Description
Some TVs just have it. They make everything look good—even hard stuff like 4K upscaling, weird viewing angles and daytime sports. Among the gifted their talents still shine bright. But when it’s Samsung Neo QLED 4K we’re talking about, there’s no need to be jealous. Because—thanks to its brilliant picture, dynamic audio and stellar design—it’ll make you look good, too. *50″ and 43″ have Neo Quantum HDR. **Utilizes AI-Based formulas. ***50″ and 43″ have Anti-Glare with Wide Viewing Angle. ****50″ and 43″ have Object Tracking Sound Lite. *****High speed internet connection, additional gaming service subscriptions and compatible controller required. ******Q-Series and S-Series soundbars sold separately. *******50″ and 43″ have Motion Xcelerator Turbo Pro.
AA –
Well, this TV is expensive but certainly worth every penny.
It boots up almost instantaneously and the colors are super sharp.
Picture is crystal clear and super bright.
The speakers supposedly put out 60W and the sound is better than any TV I have ever had, no sound bar needed.
I get OTA antenna programming which has always been a pain in the past switching back and forth.
Very easy on this TV and the OTA reception is again better than ever – it has the next-gen tuner, not sure if that is the reason why it comes in so well.
Delivery was much faster that advertised. Day I received the TV it went on sale for less than I paid but the seller matched the price immediately, great service.
I was debating between LG OLED and Samsung mini-LED technology.
Weighing the pros and cons the Samsung Qn90C was the better choice, MUCH brighter and better picture – your mileage may vary
Vikingstaff –
We liked it so much that when our oldest adult son was also looking for a new TV around the holidays, we highly recommended this one. He ended up buying one too on sale and loves it. We mainly stream and watch YouTube TV. He mainly games. For both households, it’s a great option.
Great picture quality! 4K as well as upscaling 1080p is excellent. When something is in 4K, it’s perfect! Has so many features. The smart-calibration system you can do with your phone is very worthwhile in dialing it in easily. It integrated very nicely with our in wall 5.2 speaker system and receiver via an optician cable. I could just go on and on about all the different features, as they are work as advertised.
And although many people complain about the Tizen smart styles, we don’t mind it. Like others, I think I prefer the layout of it on our 2 year older Q70 vs the newer layout on this 2023 QN90. That is totally a layout preference on our part. That said, the range of free stations if you will, and the versatility of the layout are very nice. And, once you get used to the layout, its works well.
Frankly the only drawback is that two years ago when we had to replace our cottage TV, I went with the Q70. I thought that was nice until I got this QN90, and now I wish I had spent a little more back in 2020 to get a Q90 back then at the other place. That said, I would wait for holiday sale pricing. The discount is worth waiting for.
StephenH137 –
Being one of the early “Smart” TV’s on the market, it’s limitations over the years became greater and greater, despite providing one of the best quality picture experiences ever, this includes, but is not limited to;
Apps – It came with only a handful of Apps installed, like YouTube, Internet Browsing, and Netflix. Sadly this particular TV does not allow you to download or add additional ones. Nor have said Apps updated for at least 5 years. Netflix opens and works once in a while, usually requiring multiple restarts to load.
Soundbar Issues – In late 2020 we added a 7.1 Nakamichi soundbar to our setup, after our previous Vizio 5.1 system we bought shortly after the TV died. However changing channels too quickly caused the station to lose sound, requiring a complete restart of the TV and Soundbar to allow sound to flow from the TV HDMI output.
Tried using Roku, but again, it never worked properly on this particular TV. It was tested however in two different Samsung models; the 2014 UN65H7150 65-Inch 1080p 240Hz, and a 2019 QN82Q90RAFXZA 82-inch 4K 120Hz and it worked fine on those two TVs.
So lets’ get into the actual review for this model listed in the headline….
PROS:
First Impressions: Lightweight; weighs less than my 46-inch, although it doesn’t have the gorilla glass my old one had. Thinner by about 3-5mm overall.
Remote; approx half the size of my 2019 Samsung model with dramatic improvements – C type rechargeable port versus requiring regular batteries, and even has a photo-electric eye to allow sunlight recharging system on the back of the remote. Disney+ and Amazon Prime single app buttons added.
Picture Quality; outstanding for obvious reasons; 1080p vs 4K; meaning twice as many lines of resolution. HDR which means greater color space, allowing for a wider range of colors to be displayed. Despite being only half of the frequency response of my previous set (120Hz vs 240Hz), I wanted to be sure this would not be a “noticeable” issue, so I tested this thoroughly out using movies from my personal collection that had heavy/intense action sequences, no ghosting or pixelation was detected.
Sound Quality; Have never used just the standard included back-facing speakers, so I cannot comment, always have used Soundbars.
Set-Up; Again this is such a breeze now compared to just a few short years ago, logging into Apps with QR codes on your phones versus typing everything out. From the time I had the unit on the wall and first powered up, until all software updates and Apps were added and logged into was less than 30 minutes. Added 6 different Apps that are used on daily basis in our household.
This is now the 2nd Samsung Q90 model I’ve purchased in the last 4 years, and I believe they are worth every single penny. But to be fair…..I must point out the negatives.
CONS:
Viewing Distance – to gain the full 4K experience at my current TV size (50″) I need to be no further than 6ft away, which means I need to be sitting towards the middle/end of my bed. Whereas with my old unit, thew viewing distance was nearly double, meaning I could be lying down normally and not notice a drop in picture quality.
4K vs 1080p; when watching standard definition programming (480p), my old 1080p TV wins hands down, the additional upscaling done by 4K TV’s makes to my eyes, the picture less enjoyable. It’s just something I’ve gotten used to over the years. It stuck out heavily when I bought my first 4K, watching cable channels broadcasting in 480p resolution. Since most shows/movies cable and streaming services are at least HD quality, it still upscales, where again watching on a 1080p gave a better experience in my opinion.
Sound; Let’s be honest, all HDTV’s have terrible or barely passing audio, since they are backward facing. You are better off buying an inexpensive forward facing soundbar versus using the included speakers only. If you can afford it (and have the space), buying a 5.1 or 7.1 soundbar system is the way to go.
All three of my household TV’s are Samsung models, although I have had quite a few Sony models in the past, reviews between brands when I am shopping for a replacement have been pushing me steadily towards Samsung.
Two terrible experiences have permanently soured me ever buying LG ever again.
Aquachigger –
Hate the remote control!
Ryan –
That all being said it is quite expensive. If I hadn’t just gotten a new job being paid $35 a hour and a 2k sign in bonus I wouldn’t have even considered it. Hell it almost cost the entirety of my sign on bonus