500 Nits" and its copy says "up to HDR6500"; Amazon's listing also says "up to HDR6500". That is series-level marketing, and no measured 65-inch brightness is established.
  • Dimming: TCL lists "up to LD6000 Precise Dimming", and Amazon's listing claims "up to" 6,000 dimming zones for the series. Neither gives a zone count for the 65-inch alone.
  • Gaming: TCL lists FreeSync Premium Pro, ALLM and four HDMI inputs, one with eARC. It does not state the HDMI version on that page, and Amazon's listing text does not either.
  • Smart features: TCL says Google Gemini is built in, and a mmWave presence sensor can wake the screen to a screensaver or widgets and turn it off when you leave.

What it gives up

In our judgment, which is untested because we have not tried this TV, an OLED would give better black levels in a dark room, while this TCL is built for bright rooms. Amazon's listing shows 4.5 stars from 27 ratings, a small sample. It also lists the series' 85-inch at $1,999.99 and the 98-inch at $3,899.99.

Buy now or wait?

At the recorded check, Amazon accepted orders for TCL's 65-inch QM9K at $999.99 but gave no estimated delivery date. A buyer could order at $999.99 and wait, uncharged until it ships. We do not know when that will be or whether the price will change before then. If you need a TV by a set date, this listing gives you nothing to plan around.

TCL's own store lists the 65-inch at $1,599.99, roughly matching Keepa's New-price line from mid-September to early October. We have no source for a Black Friday price. Amazon also lists $60 off with Amazon Visa approval, a card offer.

Our judgment, not a fact from the listing: ordering now costs nothing until it ships, at $999.99 for a TV that sat near $1,200, then $1,400 to $1,600 for a month, by our eye on Keepa's chart. Order if you can wait for it. We have not read Amazon's cancellation terms for unshipped orders, so check them first. Skip it if you need a TV by a date.

We also wrote up TCL's 98-inch F8D.