Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C (QE65QN900) 8K TV review

8K TVs, despite the still low actual prevalence of relevant content, have a significant advantage over traditional 4K models, especially on large diagonals: due to the significantly higher number of pixels and their smaller size, the image on an 8K screen, even in lower resolution, looks better with a noticeably higher dot density. It’s no surprise that Samsung has been offering a line of premium 8K TVs for several years now, and we’re going to get acquainted with a new model of this kind for 2023, namely Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C (QE65QN900).

Neo QLED 8K QN900C (QE65QN900) specifications

Design

As before, the updated Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C lineup uses the Infinity One design: an absolutely minimalist look, almost no bezels around the image, and minimal body thickness.

The screen of the TV is covered with a protective glass, so when it is turned off, it seems that it is framed only by a barely noticeable line of a metal side edge. When you turn it on, you can see a very thin black frame under the protective glass – just a couple of millimeters wide; at this diagonal, it’s almost invisible, and it looks like the image is just “hanging in the air.”

Unlike most modern models, which stand on small legs on either side of the screen, Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C has one central stand with a small area (36×26.7 cm), especially for its size. So, if necessary, this TV can be placed even on a very small cabinet.

The thickness of the case is the same over the entire screen area and is only one and a half centimeters – given that the case has a VESA-compatible mount (400×300), the TV can be hung on the wall and turned into a kind of giant “picture” if desired.

The case is so thin thanks to the removal of all electronics in a separate removable One Connect module (Y23 8K) – a thin black “rectangle” that can be placed next to the TV in the case of wall mounting or fixed behind the stand.

All the connectors are located on the side of the One Connect module: 4 HDMI 2.1 ports (one of them is eARC-enabled), three USB Type-A ports, an Ethernet port, a digital optical audio output, two antenna connectors (one for terrestrial/cable TV and one for satellite), and a CI slot for conditional access cards.

The QN900C is the senior model in the Neo QLED 8K lineup, which also includes the more affordable QN800C. They have a lot in common: the same diagonals (65, 75 and 85 inches), the same 8K resolution and the same Infinity One design with a separate One Connect module. The younger model has a slightly thicker body and wider bezels around the image, a simpler speaker system (4.2.2 channels instead of 6.2.4), lower peak brightness in HDR mode, and more.

Remote control

Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C is equipped with a SolarCell One Remote (model TM2360G). It is compact and quite slim, with a typical set of controls for remotes of this size: a joystick ring with a confirmation button inside, buttons for navigating menus and controlling content playback, volume and channel switching buttons that work on up and down swipes, and buttons for launching clients of popular streaming services.

As in previous models, SolarCell One Remote has a built-in microphone for voice control of the TV. Unfortunately, the proprietary Bixby voice assistant does not yet recognize Ukrainian, so you’ll have to control it in English.

As the name implies, the remote does not use traditional batteries, but charges the battery using a solar panel located on the back of the remote, and it can also be charged by room lighting. If you need to charge it faster, you can do so via the USB-C connector.

Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C functionality

Samsung TVs traditionally use its own Smart TV platform based on the Tizen OS as a “smart system”. The system interface is simple and convenient. Some time ago, the company changed the usual “ribbon” of the main menu at the bottom of the screen to a compact sidebar with items in the form of icons: it can be “expanded” to see a text description of each item.

The top part contains Privacy settings, system search, Ambient mode, and one of the main sections of the system – Media. It contains all available applications, recommendations from installed Internet services, switching to the latest content source, etc.

The menus of connected devices and system settings are located at the bottom of the main screen – you can open them without leaving the current screen to the main menu using the gear button on the remote control.

The proprietary Ambient mode allows you to display various images on the screen during inactivity: static wallpapers, dynamic screensavers, your own photos, etc., so if the TV is mounted on a wall, it allows you to turn a giant black rectangle into a spectacular picture.

If you connect a game console or computer to the TV, you can activate the game mode: it significantly reduces the input delay (<10 ms) and offers a special “game panel”. It allows you to customize the image for different game genres, use the Game Motion Plus function for smoother gameplay, lighten shadows in dark scenes with the Dynamic Black Equalizer, and more. It is also worth noting here that Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C supports 4K@120 gaming mode, variable refresh rate (VRR) and automatic low latency mode (ALLM).

Optionally, you can watch local video content from USB drives: the built-in media player supports 8K resolution, H265 format, HDR video (HDR10, HD10+ and HLG standards), and decodes Dolby Digital and DD+ audio tracks.

