In case you love color and brightness, then it is best to try this TV
Execs
- Vibrant with pretty colors
- Robust distinction
- Premium construct and design
- Exterior connections field
Cons
- Occasional lighting points
- Costly
Key Specs
- Evaluate Value: £2299.00
- 55-inch display measurement
- 4K UHD decision
- HDR10 and HLG appropriate
- 1500 nits peak brightness
- UHD Premium licensed
- Edge lit with native dimming
What’s the Samsung QE55Q7F?
Welcome to Samsung’s 2017 VIP desk. Right here you’ll discover the QLED collection, which sits on the prime finish and replaces final 12 months’s SUHD vary.
The QLED collection is a three-strong lineup made up of the Q9, Q8, and Q7. We’ve examined the Q9 and the Q8 – try our evaluations of the Samsung QE65Q9FAM and the Samsung QU55Q8C – so let’s have a look at its extra reasonably priced sibling.
Is it good? Oh sure – it’s superb. In some methods, the Q7 is a large step above even final 12 months’s flagship Samsung KS9500. Simply as with the Q9, there are just a few lighting-related drawbacks, however these are eclipsed by color efficiency that I can solely describe as groundbreaking.
Costs begin at £1999 for the 49-inch model (not obtainable within the US), going as much as £2299/$2799 for 55 inches, £3099/$3999 for 65 inches, and £4999/$5999 for 75 inches. The Q7 is accessible in flat and curved variants, labelled Q7F and Q7C respectively – and a fast have a look at Currys PC World exhibits that the curvy mannequin will price an additional £200 throughout all sizes.
What now we have right here is the 55-inch flat model – formally the QE55Q7FAM, or QN55Q7FAM within the US.
Associated: What’s QLED?
Samsung QE55Q7F – Design
Take one have a look at this TV and it’s plainly apparent that this can be a Samsung premium TV.
There’s a whole lot of steel. The body is constituted of steel, as is a lot of the stand and the distant management. Even earlier than you flip it on, there’s an opulent vibe that goes a way in the direction of justifying this TV’s price ticket.
The rear of the QE55Q7F is manufactured from plastic – however it’s strong, and the little bit of texture separates it from the boring black again panels you see on most TVs. As well as, the again of the stand may be opened as much as cover cables – a pleasant contact.
As is now custom with Samsung’s top-end TVs, the entire connections and ports (in addition to energy) are housed in a ‘One Join’ field. The concept is to make it simpler to plug in different gadgets – I’ve injured my again on quite a lot of events squirrelling behind TVs to play with cables.
It’s welcome on the subject of aesthetics, too: you don’t have a nest of cables hanging out of your shiny new buy, plus annexing the brains theoretically means the whole TV is slimmer general.
Connections are beneficiant, as I’d anticipate from a premium mannequin: 4 HDMIs (all 4K and HDR appropriate), three USB ports, Freeview and Freesat tuners, optical out and Ethernet. This field is greater than earlier iterations (about 35cm lengthy), which makes tucking it away a bit of trickier, however I managed to cover it behind my Panasonic DMP-UB700 4K Blu-ray participant with out an excessive amount of issue.
This One Join field wants its personal energy cable, nonetheless, which is a primary. It appears to verify my idea that it homes a major chunk of the TV’s brains. So that you’ll want two mains sockets for the Samsung Q7, which is a bit of annoying.
A minimum of you get a 5-metre lengthy cable working from the One Join field to your TV, so you’ll be able to have your AV system a long way away from the display, must you want. I may arrange the Q7 in my bed room, down the hall from my check lab, with cable to spare.
Samsung has made this cable super-thin; it’s simply 2mm thick and appears a bit of like fishing wire. After I first noticed the Q7 at Samsung HQ, I didn’t truly see the cable. The flip-side to this invisibility is that it’s delicate. It’s fibre optic, so don’t bend it at 90 levels. And preserve it away from pets – my rabbit would chew by means of it in seconds.
I’ve talked about the distant already, however I really feel compelled to do it once more. It’s pretty. The button structure is nearly the identical as final 12 months’s simplified ‘sensible’ distant, solely now it’s principally manufactured from a form of machined aluminium, which feels lush. It has the standard I’d anticipate from luxurious model Bang & Olufsen, which is excessive reward certainly.
Samsung QE55Q7F – Options
Samsung is making a whole lot of noise about QLED, so let’s sort out this primary. You’ll be able to learn our information – What’s QLED? – however listed below are the necessities.
