Computer Shopper - UK (2020-01)

ISSUE383|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JANUARY2020 37

SITTINGBELOWTHEQ90R,Q85Rand Q80R
series, Samsung’s Q70R rangeaimstodeliver
QLED magic forless cash than its stablemates.
We tested the55inQE55Q70R, but whether
you choose thisorthe 49in, 75in or 82in
variants, theyall have the same high-end panel
tech.These are also the cheapestSamsung
QLED TVstouse full array localdimming
(FALD) backlighting, giving them an advantage
over setsthat usebasic edge-lit backlighting.
Admittedly,FALDcomesinasimplerform
here –there are just 50 lighting zones, not
hundredsasthereare on the Q80R range
and above–andthe Q70R series alsomisses
out on Samsung’sUltra Viewing Angleand
UltraBlack Filter features.

LEADENTHELOAD
FALD also makes the QE55Q70R thicker than
it would be otherwise, and combining this
with some verywidelyspaced feet, you’ll
have to make sureyour stand is bigenough
before buying.Thereare advantages to the
chunky chassis, however.Sound quality is
strong,withthe internal speakers producing
impressivebass and volume; the downward-
firingspeakerarrangement meansthatsound
directionality is below par, but the powerful
soundmore than makesamends. It’s markedly
superiortoyouraverage TV audio.
All four HDMI 2.0b portsare all located on
the rear, andonceyou’ve got asourcedevice
hooked up you can choose between the two
bundled remotecontrols: atraditional remote,
or the more modern Smart Remote. Thelatter
is perfect forbrowsing theslick Tizen
interface: this includesaccess to HDR-enabled
apps forNetflix, Amazon, YouTubeand BBC
iPlayer, andthe Prime Video appsupports
HDR10+ dynamicmetadata.Appleuserswill
be verypleasedtosee that AirPlaysupport
is presentalongside the Apple TV app, too.

SAMSUNG

QE55Q70R

★★★★★

£1,699•From http://www.currys.co.uuuk

VERDICT

Acapable QLED TV forfairly sensible money,
although it cuts some corners to achieve this

55in QLED TV

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some minordisappointment.

TheQE55Q70R’sscreen is aVA-type LCD

panel, which means you can expect deep blacks

and great contrast, or at least you can if you

sit in theright seat. Oneofthe limitations of

VA technology is that viewing angles aren’t

particularly wide,soyou’ll losecolour fidelity

and contrastasyou move off-centre.The lack

of UltraViewingAngledoes hurt here, andthe

QE55Q70R’s semi-glossy sheenissimplynot

as effectiveasthe reflection-absorbingfinish

of,say,the QE55Q80R (Shopper380).

BRIGHT FUTURE

It’sgreat to see that FALD is present and

correct, however,even withthe lower number

of independent zones.Samsungadapts for

thisbytailoring the local dimming algorithm

to suit,sacrificing shadow detailand dimming

brighter objectstomaintain deep blacks

and reduce blooming or haloing artefacts.

This generallyworks well in practice, too, and

while the topand bottomletterboxbars aren’t

as blackastheyare on theflagship Q90R

range,they’re impressivelydark.

All that said, we did notice brightness

fluctuation in subtitles, seeminglycausedby

the small number of FALD zones.Ifyou

regularly usesubtitles, or are afan of foreign

cinema, it might be worth investing in a

higher-end QLED TV,orjust an OLED.

Colour accuracycould be better,too.Itis

possibletomassage thepicturesettings to

produce amore natural-looking picture,

but this is aTVmore concerned with visual

impact than out-and-outaccuracy.

TheQE55Q70R’spicture processing

delivershigh-quality upscalingofSD

and HD content, so it’s ashame to seeit

doesn’t get acompletely clean bill of

health in other areas. Motion controls

are comprehensive,but enabling them

tends to introduce microstutterin50Hz

interlaced broadcast content,and this

is most noticeable fromthe internal

Freeview tuner.The TV’s BlackFrame

Interpolation feature suffers from

similarissues, too, withmotion

interpolation artefacts becoming

visible on 50Hz content.

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full-field grey slidesand amild blue tintacross

all four borders of thescreen, although these

slides test picture uniformitytothe extreme,

and as such it’s seldomvisibleineverydayuse.

Performanceisrespectable otherwise.

After calibration, peak brightness reaches

700cd/m^2 on a10% window,and 410cd/m^2

on an all-whitescreen.Thismeans you can

expect abold,impactful HDR experience.

Gamingputsthe QE55Q70Rright in its

element. AutoLow-LatencyModesupport

meansthat the TV automatically switchesto

the low-latencyGame modewhenconnected

to acompatible games console,and Variable

Refresh Ratekeepsscreen tearing at bay.

We measured inputlag at amere15ms,

whichisabout as lowasitgets forTVs.

Game Modesacrifices alittle bitofthe

QE55Q70R’s picture-processing oomph,

but it’s worthitfor thelower latency.

ONETOWATCH

TheQE55Q70R is anotherfine QLED TV from

Samsung that puts in arespectable all-round

showing. HDR performanceisgood, and while

the images theQ70Rproducesaren’t strictly

accurate, we suspect most peoplewon’t care:

theoverall impact is thrilling.

LG’sOLEDsets, including its affordable

B8 andC8series,havebeen trickling down

in price to thepoint where theycould

undercut theQ70R family, butitcan still be

worth opting forQLED,especiallyifyou’re

keen to avoid the risk of OLEDburn-in.

VincentTeoh

SCREEN SIZE55in•NATIVE RESOLUTION3,840x2,160•

VIDEOINPUTSHDMI,RF•TUNERFreesat•DIMENSIONS

708x1,231x62mm•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILS

http://www.samsung.com•PART CODEQE55Q70R

SPECIFICATIONS

CONNECTIONPORTS

HDMI x4 USB3 x2

Ethernet

OpticalS/PDIF

Satellitex2 CI RF