{"id":2432,"date":"2026-04-08T06:45:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovatenews.site\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/my-google-tv-turns-on-when-i-walk-in-the-room-and-im-still-not-sure-how-to-feel\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T06:45:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:45:41","slug":"my-google-tv-turns-on-when-i-walk-in-the-room-and-im-still-not-sure-how-to-feel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovatenews.site\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/my-google-tv-turns-on-when-i-walk-in-the-room-and-im-still-not-sure-how-to-feel\/","title":{"rendered":"My Google TV turns on when I walk in the room, and I\u2019m still not sure how to feel\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The topic My Google TV turns on when I walk in the room, and I\u2019m still not sure how to feel\u2026<\/strong> is currently the subject of lively discussion \u2014 readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.<\/p>\n

This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies\u2019 decisions and competitors\u2019 reactions can quickly change the picture.<\/p>\n

Smart TVs have been relatively static in terms of big new features for a while. Screen quality keeps getting better, software keeps learning new tricks, but it\u2019s pretty uncommon to get a new hardware feature. That\u2019s why I was pretty excited to check out TCL\u2019s QM9K series and, after a few months using this flagship-tier Google TV set, its unique presence-sensing tech that turns on the TV whenever I walk in the room is still a mix of really cool, and perhaps a little pointless.<\/p>\n

The TCL QM9K is, at its core, a flagship-level TV set. Running on top of Google TV, the set offers sizes ranging from 65-98 inches. I\u2019ve been using the smallest option, that 65-inch sweet spot that most people use, for the past three months.<\/p>\n

Using TCL\u2019s stellar QD-MiniLED setup, the panel itself is of very high quality. It\u2019s remarkably bright \u2013 up to 6,500 nits in HDR \u2013 and vivid, with dark blacks that continue to stave off my desire to try out an OLED TV. Over three months of everything from network TV to vivid movies, I\u2019ve been very pleased with the overall quality. I did swap over to the \u2014 vivid mode rather than the default energy saver, which instantly boosts the colors and brightness so you can really enjoy the full potential of your new TV. Viewing angles are a highlight here, as you don\u2019t really lose any color vibrance or brightness when viewing at an off-angle. In a living room like mine where someone might be sitting a good ways off to the side of the \u201cideal\u201d viewing window, this is very much appreciated.<\/p>\n

The hardware of the TV is also fairly thoughtful, if standard. It measures less than 2-inches thick and has thin bezels across each side, while offering a central base if you\u2019re putting it down on a table surface. I opted for wall-mounting, and was pleased to see that the VESA mount here is in a \u201cnormal\u201d position \u2013 in other words, you\u2019re unlikely to put this TV up on an existing mount and find that it doesn\u2019t fit in the same place as a prior TV, as was the case with a recent Hisense model I tested. The back is relatively flat, too, which is nice to mounting bias lighting strips (I\u2019m using an option from Philips Hue).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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For ports and plugs, you\u2019ve got four HDMI inputs \u2013 one with Arc, and \u2014 with full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth \u2013 as well as Ethernet, optical audio, a pair of USB ports, and a 3.5mm aux port. I do wish there was some USB-C here for easily plugging in a laptop or tablet for screen mirroring, but hopefully that\u2019ll become more standard in time.<\/p>\n

The remote is pretty standard, too, with a partially-metal finish that feels premium, and a layout that\u2019s intuitive. You\u2019d think every TV would get the latter correct at this point, but you\u2019d be surprised how commonly a button will be in a place that you just can\u2019t get your head around, so I appreciate that TCL\u2019s layout is easy to just pick up and use without a second thought.<\/p>\n

As you\u2019d hope from a flagship-tier TV, the onboard Google TV experience is fast and smooth, and roughly the same as you\u2019d get from a Google TV Streamer. TCL preloads a few apps that are mostly ignorable (though all work well for their respective jobs), and also has its own Settings menu. TCL gets my kudos for the Settings overlay, which is speedy and well organized. I\u2019ve never spent more than a second or two looking for an option to change, and it hands off to Google TV\u2019s own Settings when appropriate.<\/p>\n

TCL QM9K was also, notably, the first Google TV product to get Gemini when it launched last year. That\u2019s since expanded to the Google TV Streamer, but it was never a \u201creason\u201d to buy this TV in the first place \u2013 Gemini is replacing Assistant everywhere, and alll Google TV devices will make the switch eventually.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the big story here is presence sensing, a Google TV feature that\u2019s exclusive to the TCL QM9K series, and one that I was pretty curious about.<\/p>\n

On the front of the TCL QM9K is a radar-like presence sensor that can detect a human in the room with it. The idea is to have a TV that you can interact with ambiently. Walk into the room and, with no buttons pressed, the TV activates to show the typical Google TV screensaver with your photos. Walk closer \u2013 say, to the couch \u2013 and the screen lights up shows a page with some potentially useful info such as the time, weather, and news. If no one is in the room, the whole thing shuts off completely. And you can turn this all off at night, too.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a cool idea, but one that I\u2019m still a little unconvinced by a few months into using it.<\/p>\n

The good I\u2019ve found is in automating on\/off. Having the TV automatically turn on and turn off based on who\u2019s in the room, no remote needed, is really nice. What really makes this useful, though, is that it\u2019s not an \u201call or nothing\u201d setup. Because this works like radar, you can set the exact distance at which the TV reacts. I have it set to turn on to the screensaver if someone is in the room, but it only enables widgets if they walk closer \u2013 specifically within 7ft, which is the distance in which you\u2019re actually in the living room rather than just passing by.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But this has really only been a novelty, rather than all that useful.<\/p>\n

The page of widgets can\u2019t be adjusted \u2013 it only ever shows those three widgets, and frankly I\u2019m not sure I always want news headlines on display, especially when I can\u2019t control the topic. You also can\u2019t do anything beyond activating your screensaver and this widget page. I\u2019d love if the TV activated fully when I walk up to the couch, ready to be used by the time I sit down, but I still need to grab the remote to do that. I was pleased to find out, though, that this experience isn\u2019t broken by using things other than the built-in Google TV software. Running an HDMI device like a Google TV Streamer or a console doesn\u2019t have any effect on the presence-sensing features.<\/p>\n

The idea of using presence sensing in your TV seems like it has a lot of potential but, after using it for a few months, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve settled on the right idea just yet. Certainly not enough to hinge a buying decision on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

TCL hasn\u2019t announced any other new TVs with presence-sensing hardware yet, and I suspect there\u2019s a good chance this won\u2019t return for a while. It just lacks the utility, at least for now.<\/p>\n

The TCL QM9K series is available starting at $1,999, but is regularly on sale \u2013 currently $1,599 for the 65-inch model at Best Buy.<\/p>\n