Philips 85PUS9000/12 85" VS TCL 98QM8K 98"

Both the Philips 85PUS9000/12 and the TCL 98QM8K share the same 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 10-bit color depth, and full HDR format support — covering HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG. At a glance, these two televisions appear nearly identical on paper, but the real differences lie in screen size, backlighting technology, and pixel density.

The most impactful hardware distinction is the TCL's use of Mini-LED backlighting, which the Philips lacks. Mini-LED allows for far more granular local dimming zones, translating to deeper blacks, higher peak brightness, and better contrast in HDR content — a meaningful real-world advantage for dark-room viewing. On the other hand, the Philips' smaller 85″ panel yields a noticeably higher pixel density of 52 ppi versus the TCL's 45 ppi at 97.5″. At typical living-room viewing distances this gap is unlikely to be visible, but up close the Philips will appear marginally sharper. The TCL also adds AMD FreeSync Premium Pro to its adaptive sync stack — a tier above the FreeSync Premium supported by both — which enables low-latency HDR gaming, a notable plus for console and PC gamers.

Overall, the TCL 98QM8K holds a display-technology edge thanks to its Mini-LED panel and broader FreeSync support, while the Philips offers a more pixel-dense image in a more manageable screen size. If sheer picture quality and immersive scale are the priority, the TCL's advantages are hard to ignore; if space constraints or sharper pixel structure matter more, the Philips is the sensible choice.

The wired connectivity lineup is essentially identical between the two sets — both offer 4x HDMI 2.1 ports, 2x USB, and a single RJ45 ethernet jack, meaning neither has an advantage when it comes to hooking up consoles, soundbars, or network cables. Wireless is similarly well-matched, with both supporting the same Wi-Fi 4/5 dual-band combination and Miracast screen mirroring.

The divergence comes in two smaller but noteworthy details. The TCL carries Bluetooth 5.4 versus the Philips' 5.2 — a newer revision that offers incremental improvements in connection stability and energy efficiency, which matters most when pairing wireless headphones or peripherals for extended use. More practically, the Philips includes a 3.5mm headphone jack that the TCL omits entirely. For users who want to privately listen via wired headphones without a separate Bluetooth transmitter or audio adapter, that omission on the TCL is a genuine inconvenience.

On balance, the Philips holds a slight edge here for everyday usability — the headphone jack is a tangible, practical feature that the TCL simply cannot replicate without additional hardware. The TCL's marginally newer Bluetooth version is a real but minor counterpoint that will go unnoticed by most users.

For the most part, these two televisions are acoustically well-matched. Both ship with stereo speakers, a built-in subwoofer, and a strong suite of audio format support — Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dolby Audio, Dolby Digital, and both HDMI ARC and eARC are present on each. The eARC port is particularly worth noting, as it enables lossless audio passthrough to a compatible soundbar or AV receiver, making it the preferred connection for a serious home theater setup.

The sole differentiator in this group is the TCL's support for Dolby Digital Plus, which the Philips lacks. DD+ is an enhanced version of Dolby Digital that supports higher bitrates and serves as the delivery format for Dolby Atmos content streamed over platforms like Netflix and Disney+. In practice, this means the TCL can decode a richer Atmos audio stream directly from streaming apps, whereas the Philips may downgrade that stream to standard Dolby Digital in certain scenarios.

The TCL 98QM8K has a narrow but meaningful audio edge — Dolby Digital Plus support directly impacts streaming audio quality in real-world daily use. It is not a dramatic gap, especially for users routing audio through an external soundbar via eARC, but for those relying on the TV's own processing and speakers, the TCL delivers a more complete Dolby ecosystem out of the box.

At first glance, the size difference between these two sets is expected — the TCL's larger panel naturally produces a wider and taller footprint. What is far more surprising is that despite the TCL being a substantially bigger television, both units weigh virtually the same at 56 kg. This has real implications for installation: neither set is easier to lift or wall-mount than the other, and two-person handling will be necessary regardless of which you choose.

Where the design specs diverge most sharply is depth. The Philips measures 96.2 mm thick while the TCL comes in at just 54.1 mm — nearly half as deep. That gap matters when wall-mounting, as a slimmer profile sits closer to the wall and looks more integrated in a room. It also explains why the TCL's total volume is actually lower than the Philips despite its larger screen area, a counterintuitive result driven entirely by the TCL's slimmer chassis engineering.

The TCL 98QM8K has the design edge here, specifically on profile depth. For wall-mount installations where a flush, low-profile look is a priority, the TCL's slimmer build is a meaningful advantage. On a stand, the difference is less critical, and the near-identical weights mean neither unit is more manageable to move or install.

Across the features category, these two televisions are remarkably well-aligned. Both offer a full smart TV platform with voice control, AirPlay, Google Assistant, Alexa, smartphone remote support, USB recording, and parental controls. Neither supports Apple HomeKit or Siri, and neither includes a rechargeable remote — so users on either side of this comparison will find an essentially identical smart feature set in daily use.

The only measurable difference in this entire group is standby power consumption: the Philips draws 0.3W in standby versus the TCL's 0.5W. Over years of continuous ownership, that gap does add up incrementally on an electricity bill, but the absolute figures are so small that it will be imperceptible in practice for the vast majority of users.

This group is effectively a tie. The Philips has a marginal efficiency advantage in standby, but it carries no real-world weight as a purchasing consideration. Buyers should look to the other spec groups — display, audio, and design — to differentiate these two sets, because features alone will not be the deciding factor.