The first speaker that works with Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, the TCL Z100, has finally been unveiled – though as with most announcements in these days of regularly changing tariffs, there’s no exact price or release date yet.
Announced back in 2023, the idea with Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is that you don’t need to think about where you’re placing the speakers to get home theater sound – you don’t even need to have pairs of them placed symmetrically.
Put one next to the TV, one on the shelf to your right, one directly behind you – whatever’s convenient for your space is fine. The system will then map the placement acoustically and will adjust the speaker output to give the best version of Dolby Atmos-powered surround sound that it can from those positions.
You can have up to four of the TCL Z100 speakers in one configuration, and each speaker is a 1.1.1 audio configuration on its own (a forward-facing driver, a bass driver, and an upfiring driver) – though when combined, they can produce something akin to virtual 7.1.2 audio, according to TCL. That includes a compatible TV providing two channels, including the center channel.
Speaking of which, the speakers must be connected to a suitable Dolby Atmos FlexConnect hub, which can handle the mapping and processing. Right now, that means getting one of TCL’s 2025 mini-LED TVs.
TCL and Dolby have an exclusivity agreement for the launch of the FlexConnect, so don’t expect to see more speakers or compatibility with other TVs in the short term, but it should happen eventually, and it should also be possible for one of the best soundbars to be the FlexConnect hub in the future.
They also support playing music over Bluetooth – two can work in a stereo pair to play music from your phone.
As you might expect for a Dolby-specific product, there’s no built-in DTS support. However, the TCL TVs that are necessary to make the system work all support DTS:X, and the idea is that they’ll decode the DTS sound (including DTS:X), process it in 7.1.2 channels, and then convert it for the virtual surround system for your configuration, so you should get something close to full-fat DTS.
Although there’s no price, we’ve been told by TCL’s European arm to expect a price approaching €300 – and usually Euro and US Dollar prices convert very closely, though the final amount will depend on the latest tariffs. UK prices will be close to the Euro price.
What’s so great about Dolby Atmos FlexConnect?
I’ve seen this technology in action a few times since its announcement in 2023, and it’s very impressive – though the speakers I saw it demoed with were more elaborate than the TCL Z100 have turned out to be.
@techradar
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Those had side-firing drivers as well as forward and up-firing drivers, potentially giving them more control over the steering of virtual sound. It was amazing in my demos how two speakers – one at the front to the right of the TV, and one behind and to the left of me – could create a broadly immersive sound with steering of sounds in basically all directions.
Whether the Z100 can do this as well remains to be seen, and either way, the system isn’t going to match just having speakers in all the right places – but that’s just not possible for everyone.
I think there’s real value in having speakers that can be placed not just imperfectly, but in totally odd places, and still get something more immersive than TV sound alone from them.
The one other thing missing from this announcement, though, is bass. I’ve been told that the FlexConnect system can support a subwoofer, but there’s no sign of one here – hopefully that will come before too long.
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