Samsung QN900C and Samsung HW-Q990C - Unsurprisingly, Still the Best

Look, I know I say this every year so let's just get it out of the way right off the bat; yes, the latest Samsung QLED 8K TV is phenomenally good and is probably the best TV money can buy right now. That's not news. The real surprise would be if it wasn't the best this year.

However, there are some interesting developments to discuss and even more excitingly, Samsung sent me a whiz-bang sound system to pair it with for this review so we'll have a good listen to that as well.

The Neo QLED 8K QN900C is the culmination of years and years of Samsung's determination to produce the best display possible. Many of its features are refinements of relatively new technologies while some are more of a heritage thing - the One Connect box for example. 

This is key to the QN900C's ability to be one of the slimmest TVs I've ever set up. the One Connect box moves all the ports, processing and power supply away from the panel and puts them in a separate unit - connected to the display by a single cable. Although these days, if you prefer, you can still attach the One Connect box to the back of the TV, out of sight, clipped to the stand included in the box. There's even a special clip-on cover to keep any cables as concealed as possible.

Yes, other than the picture itself, perhaps the most striking thing about a Samsung Neo QLED is the "Infinity One Design." Not only is the stand-alone panel a mere 15.2mm thick but the screen is virtually borderless - only the thinnest of metal bezels to hold the glass in place. This has led me to comment negatively about other excellent televisions when they don't have quite the same borderless abilities. The Infinity illusion is now further enhanced with the integration of the Philips Hue app. This means you can add Hue lighting behind the TV and it will match the on-screen action colour-for-colour; the green of a sports pitch now extends across your walls while movie explosions don't just happen on-screen but beyond it as well.

Another added, integrated feature in recent times is the Xbox app, giving Xbox Ultimate Game Pass subscribers access to the Cloud Gaming library with no console required. Assuming you have a bluetooth controller and a decent internet connection, this works brilliantly and I've spent way too much time playing the Lego Star Wars "Skywalker Saga" over the last week or so.

Samsung TV Plus is yet another added extra - dozens of live TV channels featuring news, sport, comedy, movies, kids entertainment and more - all for free, no subscription required. This service has improved markedly in terms of content since I first discovered it last year and I assume it will continue to get better.

Addons like Hue, Xbox and Samsung TV Plus are not unique to this particular telly of course - most late-model Samsungs have them too, including the new OLED model I reviewed recently.

As I mentioned at the time, some people seem determined to choose OLED over QLED (or Neo QLED) and it's great Samsung now offers the choice. However, I've seen both TVs in the same room and there's something about the 8K QN900C that gives it a significant edge as far as I'm concerned. Since the advent of Samsung's first 8K QLEDs, some years back, I've found the depth of image to be quite mesmerising. I've often described this effect as being the closest thing to 3D you can get - that feeling you can almost reach into the screen and become part of the action, Tron-style. This sensation, this sense of depth has only intensified over the years, becoming even more tangible once Samsung moved from QLED to Neo QLED, due to the dramatic increase in resolution.

And it's not just native 8K content that provides this magical, 3D-like experience - which is just as well because right now the only place you're likely to find anything in 8K is the occasional YouTube video. No, thanks to the QN900C's Neural Quantum Processor lesser content is upscaled to 8K and looks sumptuous. There are several clever HDR tricks going on here to enhance brightness and make colours pop under any lighting conditions and Samsung has now even been validated by Pantone for its colour accuracy.

Make no mistake, it's an incredible picture.

And if it's a miracle Samsung manages to carry all that off on a panel less than 2cm thick, how on earth do they fit all those speakers in there too?

In another evolution - more than a brand new innovation - OTS Pro has been refined even further. This is the audio technology that tracks the action across the screen, although I can still only really appreciate the full effect when sitting very close to the TV. As good as the speakers are, there's still no substitute for an external Dolby Atmos surround sound system - especially one that can work in tandem with the QN900C's own speakers to provide the most immersive soundscape possible.

This TV/Soundbar/Subwoofer/Wireless Surround speaker combination is called Q-Symphony - again, not a new feature but one that now works better than ever thanks to SpaceFit Sound Pro. This automatically calibrates the Samsung TV and its connected speakers to your room, ensuring convincing height effects and optimising bass.

The HW-Q990C soundbar comes with a pair of pre-paired surround speakers and a massive subwoofer unit (weighing in at almost 12kgs). 

I use Samsung's SmartThings app to set up their review TVs as it remembers previous settings and generally speeds up the process. This is also the best way to add the HW-Q990C sound system too - here you can adjust EQ, choose from different sound modes (surround, Adaptive Sound etc) although don't get too excited about being able to tweak the settings of the wireless rear speakers - while some systems will let you manually configure how much level and balance the rear speakers will pump out, you'll have to trust Samsung's automated SpaceFit Sound function for that. To be fair, it does a fine job - I've just been watching the final season of Barry and there's a lot of off-screen action mixed into the soundtrack. This effect comes across brilliantly, causing the dog to be seriously confused about who else was in the room on a number of occasions.

Everything about the HW-Q990C is big; as I've mentioned, the sub is enormous. The surrounds are not too oversized, although the do feature up-firing speakers so they'll need a bit of space and the soundbar itself is also quite intrusive - almost as wide as the 65" TV above it, quite deep but luckily, not so high as to obstruct any of the screen when it's on its relatively low stand.

One weird anomaly; the small, rubber row of physical controls in the centre of the top of the soundbar wasn't glued on straight - see the picture. It still seems to work okay and to be fair, the only time I touched this was to pair the soundbar with my phone but I'd expect a little more attention to detail from a NZD$2,500.00 sound system. Perhaps this was a pre-consumer review model, rushed out to me in a hurry.

Not to worry - the way it sounds is the important thing and it's pretty much perfect - the sound is also big. Plenty of power to spare and lots of space for dialogue, music and sound effects. There is an Active Voice Amplifier toggle if required but I certainly haven't felt the need to activate it - thats the advantage of the vast soundscape the HW-Q990C seems to create - there's plenty of space for everything to be heard clearly.

One other small thing - the remote for the soundbar is not solar-powered like the remote for the TV is. This seems strange given Samsung's proud commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. perhaps they'll figure this out next year. Again, not a major issue for me because I have the system connected to the TV via eARC HDMI, so the Q900C's One Remote controls everything.

All in all, this is a sublime home entertainment experience - the near perfect images the Q900C produces are further enhanced by the Q-Symphony combo of buit-in speakers and the convincing surround punch of the HW-Q990C sound system.

Added extras like Philips Hue integration and Xbox Cloud Gaming make this such a total package you may never leave the house again.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C.

Click here for more information and pricing in the Samsung Q-series soundbar HW-Q990C.