Google’s Gemini is now on TCL’s QM7L television, where it can answer questions with illustrated slideshows and turn a still image into a short video. Pocket-lint’s hands-on review suggests the generative features are more compelling than using voice commands to navigate the TV itself.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
The review describes Gemini on TCL’s 75-inch QM7L, a Google TV model. The reviewer says TCL offered to send the set for the article and that it was among the first televisions to receive Gemini. The review reports that Gemini can handle voice commands such as adjusting the volume, and can produce a visual slideshow in response to a question about the moon and tides. It also describes generating a penguin image and animating it into a short office-walking video.
There is a less magical side to the remote. According to the reviewer, asking Gemini by voice to open settings takes the viewer out of the programme and into the full settings menu, while the remote’s own settings controls are quicker for making adjustments. The TV’s built-in microphones can be switched off with a hardware control; pressing the remote’s microphone button is another way to speak to it.
Why it matters
This is a concrete example of generative AI arriving in the living room as something to look at, not only something to ask for information. An illustrated answer or a quickly made animation could suit family learning or a game night. Whether that is a reason to buy a television is another matter; the reviewer says the novelty may not be used often.
The distinction between the generative features and basic TV controls is useful. In the reviewer’s experience, Gemini’s visual creations made a stronger impression than voice navigation, where a physical remote remained the more direct option.
Our read
The interesting bit is not that a television has acquired another voice assistant. It is that the screen can turn a question or prompt into a visual experience, with enough immediacy to make AI feel at home rather than bolted on. But a penguin in a suit is a demonstration, not a buying guide. The review is one person’s experience with one model, and its own verdict is that the generative features are fun for specific uses rather than an everyday essential.
What to watch
- Whether Gemini’s visual features reach more Google TV models.
- Whether Google adds useful ways to control playback and settings without leaving a programme.
- How viewers can manage Gemini and microphone privacy settings on their own televisions.
Discussion spark: Would illustrated answers and on-demand animations make AI genuinely useful on a family TV, or would you mostly reach for the remote and forget they were there?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (10 October 2026, 12:00 UTC)
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