Samsung Neo QLED TV QN95B review – Premium All-Rounder

It’s been around ten years since 4K hardware became affordable for the majority of potential television buyers. Since then, 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR) content has proliferated to fill that hardware gap as well as take advantage of advances in the tech. Yet another advancement along that route is Samsung’s Neo QLED display tech. And as seen on Samsung Neo QLED TV 65″ QN95B (2022), that tech delivers a ‘next-gen’ image in a wide range of scenarios.

Design

The 2022 Samsung Neo QLED TV is a gorgeous object. We have our review model, a razor-thin slab of aluminium, freestanding on a razor thin slab of shaped aluminium.

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There’s a unity to the chassis and stand’s visual design that creates a striking contrast with the deep black of the anti-glare screen. Samsung call the design ‘Infinity One’ in reference to to the unified look and slim housing.

The 65″ diagonal of the screen is contained within a near-frameless design. Despite the large size and accompanying weight of 2022 Samsung Neo QLED TV 65″, the depth of the unit, including the footstand, is under 30 centimetres (12 inches). Without the stand, the unit is less than 2cm thick.

The rear of the unit is flat like the front and gives a pleasing symmetry from all angles.

It must be pointed out that, like most ultra-slim TVs, there is an accompanying decoder/signal box into which power, HDMI, USB and the other necessary inputs are fed. Samsung’s slimline box, One Connect, runs a single silver cable to the TV to leave its look uncluttered.

To house a screen of this size in such a slender and slim frame is no mean feat. To balance it on a modest 28cm deep footstand with the feeling of sturdiness the unit offers is a miracle.

Install

Once the TV has found a suitable resting spot, the process for setting up is relatively straightforward. Even more straightforward if you have a Samsung account you’ve used to set up similar devices before.

Users can input their WiFi and accounts the old fashioned way, with a remote, one key at a time. An Android or iPhone device can be drafted in to help. Alternatively, a Bluetooth keyboard will do the trick.

The process takes a few minutes with another few minutes spent waiting for the TV to install updates and apps. Then we tune the TV and off we go.

The option to incorporate Alexa’s smart home and assistant into the TV rather than Bixby is a useful feature for those invested in Amazon’s ecosystem. And another way to simplify the setup process.

Next-Gen Display

Samsung Neo QLED TV 65″ QN95B features 2022’s most exciting display innovations. Neo QLED pushes the boundary for screen brightness and colour. The display does not disappoint in person.

I was forced to place the review unit in our kitchen since my own TV was too awkward to unseat. Unknowingly, I had put the 2,000 nits to the ultimate test with the summer sun flooding its surroundings with sunlight for 8 hours a day.

A test Samsung Neo QLED TV 65″ QN95B passed with searing colours. The ambient light sensing tech and the AI-led hue and brightness adjustments keep the image consistent. Even on the brightest days, the image is full and vivid.

The display uses Quantum Dot technology to deliver an accurate one billion colours. All made to sing in any light. The device does not support Dolby Vision but covers a lot of contrast with HDR10, HLG and HDR10+.

Contrast and Motion

Motion is handled remarkably well with low latency and an appreciably deft handling of moving objects by the image processor.

9th gen. video games console content looks stunning. PS5 and Xbox Series X‘s 4K HDR output is deep and visually immersive. Variable framerate and 120Hz content is well served by Samsung Neo QLED TV QN95B.

A minimum input lag of around 10ms is excellent in general. But in a TV this size with a base image quality of this level, it’s almost unbelievable.

Game Motion Plus is a blur reduction process that doesn’t cost much in terms of lag. There are a range of presets to suit certain genres, prioritising latency to varying degrees.

One gaming centred feature that works incredibly with most older content is AI-led auto-HDR. Another gaming-centred feature is a form of darkfield control which alters the contrast and brightness for objects moving against a background in the dark.

The deep contrast of the device is a result of Samsung’s Neo QLED lighting technology. Neo QLED uses a set of over 700 lighting spots to deliver fine detail surrounded by complete darkness.

The result is accurate local dimming and inky blacks juxtaposed against searing brightness for incredible contrast.