Sound quality

The multi-channel speaker system of the Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C consists of 12 speakers: in addition to the low-frequency speakers located at the bottom of the back of the case, it also includes high-frequency speakers on the top and side panels, which are hidden under the grilles. The total power is impressive for a built-in audio system of 90 watts.

Due to the large size of the screen, the speakers are spaced far enough apart to create a large soundstage that “fills” the entire wall behind the TV – with Object Tracking Sound Pro technology actually making the sounds “move” in space in accordance with what’s happening on the screen.

The sound quality is very high, significantly better than most other built-in solutions: Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C speakers have high-quality high frequencies, very good midrange, and even a certain amount of bass – enough to watch music videos on Youtube or movies or TV shows on streaming services.

If the built-in sound isn’t enough, you can improve the system with a compatible soundbar: thanks to Q-Symphony technology, it will be combined with the built-in speakers into a single speaker system.

Image quality

The Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C (QE65QN900) uses a 65-inch 8K panel with Quantum Mini LED backlighting. Its LEDs are ten times smaller than in traditional LED backlighting, which allows for a significant increase in their number.

This makes it possible to significantly increase the number of backlight zones, which means more flexibility in adjusting the zonal backlight, increase the overall contrast, improve the transition between black and bright areas, achieve deeper blacks and a more dynamic HDR effect. The manufacturer also notes that the new line uses Quantum Matrix Pro technology, which has one and a half times more backlight zones than the previous Quantum Matrix. In addition, the use of this type of backlight allows you to make the TV body thinner.

Quantum Mini LED allows you to come close to the “absolutely black” color that OLED technology demonstrates, but without the disadvantages of organic LEDs: first of all, a relatively low maximum brightness and the risk of “burnout” over time.

As noted at the beginning of the article, there is still virtually no content available in this resolution (except for the relevant videos on YouTube), but thanks to the proprietary Neural Quantum 8K processor, which performs video scaling based on artificial intelligence, the TV is able to significantly improve and make the image clearer in a lower resolution. At the same time, thanks to the smaller pixel size, it looks more “dense” and complete even from a short distance from the screen compared to a 4K TV with the same diagonal.

The peak brightness in HDR mode of the Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C is very high: in a window of 10% of the total screen area, it is 2200 cd/m². With an increase in the size and number of bright zones, it naturally begins to decrease, but still remains very high, especially compared to traditional OLED.

In this year’s lineup, the manufacturer has further improved the processing of dark and almost black scenes: thanks to almost two thousand backlight zones, there are almost no glows around bright elements with clear boundaries, and the so-called “black crush” that is inherent in OLED screens is rare and much less pronounced in this TV.

The anti-reflective screen filter effectively absorbs direct light and ambient light from the room, which virtually eliminates ghosting and significantly enhances image contrast during daytime movie sessions. However, a strong light source from the side can lead to characteristic glare on the screen, which is noticeable in our pictures.

It’s also worth noting that when viewed even from a very wide angle, the image almost never loses its brightness and color saturation. Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C is almost no different from OLED TVs in this regard and looks much better than models with traditional LED backlighting, so its “optimal viewing area” is much wider.

Quantum dot-based backlighting provides a very wide color gamut that fully covers the sRGB space and reaches 93% DCI-P3 (89% Adobe RGB). This results in a very impressive “picture” with bright, clean and rich colors: it will be ideal for gaming sessions or watching color-adapted video content.

If you want a more “restrained” image with natural colors, you can manually switch in the expert settings (the “Color Space Settings” item), or select one of two “cinema” video modes, in which the color space is automatically limited to the size of the sRGB space. Also note that if the signal source for movie sessions is a computer, it is better to switch its type from “PC” to “Blu-ray player” in the TV settings – this will provide access to the appropriate video modes.

Traditionally, for movies, the best modes are Movie and FILMMAKER MODE. They differ minimally from each other – a little more saturation in the former, a little less brightness in the latter, etc. – and offer a well-balanced image with accurate color reproduction (ΔE value not exceeding three), natural colors and good detail in both shadows and highlights.

In Dynamic and Standard modes, the picture is much brighter and more saturated, and they are best suited to showcase the capabilities of Neo QLED. The list of modes also includes a special Eco mode, which helps the TV meet the power consumption requirements. Last year, it was reported that the European Union was planning to apply stricter requirements for power consumption levels that flagship 8K TVs might not meet.

For HDR video, the same video modes are available, but with the prefix “HDR” – the difference between them is approximately the same as in the case of SDR.