Samsung QN85A Neo QLED review

The Samsung QN85A is great for mixed use. It performs very well in bright environments due to its high brightness and superb glare management.

The Samsung QN85A Neo QLED TV is a premium smart TV that is sure to make a splash. The Samsung QN85A is one of the company’s first mini-LED TVs and is a resounding success. This Neo QLED TV offers blacks that put OLEDs to shame and lights without excessive brightness. The sleek design and comprehensive features make it an impressive QLED TV that is sure to impress, while a host of smart features and a new eco-friendly remote control complete the premium experience.

The Samsung QN85A Neo QLED 4K TV is a premium smart TV that is sure to turn heads. The Samsung Smart TV features a 4K QLED display with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and wide viewing angles. There is no noticeable glare on the screen. Colors are rich, accurate and detailed. Thanks to the nearly bezel-less display, it offers a full-screen view. The TV is equipped with Quantum Matrix technology, which offers precise light control and ensures that no details are lost even in the brightest or darkest scenes when watching a movie. There is an adaptive picture feature that can automatically adjust brightness and contrast depending on the content and environment. The sound is loud, clear and crisp.

Samsung has included an object tracking feature that provides a healthy 3D sound experience. There is also an active voice amplifier that emphasizes the voice and reproduces dialogs clearly. When paired with a soundbar, the TV’s audio is synchronized for a surround sound experience. The TV is a gamer’s delight. Thanks to the low-latency HDR gaming feature and improvements to up to 4K 120 Hz, the experience is smooth and lag-free. The Smart TV interface is clear and user-friendly. The menus are precise and clear.

Design

Are you expecting some kind of flight of fancy when it comes to Samsung’s design, a tearing up of the rulebook? Hopefully not, because if you do, you’ll be disappointed. The Samsung QE55QN85A, at least in terms of design, is absolutely compliant with the rules. It’s a large screen surrounded by a small bezel, and it sits on a single (and rather hefty) stand that leaves plenty of room below the screen for a soundbar. Put it next to any number of other new TVs and you’ll barely recognize it.

That’s not a bad thing, though, because a TV’s design isn’t meant to draw attention to itself. The 55-inch TV is a decent size, with just a short silver frame surrounding the screen’s large surface area. Take another look at that last figure – the Samsung QN85A measures a constant 27 mm in depth, making it a much better wall-hanging device than most new TVs. LG’s Gallery G1 OLED TV, at 23mm, may be the only premium screen slimmer than this Samsung alternative – and at £1,999 for a 55-inch model, it’s also quite a bit more expensive.

Display

It’s always amazing how quickly remarkable new technologies catch on. Take, for example, mini-LED TVs, which have only been introduced to the Samsung, LG and Philips TV ranges. But already we’ve gone from being amazed at how LCD-based screen technology can deliver such deep and detailed blacks and such amazingly well-controlled backlighting to simply expecting it. In summary, the QN85A does not disappoint. Although the QN85A doesn’t reach the peak brightness of its more expensive sibling, the QN95A, it’s bright enough. And the whites it produces are just as nuanced, detailed and clean as the black equivalent – with the result that contrasts are great.

The same movie shows the QN85A’s wide and convincing color palette. Of course, you can spend a lot of time tweaking the QN85A’s color reproduction – but everyone else can switch to the intelligent adaptive picture mode and enjoy the vibrancy and seemingly limitless variation in color reproduction that results. Again, the screen’s processor has ample opportunity to examine skin tone and texture, and it’s always expressive and convincing.

Features

As a Samsung TV, the QNA90A Neo QLED TV connects to your Samsung SmartThings smart home system. SmartThings is one of the best smart home hubs and provides a control dashboard for all of the best Smart Home Devices compatible with the Samsung platform. From the 5th generation Ecobee smart thermostat to Samsung’s own Family Hub refrigerators, you can use your TV to quickly make or adjust settings. If you’re not on Samsung’s smart home network, you can set up Alexa or Google Assistant (but not both at the same time) for voice commands on your TV.