QLED is a time period that’s been bandied round for some time now, however right here it refers to Samsung’s newest evolution of its Quantum-Dot know-how. Mainly, Samsung has wrapped its Quantum Dots in a steel alloy, which permits them to be pushed tougher and positioned nearer to the entrance. This, theoretically, ends in a better vary of color, brightness and distinction, in addition to higher viewing angles.
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I ought to stress this has nothing to do with the legendary emissive QLED tech that’s been theorised for years, which is a bit more like present OLED requirements. Samsung’s QLED nonetheless makes use of LED LCD panels.
Talking of LED – that is an edge-lit TV. None of Samsung’s prime TVs provide full-array backlights this 12 months, which exhibits how a lot confidence the corporate has in QLED.
Watch: OLED vs QLED
Time for some specs, and the Q7 effortlessly qualifies for a UHD Premium sticker. It boasts a peak brightness of 1500 nits. It is a little lower than the 2000 nits claimed by the top-end Q9F, however up from the 1000 nits from final 12 months’s brightest.
That’s on prime of its 4K UHD decision and its 10-bit color compatibility, which interprets to over a billion shades. It might deal with excessive dynamic vary in HDR10 and HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma). There’s no assist for Dolby Imaginative and prescient, however Samsung has been working by itself metadata-friendly various, known as HDR10+. Whereas that’s certain to trigger but extra confusion in an already chaotic HDR panorama, it’s good to know that it’s an open format, which Amazon has already signed as much as.
Final however not least, there’s no 3D. Like almost all the opposite TV producers, Samsung has determined it’s useless. So far as I do know, the one 3D possibility in 2017 is the Panasonic EX750.
Associated: Panasonic’s whole 2017 4K HDR and HD TV lineup
Samsung QE55Q7F – Efficiency
In the case of image high quality, the Samsung Q7 is a deal with. There are some lighting-related caveats, however for probably the most half I’m glad to say that Samsung has reached new heights of HDR efficiency – at the least the place brightness and color is worried.
I examined the Samsung Q7 towards a Samsung UE65KS9500 (the flagship mannequin from 2016 and one in every of final 12 months’s finest TVs) and the brand new Sony KD-65A1. The Q7 fared properly.
The Q7 not solely manages to bump the brightness previous final 12 months’s 1000 nits, it additionally achieves better element within the gentle. It goes properly with the pin-sharp 4K decision.
My newest favorite check disc is the Planet Earth 2 UHD Blu-ray, and probably the greatest scenes for trying out shiny element efficiency is within the Mountains episode, the place eagles struggle over a useless fox.
The snowy battleground is displayed with aplomb. There’s a exceptional quantity of texture within the snow that’s kicked up, contemplating the TV was working at full brightness for a lot of the body. I pushed the Sony A1 OLED to its brightest, and there wasn’t as a lot differentiation within the whites. That is precisely the form of factor that makes a powerful case for the continued use of LCD in HDR footage.
The distinction is spectacular, too. In comparison with the KS9500, the general image is extra hanging – whether or not you watch it in SDR or HDR. That’s some achievement. The blacks are a bit of deeper, the highlights are little brighter, and the light-reducing ‘moth-eye’ filter works properly to scale back reflections, even with my lights on full and the curtains pulled again.
After which there are the colors. Oh, the colors. That is the one best energy of the Samsung Q7, and a compelling argument for QLED. I had been underneath the impression that Samsung did an amazing job with the colors on the KS9500, however the Q7 makes that look flat by comparability.
The Q7 appears to be like richer, with better selection to shading. Regardless of the brightness of the snowy battle scene, the eagles and the useless fox are properly saturated. At such brightness you’d anticipate some washout of colors, however they continue to be vivid. I swap to the hummingbirds scene within the Jungles episode, and the Q7 does a superb job of conveying their iridescent feathers with all their shifting sheens and refined blends. It isn’t simply extra colors, both – pores and skin tones look extra pure, too.
I used to be additionally impressed by the movement of the Samsung Q7. There’s little in the best way of artefacts and trails, and definition isn’t impacted by quick actions.
It’s protected to say that the Samsung Q7 does an amazing job of dealing with HDR content material, however Blu-rays and DVDs look good too. 1080p is successfully upscaled with minimal noise. Customary-definition content material is inevitably blurrier, however footage aren’t too delicate.
