The US smartphone market just got a fresh update, and it’s a mixed bag depending on where you sit. According to the latest Canalys report for Q2 2025, overall shipments ticked up by a modest 1% year-over-year, reaching 27.1 million units. But the real story is in the brand-by-brand breakdown, and it’s a rollercoaster.

Apple, long the dominant force in the US, saw iPhone shipments dip by 11%, falling to 13.3 million units. That’s a steep reversal from the previous quarter, where Apple had posted a 25% growth surge. Despite the drop, Apple still holds the top spot with 49% market share. But the winds are shifting.

Samsung, on the other hand, had a breakout quarter. The Korean giant grew its shipments by a massive 38%, up to 8.3 million units, tightening its grip on second place with a 31% share. Motorola continues its quiet expansion, registering a 2% bump to 3.2 million units. Google also edged up with a 13% growth in Pixel shipments, now holding a 3% slice of the pie.

Then there’s TCL.

TCL shipped 700,000 smartphones in the US in Q2 2025, down from 1 million units in the same quarter last year, a sharp 23% decline. That figure puts the brand neck and neck with Google, and just above the “Others” category, which also slid 34%. It’s not a great quarter for TCL in the US, at least in raw numbers. But it’s also not entirely unexpected.

The decline comes amid a significant shift in global manufacturing. US imports of China-assembled smartphones dropped from 61% in Q2 2024 to just 25% this quarter, according to Canalys. Meanwhile, phones assembled in India shot up 240% year-over-year, now making up 44% of US smartphone imports. For TCL, whose phones are primarily assembled in China, this is a supply chain challenge as much as a market one.

What happens next will depend on how fast TCL adapts to the geopolitical and logistical realities shaping the mobile world. It’s worth noting that the company has shown resilience in other markets and categories, including its growing presence in TVs and display tech. But for now, its US smartphone business is facing stiff headwinds.

In related news, Samsung and Sony are stepping into the RGB Mini LED game—but they’re already lagging behind. Also, learn how to fine-tune your TCL TV for the best picture quality.

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Samsung and Sony are gearing up to spotlight their latest RGB Mini LED technologies at IFA 2025 in Germany this September. Samsung plans to unveil a massive 115-inch RGB Micro LED TV, while Sony will showcase its professional-grade RGB Mini LED display system, focusing on high color accuracy and image depth. Their involvement signals a broader industry shift toward RGB-based backlighting, and it’s also a nod to China’s growing influence in the display tech space.

RGB Mini LED is emerging as a major advancement in display technology. Unlike traditional Mini LED or quantum dot-based systems, it uses separate red, green, and blue backlight sources. This setup allows for precise color control alongside typical brightness and spatial modulation. The result is better color accuracy, a wider color gamut reaching up to 97 percent of BT.2020, brighter visuals, wider viewing angles, and improved energy efficiency, making it a promising option for the next generation of premium displays.

Chinese brands, especially Hisense, are ahead of the curve. Hisense was the first to mass-produce RGB Mini LED TVs. It developed the “Xinxin H7,” the world’s first AI image chip designed for RGB light color co-control. Paired with a custom algorithm, the chip enables 3×26-bit precision and manages 15,680 color control zones, providing much finer adjustments to hue, saturation, and brightness than conventional solutions.

Hisense has also tackled some of the tougher engineering challenges around RGB LED chip development, boosting purity, efficiency, and durability. These improvements not only enable reliable large-scale production but also form a self-sufficient RGB Mini LED ecosystem within China.

Analysts believe that Samsung and Sony joining the scene will accelerate R&D and help reduce manufacturing costs. Their presence could also lead to deeper collaborations with Chinese suppliers, expanding the global supply chain around RGB Mini LED.

In related news, don’t miss our recent guide on calibrating your TCL TV for optimal picture quality.

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TCL TVs sold in the U.S., from budget 4-Series models to high-end QLED and Mini LED sets, include a wide range of picture settings. With a few careful adjustments, users can unlock much better image quality across all content types.

This guide outlines how to set up your TCL TV for Movies, Gaming, Live TV and Streaming, and Sports. It covers both SDR and HDR (including Dolby Vision) content and explains platform differences between Roku TV and Google TV.

Before You Start: Turn Off Eco and Adaptive Settings

Before adjusting any picture controls, users should disable automatic features that interfere with consistency. On Google TV models, go to Settings > System > Power & Energy and turn Energy Saver off. Also, turn off Adaptive Brightness, Contrast, or any Intelligent Picture options in the settings. On Roku TVs, set TV Brightness to Normal under the general settings menu. These steps ensure the TV will not override manual picture settings.

