Samsung Q900 smart TV review: This 8K TV will make you forget all about 4K Now that I’ve seen Samsung’s 8K UHD Q900—the company’s best TV to date.
regret that the industry didn’t just skip over the 4K generation (2160p) and jump straight
from HD (1080p) to 8K (4320p). It’s not that the best 4K TVs look bad, it’s just that 8K
gets darn close to the life-like detail that’s been the goal of high-definition TV from the
start.
I’m also just a tad melancholy because we’re once again facing a familiar conundrum:
Buy obsolete technology that’s just adequate, but is affordable? Or wait for the next
generation that’s just coming to market, but is far from affordable for most of us? And
with the 75-inch version of Q900 costing around 65-inch model going for early 8K UHD
TVs aren’t exactly commodity items. Prices will drop as more 8K TVs hit the streets, but
that won’t happen for a while.
Design and specsBut let’s put aside emotion and move on to the facts: The Q900 is a LEDarray-backlit, quantum dot LCD TV featuring 8K UHD resolution (that’s (7860 x 4320 pixels).
Samsung is mum on the exact number of zones in the backlight grid, but my eyes tell
me there are quite a few. The model I tested was the 75-inch class (74.5 inches
measured diagonally), which is 66 inches wide, 40 inches high, and 1.4 inches thick.
It’s wide enough and heavy enough (about 94 pounds with its feet) that you’ll need two
strong individuals to wrangle it. The illustrations in the setup sheet actually show four humans, but we managed with two. There also 82-, 85-, and 98-inch models available.
Hire a gang if you bring one of those home.
The leg stands are housed on the back of the Q900. They don’t swing out, you simply
remove a pad and they’ll fall out. We’re guessing they’re placed there so you don’t lose
them if you wall mount the TV.
The 13.3-inch-deep legs come housed in small indentations in the back of the set, but
they’ll fall free when you remove two small pads. Samsung says it’s to store them, yet
keep them handy, when the TV is wall-mounted. There are two pairs of mounting holes for said feet, so you can rest it on narrower furniture. That’s a considerate feature we first encountered on the Hisense H8F.
The Q900 uses Samsung’s One Connect technology, which means that the majority of
the electronics and all the ports, including the AC jack, are housed in a breakout box. In
this case, a significantly larger and heavier breakout box than shipped with previous
Samsung TVs—it weighs 10.9 pounds and measures 15.5 inches wide, 3.1 inches high,
and 7 inches deep. The box connects to the TV via one thin wire. Samsung calls the
wire invisible. It’s not.Samsung’s One Connect box isn’t much to look at from the front, which is a good thing if you don’t like wires. Most of the connections are on the back, but there are three USB ports on the right-hand side.
Ports on the back of the box include four HDMI 2.1 (required for 8K, but without eARC);
coax for cable, satellite, or an over-the-air TV antenna; digital audio out (optical); EX
Link (RS-232C); power; and the One Connect that plugs into the TV. There are three
USB ports on the right-hand side. These are marked according to their power-delivery
capacities: One is rated at 5.0 amps, one at 1.0 amp, and the third at 0.5 amps. There
are no legacy A/V ports, such as composite, RCA audio, or component. Marrying old-
school and new school is not something Samsung envisions, I suppose.
CPU or PROCESSOR:
A more powerful CPU was definitely in order to handle 8K video, which features an
astounding 33,177,600 pixels, compared with the “mere” 8,251,200 pixels that 4K UHD
offers. Samsung has labeled its new processor, not illogically or unexpectedly, the Quantum Q8. Then again, I could say “confusingly,” as it’s a quad-core CPU. Whatever the name, it does a very good job.
A large CPU and lighting four times the pixels means you’re going to use a lot more
power. With 4K UHD TVs, the Energy Guide stickers generally claim $20 to $30. The
Q900’s sticker says your annual tab will be more than $60. Bear in mind that those are
best-case numbers garnered using ECO mode or the like. In real life, expect to pay
more. The heavier power consumption is also the reason for the larger One Connect
box: It provides better cooling.
Remote control and user interface:
plenty of entertainment options but the company wants you to pay attention to something else today. It wants you to check out all of the cool smart features that the new
QLED TV’s One Remote Control has. The company says that this new remote simplifies the viewing experience whether you’re connecting to a gaming console or watching a
movie on a Blu-ray player, the One Remote Control has the ability to control almost all media devices which eliminates the need to carry multiple remote controls.The One Remote Control also has auto-detection capabilities which take out the guesswork from toggling between devices. When you connect a device to an HDMI port the QLED TV will automatically detect the device and let users know what it is with instantly recognizable items and names like Xbox.The One Remote Control has an intuitive design, voice control functionality
and just a few buttons. The dedicated Voice Recognition button easily lets
users give the TV a voice command while the four-way button at the center of
the remote control can be used to navigate all features easily. If you’d rather not use the One Remote Control, for iOS and Android. It lets
you access all essential functions on your smartphone via an interface that’s like the one on your TV. This enables you to fiddle with the settings without blocking programming on the TV with menus and boxes. The app also allows you to view content like videos and photos stored on your mobile device on
the big screen.
regret that the industry didn’t just skip over the 4K generation (2160p) and jump straight
from HD (1080p) to 8K (4320p). It’s not that the best 4K TVs look bad, it’s just that 8K
gets darn close to the life-like detail that’s been the goal of high-definition TV from the
start.
