Samsung Q900R (QE65Q900R) 8K QLED Review & Comments

Phil Hinton

Editor
Staff member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Messages
11,712
Reaction score
12,833
Points
6,438
Location
AVForums
Excellent review. Comprehensive and Insightful.

Credit to Samsung for:
1. Pushing the boundaries on hardware for 8k. Someone has to start the sail on this. It is inevitable.
2. One connect box. Others can learn from this design elegance.
3. Superb USER INTERFACE design. Competition for LG WEB OS.
4. AI Learning Engine. Not a new concept as Google already do this for Photos. Good to see this moving into TV content.
5. Screen Uniformity consistency.
6. Anti glare coating to minimise reflection.


Merry Xmas.
 
My experience with recent Samsung tvs is they are from a hardware perspective fantastic, look good back and front, one connect box is a winner, they feel solid if you have to move them around. Software though... dear lord...
 
Best hdr seen great stuff I say. Still some good old fight in the lcd tech. Hope sony comes up with something better at ces, as for LG it's a no go for LCD and can't see panasonic even trying again.. But yes credit to sammy great stuff yet again
 
Great review Phil. Im glad to see that the updated firmware has fixed some of the dimming issues i've noticed on mine aswell. Iv been checking daily to see if the update is available so hoping to see it soon. Iv been blown away too by the HDR performance on the 75 inch model. Gone through so many of my 4K blu rays again just purely because of how good HDR has looked on it. Its also good to see one of the biggest issues the Q9FN had with crushing shadow details has been solved on the Q900R. Did the new firmware make any change to the small bright highlights on dark backgrounds? John Archer mentioned that was something the new firmware was going to improve as they were a little dimmer than they were on the Q9FN.
I would also like to add my out of the box measurements are very similar to Phil's on both Q900R's iv owned so it looked like they have done very well when it comes to out of the box results.
 
No...but.....OLED....but.... brightness not important ......?!?....

OK now I've had a little fun this is a great review. I wish I could afford this TV because this "sounds" like the TV I've been looking for. I love OLED as a technology but I want deep blacks and bright highlights. No matter what they say, brightness does matter for HDR and this TV with black levels rivaling OLED is the best of both worlds.

As it stands at the moment, I love HDR so I love my bright TV. But if the Q9 had the same characteristics as the Q900 on a 4K screen? I would seriously consider breaking my budget for one.
 
Excellent review. It seems that Samsung has created a miracle. SD no so good, well no surprises there. What it is a surprise to me, it is the input lag. That is another of the miracles. I had the idea the input lag were not going to be good at all and it is not good but excellent.

Phil, I entirely agree with you. I do not know why the rest of the manufacturers have not implemented something similar to the one box.

I think that the TV is better that I expected it to be.
 
I'll wait for a true 8k TV with HDMI 2.1 ports with plenty of bandwidth to support this resolution before buying into this product category, OH and perhaps ONE major content provider to support 8k? How about that. Good luck to you all, god knows how this could score 9/10 for a product that literally isn't even ready. The blooming is atrocious too! AI Upscaling, lol, are you really buying this?
 
I'll wait for a true 8k TV with HDMI 2.1 ports with plenty of bandwidth to support this resolution before buying into this product category, OH and perhaps ONE major content provider to support 8k? How about that. Good luck to you all, god knows how this could score 9/10 for a product that literally isn't even ready. The blooming is atrocious too! AI Upscaling, lol, are you really buying this?

The One Connect box will be upgraded at the owners request once the SOC is available for HDMI 2.1 compatibility. Did you read the review? It is a true 8K panel and in my opinion, after spending time testing it on its own and with actual comparisons with an LG C8 and Q9FN, I think it is well worth its 9/10 score.
Of course, you are free to disagree and provide your own supporting evidence to the contrary if you have also done the same amount of testing. Or are you just trolling an LCD TV review thread?

Let's not turn this into another OLED vs. LED LCD debate as it really is getting boring now. Both technologies have their strengths and weaknesses and there is no such thing as one perfect TV that will suit everyone.
 
I've not mentioned the word OLED once in my posts on this thread. I just cannot fathom how even with your criticisms in your own review you've somehow given the tv a 9/10, the TV is not complete, it has plenty of issues, yet 9/10. Puh-lease.

I don't agree with your review score. I don't see the logic of it at all in fact.

EDIT: "We understand that owners will get the upgrade option once it is available, but this will be at the owner's request and Samsung won’t automatically swap them over."

Do you really think this'll be free? Do you really think customers should have to call and request this for their incomplete tv? We've all seen how Samsung has let people down in the past in regards to the one connect box. I wouldn't go praising that oversized heater anytime soon myself.
 