I did point out there have been some lighting-related drawbacks, nonetheless. Blacks aren’t uniform: there’s noticeable blooming when there’s a shiny object on a darkish image – say, the headlights within the HDR Amazon collection Bosch. I additionally noticed some clouding within the corners, plus shadow element could possibly be higher. It’s right here that OLED maintains an edge – though it doesn’t get as shiny, darkish scenes don’t undergo from sturdy highlights.
Sometimes, I additionally seen some bands of sunshine, little doubt a results of the sting lighting. Samsung has achieved nice issues right here – brightness, color and distinction I by no means thought potential on an edge-lit TV – however I can’t assist however really feel that this TV could be even higher with full-array backlight. Little question it might make the TV’s kind thicker, however I may stay with that.
Lastly, viewing angles aren’t nice. This was one of many nice promoting factors of QLED, and I’d seen spectacular viewing angles from Samsung’s prototypes, however it doesn’t appear to work as properly in apply. I lean left and proper on my couch, 2.5 metres from the display, and I can see the distinction fading. It’s finest to remain inside 30 levels from centre.
Setup ideas: I like to make use of a tweaked model of the Customary preset. I have a tendency to observe TV in comparable lighting settings, so I turned off the Eco settings, which embody an ambient gentle sensor. Change off movement processing (or have it on handbook in case you should, with de-blur and de-judder set to very low). For HDR efficiency, set Native Dimming to plain or excessive, however preserve Distinction Enhancer off to keep away from lack of element. Additionally, bumping the gamma setting to plus one or two helps a bit of with shadow element.
A fast observe on audio: whereas the Samsung Q7 doesn’t have the flowery no-speaker sound system of the Sony A1 OLED, it does a wonderfully tremendous job. It will get loads loud with out hardening up, and there’s a good tonal steadiness. Voices are clear but weighty, and the Countdown theme shows loads of dynamism.
It’s actually adequate for day-to-day utilization, and I’d go as far as to say it’s enough for the odd film too. It isn’t a correct cinematic sound, so don’t anticipate a lot bass weight or extension, nor a lot in the best way of results placement, however I don’t really feel compelled to insist you put money into a soundbar.
Samsung QE55Q7F – Software program
The software program has noticeably improved from final 12 months. It’s nonetheless utilizing a launcher bar sensible hub, however the velocity and responsiveness is considerably higher. There’s no stutter or delay, even once you first energy it up. Switching between an enter (say, a UHD Blu-ray participant) and an app is seamless. I like the best way the app tiles provide up your most not too long ago seen programmes, so you’ll be able to bounce straight in with out first going to an app’s homescreen.
You get the 4K and HDR variations of Netflix and Amazon Video, too. There’s additionally Google Play Motion pictures and YouTube, plus BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub, however no signal of All 4 and Demand 5. Since there’s no YouView or Freeview Play integration, you don’t get the total suite of UK catch-up providers – as you do on the Sony KD-65A1.
I’m stunned to say that I’m glad concerning the return of voice management. This existed on Samsung sensible TVs just a few years in the past, however it was a bit ineffective. Now it truly works. It isn’t anyplace close to as sensible because the Amazon Hearth TV Stick’s Alexa-based voice system, however it’s useful for once you don’t wish to manually click on by means of menus. Simply maintain down the button on the distant and say “HDMI three” or “Brightness 10”.
When Samsung first floated its Tizen launcher bar just a few years in the past, I felt it was a pale imitation of LG’s webOS. As we speak, I reckon it stands by itself as a clear, intuitive interface.
Ought to I purchase the Samsung QE55Q7F?
The Samsung Q7 is critically spectacular, and I can see QLED holding its personal towards OLED for just a few years but. Its benefits considerably outweigh its flaws, and I’m super-impressed by its dealing with of brightness and color. It’s actually costly, however when you have £2300/$2800 burning a gap in your pockets then this can be a good option to spend it.
As ever, in case your precedence is black uniformity and shadow element, it’s finest to stay to OLED. The brand new Sony A1 OLED prices extra at £3500 for the 55-inch model, however the the Philips 55POS901F OLED is now £2500.
Associated: Greatest TVs to Purchase
Verdict
QLED proves that the battle for HDR dominance is much from over. In case you love color and brightness, test it out.
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Trusted Rating
Rating intimately
- Worth 8
- Sensible TV 8
- Picture High quality 8
- Design 9
- Sound High quality 8