Some TV manufacturers are now offering more models within their full TV lineups, when it comes to features and price with small intervals, and it can confuse things for potential TV buyers. Naturally, if an entry-level TV has the same feature list as a step-up model, it is a better deal, right? Well, this is not always the case.
I recently tested two 2025 UK Mini LED TVs from TCL, the manufacturers of the best TV manufacturers. Model entry-level C6K and mid-range C7K, who earned 4 out of 5 stars in my TCL C7K review. When I first saw the 2025 C-series mini-LED, the C7K had a sweet place in terms of value, which distributed the best pictures for the price and the features.
As I had these two TVs available, I decided to compare them to side-by-side, to see if the additional cost of C7K was worth it.
For a price reference, the 55-inch C6K costs £ 599, and the 55-inch C7K costs £ 849. I compared 55 inch C6K with 65-inch C7K for my test, however. If you are in America, the nearest direct model TCL QM6K vs TCL QM7K.
Glow and color
Both these TVs use mini-LED backlights, which means that you are gaining high brightness than a standard LED TV. But, significantly, there are often bright gap between entry-level and mid-range mini-LED models.
When I measured the sparkle of both TV (on 10% white HDR window in filmmaker mode), C6K killed 705 NITs, while C7K hit 1,790 NITs – a significant difference. But how did it translate to the real world?
The first area of the note was color, where the best mini-LED TV is often Excel. Watching a 4k blue-ray WickedWith both TVs Dolby Vision Dark (which I was found to be a more accurate picture than the dolby vision IQ), the advantage of the additional brightness of C7K was obvious.
In Wizard and I Scene, green skin green, pink flowers, blue walls and even beige walls looked too much puncture and more vibrant on C7K. C6K did not feel bad, but it did not even have a similar level definition which I expected to see in a film WickedWith more color depth with C7K.
Even in the climax of the scene where the alphaba moves in a wheat ground, the yellow of the ground and the sun was more impressive on the C7K. This showed that the shine of the peak, which usually has more premium mini-LED TV than the entry-level model, is an important factor to distribute more vivid colors.
Opposite and black levels
TV with a backlight, such as mini-LED models, use local diming to increase the opposite between light on screen and dark areas. There are more local dimming zones in the form of a TV, more accurately it is shown to be shown and can slow down and illuminate the sections of the screen.
The 55-inch C6K has 180 local dimming zones compared to 1,008 local dimming zones of 65 inch C7K. Screen -shaped TVs have an impact on the number of local dimming zones, but the 55 -inch model of C7K still has 720 zones, so there may be a significant difference in the same size model.
Watching a 4k blue-ray NospharatuAgain in the dolby vision dark, the view of the extreme opposite, such as a black room such as a torch, chimney, or moon, looked rich and more accurate on the C7K. The light areas were bright and black tones were deep, creating a much more dynamic and textured image.
I was the same BetmanBetter contrast with dark surroundings on C7K with flashbals of cameras and wall-lamps. Even small details, such as a strong contrast, showed strong contrast, with a greater difference between light, light and dark tones reflected from the cape of Batman.
A high number of C7K local dimming zones also allow it to show better shade expansion. In NospharatuAs Hutler moves towards the car to count the orallock at night, C7K showed his face more in the dark, while C6K crushed the expansion of that level.
Black and white – and brown colors
Things became even more interesting when watching black and white films. Watching black and white scenes OppenheimerC7K still showed more contrast between deep blacks and white highlights, and there was a wide range of gray tones in the middle.
However, I noted that the C6K had better screen uniformity (the ability to display the same color in larger areas of the screen than the C6K. This was an issue that I had noted as an issue in my C7K review, and it preferred C6K while looking at black and white content.
conclusion
To do yoga, Side-by-side proved that it pays to pay more than these two TVs. Yes, C6K may have an upper hand with black and white images, but C7K also excluded it from color, opposite, black level and detail, softened in a side-by-side test with C6K.
It is not to say that C6K is a bad TV. For its price, it did a concrete job with every film, which I threw on it, and it was a completely fine TV to watch casual. But this is an example, where, given the difference of small £ 250 in the price of a 55 -inch model, it is worth investing in more premium options.