The Sound of Premium

With a set of eight multi-directional speakers and support for Dolby Atmos, you get a wide and expressive soundscape from the box. The faux surround performance is bolstered by an acoustic measurement of its surroundings.

Our review unit made a short blast of noise to make a profile for the tiled and sonically ‘wet’ room it stood in. Sure enough, it sounds amazing in a room that generally reverbs like an empty church.

Aside from a present but understandably light low-end, Samsung Neo QLED TV QN95B delivers a cinematic surround sound experience. Moving objects track realistically, atmospheric din envelops viewers.

Helicopters flying overhead, traffic, rain, the sounds of battle. The audio space is well defined and the channels are crisp and clear.

As Standard

Samsung Neo QLED TV QN95B boasts an extensive, almost exhaustive list of features. Out of the box you get Samsung TV which a selection of two dozen or so channels streamed from Rakuten TV and others.

You get DEX support so any Samsung phone or tablet can seamlessly interact with the TV. Second screen via WiFi from practically any device you have in your home via some app or casting service.

Windows PC and Macs both have native apps to integrate with Samsung Neo QLED TV QN95B. Pair a keyboard and mouse and your TV is your PC.

Streaming Explosion

With consumers streaming more than ever, Samsung have decked the Neo QLED TV QN95B line with a comprehensive suite of corresponding media options. On top of many pre-installed video and music apps, we have a particularly excellent implementation of Xbox Clouding Gaming for TV.

Your internet connection will be the limit to your experience. Our connection has a latency of around 15ms with an average down speed of 50-80Mbps. While it was a noticeable downgrade over a native feed with a console in the room, it wasn’t much.

Xbox Clouding Gaming was reliable in our time with it and dropping me to menu twice in a few weeks. The game picked up where I left off like it would with Quick Resume.

It won’t take you long to get used to it. And it won’t take you long to forget you are gaming via the cloud. Gamers can use a wide range of controllers with the Xbox App so the novelty of playing as the Chief with a DualSense is there.

A nice touch is ability to navigate the entire TV with your controller of choice.

Two-Tier Menu

Samsung Neo QLED TV QN95B offers a huge range of functions and an wide array of options to tinker with its many features. Samsung have hidden many of the more advanced features away in a fuller menu of options while keeping some of the lighter stuff in a quick menu.

There are probably too many options withheld from the quick menu. And it’s possibly a little too difficult to find your way to the full settings suite. While you will get used to it and eventually you will get to grips with how to get to which menu from where, it’s at times unintuitive.

The Home menu, while customisable, is a little cluttered by default. Samsung Neo QLED TV’s default menu seems to want to show off all that it can do on one screen.

While gaming there is a third menu, Game Bar 2.0. This offers a host of image processing features to improve image quality at the expense of latency. The aforementioned Game Motion Plus and AI-led Auto-HDR being two of note.

The Game Bar also sports a simplified latency selection option. You select Fast, Faster or Fastest and the TV offers three levels of processing to meet your lag needs.

GameBar 2.0 is the default menu when pressing the Xbox or PS button when using Xbox or Stadia which is a nice touch.

Almost Too Good at Times

The AI neural processors do a magnificent job of a wide range of content. The AI saves alot of old YouTube videos, DVDs and other now-subpar material and presents it well-enough to not hurt the eyes on such a high-quality display.

There are a few limits on what the AI can do. Some types of content is beyond upscaling, even 2022’s finest.

Swathes of macroblocking, fringing and rainbow artifacts show on some types of overcompressed video. FMV in video games can look especially poor since Game Mode switches off my processing features to offer reduced input lag.

Halo: Infinite has a mixture of in-engine and pre-rendered cutscenes in its opening hour with Samsung Neo QLED TV QN95B showing the heavy compression used in prerendered footage.

You can’t really blame the TV for showing off the sins of old signals. Especially since many types of content that should look awful get a new lease of life on Samsung Neo QLED TV QN95B.

Specifications

An almost overengineered marvel of display innovation, Samsung Neo QLED TV 65″ QN95B does everything exceptionally well.

The series has obviously been built without compromise and with little heed for cost. The result is a spectacle that brings out the best in a range of media.

If you want to spend extra on something truly breath-taking in action, then 2022’s Neo QLED makes a strong case for your cash.

Review unit provided by PR

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