The Q80R is also giving away some HDR-maximising brightness to its more expensive sibling. The response time is very fast and thus only a small blur trail follows fast-moving content. The Q80 55 inch TV can display a wide color gamut, but it isn't as good as the Q8FN and only a little better than the Q70R. The Q80R is an excellent TV for use as a PC monitor. It performs just as well in a dark room, for movies and HDR content, and in a bright room for sports or TV shows. For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 65" version (QN65Q80RA) and the 75" version (QN75Q80RA). The fast response time delivers crisp motion and the TV is packed with gaming goodies. The Q80R delivers an excellent HDR movie watching experience. The Samsung Q80R has wider viewing angles thanks to the 'Ultra Viewing Angle' technology. The 55" Q80R we tested was manufactured in Feb. 2019. This is great news for gamers. The Sony X900F has slightly crisper motion thanks to the faster response time. There’s the inevitable drop-off in vibrancy, detail and contrast, plus a little smattering of picture noise in the extremes, but the images are never less than watchable and compare favourably with those of some nominal rivals. Just like the Q90R, the Q70R, and 2018 Samsung TVs, the Q80 doesn't support DTS passthrough or eARC. The LG SM9500 still has wider viewing angles, so it's more suitable if viewing angles are the main concern. It’s possible to detect the TV working hard when the effects are piling up and the on-screen action is hectic and unpredictable, but such moments are rare. This helpful tool will make it clear for you, Use our data and table to find the best TV for your needs, Want to see us review a specific TV? Be part of the most informed community and take advantage of our advanced tools to find the best product for your needs. Its local dimming is better than the Q70R and significantly helps improve dark room performance. The Samsung Q70R, on the other hand, has a higher native contrast ratio and can deliver deeper and more uniform blacks, even though its local dimming isn't as effective. More expensive Samsung QLEDs have all their connectivity, including mains power, removed from the screen itself and housed in a separate box, which leaves just one very thin cable running from the screen. The Q80 has a full array local dimming feature, which is great for dark room performance, whereas the NU8000 is edge-lit and its local dimming isn't good. The Samsung Q80/Q80R QLED is better than the TCL 8 Series 2019/Q825 QLED. Hard-wiring a 4K Blu-ray player to the Q80R should give the Samsung every chance to look its best – and, sure enough, with a disc of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk spinning, the Q80R’s combination of lifelike colours, vivid contrasts and assured motion impressed and charmed in equal measure. The Samsung Q80R has slightly better local dimming performance, which is great when you watch movies, and a slightly lower input lag, great for playing video games. The TV feels solid but it wobbles a bit on its stand, although this shouldn't be too much of an issue. Fantastic reflection handling. As a VA panel, this TV appears to be immune to temporary image retention or permanent burn-in. We have not tested this unit so we can not be sure. The Q85R is advertised as having more local dimming zones and comes along with a One Connect box, but otherwise seems identical to the Q80R. And although there remains a full array of local dimming, there are fewer dimming zones here than seen on the pricier screen. It also has much wider viewing angles, a quicker response time, and better out-of-the-box color accuracy. For this test, we turned the Local Dimming feature off so we could get a more consistent reading. Gamers will appreciate how clear motion looks on this TV and it's an improvement from the Q8FN. The Vizio P Series Quantum 2019 has better contrast and better black uniformity with local dimming. The Ultra Wide Viewing Angle technology is effective, too. The Samsung Q90T QLED and the Samsung Q80/Q80R QLED are nearly identical in terms of feature set and overall performance, as the Q90T is a replacement of the Q80R. Good color volume, but it's much better on the Q8FN. This TV's local dimming feature can't be completely disabled in the normal settings menu. The Q80R looks and feels better-built, has local dimming, can get much brighter, especially with HDR content, has much better viewing angles, handles reflections much better, has much better motion handling, and has a wider color gamut. It also as much more accurate colors out-of-the-box, and a much wider color gamut, making it a better choice for HDR content. This Q80R may not have the all-encompassing spec-sheet of the Q90R reviewed here a few months ago, but it’s still a well-equipped TV. However, the TV wobbles significantly more than the Q70R when nudged. Samsung's app store has a very large selection of apps to