Samsung QE65Q9FN Price £3799vstuff.tv/qe65q9fn

If ‘QLED’ is just a term that the marketing department at Samsung dreamt up to imply parity between its TVS and the OLED competition, then at least its top-tier model stands up to that kind of scrutiny. With an all-new direct backlight that can independently illuminate zones of the screen, this television has far more control over its picture than ever before.

As a result, this QLED trumps the Sony opposite for image quality. Not by much, but there’s no denying this Samsung’s charms. Not only is it able to produce exceptionally bright highlights, but it manages to do so in combination with genuinely deep blacks. That’s quite the achievement considering OLED’S greatest sell is the contrast its tellies are capable of.

While the Q9F handles motion a tad less cleanly than the Sony, it makes up for this with more punch, higher peak brightness and greater detail. So it’s a ridiculously close call when choosing between the two sets… but since it’s our job to pick a winner, this Samsung gets the nod. Why? Its interface is just a whole lot easier to find the stuff you want to watch, and comes stacked with all the apps you’d expect. Plus, gamers are better-served with supremely low input lag and extra features such as motion smoothing. So even though the Sony has the edge for dazzling design and sound, the Q9F is going to serve you better in the long run.

Whether Samsung’s other new QLED sets will do the same is a different matter, though. The Q9F sits at the top of this year’s tree for a reason: it’s the only 4K QLED to have that all-important direct backlight, with the rest of the range being edge-lit as per usual. So unless you have almost four grand going spare, it’s likely that OLED is still the way to go.

TECH SPECS Screen 65in 3840x2160 QLED with HDR OS Tizen Connectivity HDMI (x4), USB (x3), Wi-fi Dimensions 145x90x35.3cm, 30.9kg