SAMSUNG 85-Inch Class Neo QLED 4K QN90C Series Neo Quantum HDR+, Dolby Atmos, Object Tracking Sound+, Anti-Glare, Gaming Hub, Q-Symphony, Smart TV with Alexa Built-in (QN85QN90C, 2023 Model)

I love the super sturdy base on this 55” Samsung. The sound is wonderful. It was easy to set up and enjoy!

So far so good I set up the TV today. I had a bit of a glitch with the remote control and the m still unsure how to charge it. The audio didn’t come on immediately, but I don’t think it was done updating so I shut it off and turn it back on and everything so far seems to be working. Great picture and the color is too

After 12 years of faithful service, the decision was made to retire our Sony KDL-46HX850( 46-inch 1080p/240Hz) TV.

Being one of the early “Smart” TV’s on the market, it’s limitations over the years became greater and greater, despite providing one of the best quality picture experiences ever, this includes, but is not limited to;

Apps – It came with only a handful of Apps installed, like YouTube, Internet Browsing, and Netflix. Sadly this particular TV does not allow you to download or add additional ones. Nor have said Apps updated for at least 5 years. Netflix opens and works once in a while, usually requiring multiple restarts to load.

Soundbar Issues – In late 2020 we added a 7.1 Nakamichi soundbar to our setup, after our previous Vizio 5.1 system we bought shortly after the TV died. However changing channels too quickly caused the station to lose sound, requiring a complete restart of the TV and Soundbar to allow sound to flow from the TV HDMI output.

Tried using Roku, but again, it never worked properly on this particular TV. It was tested however in two different Samsung models; the 2014 UN65H7150 65-Inch 1080p 240Hz, and a 2019 QN82Q90RAFXZA 82-inch 4K 120Hz and it worked fine on those two TVs.

So lets’ get into the actual review for this model listed in the headline….

PROS:

First Impressions: Lightweight; weighs less than my 46-inch, although it doesn’t have the gorilla glass my old one had. Thinner by about 3-5mm overall.

Remote; approx half the size of my 2019 Samsung model with dramatic improvements – C type rechargeable port versus requiring regular batteries, and even has a photo-electric eye to allow sunlight recharging system on the back of the remote. Disney+ and Amazon Prime single app buttons added.

Picture Quality; outstanding for obvious reasons; 1080p vs 4K; meaning twice as many lines of resolution. HDR which means greater color space, allowing for a wider range of colors to be displayed. Despite being only half of the frequency response of my previous set (120Hz vs 240Hz), I wanted to be sure this would not be a “noticeable” issue, so I tested this thoroughly out using movies from my personal collection that had heavy/intense action sequences, no ghosting or pixelation was detected.

Sound Quality; Have never used just the standard included back-facing speakers, so I cannot comment, always have used Soundbars.

Set-Up; Again this is such a breeze now compared to just a few short years ago, logging into Apps with QR codes on your phones versus typing everything out. From the time I had the unit on the wall and first powered up, until all software updates and Apps were added and logged into was less than 30 minutes. Added 6 different Apps that are used on daily basis in our household.

This is now the 2nd Samsung Q90 model I’ve purchased in the last 4 years, and I believe they are worth every single penny. But to be fair…..I must point out the negatives.

CONS:

Viewing Distance – to gain the full 4K experience at my current TV size (50″) I need to be no further than 6ft away, which means I need to be sitting towards the middle/end of my bed. Whereas with my old unit, thew viewing distance was nearly double, meaning I could be lying down normally and not notice a drop in picture quality.

4K vs 1080p; when watching standard definition programming (480p), my old 1080p TV wins hands down, the additional upscaling done by 4K TV’s makes to my eyes, the picture less enjoyable. It’s just something I’ve gotten used to over the years. It stuck out heavily when I bought my first 4K, watching cable channels broadcasting in 480p resolution. Since most shows/movies cable and streaming services are at least HD quality, it still upscales, where again watching on a 1080p gave a better experience in my opinion.

Sound; Let’s be honest, all HDTV’s have terrible or barely passing audio, since they are backward facing. You are better off buying an inexpensive forward facing soundbar versus using the included speakers only. If you can afford it (and have the space), buying a 5.1 or 7.1 soundbar system is the way to go.

All three of my household TV’s are Samsung models, although I have had quite a few Sony models in the past, reviews between brands when I am shopping for a replacement have been pushing me steadily towards Samsung.

Two terrible experiences have permanently soured me ever buying LG ever again.

I did my homework to find the best TV. My previous Samsung TV was good. I thought I had made a good decision. I didn’t expect this mess.

The TV won’t stay connected to my TiVo. It often refuses to connect the TiVO HDMI out. Sometimes it will connect, but it can take from one minute to 30 minutes or the TV just turns off.. I spent a lot of phone time with Samsung support. Samsung support people have been here 3-4 times. The last 2 guys did the best job. But here I am. I have changed cable and ports but there is no way to make it continue to connect. I have connected the TiVo to two other TVs and they work fine. The DVD player connects all the time to the Samsung. The TiVo is my only connection to outside programming and program records. I bought a new TiVo thinking the HDMI standards had improved and was the issue. That didn’t help. That was an additional expense for this TV.

I bought this TV to replace a smaller Samsung that worked fine always. I decided it had poor sound. It was hard to understand dialog. Flat screen TVs have bad speaker location. I bought a sound bar that helps but that was another expense on top of the TV.

I’d like to return it for a refund, but that time has passed.

Tv setup was easy, , great picture. The only issue was bad packaging. One of the straps broke and the package fell apart, forcing us to unpack tv outside, remove from package and carry tv without protective box.