Samsung Q80R Review: An Almost-Flawless QLED Television

Samsung Q80R: At First Glance

Samsung is one of the most popular and reliable TV brands you’ll find in the market today. Its popularity is a result of its consistency in manufacturing high-performing televisions in recent years.

In order to continue with this impressive tradition, Samsung introduced QLED televisions five years ago. QLED televisions are known to deliver exceptional picture quality and are major rivals to LG’s OLED televisions.

So, to expand its collection of QLED televisions, Samsung released the Q80R in 2019. The Samsung Q80R has been making waves in the television market since its release due to its excellent picture quality and almost-flawless performance.

In fact, this television isn’t as expensive as other QLED televisions, costing about $799.50 in April 2022 (when I wrote this article). Having said a few things about the Samsung Q80R, let us get to know it more in the subsequent sections below.

Samsung Q80R: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Just like most QLED Samsung televisions, the Samsung Q80R comes with a sleek design that is attention-grabbing. To be more descriptive, this TV has very thin metallic bezels around its display screen.

These metallic bezels feature a matte-gray finish, with the bottom bezel slightly thicker than the others. The reason for the bottom bezel’s slight thickness is due to the black “SAMSUNG” logo at the center.

Turning to the Samsung Q80R’s back, you will find a plastic panel with a black textured finish. Furthermore, there are horizontal stripes all over this plastic back panel that makes it appealing to look at.

That’s not all; there are also four holes at the center of this television’s back panel. These holes are specifically to accommodate a 400 x 300 VESA mount for mounting the Samsung Q80R on the wall.

Besides, the television’s plastic back panel isn’t particularly thick as the TV itself has an overall thickness of 60.9 mm. Therefore, when the Samsung Q80R is mounted on the wall, it should not stick out or look awkward.

Impressively, Samsung was kind enough to include a set of groves and lines at the bottom part of the Q80R’s back panel for cable management. Apart from that, there are hollows at the back of the TV’s legs also for cable management.

Speaking of legs, the Samsung Q80R comes with gray metallic T-shaped legs. Sadly, each of these T-shaped legs is located very close to the edges of the TV.

As a result, one would need a fairly large table to place the television on if not wall-mounted. Nevertheless, due to the metallic build of these legs, they are very sturdy and offer adequate support for the Samsung Q80R to stand firmly.

However, these metallic legs don’t stop the television from wobbling when forcefully pushed or nudged. With that being said, let us now discuss the size and weight of this Samsung TV.

The Samsung Q80R measures 1450.3 x 60.9 x 830.5 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 25219.7 g. Compared to most 65-inch QLED televisions in the market, the Samsung Q80R is lighter and slimmer.

For example, the TCL 65Q825 weighs 31706.1 g and measures 1445.2 x 78.7 x 835.7 mm (W x D x H).

In summary, the Samsung Q80R’s design is quite appealing, featuring thin bezels and two forms of a cable management system. Also, this television is lighter and slimmer compared to most of its competitors.

Therefore, the Samsung Q80R deserves nothing less than a nine out of ten rating in this design review section.

Samsung Q80R: Display Features and Picture Quality

The display is the most crucial aspect people look out for when purchasing a television. Thankfully, the Samsung Q80R didn’t disappoint in that aspect, as it features an excellent 65-inch QLED display.

For those who don’t know, the acronym “QLED” stands for quantum dot light-emitting diode. Furthermore, it is similar to the regular LED panel but with a quantum dot layer for exceptional brightness and color accuracy.

In addition to its QLED panel, the Samsung Q80R’s 65-inch display also features a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution. With the combination of the QLED panel and this resolution, this television’s display should offer vivid and realistic picture quality.

Besides, QLED displays are known to have excellent contrast ratios, and this television’s display isn’t an exception. Specifically, the display comes with a contrast ratio of 3681:1.

Due to this impressive contrast ratio, the Samsung Q80R’s QLED display will be able to produce rich/deep blacks. Therefore, movies with numerous dark scenes, like Blade, will be great to watch on this Samsung television.

By the way, contrast ratio is the difference between the most luminous shade and the darkest shade a display can produce. Furthermore, the higher the contrast ratio, the richer the blacks the display will be able to render.

To further enrich the blacks its display produces, the Samsung Q80R supports local dimming. For clarity, local dimming is a technology that increases a display’s contrast ratio and black level by dimming backlight zones.

Thus, with local dimming, blacks on the Samsung Q80R’s QLED display will be richer and deeper than they would be without local dimming. Thereby improving the overall picture quality of the display.

Also, making the television ideal for dark room viewing. Aside from supporting local dimming, the Samsung Q80R also supports HDR (High Dynamic Range).

Specifically, the TV supports three HDR formats which are HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. In brief, HDR is a picture technology that enhances a display’s brightness and color accuracy when rendering HDR-compatible content.

Therefore, when you are watching such content on the Samsung Q80R, the picture quality will be more realistic and lifelike. For your information, you can find HDR-compatible content on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.

Moving on, due to HDR and its QLED panel, the Samsung Q80R’s display offers an outstanding peak brightness of 875 nits. Hence, this Samsung television should be adequate for usage in well-lit environments or outdoors.

Aside from being adequate for usage in well-lit areas, this television is also ideal for a large rooming setting. This is due to the fact that its QLED display offers wide viewing angles.

As a result, colors and pictures will remain intact without losing quality when you watch the TV from extreme angles or from the sides.

The Samsung Q80R continues to impress in this section as its display offers a low input lag of 15.1 milliseconds. For clarity, input lag is the time a display takes to respond to a signal input from external sources like a wireless gamepad.

Furthermore, the input lag is a vital factor that determines a TV’s gaming capability. Basically, the display needs to have an input lag of 15 milliseconds or less before the television can be considered adequate for gaming.

