Samsung QN90A Review: Better Than OLED TVs?

There are relatively few reasons not to get an OLED panel if you’re spending more than a thousand dollars on television. Despite being one of the most well-known brands on the market, Samsung has yet to develop its own OLED television. In fact, they claim that their Neo QLED displays are brighter than OLEDs from the likes of LG, Sony, and other manufacturers in the industry. With that in mind, let’s see if their flagship 4K QLED TV, the Samsung QN90A, is everything it claims to be.

See Where The Samsung QN90A Ranks In Our List Of The Best 4K TVs For Gaming.

Overview Of The QN90A

The Samsung QN90A QLED is pretty much unbeatable when it comes to 4k televisions with QLED displays. Unlike OLED TVs like the LG C1, QLED TVs do not suffer from irreversible burn-in, so you may use it to stream the same video over and over again without worrying about static spoiling your screen.

What Makes This Neo QLED TV Better?

Apart from that, the QN90A is also an upgrade from its predecessors because it employs Mini LED as its backlighting, it is an advanced form of their standard QLED series. This enables the TV to become exceptionally bright, allowing it to prevent glare or bring out highlights in HDR content, as well as giving it additional control over its full-array local dimming feature.

Mini LED backlights the display with millions of tiny LEDs, and with Samsung’s impressive innovations, this type of technology is already approaching OLED-level dark performance without the limits imposed by OLED’s weakness to brightness.

As a result, this new evolution of LED TVs can be brighter than OLED TVs, making them ideal for vibrant colors and bright environments. And this is exactly the advantage the QN90A has over OLED displays.

However, viewing in extremely dark areas is probably the only time you’ll notice the QLED TV isn’t nearly as black as an OLED display. Turn down the lights and watch a movie with a lot of darker tones; you’ll see a hint of light blooming surrounding brighter subjects. This tends to occur when light from the backlight leaks around the sides of the lighted subject.

Sizes, Ports, Gaming, & More

Furthermore, with the exception of the 43-inch variant, which lacks VRR and is limited to a 60Hz panel, the Samsung QN90A comes in a range of sizes, all of which should function similarly regardless of which size you choose.

The QN90A also has one HDMI 2.1 input, letting you fully leverage the capabilities of new-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X and PS5. This television also includes one of Samsung’s One Connect Boxes, which connects to the set by fiber optic cable and provides four HDMI 2.1 connectors, guaranteeing that anyone with several gaming devices is properly catered for.

Samsung’s smart TV platform, Tizen, offers smart connectivity and a diverse range of apps, including Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, and Now, as well as all of the traditional catch-up TV services.

Furthermore, gamers will absolutely love the QN90A’s rapid response time for smooth motions, as well as the little input lag, which makes gaming feel immediate and responsive. It also supports both FreeSync and G-SYNC for reduced screen tearing.

Overall, the QN90A’s image quality is superb, thanks to an AI-powered Neo Quantum 4K CPU, and its Intelligent Mode optimizes all sources, making it a comfortable screen to watch whatever you choose.

Features & Specifications

• Sizes Available: 43″, 50″, 55″, 65″, 75″, and 85″
• Resolution: 4K
• Display Type: Neo QLED (Mini LED)
• Input Lag: 10.1ms (1080/60)
• Refresh Rate: 120Hz
• HDR Compatibility: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG
• Inputs: HDMI 2.1
• VRR: Yes.
• Supported Streaming Services: Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, YouTube, ESPN
• Extra Special Features: ‎Quantum Matrix Technology; Neo Quantum Processor 4K; Quantum HDR 32X, Object Tracking Sound+; Motion Xcelerator Turbo+

Check Out Samsung’s Official Introduction Of The QN90A Below.

What We Love About The Samsung QN90A

Design

Even though every TV appears the same to me, I’ll still give Samsung extra plus points in managing to give the QN90A a really high-end and premium feel. The stand is the most evident design upgrade when compared to its predecessors. It is centered and with a tiny footprint and it looks cleaner and sleeker than other TVs that are held up by two legs.