I’m also just a tad melancholy because we’re once again facing a familiar conundrum:
Buy obsolete technology that’s just adequate, but is affordable? Or wait for the next
generation that’s just coming to market, but is far from affordable for most of us? And
with the 75-inch version of Q900 costing around 65-inch model going for early 8K UHD
TVs aren’t exactly commodity items. Prices will drop as more 8K TVs hit the streets, but
that won’t happen for a while.
Design and specsBut let’s put aside emotion and move on to the facts: The Q900 is a LEDarray-backlit, quantum dot LCD TV featuring 8K UHD resolution (that’s (7860 x 4320 pixels).
Samsung is mum on the exact number of zones in the backlight grid, but my eyes tell
me there are quite a few. The model I tested was the 75-inch class (74.5 inches
measured diagonally), which is 66 inches wide, 40 inches high, and 1.4 inches thick.
It’s wide enough and heavy enough (about 94 pounds with its feet) that you’ll need two
strong individuals to wrangle it. The illustrations in the setup sheet actually show four humans, but we managed with two. There also 82-, 85-, and 98-inch models available.
Hire a gang if you bring one of those home.
The leg stands are housed on the back of the Q900. They don’t swing out, you simply
remove a pad and they’ll fall out. We’re guessing they’re placed there so you don’t lose
them if you wall mount the TV.
The 13.3-inch-deep legs come housed in small indentations in the back of the set, but
they’ll fall free when you remove two small pads. Samsung says it’s to store them, yet
keep them handy, when the TV is wall-mounted. There are two pairs of mounting holes for said feet, so you can rest it on narrower furniture. That’s a considerate feature we first encountered on the Hisense H8F.
The Q900 uses Samsung’s One Connect technology, which means that the majority of
the electronics and all the ports, including the AC jack, are housed in a breakout box. In
this case, a significantly larger and heavier breakout box than shipped with previous
Samsung TVs—it weighs 10.9 pounds and measures 15.5 inches wide, 3.1 inches high,
and 7 inches deep. The box connects to the TV via one thin wire. Samsung calls the
wire invisible. It’s not.Samsung’s One Connect box isn’t much to look at from the front, which is a good thing if you don’t like wires. Most of the connections are on the back, but there are three USB ports on the right-hand side.
Ports on the back of the box include four HDMI 2.1 (required for 8K, but without eARC);
coax for cable, satellite, or an over-the-air TV antenna; digital audio out (optical); EX
Link (RS-232C); power; and the One Connect that plugs into the TV. There are three
USB ports on the right-hand side. These are marked according to their power-delivery
capacities: One is rated at 5.0 amps, one at 1.0 amp, and the third at 0.5 amps. There
are no legacy A/V ports, such as composite, RCA audio, or component. Marrying old-
school and new school is not something Samsung envisions, I suppose.
CPU or PROCESSOR:
A more powerful CPU was definitely in order to handle 8K video, which features an
astounding 33,177,600 pixels, compared with the “mere” 8,251,200 pixels that 4K UHD
offers. Samsung has labeled its new processor, not illogically or unexpectedly, the Quantum Q8. Then again, I could say “confusingly,” as it’s a quad-core CPU. Whatever the name, it does a very good job.
A large CPU and lighting four times the pixels means you’re going to use a lot more
power. With 4K UHD TVs, the Energy Guide stickers generally claim $20 to $30. The
Q900’s sticker says your annual tab will be more than $60. Bear in mind that those are
best-case numbers garnered using ECO mode or the like. In real life, expect to pay
more. The heavier power consumption is also the reason for the larger One Connect
box: It provides better cooling.
Remote control and user interface:
plenty of entertainment options but the company wants you to pay attention to something else today. It wants you to check out all of the cool smart features that the new
QLED TV’s One Remote Control has. The company says that this new remote simplifies the viewing experience whether you’re connecting to a gaming console or watching a
movie on a Blu-ray player, the One Remote Control has the ability to control almost all media devices which eliminates the need to carry multiple remote controls.The One Remote Control also has auto-detection capabilities which take out the guesswork from toggling between devices. When you connect a device to an HDMI port the QLED TV will automatically detect the device and let users know what it is with instantly recognizable items and names like Xbox.The One Remote Control has an intuitive design, voice control functionality
and just a few buttons. The dedicated Voice Recognition button easily lets
users give the TV a voice command while the four-way button at the center of
the remote control can be used to navigate all features easily. If you’d rather not use the One Remote Control, for iOS and Android. It lets
you access all essential functions on your smartphone via an interface that’s like the one on your TV. This enables you to fiddle with the settings without blocking programming on the TV with menus and boxes. The app also allows you to view content like videos and photos stored on your mobile device on
the big screen.
0 Comments