40 OCTOBER 2019|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 380
SAMSUNGFRONT-LOADEDlast year’s
QLED range to afrightening extent. The
expensive range-toppers were groaning
under the weight of their own extensive
specifications, but the QLED TVsfurther
down the range got humdrum pretty quickly.
That’s changed in 2019.The current
Q90R flagships are still packing every nicety
imaginable,but their lesser stablemates now
enjoyafew more goodies. In fact, the Q80R
series might be the sweet-spot of the entire
QLED line-up.This looks to be where the
balance between features, value and
performance is perfectly poised.
At this level, however,value is relative:
£1,699 forthe 4K resolution, 55in QE55Q80R
is not an inconsiderable sum, so it’s time to
find out whether making the £900-or-so
saving over asame-size Q90R is the wise
choice or afalse economy.
HIPTO BE SQUARE
Formany people,choosing aTVisabout
more than just image quality.Indeed, abig
part of the reason QLED doesn’t have the
initial showroom appeal of OLED is its
completelack of that crowd-pleasing OLED
slimness; the full arraylocal dimming (FALD)
backlight adds considerable bulk. As aresult,
the QE55Q80R is comparatively deep
(62mm) and heavy (18.6kg).
It’s very tidily built, however,asthe
price demands: the bezel is minimal and
gently curved, rather than square,atthe
corners. It’s supported by acentral stand,
which is farmore welcome than the
foot-at-each-end alternative which
necessitates awide surface to stand on.
There’s also sufficient space between the
bottom of the screen and the stand in
which to position asoundbar.
One of the keydifferences between
this QE55Q80R and the more expensive
QE55Q90R is the absence of Samsung’s
One Connect box. Instead, the QE55Q80R
has all its connections in the chassis of the
screen. Theyrun to four HDMI 2.0 sockets,
acouple of USB ports, an Ethernet input
(dual-band Wi-Fi is onboard, too), two
satelliteTVaerial connections and a
terrestrial TV aerial socket.
Navigation is either via
Samsung’s standard –and rather
slapdash –infrared remote
SAMSUNG
QE55Q80R
★★★★★
£1,699•From http://www.currys.co.uk
VERDICT
ThisTŚoɏersthebestbalancebetween
priceandperformanceintheentire
Samsung ĒLEDrange
55in QLED TV
control, afar less button-heavy Bluetooth
handset, Samsung’s clean and stable Smart
Things app or voice control using Alexa or
Google Assistant.
No matter which control routeyou go
down you’ll be navigating amercifully clean,
yet quitecomprehensive,Tizen GUI. It’s swift
in operation, covers everything from
fine-tuning picture quality to streaming
service selection in alogical fashion, and
doesn’t swamp the entire screen as it does so.
WIDE SCREEN
In one important respect, the QE55Q80R is a
big improvement over last year’s equivalent
QLEDs: off-axis performance.Samsung’s
Ultra Viewing Angle technology is basically
an extra panel layer to prevent backlight
leakage and focus light more effectively,and
it works well. Sit even radically off-axis and
images still maintain most of their integrity.
Sit in the sweet-spot, and things are
generally pretty impressive.With peak white
calibrated to 120cd/m^2 and with the Local
Dimming (FALD means there are 50
independently dimmable zones) setting at
standard, contrasts are strong. Blacks are
particularly deep by prevailing LED LCD
standards. There are more blooming
artefacts and alittle more haloing compared
with the Q90R (not surprising given its 480
dimming zones), but the QE55Q80R
compares very favourably with Sony’s LED
LCD competitors, even if the letterbox bars
are very dark greyrather than black.
HDR content is an obvious beneficiary
of this talent. Measured peak brightness is
1,100cd/m^2 ,which makes forvivid, vibrant
and convincing images.
DCI-P3 coverage is an acceptable 95%,
although posterisation in bright highlights
makes switching Colour Space from Autoto
Native necessary,even though it results in
reduced colour accuracy.Overall colour
accuracy,infact, compares unfavourably to
some competing brands. Disappointingly,
it’s not possible to perform CalMAN Autocal
to remedy the problem, as the European
version of the QE55Q80R lacks an
EX-Link socket, something which
is present on the US version.
Screen uniformity is impressive,however.
The QE55Q80R is very clean, with negligible
dirty-screen effect, but there’s just asliver of
colour tinting along the borders that’s visible
on full-field greyslides.
As an upscaler,the QE55Q80R is fine
rather than spectacular.You’ll never mistake
Full HD content fornative 4K images; the
drop-offincontrast and brightness is too
pronounced. Upscaling produces minimal
visual noise,however,and the results are
never less than watchable.
The QE55Q80R is agood fit forgaming,
too. Input lag of 16ms (in 1080p SDR and 4K
HDR modes) is one of the lowest around,
and marks the QE55Q80R as one of the
most responsive TVsonthe market.
Even the speakers, often aweakness of
flat-screen TVs, are quitedecent. The
QE55Q80R makes forquitearobust listen,
with what might even pass foractual
dynamic headroom. However,a55in screen
at this sort of moneyreally deserves a
soundbar at the very least.
CROWD PLEASER
As long as ultimateslimness isn’t the be-all
and end-all of your TV selection process,
the QE55Q80R deserves your serious
consideration. The punchy image quality,
super-wide viewing angles and anti-reflective
filter are ahuge boon fordaytime TV
watching, and especially so in brighter
rooms. All told, this QLED TV strikes acanny
balance between performance and price.
VincentTeoh
SCREENSIƂE55in•NATIŚERESOLUTION3,840x2,160•
ŚIDEOINPUTS4xHDMI,RF•TUNERFreesat•
DIMENSIONS793x1,231x238mm•WARRANTYOneyear
RTB•DETAILSwww.samsung.com•PARTCODE
QE55Q80R
SPECIFICATIONS
CONNECTION PORTS
HDMIѸɱ US Ѹι Ethernet
OpticalSPDIj RjѸΤ