Movies and Cinematic Content

To get a film-accurate image in a dark room, start with the Movie picture mode. This preset reduces backlight intensity, warms the color temperature, and disables motion smoothing. On Roku TVs, press the star (*) button during playback to access the picture menu and select Movie. On Google TV, go to Settings > Picture > Picture Mode and choose Movie.

Adjust the backlight based on the lighting in your room. For a dim home theater, a 40–50% backlight level works well. In a brighter room, raise it to around 70–80%. Set contrast to 90 or higher for strong highlights. Use the Warm color temperature setting for more natural skin tones. Set Sharpness to 0 to avoid artificial outlines and turn off any motion smoothing options like Action Smoothing or Motion Clarity.

For HDR10 content, keep the Movie mode active, set Backlight and Contrast to 100, and turn Local Dimming or Local Contrast to High. On Dolby Vision content, choose Dolby Vision Dark for night viewing or Dolby Vision Bright in a well-lit room. TCL locks most settings in Dolby Vision mode, but users can still adjust brightness based on viewing conditions.

Gaming (Console and PC)

TCL TVs include a Game Mode that reduces input lag by disabling unnecessary processing. On Roku TVs, access this under Advanced Picture Settings. On Google TVs, either switch to the Game picture mode or ensure Game Mode or ALLM is enabled when a console is connected.

Keep contrast high and backlight at maximum for HDR gaming. Use Warm color temperature for accurate colors. Set Sharpness to 0 and turn off noise reduction. In HDR games, verify that Local Dimming is still set to High if available. Users should also calibrate HDR using their console’s built-in utility.

For Xbox and PC users with supported TCL models, enable VRR and connect through HDMI 2.1 ports. TCL automatically detects variable refresh signals when Game Mode is active. If the TV shows brightness fluctuations during VRR gameplay, consider setting Local Dimming to Low to stabilize the image.

PC users should rename the HDMI input to “PC” or “Computer” to force 4:4:4 chroma and better text clarity. Set the GPU to output Full Range RGB and ensure the TV’s black level is not clipping shadow detail.

Live TV and Streaming

For general TV watching, use the Standard picture mode. This profile balances brightness, contrast, and color for a wide range of content. Raise the backlight to suit your room lighting. On Roku TVs, select a brighter preset if you are watching during the day. On Google TVs, push the Brightness slider to around 70–100, depending on ambient light.

Keep contrast high and adjust color temperature to Normal or Warm if faces appear too cool. Moderate sharpness, around 10 to 20 on a 0–100 scale, helps with cable news or older YouTube content. Use Low or Auto noise reduction if the signal is low-quality. For motion, enable Low smoothing if you want smoother camera pans, or leave it off for a more natural feel.

In HDR or Dolby Vision streaming, use HDR Bright or Dolby Vision Bright modes for daytime viewing. These modes raise midtones to prevent images from appearing too dim in well-lit rooms. For evening or dark-room viewing, switch to HDR Dark or Dolby Vision Dark for a more accurate tone curve.

Sports Viewing

TCL’s Sports mode is tuned for fast motion and bright environments. Activate this mode during live games to boost clarity and motion smoothness. It increases backlight, contrast, and sharpness and often sets the color temperature to Cool.

Set Backlight and Contrast to 100 to maintain visibility in bright rooms. Sports mode typically enables aggressive motion interpolation by default. On Google TVs, set Blur Reduction and Judder Reduction sliders to high values. On Roku TVs, use Action Smoothing = High. This ensures players and fast-moving objects remain visible during pans.

Use a higher color saturation level (around 55–60) to make team jerseys and field colors look more vibrant. Avoid pushing this too far, or faces may look unnatural. Leave Clear Motion or LED Motion off to avoid flickering and loss of brightness.

For HDR sports, use HDR Bright or a bright Sports HDR mode if available. Keep Local Dimming on High to maintain image depth.

Final Thoughts

Each TCL model may have slight differences in menu structure, but the core settings remain consistent. Disable adaptive features, choose a mode based on the content type, and fine-tune color and brightness to suit your environment. Calibrating each HDMI input separately ensures every source looks its best, whether you are watching a film, gaming online, or streaming daytime TV.

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In related news, we recently broke down how TCL’s inkjet-printed OLED technology works and explored what makes the TCL Z100 soundbar stand out.