Samsung QE65QN900A Review: An 8K spectacle
Verdict
The QN900A is an outstanding TV, a peachy audition of what 8K can bring to the Telly feel fifty-fifty without much 8K content available. With a wide range of gaming features, an interesting take on smarts and some terrific upscaling, the QE65QN900A is i of the best Telly experiences to be had in 2021.
Pros
- Irrepressible moving picture quality
- Well-conceived smart features
- Speedy gaming response
- Superb upscaling of lower quality sources
- Premium construction
Cons
- Expensive
- Speakers susceptible to bass distortion
- No Dolby Vision
Availability
- UK RRP: £4999
- United states of america RRP: $4999
- Europe RRP: €5999
- Canada RRP: CA$7499
- Australia RRP: AU$12049
Key Features
- Quantum Matrix Applied science Pro New Mini LED backlight
- Samsung Neo Quantum Processor 8K Upscales content to almost 8K quality
- HDR10+ Adaptive Optimises screen brightness for vivid and dark rooms with supported content
Introduction
Every twelvemonth is the year 8K is meant to invade living rooms worldwide. For a multifariousness of reasons 2020 saw that prophecy pushed back, merely 2021 looks similar it will see 8K on the front human foot.
And heading the line is Samsung. The Southward Korean electronics firm has aggressively pushed the format, driving prices down to more agreeable if not always affordable levels.
As 8K withal suffers from a lack of content, the emphasis has turned to bringing lower quality sources up to par with Samsung's latest upscaling organization. And with Mini LED assisted brightness, the QE65QN900A TV might exist the perfect style to audition 8K'southward capabilities.
Pattern
- Excellent build quality
- Slim depth to screen
Information technology's a repeated refrain where Samsung is concerned, but its TVs all look very familiar. However, the level of construction for the QN900A is as reliable as ever.
The introduction of the Mini LED backlight lends the QN900A a slim frame. The 65-inch model I tested has a screen depth of xv.2mm sans stand, thinner than either Samsung's QN94A 4K TV and LG's G1 OLED. Mini LED scales down the size of the LED in the backlight, reducing the depth and enabling more to be allocated. This has profound effects not just on the design but the ready's brightness and contrast.
Perforated audio-visual holes in the top and sides disperse audio, while the Infinity Screen offers edge-to-edge viewing with no distracting bezel. The rear of the Television set is uniformly flat, and along with the detachable One Connect module, the QN900A is perfect for wall-mounting.
The One Connect box contains all the connections and feeds the TV with power, audio and video. It's been redesigned to slot into the stand, reducing the TV'southward footprint. Information technology's a very smart idea and I wished Samsung had brought information technology to more models.
Interface
- Total house for digital assistants
- Television receiver Plus every bit alternative Freeview Play
- Battery-less remote
Samsung's onto version 6.0 TV of its Eden-based Tizen OS. Information technology'southward the same reliably functional endeavour that'due south like shooting fish in a barrel to navigate merely may lack personality for some.
Freeview Play is not nowadays, but all the Uk catch-up and on-demand apps are. Most of the major apps are hither, likewise, with the likes of Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV, BT Sport, Tidal, Spotify and At present. Prime Video, Disney+ and Netflix support Atmos.
The alternative to Freeview Play is Samsung's Boob tube Plus service. Like Freeview it doesn't require a subscription, with an EPG (Electronic Plan Guide) that lists VEVO, CNN, Bloomberg TV+ and a channel called Comedy (yes, really), as well every bit the Baywatch channel that's an endless loop of all 9 series.
Multi View splits the screen into 4 windows. With Sport and Fettle presets, users can cast from a smartphone and watch what'south on TV at the same time. You lot can adhere a USB camera or sync your camera's telephone to the TV too, though not all apps back up Multi View. For digital assistants there's Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Samsung'southward own Bixby to choose from.
The QN900A ships with two remotes: a standard one and a smart version that'due south the better of the two. Turn information technology over and there's a solar panel that uses ambience low-cal to accuse it – a clever little innovation that requires no batteries.
Features
- Class-leading latency
- Four HDMI two.i inputs
The Samsung QN900A is up to date with most of the latest gaming tech in Auto Low Latency Style, Variable Refresh Charge per unit, High Frame Rate (120Hz), equally well as AMD's FreeSync Premium Pro for reduced visual tearing and stuttering. Samsung TVs are as well uniform with Nvidia K-Sync but not certified.
While LG has hoovered up gaming features left and correct, Samsung still has the edge with latency. At 4K I measured latency at 10.1ms and at 120Hz you can look that to be even lower.
Other gaming functions include Game Bar, which gives gamers quick access to settings at the lesser of the screen. Game Motion Plus improves paradigm quality at a hit to latency, while HGiG HDR brings a more than consistent HDR performance across games. The Super UltraWide Game View mode that stretches PC games to a 21:9 or 32:nine aspect ratio is included, too.
