Samsung 85-Inch Class Neo QLED 4K QN80F Series, Vision AI, Mini LED Smart TV (2025 Model, 85QN80F) Neo Quantum HDR, Object Tracking Sound Lite w/Dolby Atmos, NQ4 AI Gen2 Processor, Alexa Built-in

This is a super long review so TLDR: Great picture quality, high visibility and contrast even in bright rooms. Gets really bright and really dark. Some bloom, but minimal. You can remove a lot of bloat from the OS, and it doesn't shove ads front & center. Auto opens up to last used source, so if you hate the OS you can mostly ignore it with an Apple TV or console. Good build quality, but slightly cheap-feeling base. Mostly very responsive, but sometimes a little slow loading new sources (still much faster than LG). Simple remote with solar charging. Overall really surprised and happy with it.For people who want more details:It was really easy to set up. From the box to my tv stand, it took less than 5 minutes to get it running and hooked up to my network/basic devices. The picture is bright and crisp. I'm getting the same dark blacks that I get with my OLED tv, but I personally feel the contrast is better. I haven't had any issues with the viewing angle, but the room I have this in isn't really large enough for that to be a significant issue.A big plus for me is visibility in a bright room. It's way easier to watch dark shows at peak sunlight hours with this versus my OLED. This is mostly important because so many shows I've been watching lately are SO DARK visually (Severance, Silo, etc) that it can be really hard to tell what's going on unless your room is completely dark. The QLED seems to genuinely make a difference with that, and it's really nice to be able to watch TV and movies without having to strain my eyes or turn my room into a cave.As for the OS, I'm generally a smart tv hater. I've had a few different brands in the past, and aside from this tv, I currently have 2 smart TVs: a Sony and an LG. They're both good TVs but their OSs are a nightmare (in my opinion). They both are covered in ads, and they're bloated with apps and features I never use and can't remove at all or even just remove from the main screen. I'd read a lot of mixed (and frequently negative) things about the Samsung OS, but after using it for a while now, I'm really pleasantly surprised.I was able to remove almost all of the bloatware from the TV, and what I couldn't remove entirely, I could at least take off the top of the main screen. If I scroll farther down, it advertises "free tv" and other sections, but I have to specifically scroll down to see any of it. If I turn on my TV and start at the main screen, all I see is a simple intro graphic, a preview image of my recently used app (usually Apple TV), and the apps I chose to be visible. No video ads, no sifting through sponsored posts. To remove things, add things, and get the final product I wanted I did have to sign into a Samsung account. I personally found that annoying, but since I only need to do it once for the life of the TV (as far as I can tell), it's not too bad.I did find that some settings were a little harder to find than on this versus other OSs, sometimes because they're named in a weird way and sometimes because they're just buried. I do like that they have both a full settings menu as well as a truncated one where you can arrange the settings manually, so what you use most is easy to access. For people struggling with motion smoothing: Samsung calls it "Picture Clarity." It's under Settings > Picture > Expert Settings > Picture Clarity Settings. I recommend turning it off, especially if you watch anything animated.The build quality feels good, and the bezel is thin. The only thing I don't love about the build quality is the base; it just feels a bit cheap compared to the other materials. However, I do like the look and it doesn't feel wobbly or unstable when attached and set up. It's a single-foot style, which is good for creating a more simple silhouette. It's a bit low, so if you're not mounting it, you'll probably want to put your consoles on another shelf or behind the TV. An apple tv fits under the TV with some room to spare.For something really specific that likely doesn't affect anyone else: you can get this tv SUPER dark. I frequently fall asleep with my bedroom tv on, and my previous Sony tv would get kind of dark but would still be a little too brights sometimes. This one can get REALLY dark if I want it to. It actually gets so dark that I don't have to keep it on the darkest setting to be able to fall asleep with it on, even when I have a brighter show or movie playing. It also stays bright through ALL the menus, so the youtube and apple tv menus/selection screens don't blow my eyes out while I'm trying to pick something to fall asleep to. My Sony tv would be dark for the actual shows, but the moment you went to a selection screen or menu, it'd be super bright again. This probably isn't something other people care about, but I wanted to mention it since I was really surprised and pleased with the option.Lastly, the remote doesn't have much going on. I like how simple it is compared to my other tv's remotes, but if you watch a lot of live tv (changing to specific channels) or like having a lot of things accessible by a single button press, you might not like it. The remote can be charged with USB-C, but it can also be solar charged (and it actually works). There is a solar panel on the bottom of the remote, so you just leave it upside down near a window. That was a big plus for me because it means I don't have to worry about charging it or replacing batteries.I was genuinely surprised at how much more I like this than my other smart TVs. The few downsides I could find were so minor, they were completely blown out of the water by the upsides. The high contrast and clarity, the customizability, and the mostly ad-free experience are really, really nice changes from my other TVs.

I have had several high end LG OLED TV’s (currently a C2) over the years but this is my first QLED model. While this is not Samsungs top of the line QLED TV it is still a very premium TV. Aside from the cost savings over an OLED TV it has several other big advantages:Way brighter, last gen was only about equal in peek 10% brightness to my OLED but this one is 45% brighter which is pretty huge (and that’s just at 10%). Yes there are brighter TV’s but this is still quite good for even rooms with a good bit of external light.No Burn in, key for video games (despite every LG tv having anti-burn in tech ive still had it happen on all at some point). Some tests show permanent burn in starting after 4 months at an 18 hour a day on time. That is rough. Video games are some of the most infamous causes for burn in due to the heads up display if the same game is generally used over a long period of time.Better HDR contrast / more noticeable – While largely due to brightness this easily overcomes the lack of deep blacks. It is something multiple people have commented on and with good HDR content it is quite miraculous.Won’t dim over time – Again sadly an OLED downfall but if you use your TV for many hours a day after several years the brightness is going to suffer, especially if you have to use less than peak brightness to hide some burn in.TV setup was easy enough and it has plenty of inputs. Now it is a bit chunkier than the OLED’s of Samsungs top of the line about 1” thick depending on the area and weighs in at 35 lbs without stand. Certainly manageable for one person to mount on a wall but two makes it easier. Had no problem with mount holes aligning.I disable all picture ‘enhancements’ as I am not a fan of some of the artifacts or softness it can introduce. It does have plenty including new ‘ai-enhancement’ although I can’t fathom how AI is helping in real time. I am a fan that the UI has caught up with LG in terms of not taking up the entire screen any time you enter the menus.The 144hz is buttery smooth in some of the FPS games I tried without seeing any ghosting or other issues.It isn’t an 8K TV but so what? There basically isn’t 8K content, there isn’t going to be some massive infill of 8K content any time soon, and finally at 55” 8K is way overkill.Sound was fine but given the atmos setup I have with real speakers I only tested it for the review. My TV is a bit boxed in which I am sure doesn’t help for sound quality, but having a single sound source can only do so much. I do like the fact it can be paired with additional speakers for better options if one doesn’t have a proper receiver.Now there are of course some obvious areas OLED’s shine. Not only do you get the best blacks but viewing angles are crazy good in comparison. That is more of an issue depending on your viewing room layout, but something worth keeping in mind.It supports most of the standard things of higher end TV’s now a days. Assuming your receiver can’t keep up (or you are using TV apps) you can directly feed your video into your TV and then use HDMI earc to transmit it back to the receiver. I had no problems with this and it worked every time without issue (not always true for other tvs sadly). It is missing dolby vision but I guess you have Samsung Vision as a ‘replacement’.This is an initial review will see how it does after a few months of heavier use.