QE43QN90AATXXU

Product Information

Watching the "All-New Halloween Spooktacular” episode of WandaVision on Disney Plus, the set could show off how it handles motion and high-contrast scenes. As Wanda extends the reach of her Hex, the S.W.O.R.D. camp is turned into a traveling circus. Even as the agents try to escape the growing boundary, you can see their uniforms and equipment transform seamlessly (and hilariously) into clown garb and colorful tents. Except when a curious Vision reaches the Hex’s boundary, glowing in dark fields, there seems to be a bit of blooming, as well as occasional vignetting in the corners. The other issue with the Samsung QN90A’s design is that it only comes with one full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 port. That could be a slight problem down the road, but the good news is that, for now, all four ports can handle both the PS5 and Xbox Series X at 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. Despite all four ports working well for the consoles, port 3 is the only port to support eARC, so you’ll want to use that for a soundbar. The operating humidity shows the acceptable level of humidity, in which the display will function flawlessly. It sets a lower and an upper humidity level for safe operation and is measured in percentage. For the most part the 50QN90A’s speakers give a strong account of themselves. Instantly noticeable versus typical TV sound systems is how far the sound spreads beyond the boundaries of the TV’s frame, and how rounded the sound is, with a decent amount of bass depth to underpin and counterbalance the reasonably open midrange and clean treble. The pixel pitch shows the distance from the centers of two neighboring pixels. In displays, which have a native resolution (the TFT ones, for example), the pixel pitch depends on the resolution and the size of the screen.

TV prices fluctuate massively over the course of a year, and knowing the best time to buy can be the difference between bagging a bargain and paying well over the odds. Generally speaking, there are three times of year that are best to buy a new TV: spring, big sales events and big sporting events. It’s a shame that the intelligence of the remote isn’t matched by the new version of the Tizen operating system. Samsung has copied the unpopular decision LG made a few years ago and switched from a pop-up system to a full-screen home menu. Unfortunately, this full-screen Tizen is also regularly quite slow in operation, particularly when the TV’s first switched on, and its layout is rather unintuitive. In summary, those looking for a premium performance at a compact size should seriously consider the QN90B. If it’s a bright, vibrant and exciting delivery you're after (and/or you’re going to be using your TV in a very bright room), this Samsung QLED could well be a better buy than one of its new OLED rivals. Samsung produces four versions of OTS – OTS Lite, OTS, OTS+ and OTS Pro – and each uses a more complex arrangement of speakers. The 50in QN90 reviewed here uses OTS Lite, which delivers stereo audio via two physical speakers at the bottom of the screen. New this year is the Game Bar, which provides all the key gaming info and features in one convenient location. This can be selected by simply holding down the play/pause button on your remote, and includes the HDR, frame rate and VRR status, as well as key gaming picture adjustments.

The Samsung QN90A is an excellent entry point into Samsung’s Neo QLED range, delivering fantastic HDR images and impactful gaming features

Our proprietary Tom’s Guide TV testing told me more about the Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV beyond my anecdotal viewing experience. LCD/LED TVs have always beat out OLED on brightness, but the QN90A blows away anything we’ve ever seen. It reached a max brightness of 1813.83 nits. The LG G1 OLED TV reached a max brightness of just 412.05 nits, for comparison. And it’s not just OLED sets the QN90A triumphs —the Quantum-powered Vizio P-Series (P65Q9-H1) and TCL 6-Series R635 maxed out at 471.20 nits and 583.1 nits, respectively. The only catch with the 50QN90A’s upscaling is that it can start to look too fizzy with very grainy sources. This slight harshness can be softened away by the noise reduction options, but this inevitably leads to softer, occasionally slightly processed-looking results. To reiterate this point, though, the fizzing problem only happens with unusually grainy sources. With relatively pristine HD images the 50QN90A’s upscaling is outstanding.