Connections on the external One Connect box weigh in at four HDMI 2.1, with HDMI 3 the eARC port for sending high-quality tracks such as Dolby Atmos to external sound systems. Ethernet, optical, a CI+ 1.iv connection, satellite, and aerial inputs, plus three USB ii.0 ports make up the rest. Wirelessly at that place'due south Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi, the latter enables DLNA, AirPlay 2 and Chromecast.
Picture show quality
- Brilliantly brilliant and colourful images
- Excellent black depth with niggling blooming
- Backlight notwithstanding flummoxed by bright objects on black screens
- Impressive upscaling, peculiarly with 4K sources
HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ are on the card, with Samsung's 8K TVs featuring HDR10+ in its adaptive course, as well, which finesses the TV's brightness in bright and dark rooms.
HDR10+ is available in Prime Video'south catalogue just information technology is nowhere near as widespread as Dolby Vision, which Samsung continues to lock out. Samsung would argue its TVs are bright plenty to not need Dolby'due south tone mapping and that HDR10+ is more than considerate of a panel's characteristics, but it would be nice to accept Dolby onboard.
The QN900A offers a suite of picture show modes in Dynamic, Standard, Natural, Pic and Filmmaker. With some processing features turned off, Dynamic offered the highest effulgence (2600 nits) merely just briefly and colours were also garish in look. Standard is good for everyday viewing, while Natural works for sports. Movie and Filmmaker are almost identical, the latter limiting the affect of the QE65QN900A's processing to preserve the creative intent of a film or Television set serial.
The addition of Mini LED to the 4K QLED range worked wonders, and with this 8K model, the brightness in combination with the Breakthrough Dot console is even more bright to behold. The colours in The Pursuit of Love (iPlayer, HLG) are varied and natural in advent, the Christmas dinner scene in the first episode looks absolutely dynamite.
The brightness of the candle and Christmas tree lights is precise and intense, which makes them stand out quite beautifully in the dimly lit room, with very footling blooming axiomatic head-on. Switch the lights off or motion to the side and there'southward blooming only it's not too distracting. Whites are depicted with a searing intensity, the shirt of Uncle Matthew's shirt contrasting fabulously with the deep blackness of his dinner jacket. It'southward a delicious looking prototype.
The 8K models avowal the Neo Breakthrough Processor 8K that uses 16 neural network models to upscale images. As Samsung explains information technology, the sixteen networks are xvi cooks in a kitchen, each with their own speciality equally opposed to i or two cooks working on a range of recipes. Focusing on one affair brings specificity.
The effect is effulgence, sharpness and dissimilarity are fed with more information, and watching standard definition content may not initially 'wow', until you realise the TV is guessing virtually 30 meg pixels. With that in listen, the results are mightily impressive.
Flog Information technology! on BBC One is predictably soft – specially in faces – but more detail and texture is wrung out of article of clothing than expected, the level of item visible in surfaces is superb. Also excelling is the range of colours, with complexions conveyed naturally. You can see the variation in Bradley Walsh's patterned jacket on The Hunt, revealing the fabulous level of fine detail the QE65QN900A can summon.
Since 8K content is still sparse, give the QN900A 4K and it's a terrific spectacle. The opening IMAX shot scene of Wonder Woman 1984 is gorgeous: the sun-dappled sands of Themyscira, the azure blueish of the body of water and greens of a forest stun in terms of their tone and hue. The red, yellow, and blue of the Wonder Woman costume are vibrant, marker Diana apart from the mere mortals effectually her. Wonder Adult female 1984'due south setting is full of brilliant colours, and the QN900A laps it up with enthusiasm.
Staggering describes the level of detail the QN900A conjures. The increased resolution and pixels produce sharpness and clarity beyond 4K TVs. Detail extracted from faces, costumes and product design is astounding, with shut-ups revealing every facial detail. As an advert for 8K's benefits I am completely sold.
The precision of the Quantum Matrix Pro backlight likewise impresses, the 1344 dimming zones help the QN900A reach OLED levels of blackness depth and contrast. Brilliant objects next to black borders are brilliant with no blooming or drain. Dimming is rarely noticeable; the only visible change came when watching daytime Television receiver.
Having tried every disc I could think of to outwit Samsung's dimming algorithm, it turns out opening credit titles with large fonts cause lots of blooming (the opening titles of Predator) and lots of small-scale bright objects on a black screen can confuse, like when Joe heads to The Great Beyond in Disney's Soul. Blooming also occurs when condition bars or playback controls are brought up on screen and at wider angles.
With YouTube the but place to easily detect 8K content, watching the Ultimate Wildlife Collection and the jump in resolution affords an exceptional detail levels. Whether information technology'due south the fur of a deer, the wrinkly hide of an elephant or the scales of a lizard, you feel as if they're right there in front end of you.
Motion handling is the weakest aspect of the QN900A'southward performance. With Auto on in the Picture Clarity settings, the opening of WW1984 has an overly glossy and processed await, smearing evident equally the photographic camera tracks a young Diana through the trees, every bit well equally panning shots that feature distracting stutter. The 'Custom' option is better; less forceful and more natural. Or you could simply forgo motion processing altogether and plough information technology off.