As seen clearly above, the input lag of the Samsung Q80R’s QLED display is just 0.1 ms above the recommended 15 ms. Hence, the Samsung Q80R should be great for playing video games.

Apart from gaming, you’ll also enjoy watching fast-moving content on this TV because its display has a fast response time. Specifically, the Samsung Q80R’s QLED display has a response time of 11.8 milliseconds.

Thus, you will notice minimal or no blur trails when watching fast-moving content like sports on the television. For the record, response time is the duration a display takes to transition from one color to another.

In summary, the Samsung Q80R is absolutely flawless when it comes to the display department. In fact, the television is good for gamers and also people who love watching fast-moving content.

Therefore, the Samsung Q80R deserves a rating of nine out of ten in this display review section.

Samsung Q80R Sound Features

With such fabulous performance in the display department, one wouldn’t expect anything less from the Samsung Q80R in the sound department. Thankfully, the television doesn’t disappoint as it features two 4.1 CH 40-watt speakers that deliver excellent sound quality.

Furthermore, these speakers are significantly loud to the extent that they can comfortably fill a large room with sound. Impressively, unlike most modern televisions, the Samsung Q80R features a built-in subwoofer for adequate bass production.

Hence, watching movies with lots of bass or rumbling and thumping sounds will be enjoyable on the television. Aside from that, the Samsung Q80R delivers an impressive distortion performance.

Specifically, this Samsung television recorded an excellent score of 0.4% on the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) test. For clarity, the THD test is an assessment that evaluates the level of distortion a sound device can produce.

Furthermore, a score of 1% or less on the THD test shows that the sound device produces a minimal amount of distortion. Meanwhile, a score above 1% shows that the sound device is capable of producing a significant amount of distortion.

Obviously, the Samsung Q80R’s THD test result is far less than 1%. Therefore, the TV’s speakers will produce minimal to no distortion even when you set the television to the max volume level.

For your information, distortion in this context refers to the deformation of a sound device’s original audio frequencies. Thereby delivering disturbing noises and unpleasant sound quality.

Apart from its impressive distortion performance, the Samsung Q80R also features a popular sound technology called Dolby Audio. This sound technology enhances the surround sound production and loudness of the TV’s speakers, making them produce an immersive and cinematic sound quality.

Also, thanks to Dolby Audio, the speakers are able to produce audible and understandable dialogue. For context, dialogue is the conversation between multiple characters in a movie.

All this considered, the Samsung Q80R deserves a rating of nine out of ten in this sound features review section.

Samsung Q80R: Ports and Connectivity Features

The Samsung Q80R comes with a decent amount of ports that are all right-facing on its back panel. Although the ports are all right-facing, they might still be difficult to access when the television is wall-mounted.

This is because they are housed in an enclosed compartment. Having said that, let us now explore the various kinds of ports that the Samsung Q80R offers.

To begin with, this television comes with four HDMI ports, one of which supports ARC (Audio Return Channel). Thus, with that particular ARC-supported HDMI port, users should be able to easily connect a soundbar to the Samsung Q80R.

Aside from the HDMI ports, this television also features two USB ports, a digital audio output, an RF connector, and an Ethernet port. Meanwhile, for wireless connectivity, the Samsung Q80R comes with Bluetooth 4.2 and a built-in 802.11 ac Wi-Fi.

Another form of input and connectivity that this television offers is a TM1950C remote control. In terms of appearance, this remote is made of plastic with a glossy dark-gray finish.

Furthermore, the remote is small in size, meaning it should fit perfectly in your palm. However, due to its small size, it only features a few rubber buttons.

Some of these rubber buttons include a round-shaped navigation button. Also, you’ll find a microphone button and three dedicated buttons on this remote control.

These dedicated buttons allow for easy access to streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu. Besides, there is a faded-gray “SAMSUNG” logo at the bottom part of the TM1950C remote.

This logo beautifies the remote and also serves as a means of brand identification. That’s not all; the Samsung Q80R’s remote control supports voice input as it features a built-in microphone.

Hence, by holding down the microphone button and speaking into the mic, you will be able to control the TV with your voice. By the way, the voice AIs that the television supports are Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Based on the facts discussed in this ports and connectivity review section, I will be rating the Samsung Q80R an eight out of ten.

Samsung Q80R: Smart Features

Like most Samsung smart televisions, the Samsung Q80R comes with the Tizen operating system. This OS has a smooth and easy-to-use interface called the Smart Hub.

Moreover, this Smart Hub interface features a horizontal navigation bar at the bottom. The navigation bar accommodates pre-installed applications and streaming services that the Tizen OS offers.

Some of these pre-installed streaming services and apps include Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video. Besides, if the pre-installed apps aren’t sufficient for you, the Tizon OS features a built-in apps store called Samsung Store.

Through this app store, you can download plenty more applications and streaming services of your choice. If you don’t wish to do that, you can decide to stream/share content from your smart device to the Samsung Q80R.

To do so, you’ll first need to download the SmartThings app on your smart device. After that, the next step is to make sure that both the TV and smart device are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

In case you don’t know, the SmartThings app is available for download on the Google Play Store and App Store for free.

To wrap up this smart features review section, I will rate the Samsung Q80R a nine out of ten.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Samsung Q80R is a well-priced QLED smart television for mixed usage. Specifically, this television offers exceptional picture quality for movie lovers and a low input lag for gamers.

Also, the TV has an impressive sound performance as well as a decent amount of ports. That’s not all; this television also features the Tizen OS that offers lots of pre-installed streaming services and apps.

However, whenever the television is wall-mounted, its ports might not be easy to access. Apart from this minor downside, this Samsung television is almost flawless.

Hence, if you want to purchase a QLED television, don’t look further because the Samsung Q80R is all you need.

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