Every year, IFA is where the big consumer electronics companies come to show off. And this year, TCL arrived with a mission. You might know them for their TVs, but their messaging now is crystal clear: they’re no longer just wanting to sell you a screen. They want to be a fixture in every room of your home, and they’ve got the tech to back it up.
The Screen Machine
TCL’s bread and butter is, and has always been, the display. They’ve become masters at making them bigger and brighter, and this year’s showstopper, the C8K Premium QD Mini LED TV, was a perfect example. It’s a massive, razor-thin screen with almost no bezel, and the picture is just breathtaking. You could argue it’s less a TV and more a window into another world.
The company has been perfecting its QD Mini LED technology since 2019, and it’s now a genuine rival to OLED. You get all the deep, rich colors and inky blacks, but with the added perks of higher brightness and better energy efficiency. It’s the ideal tech for the giant screens TCL keeps rolling out.
And for the people who think one screen is never enough, there was the 57R94 Dual 4K Monitor. It’s an ultrawide beast that’s basically two 4K screens fused together, designed for anyone who needs to juggle a dozen tasks at once or get completely lost in a game.
The Smart Home Offensive
But the real story here wasn’t about TVs at all—it was about TCL’s full-scale invasion of the smart home. They’re no longer just slapping an app on a gadget and calling it a day. Their new FreshIN 3.0 air conditioner, for instance, does more than just cool your home; it actively cleans the air and uses AI to optimize for comfort and power. The new TCL refrigerator promises to keep food fresher, and the SuperDrum washer dryer combo uses Wi-Fi and automatic detergent dosing to make laundry day just a little bit less of a chore.
And then came the biggest surprise: TCL AiMe, a tiny, modular AI companion robot. This isn’t some clunky machine out of a sci-fi movie. It’s a small, expressive little helper designed to manage your smart devices and interact with you in a natural way. Think of it as a friendlier, more mobile version of the smart speaker on your counter.
The Bigger Picture
TCL also showcased its partnership with the 2026 Winter Games, using mascots and a “Team TCL” vibe to highlight its global ambitions. They also unveiled TCL NXTHOME™, a new lifestyle concept that brings their technology together with high-end furniture from brands like Bang & Olufsen. It’s a clear signal that TCL wants to be more than just a tech company—it wants to be a design force, too.
IFA 2025 made it clear that TCL is thinking bigger than just TVs. It’s a bold, ambitious play to be a one-stop-shop for everything in your home that plugs into a wall. If they can pull it off, TCL might just go from being “the TV brand you’ve never heard of” in South Africa at least, to a genuine contender for the future of connected living.