Sound quality
- Crisp delivery of dialogue
- Spacious soundstage
- Bass causes distortion with TV speakers
- Flat and not the well-nigh dynamic
It'southward a familiar refrain and I'll get it out of the style early. The QE65QN900A could practice with a soundbar.
The Idiot box's internal speakers are fine for daytime viewing or streaming that doesn't crave whizz-bang sonics, only it's a bit tepid dynamically at lower levels and raising the volume introduces bass baloney. Fifty-fifty watching the news at higher volume levels can issue in some buzzing, and in the kinetic action scenes of WW1984 the outcome tin can distract.
With 80 watts fed to the OTS Pro half dozen speaker organization (two upfiring, two in the sides, 2 in the bottom with woofers around the dorsum), the Samsung QN900A creates a soundstage that'due south wider and taller than its frame. It'south not Dolby Atmos but produces like results.
Playing World State of war II film Fury and background audio furnishings in the distance – airplanes on bombing runs – can be heard above the TV when Brad Pitt'southward Wardaddy talks to Jason Issacs's beleaguered captain. Most TVs would place the effects in the 'back' of the scene to create depth only Samsung's arroyo feels more than natural.
The Adaptive Audio+ mode is said to tune the Tv's sound performance in accordance with its surroundings, simply I didn't hear much difference. The Amplify fashion adds more scale, item and excitement, but the soundstage is all the same flat. Dialogue is crisply delivered, simply the QN900A lacks the heft of an external sound organisation. The scene that reintroduces Diana in 1984 with a Pontiac musculus car heaving down the street lacks, well, muscle; described with all the thrust of an electrical car.
Partner the QN900A with Samsung's Q-Series soundbars and activate the Q-Symphony mode and information technology's a much ameliorate experience. With bass handled past the subwoofer, the TV places effects with unerring accuracy on screen. It is flatter than having the soundbar have care of everything, and tonally the Television'south speakers are crisper, but the effect is similar a cinema where sounds cascade off the screen. Samsung is onto something with Q-Symphony.
Latest deals
Should y'all purchase information technology?
For its exceptional picture quality This 8K produces dazzlingly brilliant and colourful images. It is an outstanding endeavor
Information technology's expensive At £5k yous'll demand deep pockets for the QN900A. If 8K is going to push forrad, that price needs come downwards
Terminal Thoughts
Correct now, there'due south niggling 8K content for the QN900A to take advantage of, merely 4K content has never looked equally good as it does on this Boob tube. This Boob tube's motion-picture show quality is, at times, jaw droppingly adept.
The sound quality is probably equally practiced, and an area where some extra spend on a soundbar would ameliorate matters. The smart features are well conceived and differ from the usual, while the overall characteristic set up is about as thorough as you can get aside from the lack of Dolby Vision, an omission that continues to confound.
If y'all're not sure almost the 8K revolution, the QN900A offers the most convincing case for its presence. Information technology is outstanding and one of Samsung's all-time TVs.
How we test
We test every televisions nosotros review thoroughly over an extended flow of time. We employ manufacture standard tests to compare features properly. Nosotros'll ever tell you what we find. We never, ever, have money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Tested with broadcast content (Hard disk drive/SD), video streams and demo discs
Tested with existent earth use
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FAQs
Does Samsung Tizen have a Peloton app?
In that location'due south no app for Peloton. Samsung has other fitness options, which include its Health app.
What A.I. features do the QN900A have?
In its Intelligent Settings mode, there's Adaptive Moving picture, Adaptive Audio+, Active Voice Amplifier and Adaptive Volume.
Does the Samsung QE65QN900A back up Dolby Vision?
No information technology does not. It supports HDR10+ instead.
Trusted Reviews test data
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Superlative effulgence (nits) 10%
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Jargon buster
QLED
QLED stands for Breakthrough-dot Light Emitting Diode. It's a display technology that uses modest particles (called Quantum Dots) fabricated up of slightly different sizes that produce different wavelengths (colours) when low-cal is shone through them. This filter helps to emit a brighter and wider gamut of colours than a conventional LED Television is capable of.
8K TV
8K refers to the resolution of a TV'due south display, which equates to the number of horizontal and vertical pixels information technology can brandish. With 8K, there's a total resolution of 7680 pixels horizontally and 4320 pixels vertically – four times that of 4K (3840 x 2160) and 16 times that of Total Hd (1920 ten 1080). That'southward a spring from the 8.iii million of pixels in 4K to around 33 million pixels.
Upscaling
Upscaling refers to the procedure whereby a Goggle box receives an image lower than its native resolution and fills in the missing information to create an image. Upscaling finer guesses which pixels become where to make up the new image. The better the upscaler, the amend the resulting paradigm and with the advent of bogus intelligence, it has helped to make for more sophisticated guesses.
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