In comparison to comparable 4K TVs, I prefer Samsung’s Mini LED model’s inch-thick, practically bezel-less panel. Personally, I find that having a TV so impossibly thin seems sleek until you try to get it out of the box, mount it on a wall, or put it on the provided stand. If you have a heavier touch, you know the feeling. However, with the QN90A, I didn’t have to worry about my fingers shattering the display.

Even then, the bezels on the Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV are nearly undetectable from afar, blurring the line between the panel and the chassis. Only a little protrusion on the lower right corner of the screen, which displays a Samsung logo and conceals a multi-purpose button, breaks up the TV’s pristine front view.

Except for the power cable connector, all connections on the QN90A are on the right side of the back panel. Four HDMI ports (one with eARC), an optical audio output, two USB ports, an Ethernet port, a 3.5mm EX-Link (RS-232) port, and an antenna/cable connection are all located on the right side of the device and are easily accessible. Keep in mind there are no analog video inputs on the model.

Functionality

Samsung’s smart TV interface is simple, straightforward, and is powered by Samsung’s very own Tizen.

Voice control is built-in, and you can use Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Samsung’s own AI, Bixby, for assistance. When you push the mic button on the clicker, whichever option you select will be available. You can issue commands hands-free with Amazon and Bixby by just calling out “Alexa” or saying “Hi, Bixby” as their wake words. Also, unlike last year, the mic is housed in the TV itself, not the remote.

It also functions admirably as a gaming monitor. Variable refresh rates are supported by Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync on the QN90A, which can reach 120 frames per second at 4K resolution. If you have one of Sony’s or Microsoft’s newer consoles, games will look and feel more fluid and responsive as a result.

Display Quality

The Samsung QN90A offers the most stunning pictures of any non-OLED TV I’ve ever seen on the market. On top of that, it’s also the best 4K TV to be used in a well-lit environment thanks to its unparalleled brightness. It’s extremely bright, and even with the most difficult HDR content, it can easily provide deep, inky black levels with minimal blooming.

The QN90A is powered by a series of tiny light cells that use mini-LED lights to provide dramatic contrast and backlight control. This and the Neo Quantum Processor 4K all work together to deliver a 4K-optimized image for your viewing pleasure.

Our Least Favorite Things

No Dolby Vision

While I have previously mentioned that the QN90A’s HDR capabilities are fantastic, they do emphasize one of my concerns with Samsung TVs. The overall HDR performance is excellent, but the HDR formats are also somewhat limited. Samsung does not support Dolby Vision, the finest HDR standard available, instead opting for its own HDR10+ technology. However, this isn’t a huge dealbreaker to me, but something you might want to keep in mind.

In A Nutshell

Now that we have finished discussing the things we liked and disliked about the Samsung QN90A, here’s a narrowed-down list of the good and the bad with Samsung’s flagship 4K QLED TV.

Our Final Verdict

All in all, the Samsung QN90A is a fantastic television for any use and it’s definitely up there with one of the best 4K TVs you can buy in the market, period. Its VA panel has a high native contrast ratio along with unmatched brightness and excellent local dimming for displaying really deep blacks. If you wish to use it in a well-lit room, it becomes bright enough to prevent glare and has outstanding reflection handling. On top of that, gamers will also really appreciate its VRR compatibility, reduced input lag, and quick response time, which will provide a very satisfactory gaming experience.

At the end of the day, it’s your decision whether you prefer a QLED TV or an OLED panel. If you watch in brightly lit rooms, then your best bet is going with a QLED TV. However, if you mostly watch content in darker rooms, then OLED might be a better option for you.

Have you already bought the Samsung QN90A? Or are you still weighing your options on other 4K TVs in the market? Let me know in the comments section below if you have insights, suggestions to share, or questions to ask. I would love to hear all your thoughts!

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