Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is a pipe dream with promise – even if TCL is struggling to believe in it

TCL held its annual Experts Meet Experts event this week, in which it gets into the nitty gritty of its AV portfolio.

There were Mini LED TVs aplenty, and even another chance to check out the upcoming C8K TV, which will be the flagship model for the UK this year.

Most of the TVs were repeated from TCL's official 2025 launch that I attended in Paris a couple of months ago, and anything new that was shown off was to be expected. Yes, there were plenty of 100-inch TVs and a healthy dose of OLED-bashing too.

Truthfully, the new TVs weren't the most appealing factor at the event. Instead, it was Dolby Atmos FlexConnect that caught my eye.

If you aren't familiar with FlexConnect, it's a system that will let you place speakers anywhere in your room (within reason, of course) while still delivering a convincing Dolby Atmos surround sound experience.

It requires some serious audio processing and a microphone-assisted calibration process, but in theory, it should deliver immersive audio without the fuss of setting up an AVR and running cables around your room.

Now, TCL isn't the first to deliver a wireless Dolby Atmos experience; Sony has been doing it for quite some time, for example. It launched the HT-A9 wireless speaker system in 2021 and released a successor, the Bravia Theatre Quad, last year.

The main draw of TCL's Z100 FlexConnect speakers is similar to that of the Sony systems mentioned: they can be placed almost anywhere and, in theory, should still perform to optimal standards.

At its Experts Meet Experts event, TCL demonstrated a setup of four speakers (the current maximum ) paired with its mid-range C6K Mini LED TV.

Each speaker features a 1.1.1 driver arrangement; one midrange driver, one bass driver and an upward-firing speaker for Dolby Atmos height effects. TCL says an optional subwoofer could be added in the future, but we'll get onto that later.

It says that each speaker will be sold separately with no bundle options, which differentiates it from the Sony system and instead draws comparisons to the Sonos Era 300.

TCL demonstrated its Z100 Flex Connect system with a range of content. I heard the popular Dolby Atmos demo clip Leaf, as well as a scene from Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House and a sequence from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Three of the speakers were placed at ear height, while the front left speaker was placed on the floor. It's also worth noting that each speaker was placed at a different distance from the seating position, though the swift setup process that recognises the location of each speaker with a quick chime that's picked up by the TV's internal microphone seemed to adjust for this well.

In practice, the Flex Connect system seems to do its job fairly well. If the goal is to achieve a bubble of sound around the user without having to worry about speaker placement, then it seems like TCL is on the right path. There was a definite directionality to the sound, and effects moved between channels fairly cohesively.

It's certainly not perfect, though. Much like Sony's Centre Sync feature or Samsung's Q Symphony features, TCL is combining these external speakers with the drivers built into the TV, allowing the TV to act as a centre channel of sorts.

This results in a bit of tonal dissonance between the different drivers, though TCL has smartly left the TV to handle dialogue while the other speakers take charge of the other sonic duties. Speaking of, the TV handles the audio processing, which means that, at the time of writing, FlexConnect will only be supported by TCL TVs.

TCL says that it hopes to allow the speakers to handle the processing in future iterations, but that's only if this speaker system takes off. It really didn't sugar coat the fact that, currently speaking, there would be some challenges in bringing this speaker system to the market.

While the Z100 speakers I saw were technically final production models, TCL claims that it is only exploring select markets, and there are no promises concerning a wide release, let alone a UK launch.

That feels like a shame, as TCL could be shooting FlexConnect down before it has a chance to prove its worth. There are very few rivals to the Sony Bravia Theatre Quads out there; Loewe recently announced its We. BOOST system, but that doesn't come with the freedom of placement that TCL's offering provides.

Admittedly, the limitation that FlexConnect could remain as a proprietary technology for TCL TVs could hurt its chances at success, but the company has conceptualised ways to get around this.

It hopes to move the audio processing to the speakers, rather than letting the TV handle it, which could allow it to gain wider compatibility with more brands and models in the future. Furthermore, it hopes to move from PCM to bitstream audio, as the current 10-channel limitation could be expanded with higher bandwidth capabilities.

Ultimately, TCL's FlexConnect system seems like it's in limbo at the time of writing. Will we see it? Won't we see it? We're not sure, but an early demo has us hoping for the former.

It appears as though Dolby has hopes to expand FlexConnect in the future, but we're not sure what that might look like, as other manufacturers could take it in a very different direction.

MORE:

Read our TCL C8K hands-on review

As well as our full TCL C855K review

And check out our picks for the best Dolby Atmos soundbars