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viewed on the larger Q80T models, this makes perfect sense. There’s also enhanced connected device discovery, making it easier to jump between inputs.
Also new this season is Mobile Multi View with Casting, which enables two screens (the main TV image and your smartphone) to be watched simultaneously.
All key Catch-up TV channels are supported, along with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Apple TV and YouTube (to name but a few).
Samsung’s Ambient mode also makes a welcome return, allowing the QLED screen to serve as a gallery for JPEGs or artworks, or double as a news ticker or clock.
HD/SDR performance
Normally, it’s 4K HDR performance that steals all the headlines in a TV review. But that’s not entirely the case here. Thanks to the set’s UHD Quantum image processor, which has trickled down from Samsung’s 8K flagships, and some new AI smarts, the Q80T’s performance with HD SDR content is a real showstopper.
The TV is able to interpolate subtle elements of detail into HD and lower resolution content, creating a compelling UHD-style image. The processor works out what is native detail, and then through comparison with a texture database, creates more of the same.
Not only is this talent a godsend in these bit-reduced times, but it also breathes new life (actually interpolates detail) into any non-UHD disc collection.
SDR picture modes comprise Standard, Dynamic, Natural and Movie. Standard and Natural work with most content types, with the latter having the edge in brighter viewing rooms, where its tendency to crush black level detail in order to enhance contrast is less obvious.
4K/HDR performance
Although it’s tempting to compare the Q80T with 2019’s Q80R, this model is actually an update on last year’s Q70R. (Confused? That’s probably the idea). The Q80T shares the same number of backlight zones as the Q70R (around 50). This puts it some way behind FALD flagships, but it’s still good enough to offer more HDR precision when compared to edge-lit screens, all while maintaining decent screen uniformity.
For the most part, you won’t notice errant screen blooming, except on dark scenes with bright highlights. More often than not, the giveaway is black letterbox bars with movies.
When something bright moves into the space just above or below the picture area, you’ll see some light pollution – but the effect is relatively fleeting.
The set’s overall HDR performance is strong, too. We measured peak brightness just under 900 cd/m (aka nits), using a 10 percent HDR window.
This range covers most commercially produced HDR content, and presents bright highlights that add sparkle and depth to images.
Sound and gaming
While the Q80T looks fairly conservative, it actually boasts a rather radical sound system. Rather than just relying on downward firing stereo drivers, Samsung’s designers have added a second pair at the top left and right of the display.
This enables the screen to produce a soundstage that’s both high and wide. We’re not talking Dolby Atmos immersion – although if you want to bitstream that out over HDMI to a waiting soundbar or home cinema system, you can – but we are talking about an impressive wall of noise.
The Samsung Q80T gets just about everything it sets out to do right. Unusually for such a premium set, it’s not specifically tailored for the home cinema crowd, courting gamers and mainstream viewers instead – but this is probably a smart move, not least because the lack of Dolby Vision won’t stick in the craw of that designated audience.
Samsung’s premium-priced mid-range QLED barely puts a pedestal wrong, offering vibrant HDR, a forward facing feature set and HD upscaling to die for.