choose from. Finally, the Q80R is packed with gaming features, like FreeSync support, that are an attraction to serious gamers. This may not sound like a big deal, but the inexplicable fashion for great big TVs with a foot at either end – which necessitate a surface almost as wide as the screen itself to stand the TV on – needs undermining at every opportunity. We observed some weird diagonal stripes that are visible when you look at the screen from up close and from the left. See our recommendations for the best TVs, the best 4k TVs, and the best HDR gaming TVs. Note, though, that the odd moments of vivid colour (which mostly centre around Lucy Punch’s wardrobe) don’t have quite the “pop” of a disc-derived equivalent. The Samsung gets much brighter and it doesn't have permanent burn-in risk. The TV is just a bit thicker than the Q8FN. The Q80R goes without, which means all connections must be made to the back of the TV itself. The C9 has wider viewing angles and delivers motion with almost no blur, thanks to the nearly instantaneous response time. The B9 has an excellent dark room performance thanks to its perfect blacks. Unfortunately, its not compatible with a no-gap wall mount to put it flush to the wall. The stand supports the TV well but won't prevent wobbling if you nudge the TV. The borders of the TV look nice and the bezel is very thin. The Samsung Q80/Q80R is a bit better than the Vizio P Series Quantum X 2019. We had the same issue on the Q90R pixel photo. We were able to momentarily reach a brightness of about 1650 nits on the 10% window before the ABL dimmed the image. LG, too, to whom every OLED manufacturer owes both a debt of gratitude and of money, has recently served up its OLED55C9 for £2499. Older, 480p digital content looks good, with no obvious upscaling artifacts or over-sharpening. The Samsung Q80R is better than the Sony X900F. Both TVs have a 120Hz refresh rate and support VRR to reduce screen tearing when gaming. All of the Q80R’s worthwhile rivals are OLED TVs – and it’s a measure of the way the mid- to high-end TV market is perceived that this site’s review of the Samsung QE65Q90R praised it as “the most OLED-like LCD TV ever made”. The Q80 has a higher contrast ratio that results in deeper blacks, its local dimming performs better, and it has better viewing angles. The native contrast ratio of this TV measures slightly better than other TVs we've tested that support similar viewing angle boosting technology. The Q80R has much better viewing angles, but slightly worse contrast. Ignore its unfashionable depth and weight, however, and the QE55Q80R is quite an elegant TV. Streaming 4K content is an equally enjoyable experience. The generally murky colour palette doesn’t pose too many problems, the Samsung proving able to differentiate between shades of grey quite happily. The Samsung Q80R is an excellent TV that delivers an excellent performance in any usage. As an OLED, the LG has an almost instantaneous response time that delivers very crisp motion. The high contrast ratio, excellent black uniformity, and good local dimming support produce deep blacks in a dark room where HDR is meant to be seen. But that’s of negligible consequence; the Samsung’s streaming performance will make your streaming service subscription look like money very well spent. Also, there isn't a big jump in THD under heavier loads, which is good. The stand also puts a useful amount of distance between itself and the bottom of the screen, so there’s room for a soundbar. Just like all Samsung TVs we've tested so far, the Q80R has ads in a few places. To enable motion interpolation, you must enable Auto Motion Plus and adjust the available sliders. Colours can’t maintain their dead-ahead vibrancy, but there’s markedly less of the washed-out effect Samsung’s QLEDs suffered from pre-UVA. We buy our own products to test. If you need eARC support, check out the Samsung Q90T. It’s safe to say the Q80R is much happier with native 3840 x 2160 content than when it has to upscale to fit its panel – but, even then, 1920 x 1080 content is eminently watchable. The Q80R can be understood (most of the time) by both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The 'Movie' EOTF (shown above) is a little brighter at higher stimulus levels until it starts to roll off near the TV's peak brightness. So can Samsung bring some of its QLED smarts to a more affordable price-point without taking the shine off its range-topping models? This feature could be useful if you find that commercials play at a higher volume than the content you're watching. The gradient of the QN55Q80RAFXZA is good. We use these settings because they give the most accurate image, and this is the maximum brightness that you can get with these settings. It has a very low input lag and supports FreeSync for more consistent motion during gaming. The 'Ultra Viewing Angle' technology appears to work similarly to the 'X-Wide Angle' technology