Using the remote’s microphone, you can ask both voice assistants basic questions or control one of the best Alexa-Compatible Devices or the best Google Home-compatible devices. Samsung has also teamed up with Logitech to make the Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV compatible with webcams. With one of the Best Webcams, you can use your device to video chat with up to 12 other people via Google Duo. This could be useful for those who still work from home or are trying to keep in touch with their relatives, but we think most people are tired of video calls these days.

Connectivity

The QN85A TV has an extremely low input lag, but it is significantly higher outside of gaming mode. To get low input lag in PC mode, you need to enable gaming mode. Outside of gaming mode, the latency when watching 4K 60HZ content is 68.6 ms. The average gaming latency at 4K 60Hz 4: 4: 4 is 9.7 ms. The lowest value in the same mode is achieved when playing 4K 120 Hz. In this case, the input lag is 5.3 ms.

The QN90A is the crème de la crème. Although setting up 65-inch TVs is a two-person job, this unit is easier to maneuver than others. Gone are the days of Samsung’s one-connect input box, as the company has managed to pack all the parts of the device into a super-slim, 1-inch-thin chassis, with no protruding parts to distract from the action.

Audio Quality

The Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV features 60-watt speakers that work in conjunction with Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound (OTS) Plus technology to deliver a loud and immersive listening experience. OTS is said to match the sound of the device to the content on the screen using the built-in up and down speakers. Then, when the bullets ricochet off Wonder Woman’s armor as she tries to stop Maxwell Lord in the White House, it actually sounds like the bullets hit the ground around my own feet.

OTS almost makes up for the lack of native Dolby Atmos. However, it does output Atoms-formatted content for a Dolby Atoms speaker. We usually tend to use an external speaker anyway, so you’ll find recommendations in our list of the Best sandbars. Beyond OTS, Samsung says you should experience sound tailored to your environment, regardless of where your TV is placed. Artificial intelligence is also said to improve on-screen voices when the device senses loud ambient noise.

Performance

The QN90A’s image is powered by an array of tiny light cells with mini-LEDs that promise dramatic improvements in contrast and backlight control. The mini-LEDs work with the 4K Neo Quantum Processor to deliver an image optimized for 4K. Even as agents try to escape the growing frontier, you can see their uniforms and equipment seamlessly (and hilariously) transform into clown costumes and colorful tents. Only when a curious vision reaches the edge of the hexagon and glows in the dark fields does it seem to blossom a bit, as does the occasional vignetting in the corners.

The QN90A’s HDR capabilities are excellent, but they shine a spotlight on a quirk of Samsung TVs. While the high-dynamic-range performance is great, the HDR formats are a bit limited. Samsung does not support the best HDR format, Dolby Vision, and uses its own HDR10+ format instead. The HDR capabilities of the QN90A are excellent, but they also highlight a quirk of Samsung TVs. While the High Dynamic Range performance is great, the HDR formats are a bit limited. Samsung does not support the best HDR format, Dolby Vision, and uses the in-house HDR10+ format instead.

Final Words

The Samsung QN85A is a solid TV that looks great from wide viewing angles and is very bright thanks to the mini-LED inside. This is ideal if you watch a lot of high-quality content, as 4K HDR movies look just great on the QN85A. However, upscaling content is not the biggest strength of this Samsung TV. So if you plan on watching a lot of older movies and TV shows, you’d better look for another device. Unfortunately, there’s no Dolby Vision here either, so you won’t be able to get the most out of a premium Netflix subscription.

However, we like that you can control the device in different ways. With your voice, an app, or one of the TWO remote controls. Plus, the Samsung QN85A looks fantastic, with a combination of wide viewing angles and a nice slim profile that makes it a prime candidate for wall mounting. Granted, it may not sound quite as good as it looks – very few TVs do – but you can always complement it with a good soundbar.

Amy Hinckley
Amy Hinckley
The Dell Inspiron 15 that her father purchased from QVC sparked the beginning of her interest in technology. At Bollyinside, Amy Hinckley is in charge of content editing and reviewing products. Amy's interests outside of working include going for bike rides, playing video games, and watching football when she's not at her laptop.

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The Samsung QN85A is a solid TV that looks good from wide viewing angles and is very bright thanks to the mini-LED inside. It is ideal if you watch a lot of high-quality content: movies in 4K HDR look great on the QN85A.Samsung QN85A Neo QLED review