Colors also seemed crisp, especially in the TV’s Calibrated mode, where I would keep it in all viewing environments except gaming. Lots of televisions doesn’t always look ideal right out of the box, but Vizio did a great job.
Looks like a TV
Physically, there is not much to say. The Quantum M-Series has slim dark bezels and is only a few inches thick. Like most modern Vizio models, it has sleek pedestal legs that protrude from the edge of the TV, which means you’ll want to mount it on the wall or make sure your TV console is sturdy enough.
I actually like the fact that the M series doesn’t seem as thin as some other modern TVs. In my opinion, the only time you notice how thick a TV is is when you mount it. I like that I can have a good grip on the sides of the M series.
The remote is just as useful, a rounded candy bar with easy shortcuts to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Redbox, and two other services you’ll probably never use. Like many remotes, it has more buttons than it needs. Ideally, of the four HDMI ports on the TV, one is an eARC HDMI port, where I plugged a Vizio Elevate soundbar. This makes the TV controller instantly able to adjust the volume, so you don’t need a remote control for your audio system.
Vizio’s Smartcast interface has grown into a very good ecosystem in recent years, largely thanks to extensive integration with Google Chromecast and Apple Airplay. Anything that you can’t find in the Vizio App Store, you can almost always stream to the TV from an app or browser using these systems.
I couldn’t find an app for HBO Max even though I wanted to try watching By Zak Snyder Justice League Cut so recently i streamed it from my phone in high quality. Now that Netflix has converted me, I plan to do the same with this year’s Formula 1 season via the Formula 1 TV app.
TCL uses Year OS, which gives it a head start in the race for TV operating systems. Roku is just as easy to stream and has better (and more extensive) apps and voice integration. The Chromecast built-in offers some flexibility, although you still want a Roku, Google TV, or one of our favorite TV streaming devices at one point.
Affordable luxury
There are very few TVs as beautiful as the M-Series Quantum that are worth the extra money. You can spend a few hundred dollars more a TCL 6 series. This allows you to backlight more areas with Micro LED technology. Or you can spend a thousand dollars on one OLED vision, in which each pixel is its own backlight.
Those more sophisticated Micro LED or OLED TVs will look a little better, but you might not notice it enough to justify the cost. Unless you’re buying 4K Blu-Rays, owning a brand new game console, or planning to build a real home theater, you might just want to get a Vizio like this.