found on the Sony Z9F. The image remains accurate at wide angles as you move off-center. It also has a wider color gamut. You must set the TV to 'PC Mode' to display proper chroma 4:4:4. Finally, the TV has decent great uniformity that won't spoil your sports-watching experience. It’s simple to change input, select streaming services, fine-tune the settings (Thankfully, Samsung keeps options brief) or adjust the volume, and the graphics are clean and legible. There's a bit of blooming around the center cross and some backlight bleed in the native black uniformity picture, but most people won't notice this with normal content. The flicker frequency is at 960Hz only when the TV is in 'Movie' mode and Auto Motion Plus is disabled. The Q80 has an improved interface from the Q8FN, and it's the same interface as the Q70R and the Q90R with a modern design. The main advantage of the Q900R is that it has an 8k resolution panel, though at the time of writing, there isn't much 8k content available, and most of what you're watching will be upscaled to that resolution. It isn’t capable of images as bright as the Samsung, and its lack of HDR10+ support is a bit wilful, but it’s a hugely capable TV nevertheless. Although most VA panel TVs don't have good viewing angles, the 'Ultra Viewing Angle' layer gives it a decent viewing angle, so your whole family will be able to sit around the TV and enjoy your favorite show without losing too much image accuracy. It's quite uniform and won't stick out much when wall-mounted. The Samsung Q80R is a high-end TV, a replacement to the popular 2018 model, the Q8FN. We measured the peak brightness before calibration, using the 'Movie' Picture Mode and 'Warm 2' Color Tone, with Local Dimming set to 'High.' The Samsung Q80/Q80R QLED is a much better TV than the LG SM9000. We tested the TV on 'Game' mode, without interpolation or any other gaming processing setting, and we set FreeSync to 'Ultimate' to obtain the widest possible range. It can remove 24p judder from any source, and has an optional motion interpolation feature for soap opera effect fans, which also comes in handy if you wish to remove stutter in movies. The Q80 gets a bit darker around the edges of the screen, and even more in the corners. No cherry-picked units sent by brands. The Q80R has marginally better gray uniformity, which is essential when watching sports, and a somewhat lower input lag, which is great for serious gamers. While the LG has slightly lower input lag, the Samsung has better motion handling. Thanks to its low contrast ratio, it's able to display deep, saturated colors. The contrast ratio on the Q9FN is better, but the overall dark room performance between the two TVs is almost on par. If you need to launch the Home menu while you're in an app, press and hold the center button. If you're using an ad-blocker you might miss out on seeing the deals. It's a very bright TV with remarkable reflection handling, so you can place it in a bright room with many lights or windows and still enjoy a great picture. The Q80R has better reflection handling, better local dimming implementation, and wider viewing angles that favor watching TV with a group of friends. If those options seem a bit 20th-century, there’s always Samsung’s SmartThings control app for iOS and Android. The Samsung Q8FN, on the other hand, has better reflection handling, which is great if you place it in a room with many light sources. We may earn a commission if you click a deal and buy an item. Most colors should appear as they're supposed to, although there might be some inaccuracies. Also, the image on the Q80R remains accurate for fairly large angles. This is a 4k TV that doesn't support 8k content. Black tones retain most of their depth and detail, even if you’re watching from quite an off-axis position. The TCL has deeper blacks in a dark room and can get slightly brighter. Find out how to disable local dimming here. The input lag is remarkably low and the TV responds almost immediately to your actions. This is better reflection handling than the Q70R, although it's a bit worse than the Q8FN. Unfortunately, just like the Q70R and the Q90R, the TV's local dimming can't be completely disabled in the normal settings menu. The Samsung Q80R is an excellent TV for mixed usage. The first is a fairly humdrum handset, recognisable from the entire Samsung TV range. Update 08/02/2019: We have retested the Q80 with the latest firmware, and the SDR peak brightness has increased a bit. Excellent build quality, similar to the Q70R. It’s a bolder, burlier and more assertive listen than its waif-like OLED rivals (except Philips’ B&W-fettled OLED+ 903) – but that big gap between stand and TV is there for a reason. The Samsung Q80R has the same remote as the other Samsung TVs from the 2019 QLED lineup. The Samsung Q80R has wider viewing angles thanks to the 'Ultra Viewing Angle' layer and can remove 24p judder from any source.