In May, TCL formally announced its new soundbar lineup for 2024. At the very top sat the TCL Q85H, a 7.1.4-channel, 860-watt Dolby Atmos- and DTS:X-capable beast with a surprisingly reasonable price: $1,000. Today, you can buy the Q85H for the first time, and both Amazon and BestBuy have set their prices even lower at just $600.
Considering the Q85H’s specs, that’s a stunningly small amount to pay. In case you missed the original launch, let’s quickly recap.
As a Q Class soundbar, it has true multichannel sound thanks to multiples drivers in the main soundbar and a wireless subwoofer, plus separate wireless surround speakers. The main bar and the surrounds both have up-firing drivers to help deliver the overhead sounds we often associate with formats like Dolby Atmos.
It’s also compatible with DTS:X, a less commonly used object-based surround sound format that might be about to get a lot more popular thanks to the support of IMAX Enhanced by Disney+.
Unlike a lot of high-end soundbars that just have a single HDMI connection to the TV, the Q85H has an HDMI input, which means you can connect external devices like streaming media players, Blu-ray players, or game consoles, which make it handy for TVs that are already connected to a lot of devices.
The Q85H will passthrough 4K video with Dolby Vision, but some advanced HDMI 2.1 formats like variable refresh rate (VRR) or high frame rates like 120Hz are unfortunately absent, so gamers may want to take that into consideration before connecting their PlayStation 5 or Xbox to the soundbar’s input.
It has Wi-Fi ,but no advanced streaming options like Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, or Google Cast. It’s limited to Apple’s AirPlay 2 media streaming and it can be used to receive software updates. Still, you get a decent number of physical inputs. In addition to HDMI: optical, analog, and USB, plus Bluetooth streaming.
The Q85H comes with its own remote, but you can also operate it using the TCL Home app. The app contains a room correction feature, which is very rare on sound systemw at this price. Finally, the soundbar is also Roku TV Ready, which means you can control it from the on-screen menus of any Roku TV.
