samsung qe55q9fn
Time to move over OLED, because QLED is coming on through
Is QLED truly that big of a deal? We pull up a chair in front of Samsung’s new telly and discover first-hand what all the fuss is about
The Samsung Q9FN is hands-down the most convincing argument yet for QLED, Samsung’s Quantum Dot-powered LED TV tech. Just when you thought OLED had annexed the premium TV market, this note-perfect flatscreen comes along and retunes the entire picture.
Looking good
Available in 55- (our review unit) 65- and 75-inch models, Samsung’s flagship set offers extreme levels of brightness with a convincing black level and no shortage of nuance. Key to the phenomenal performance of the Q9FN is its full-array backlight. Unlike Samsung’s 2017 models, which were edge-lit, the Q9FN utilises LEDs directly behind the screen. These can be dimmed in specific areas when things get dark on-screen. This enables the TV to handle extreme HDR and to manage black levels better than an edge-lit set.
Build quality is high: the set has a premium feel, helped by the fact that all cable spaghetti, including the power cord, has been relegated to a large One Connect box. Only a single, not-quite transparent, cable links the two. The supplied length is 5m, which will suit most, although you can buy a longer, 15m version. Two remotes are supplied: one standard IR controller, plus a nicely finished metallic Bluetooth offering voice control.
The specification of the Q9FN’s panel is suitably top notch. It supports 10-bit wide colour, plus HDR formats
including HDR10, HLG (Hybrid Log-gamma) and the new HDR10+ format. There’s no Dolby Vision, though, which is a bit of a shame.
Samsung’s latest Tizen Smart OS is clean and intuitive, accessed via low horizontal bars. One offers curated content thumbnails, the other is a scrolling list of apps and services. Samsung doesn’t offer Freeview Play, which means there’s no roll-back programme guide. It does, however, have Catch-up players as well as Samsung’s own TV Plus curated content. Stalwarts such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Now TV and YouTube are also on board.
Picture performance is top notch. HD is pristine, while 4K content bristles with detail. Refreshingly, the Q9FN doesn’t try to over-complicate the experience. There are just four image presets - Dynamic, Standard, Natural and Movie - and at least three are good for most content (Movie mode makes fine 4K detail less easy to spot and is difficult to recommend). Colour vibrancy is high, with skin tones across those presets. Basically, once you turn off the Eco solutions it’s ready for exceptional viewing.
The set’s HDR performance is barnstorming. At peak the set can hit near 1,400 nits of brightness – way beyond what OLED can dream of. It’s also comfortably beyond the dynamic range of most HDR movies and TV shows - the BBC sets a guideline of 1,000 nits for its HDR content - which means this screen can display the full range natively, rather than having to fit it into a more limited range. If it’s in the video, the Q9FN will deliver it.
It also gives a truly brilliant HDR viewing experience in a room that has average ambient light, making it a good buy for brighter or sunlightflooded rooms. HDR+ Mode is available to lift SDR material, though this isn’t particularly convincing.
Paint it black
Black level performance is amazing for an LED LCD. It’s not as inky black as OLED, but the deficit really isn’t that pronounced. In low light, black widescreen bars really do appear ebony. The backlight dimming is precise, with only occasional halos or blooming around bright objects. Screen uniformity is excellent too. The Q9FN has a good many more LED clusters than the rival Sony ZD9, which uses a similar dimming technique – this is better at it.
The set’s motion handling is mostly fine. In its Auto Motion Plus mode it does a solid job of retaining detail, however this comes with a fair amount of motion artefacts. A better option is the Custom mode, with Blur set at 10 and Judder at no more than 4.
One additional benefit of the full array backlight is that it’s afforded Samsung some room to incorporate a reasonably effective sound system that offers both volume and heft. The sound presentation is rather monophonic though, and we still recommend upgrading to a separate sound system at some point.