So it turns out Mini-LED isn’t only for the very well-heeled. The QN85A isn’t flawless in the way it performs, but it’s mighty close – and those of us who have them should be ready to be disabused of our LCD preconceptions. You could also argue that the Q85R is a touch less sharp than the Q90R, that it’s missing the super-elite contrast and ultra-fine colour nuance to make those pictures pop as well as the very best, but we’re talking fairly slim margins. The system comes pre-loaded with most apps you’ll need, such as iPlayer, YouTube and Google Play Movies & TV, with access to Apple iTunes also now available via a software update (although it wasn't available in time for this review). Naturally, the system is also fitted with Samsung’s SmartThings platform, so you can integrate your TV with your smart home.

QE55QN85AATXXU (Argos Product Instruction manual for SAMSUNG QE55QN85AATXXU (Argos Product

Once the sun's inclination drops in autumn, any light striking side-on causes a rainbow effect on the screen. As the sun continues to drop, the rainbow effect increases until in December it's 100% of the screen. It’s particularly good at reducing picture noise when upscaling the 1080p Blu-ray of Fargo: the film has a slight grain to it but without Clear View switched on, that grain dances around distractingly. But it manages to smooth out the cigarette smoke in the hitmen’s car without taking the edge off its lustre as it rolls across the ceiling of the sedan. Bear in mind that Digital Clean View is best switched off for some other 1080p content and all 4K, though. The Samsung’s IPS panel offers decently wide viewing angles (good) and a little more reflectivity than is absolutely ideal (not quite so good). Take a bit of care with positioning, though—both of the screen and your position relative to it—and picture performance is admirable. The Samsung QN85A is a solid TV that looks great from wide angles and gets really bright, thanks to Mini LED inside. Two full-range drivers at the top of the frame, and another two at the bottom, powered by 60 watts of amplification and designed to offer a degree of synchronicity between on-screen movement and audio placement, looks admirable when written down. In practice, though, the Samsung is a rather boneless listen—it’s not actively unpleasant, and it doesn’t get too shouty at volume, but there’s a bluntness about the sound it makes that’s quite strongly at odds with its images.

Plan Benefits

Ideal if you watch a lot of high-quality content as 4K HDR stuff looks an absolute treat on the QN85A. However, upscaling content isn't this Samsung TV's strongest skill. So if you plan to watch a lot of older movies and TV shows, you're better off looking elsewhere. Unfortunately, there's also no Dolby Vision here, so you won't get the most out of a premium Netflix subscription. The picture quality here (as long as you're not watching content of less than 1920x1080 resolution) is so impressive, it makes the relative weakness of the accompanying sound a moot point. To its credit, it’s never hard or coarse – even at volume, and it will go pretty loud by prevailing standards – but the sound it makes is insubstantial, and consequently quite strongly at odds with the pictures it produces. The big thing that's new here compared to the Samsung Q80T from last year is the technology driving the panel here, so let's start there? In many respects, Samsung has done a decent job with the audio of the Q85R. The speakers produce a good sense of space – bullets zip accurately across a wide soundstage, bones crunch roughly where they should and there’s broadly good tonal balance – but this is not a market-leader for sound quality and you’d be wise to budget for a separate sound system.

Samsung QN85A review: a fantastic, bright Mini LED TV - TechRadar

Steer clear of the antique stuff, though, and the QE55QN85A is at the very least an enjoyable watch and at best pretty absorbing. Samsung QN85A review: audio performance Should you decide against wall-hanging, though, the Samsung features a central foot on which to stand. This means you don’t need a surface as wide as the screen itself on which to place it. Plus, there’s space between the support and the bottom of the screen to position a soundbar (and, as we shall see, you might well want to give consideration to a soundbar sooner rather than later). Features These prices bring the QN85A into more-or-less direct competition with some of the best OLED TVs around. The likes of LG, Panasonic and Sony – to name but three – all offer a high-performance TV of this size for very similar money. DesignWatchable’ is a relative term when it comes to upscaled content of a lesser standard, though. No one’s expecting miracles when watching a standard-definition 4:3 re-run of Only Fools and Horses but the Samsung’s Neo Quantum Processor 4K does throw in the towel somewhat—the images it comes up with are noisy, ill-defined and rough. It’s like an approximation of a television broadcast. The 55-inch Samsung QN85A reviewed here—along with the 65-inch, 75-inch and 85-inch models that are also available—is on sale now.