Information about whether there is a possibility for wall mounting according to the VESA Mounting Interface Standard (MIS). Gamers will be glad to know the Samsung QN90A has one of the best lag times you’ll find. Our review unit measured lag time of 12.6 milliseconds with its auto low latency mode —a huge improvement over the Q80T’s 30.1 milliseconds. Usually we recommend sets with sets with a lag time below 20 milliseconds for the best gaming TVs, and the addition of gaming-focused features make the QN90A Neo QLED an excellent choice for gamers. Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV review: Audio These talents make the 50QN90A a seriously compelling gaming display too, despite the set having to rein in some of its contrast and colour enhancement technologies to deliver its exceptionally low 9.2ms (at 60Hz) input lag time when running in its Game picture mode.Putting the poor sound to one side – after all, you should really budget for a dedicated sound system with any TV – the 43-inch QN90B is a really good television faced with a new wave of intense competition. Said competition (the new 42-inch OLEDs offered by Sony and LG) means that this Samsung QLED’s weaknesses and strengths are equally brought into stark contrast. Given how clever Samsung’s latest processor is in other ways, though, it seems odd that it’s not better at optimising motion handling without manual intervention. While you need to tweak a couple of things to get the best out of it, a well set up 50QN90A proves that Samsung’s Mini LED-driven Neo QLED technology is capable of elevating the brand’s TVs to new OLED-challenging performance heights even at a relatively mainstream size. With a 20W system at its disposal there’s little in the way of sonic fireworks. Dialogue is clear and crisp, but bass is limited; the dynamic range sees more fizzle than sizzle, and pushing the volume up doesn’t add much scale. For daytime TV it’s perfectly cromulent, though for gaming (or anything else that requires oomph), a pair of Bluetooth headphones or a compact soundbar would be better.

Mini LEDs are roughly one-fortieth of the size of regular LEDs, and therefore many more can be squeezed into a TV panel. With an increased number of LEDs and additional dimming zones, the QN90A delivers deeper colours, wider viewing angles and more precise local dimming than its QLED counterparts. HDR performance is on a par with more expensive OLED TVs, and the QN90A is safe from the screen burn that can affect organic LED-lit sets. The ratio between the horizontal and the vertical side of the display. Some of the standard and widely used aspect ratios are 4:3, 5:4, 16:9 and 16:10. Information about the number of pixels on the horizontal and vertical side of the screen. A higher resolution allows the display of a more detailed and of higher quality image. Samsung's Tizen smart TV software looks more or less the same this year, and I’d say that’s a good thing. The software is reliable, offering a broad selection of apps. From the Loki TV series on Disney Plus to any of the best HBO Max shows and movies, you’ll find most of the apps and content you enjoy. Tizen even has a special Apple TV app for enjoying iTunes movies and shows, as well as Apple's original Apple TV Plus shows and Apple Fitness Plus– no separate Apple TV 4K (2021) box needed. One of the reasons the QN90A is a bit more unstable this year is because it’s a bit thinner. Compared to last year, Samsung shaved about half an inch from the depth from the TV which has meant making some compromises on sound quality and stability. That’s not a bad thing if you plan on connecting the TV to an external sound system – like one of Samsung’s Dolby Atmos soundbars – and wall-mounting the TV, but it’s all worth noting.Using much smaller LEDs means you can fit many more of them into the same screen area. And if you can fit many more LEDs into the same area, you can also deliver much more granular, localised control over how their light is used to deliver the TV’s pictures. Especially when, as in the 50QN90A’s case, the Mini LED array is driven by an advanced local dimming zone solution powered by Samsung’s latest Neo Quantum 4K processor. Beyond traditional ports, the Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV sports built-in NextGen TV ATSC 3.0 tuners. In locations where the emerging broadcasting technology is available, ATSC 3.0 can support 4K picture over-the-air as well as a return channel that allows for interactivity and targeted advertising. Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV review: Performance There are a couple of other issues with the 50QN90A’s pictures too. First and worst, in the most instantly appealing Standard picture preset, pretty excessive amounts of shadow detail can be lost in the darkest parts of the picture unless you nudge up the dedicated Shadow Detail adjustment. Go too far with that, though, and the brightness ‘lift’ it causes can start to have a negative impact on bright parts of the picture.