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At last, the first Neo QLED 4K TV. This new tech produces truly incredible results
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The QN95A range is Samsung’s flagship 4K TV for 2021, and it’s both priced and specified accordingly. Most intriguing is the ‘Neo QLED’ designation, which indicates the QN95A is a Mini-LED design, with all of the gains in black levels, contrast and backlighting control this new technology promises. This isn’t the only Mini-LED TV we’ll see this year (we’re expecting them to make a huge splash), but Samsung is first to get it into our hands. It sets one hell of a benchmark, and only makes us more excited about the other Mini-LED models still to come.
But with the best OLED TVs getting more affordable all the time, can Mini-LED (in general) and the Samsung QN95A range (in particular) give OLED a run for its money? We’ll find out as we test it.
As is inevitable with a rangetopping TV that’s brand new onto the market, the Samsung QN95A will cost you. The 55-inch model, the 55QN95A, will set you back £2,199, with the set also available in 65-inch
(65QN95A), 75-inch (75QN95A) and 85-inch (85QN95A) versions. Respective prices are £2,999, £4,499 and a hearty £5,999, which is a not inconsiderable sum in anybody’s language.
Easily LED
Happily, the feature-count goes quite some way to justifying the cost. The most significant thing from a technology point of view is, of course, the way the LCD pixels are illuminated. Mini-LED replaces the hundreds of LEDs used in traditional panels with many thousands of far, far smaller equivalents – Samsung says the LEDs here are 40 times smaller than those that backlit its (suddenly) more prosaic screens.
And as well as shrinking the LEDs themselves, Samsung has dispensed with the relatively bulky lens that guides the light in the correct direction (ie forward). Instead, each of the tiny Mini LEDs has an extremely brief micro-filter over it to take care of that particular job.
The benefits of this are two-fold. The QN95A is a gratifyingly slim screen. It’s just 25mm deep, and unlike an equivalent OLED TV, which is super-slim right until you get to the area where it packs all its electronics, it’s consistently 25mm deep. Which, when the screen itself is 65 inches on the diagonal, is so negligible the set is virtually two-dimensional.
Given how readily it lends itself to wall-hanging, the appearance of Samsung’s One Connect box is very welcome – it takes all but one connection away from the
TV and puts everything in a slim off-board box. So all four HDMI inputs, the digital optical, Ethernet, and USB sockets, multiple tuner aerial posts and even mains power are all supplied from the One Connect box to the screen via one reasonably slim cable.
This is a 4K 120Hz TV, and given that all four HDMI inputs are of the 40Gbps HDMI 2.1 standard, new-gen gamers are extremely well served. Auto Low Latency Mode, HGiG tone-mapping, Variable Refresh Rate,
FreeSync Premium Pro (which guarantees variable refresh rate performance even with HDR content) make even the most complex PS5 and/or Xbox Series X games look (and play) a treat. Samsung is claiming a response time of (at worst) 9.3ms and (at best) sub-6ms – all of which means this is absolutely one of the best gaming TVs available now. There’s still no Dolby Vision HDR though, which is disappointing.
Bright vision
The Samsung QN95A is a very accomplished TV, and makes a remarkably strong case for MiniLED. As well as notable contrast, deep black levels and backlight control, give the Samsung the right stuff to work with (some 4K HDR10+ content, ideally) and it serves up prodigiously detailed and defined images. Edge definition is smooth and convincing, while information regarding skin-tone is natural and confident too. There’s proper depth of field to long shots, while the colour palette the QN95A
draws from is vibrant, naturalistic and extensive. On-screen motion, whether rapid or of the particularly testing slow-pan type, is handled with absolute assurance.
It’s those contrasts and black tones that impress most of all, though, mostly because they’re so much better than we’re used to from backlit screens. Even at its most tricky – a dark interior illuminated by a candle, for example – the QN95A keeps the glow of light where it is meant to be, while leaving the surrounding area nicely dark yet still full of detail.
As far as sound goes, Samsung has tricked it out with its Object Tracking Sound+ arrangement. Despite the company describing it as a ‘4.2.2’ set-up, it actually features six speakers: a couple of tweeters at the top of the frame, one more on each side, and a pair of mid/bass drivers at the bottom. As the name suggests, OTS+ mimics on-screen movement, so the sound of a car driving left to right will track along with the visuals.
Colour out of space
Give the QN95A a free hand with its settings (it’s keen to recalibrate itself should you change source input, presumably on the basis that it knows better than you) and there can be difficulties: televised sport via a cable TV box, for instance, ‘enjoys’ colours so overdriven it’s almost like being shouted at. Once you’ve (re-) established who’s boss, though, the Samsung is just as impressive here as elsewhere. The constant motion of broadcast sport is controlled with assurance, and the great swathes of uniform colour are detailed and differentiated.
As a games monitor, too, the QN95A scores highly. Those eyebrow
raising response times prove totally credible, and where motion, depth of field and detail retrieval are concerned the Samsung’s performance doesn’t drop off in the slightest. Game developers go to an awful lot of trouble to make lighting look convincing, and the Mini-LED arrangement of this TV is endlessly rewarding in this respect.
The QN95A is fitted with Samsung’s Neo Quantum Processor 4K, which is a refinement of the AI-assisted engine the company introduced last year, and it counts upscaling among its tasks, along with stuff like the administration of all those dimming zones (very nearly 800 of them, we understand).
Usability is just as satisfying. Samsung’s Tizen-based operating system has long been acknowledged as one of, if not the, best around, so the company has very sensibly left it alone. Which means you get crisp, clear, logical and straightforward on-screen menus, and an absolute stack of apps.
By the standards of audio systems integrated invisibly into TV frames, the OTS+ arrangement here is pretty good. It’s distinct and quite open, detailed, and even passably dynamic.
There’s more low-frequency presence available than is usual from TV audio systems, and the sound definitely does mimic on-screen movement – up to a point. With no Dolby Atmos decoding on board, it’s up to the TV to interpret the more 3D elements of sound. Even at decent volume the sound doesn’t harden too much, and it stays poised and defined when playing very quietly.
And yet… you’ve no real excuse for not budgeting for a proper audio system – a soundbar at the very least – to complement the lavishly accomplished images the Samsung is capable of. No one should be considering splashing this much on a new television without money aside to bring the audio performance up to snuff.
Completely complete
Samsung knows how to charge, there’s no two ways about it – but in this instance the QN95A goes an awfully long way towards justifying the asking price. It’s the most complete LED-lit LCD TV we’ve seen in we don’t know how long – maybe ever.
From its stunning control of precise light and dark to its generous helpings of detail and smooth motion control, it impresses start to finish. As the total image package, it edges out the OLED TVs we’ve seen so far – though 2021’s OLEDs might have something to say about that, once they arrive.
It’s made us impatient to see how effectively Samsung’s rivals will be able to rise to the Mini-LED gauntlet that’s been thrown down. Though if the QN95A turns out to be an early peak for the technology in 2021, that would be okay too.