Samsung may be launching a QD-OLED model this year, but this QE65QN95B is still at the top of the line-up. The device promises maximum brightness, a lot of color and deep contrast thanks to local dimming. Samsung also updated the Tizen Smart Hub and now supports Dolby Atmos for the first time.
Samsung QE65QN95BAT
Price € 3,599
Screen size 65 inches (165 cm)
Connections 4x HDMI (4x v2.1 (40 Gbps), eARC, ALLM, VRR, HFR 4K120), 1x optical digital out, 3x USB, 3x antenna, bluetooth
Extras HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, WiFi (802.11ac) built-in, Tizen 7.0, AirPlay 2, USB/DLNA media player, DVB-T2/C/S2, dual tuner, CI+ lock, Neural Quantum 4K Processor, Invisible Connection/One Connect box, Smart Calibration
Dimensions 1,447 x 900 x 298 mm (incl. foot)
Weight 30.4 kg (incl. feet)
Consumption SDR 122 (G) / HDR 205 watts (G)
Website Samsung.com 9 Score 90 
- Pros
- Beautiful design with One Connect/Invisible Connection
- High brightness, ideal for lit living room
- Excellent contrast thanks to local dimming
- Beautiful HDR display
- Very good image processing
- Relatively wide viewing angle
- HDMI 2.1 connections with many gaming features
- Negatives
- Subpar audio performance
- No Dolby Vision support
- New Tizen Smart Hub is less user-friendly
- Pricey
You can expect a little more from a top model in terms of design, and it must be said, the Samsung does not disappoint. The Infinity One Design has come over from the top 8K model, it is a beautiful piece of technology. The TV has been reduced to its absolute essence, a screen. That is barely 17 mm thick, edged with a silver-coloured metal edge. There is actually no frame, at the front you only see a thin silver line. The black back has a nice herringbone pattern. The slim screen stands on a central base plate.
Connections are not found on the screen, but on the One Connect Box. This is a separate unit that you connect to the TV with one cable that supplies both power and data. A super handy solution for wall mounting, but also if you want to put the connected sources out of sight in a cupboard. The One Connect Box is even slimmer this year, and you can also place it on the back of the foot for a more classic setup.
The One Connect box contains four HDMI 2.1 connections. They provide 40Gbps bandwidth, and support eARC, ALLM, 4K HFR and VRR (HDMI VRR and AMD Freesync). The input lag is around 15 ms. The range also includes three USB connections, an optical digital audio output, Ethernet connection, WiFi and Bluetooth.
Clarity in abundance
This Samsung QLED uses a VA panel with special reflection film. It suppresses reflections very well, but can cause some smeared rainbow reflection in very bright light. The screen has a very good viewing angle for color, but brightness and contrast do drop if you sit too far from the center. But what we really want to know is how good the contrast and local dimming are.
The backlight is divided into 720 zones, and together with the excellent native contrast of the VA panel, Samsung can create particularly intense contrasts with it. But despite Samsung’s claim that it suppresses the halo effects even more, we still notice that the local dimming sometimes still has a visible impact on the image. In very dark scenes, small points of light such as stars become less intense. And conversely, sometimes you can still see a halo of the dimming zones around larger bright objects against a black background.
Maybe Samsung feels that they can’t go any further, so they are cautiously switching to QD-OLED, the future will show. In any case, you get excellent contrast on this device. Not to mention an intense brightness. In HDR Filmmaker mode we measured 2,100 nits of peak brightness on a 10% window, and still 665 nits on a completely white screen.
This allows you to effortlessly enjoy HDR content, even in a lot of ambient light. The quantum dots in the panel provide a wide color range, although, just like last year, it continues to flirt with the 90% P3 limit that we propose for true HDR reproduction, the Samsung delivers 89% P3. Lots of light and intense colors, which ensures HDR images that really catch the eye.
The Samsung is calibrated quite well in Filmmaker Mode, especially in SDR, but the result is also excellent in HDR. In HDR we only see that the screen hides some black detail. A professional calibration can undoubtedly get something more out of it. The Samsung supports HDR10, HDR10+ adaptive and HLG. Dolby Vision support is still missing after all these years.
AI image processing
Samsung’s processor gets some improvements every year, but these are often relatively small evolutions, just like this year. The performance of the processor is already very good, excellent upscaling, good noise reduction, and excellent deinterlacing (for your live TV images). So there is little to complain about in that regard.
The comments we already had with the previous model still apply. The noise suppression can only be switched on or off, you cannot determine yourself how firmly it tackles noise. This can mean that film grain, which the director deliberately puts in the frame, is sometimes erased. Color bands in soft color gradients also remain visible, as Samsung is a bit behind the competition.
The movement sharpness of the panel is good, we see almost all detail on moving images, although a small double edge remains visible. But where we saw last year that the processor left behind some stutter when you activated motion interpolation, that has completely disappeared this year.
If you really want maximum detail, you can still activate ‘LED Clear Motion’, but this Black Frame Insertion technique only works at 60 Hz this year, causing the image to flicker visibly.
Disappointing audio
Film experience, that is image and sound. And the good news is that Samsung finally supports Dolby Atmos on its TVs this year. In the specifications you also see a 4.2.2 solution, with 70 Watts of power. You can expect something from that. Unfortunately, the super-slim chassis probably plays tricks on the Samsung. We did not find the sound very pleasant, especially because there is a lot of bass missing and the highs often come out a bit shrill. There is no real height effect, and the surround experience is limited.
But the most disturbing thing is that the housing sometimes vibrates clearly audibly. In addition, the TV tries to prevent distortion, but the interventions in the dynamic range are clearly audible. As long as you don’t demand too much volume, or watch quiet programs, that doesn’t bother you. But for an immersive film soundtrack you seem to have to rely on a soundbar.
Well equipped, also for gamers
A double TV tuner so you can record and watch something else at the same time, Google cast (for Netflix and YouTube), Airplay 2, the Ambient mode, Multiview, Google Duo video chat with a USB camera (to be purchased yourself)… The Samsung is richly equipped, that’s for sure.
For gamers there is also the Game Bar, a compact menu on which you can find all important information (fps, VRR status…) and with which you can easily make some adjustments to the image mode. Samsung also offers 144 Hz support, but we see little use for that. After all, it is only available to PC gamers, consoles are limited to 120 Hz.
But what is undoubtedly the most eye-catching is the new design of the Tizen Smart Hub. The ribbon at the bottom of the screen where you found everything has been replaced by a full-screen interface. There you will find a row in the center of the screen on which you can place not only apps but also HDMI inputs or Live TV. The space up there is completely wasted.
The rest of the screen is taken up by recommendations from the Samsung TV Plus service, and a tile for your most recent source. We certainly do not consider this a step forward. Some functions were not in a logical place, although that may just take some getting used to. Sometimes the interface also seemed a bit slow to respond to us, especially when you start up the TV. In short, a lot of functionality, but the ease of use can still be improved.
Conclusion
The Samsung QE65QN95B is a striking appearance. The beautiful design exudes class and luxury, and thanks to the One Connect box, it has an exclusive asset when setting up and connecting. However, that slim design also limits the audio performance, for real cinema sound you should almost certainly turn to a soundbar. And while we mention the negatives, Tizen still provides a lot of features, but the new layout of the Smart Hub seemed less user-friendly to us.
In terms of image, this Samsung has a lot of assets. The miniLED backlighting with local dimming provides excellent contrast and top-class brightness, so that you can enjoy carefree even in a well-lit living room. The intense quantum dot colors and excellent calibration ensure beautiful images, film, sports or games. For gamers, the HDMI 2.1 connections are equipped with all the required features.
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