Let's not turn this into another OLED vs. LED LCD debate as it really is getting boring now. Both technologies have their strengths and weaknesses and there is no such thing as one perfect TV that will suit everyone.
Just having a little fun. But perhaps also a little dig at the OLED is perfection nonsense I see regularly. OLED is awesome with perfect blacks and great contrast ratio showing very nice HDR pictures. But it is not HDR awesome and "may" never be because of the power constraints.
 
I've not mentioned the word OLED once in my posts on this thread. I just cannot fathom how even with your criticisms in your own review you've somehow given the tv a 9/10, the TV is not complete, it has plenty of issues, yet 9/10. Puh-lease.

I don't agree with your review score. I don't see the logic of it at all in fact.

EDIT: "We understand that owners will get the upgrade option once it is available, but this will be at the owner's request and Samsung won’t automatically swap them over."

Do you really think this'll be free? Do you really think customers should have to call and request this for their incomplete tv? We've all seen how Samsung has let people down in the past in regards to the one connect box. I wouldn't go praising that oversized heater anytime soon myself.
The OLED bit probably applies to my comments ;) BTW I don't agree in general with your statements but I thought I should clarify the OLED part.
 
Every tv has flaws and even with scores of 10/10 there's always questions. As for 8k the AI upscaling does a fine job, brings better detail.
 
The One Connect box will be upgraded at the owners request once the SOC is available for HDMI 2.1 compatibility.

I‘d be careful regarding statements made by Samsung... they said that an evolution kit for the 2015 Flagship TVs (JS-Models in the EU) would come out > never happened, than they said that the 2016 Flagship TVs (KS-Models in the EU) would receive a HDR10+ Update after release > never happened so i wouldn‘t rely on statements made by Samsung anymore that features‘ll be added „later“ when buying a TV that starts at 5000$...
 
I don't agree with your review score. I don't see the logic of it at all in fact.

EDIT: "We understand that owners will get the upgrade option once it is available, but this will be at the owner's request and Samsung won’t automatically swap them over."

Do you really think this'll be free?

That's fine, my review and reasoning are there for all to see and people can make up their own minds. I try to be as balanced and fair as I can be in my assessments which I take a great deal of time to put together for the benefit of members. I have no brand bias and don't tell people to buy a TV on my recommendation, I also state you should use my reviews as just one part of your decision-making process.
You seem to have some issues with Samsung as a company, is this something you have experienced yourself first hand, or read on the internet?
 
I‘d be careful regarding statements made by Samsung... they said that an evolution kit for the 2015 Flagship TVs (JS-Models in the EU) would come out > never happened, than they said that the 2016 Flagship TVs (KS-Models in the EU) would receive a HDR10+ Update after release > never happened so i wouldn‘t rely on statements made by Samsung anymore that features‘ll be added „later“ when buying a TV that starts at 5000$...
Yep can't argue there, big let down with HDR10+ plus update for 2016 models, as for the one connect box evolution kit i think samsung has decided to launch the box again
 
Sounds very promising. If the price drops I might consider swapping my OLED for this.
 
Great review Phil. Im glad to see that the updated firmware has fixed some of the dimming issues i've noticed on mine aswell. Iv been checking daily to see if the update is available so hoping to see it soon. Iv been blown away too by the HDR performance on the 75 inch model. Gone through so many of my 4K blu rays again just purely because of how good HDR has looked on it. Its also good to see one of the biggest issues the Q9FN had with crushing shadow details has been solved on the Q900R. Did the new firmware make any change to the small bright highlights on dark backgrounds? John Archer mentioned that was something the new firmware was going to improve as they were a little dimmer than they were on the Q9FN.
I would also like to add my out of the box measurements are very similar to Phil's on both Q900R's iv owned so it looked like they have done very well when it comes to out of the box results.

I thought you'd be reply number 1. Disappointed :D
 
I'll wait for a true 8k TV with HDMI 2.1 ports with plenty of bandwidth to support this resolution before buying into this product category, OH and perhaps ONE major content provider to support 8k? How about that. Good luck to you all, god knows how this could score 9/10 for a product that literally isn't even ready. The blooming is atrocious too! AI Upscaling, lol, are you really buying this?


What blooming? Do you own this set? There is virtually zero blooming with this set. Iv seen it a couple of times in the nearly 2 months iv had it. Its one of if not the best LED TV iv ever seen when it comes to blooming control.
 
Thanks for the review Phil, i noticed the viewing angles were poor on this tv, lets hope that samsung bring out an 8K curved tv next year with better viewing angles. :)
 
What blooming? Do you own this set? There is virtually zero blooming with this set. Iv seen it a couple of times in the nearly 2 months iv had it. Its one of if not the best LED TV iv ever seen when it comes to blooming control.
I heard you had a spare?
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom