CES 2022 is behind us, and Samsung’s new TV line is preparing to be unleashed into the market. Last year, we had the opportunity to take a look at the company’s new Neo-QLED technology, and we were impressed. 2022 is the second year for the Neo-QLED TV, and we have the 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV with us.
Estimated reading time: 15 minutes
This particular unit is a pre-production sample, so there are probably a few things that aren’t 100% accurate to the eventual production model, but we’re going to do our best to review it. Right off the bat, one thing that is not working on this 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV is Disney+. Samsung has told me that production units will come with Disney+ active, and that is good, considering the new Samsung remote has a dedicated Disney+ button on it.
Read me: Before we continue, I feel it’s important to let some readers know that my TV reviews are written from the average user’s point of view. I know plenty of people with more knowledge than I who want technical data and testing, but we do not do that here. Our audience is mainly made up of regular users, not high-end TV and audio crazies. So if you’re looking for a deep dive into technicals, you’ll probably want to try someplace like AVForum; those guys will get very technically granular. Enough of that; let’s get into the first look at the 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV.
Specifications
The 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV has the following features and specifications:
- Video
- Screen Size: 65″
- Resolution: 3840×2160
- Refresh Rate: 120hz
- Color: 100% Color Volume with Quantum Dot
- HDR (High-Dynamic Range): Quantum HDR 32x/HDR10+
- Picture Engine: Neo Quantum Processor 4K
- Quantum Dot Color: Yes
- Upscaling: AI
- Audio
- Dolby: Atmos
- Sound Output (RMS): 60w
- Speaker Type: 4.2.2
- Multiroom Link: Yes
- Samsung Q-Symphony Sound: Yes
- Bluetooth Headset Support: Yes
- Wireless Connectivity
- WiFi: WiFi5
- WiFi Direct: Yes
- Bluetooth: Yes (BT5.2)
- Features
- Smart Hub: Yes
- IoT Hub: Yes
- Processor: Neo Quantum Processor 4K
- Apps Platform: Yes
- Voice Interaction: Yes
- Auto Channel Search: Yes
- Auto Motion Plus: Yes
- Dimming Technology: Ultimate UHD Dimming (Mini LED)
- V-Chip: Yes
- Electronic Program Guide (Channel Guide): Yes
- Game Mode: Yes
- Ambient Mode: Yes
- Auto Power Off: Yes
- Closed Captioning: Yes
- Anynet+ HDMI-CEC: Yes
- Eco Sensor: Yes
- Bluetooth: Yes
- HDMI Quick Switch: Yes
- Mobile to TV – Mirroring, DLNA: Yes
- TV to Mobile (Mirroring): Yes
- eARC: Yes
- INPUT/OUTPUT
- HDMI (4)
- USB 2.0 (2)
- Optical Out (1)
- Ethernet
- RF In
- Ex-Link RS232
- HDMI A / Return Ch. Support
- Dimensions
- Product Size (W x H x D) Without Stand in inches: 56.9″ x x 32.6″ x 1″
- Product Size (W x H x D) With Stand in inches: 56.9″ x 35.1″ x 11.2″
- Stand Size (W x H xD) in inches: 13.4″ x 9.3″ x 11.2″
- Shipping Size: 63.8″ x 37.3″ x 7.3″
- Weight without stand: 53.8 lbs
- Weight with stand: 69.2 lbs
- Shipping weight in the box: 86.9 lbs
- Power
- Power Supply: AC110-120V 50/60Hz
- Samsung remote: Solarcell Remote Model# TM2280E
- Model Number: QN65QN90BAFXZA
Design
The 2022 Samsung TV lineup hasn’t changed much in terms of design. This 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV still has a very thin bezel all the way around, and it is super thin. The dimensions are nearly identical to last year’s QN90A. The photo below shows the Samsung Solarcell Remote compared to the QN90B. Of course, the back of the TV bulges out slightly more, but it’s not that much more than the thickness of the remote.
Last year’s QN90A made a considerable leap in thinning down the bezel size; the QN90B bezels are about the same, so nothing huge in that department. The TV still looks fantastic, though; as I said about the QN90A, this 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV appears to be floating mid-air.
The QN90B’s thinness makes it slightly more fragile like all very thin TVs. Now, it’s not going to break if you blow on it, but you should be aware that it is a bit more flexible. So take care in lifting and moving it around. You should probably come to a choice of wall mount or stand mount before even unpacking it. Once you have it unpacked and installed, it’s best to leave it there. I would also recommend having a third person to help move it, not because of the weight, but to have someone keep an eye on how the TV is flexing and monitor the other two.
The stand that comes with the 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV is the same stand that came with last year’s QN90A, and it is fantastic! I am so glad that Samsung kept this design because it is a heavy-duty stand, and it gives me a lot of confidence that it is capable of holding up this costly TV.
The QN90B stand is designed in such a way as to allow newer Samsung soundbars to fit neatly under the TV and out of the way. This is a great design feature as many times; the soundbar is an afterthought with manufacturers. But it may also pose a problem for users who may have larger soundbars or a non-Samsung soundbar. If your soundbar is too thick, it may not slide under very well. It is something to consider.
I had some build quality complaints about the 2019 Samsung TV lineup, and the company has addressed much of that in 2020 and 2021. This 2022 lineup seems to have the same excellent build quality as last year. Materials feel premium, the plastics feel nice, not like in 2019, where they felt very cheap. So yes, almost everything is made of plastic and glass, but it’s all very well made. The stand is solid steel, but the stand arm is heavy plastic; they work well together.
Samsung continues improving their remotes, and I think they’re ahead of the market with the latest Solarcell remote. Last year the Solarcell remote was one of the highlights, and the company made some minor but welcome improvements to it. Of course, it still charges via sunlight or even interior room lights; remember to turn it over when you lay it down.
The solar panel on the back of the remote looks much better, not that the old remote was terrible, but this one has a more refined and finished look to it. They’ve also added a Disney+ button to the front to go with the Prime Video, Netflix, and Samsung TV+ buttons. There is still a USB-C port on the bottom that can be used to charge the remote if you have no light anywhere for some strange reason. The Solarcell remote is still the best TV remote on the market, simple and to the point.
The TV’s rear is pretty plain, the back plastic is textured, and the power port, along with all of your I\O, is located on the back. As with last year’s model, some channels run along the back in which you can tuck your cables in. This helps manage your cables a little bit, but it really will depend on the size of the cable. Samsung did think of this and did vary the size of the channels to accommodate a few different widths.
Overall, the design remains mostly the same as last year’s QN90A. That is not a bad thing at all; the same high-quality materials and construction are here. The same fantastic TV stand is ready to hold that beautiful screen up and keep it up safely. The same thin bezels showcase the impressive display making it look like it’s floating.
Display/User Interface
The 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV comes at a time when 4K content is becoming an everyday thing. It wasn’t that long ago that pundits disparaged 4K TVs mocking manufacturers for making 4K TVs when the 4K content was unavailable. But I’ve made this point in the past, and it is the truth. If manufacturers do not make the hardware, content creators, movie studios, and TV producers wouldn’t have a reason to make 4K content.
The same thing is happening with 8K content now. Trolls and all-around unhappy people are mocking and making disparaging comments about 8K TVs using the same lack of content argument. But as companies like Samsung continue to develop the hardware to support 8K, the creative industry will follow up with supporting content. There is even active collaboration and testing happening to make 8K and 4K more streaming friendly to where it won’t take as much data to send and receive. But I digress.
4K content is commonplace now. Most streaming services offer some sort of 4K content, from Netflix and Disney+ to Peacock TV and Vudu. Even YouTube and Rumble allow content creators the ability to upload in 4K.
Like its predecessors, the 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV uses AI upscaling to render lower resolution content into 4K. Samsung’s Neo Quantum Processor has an AI algorithm that pulls data from hundreds of thousands of pieces of data that it learns from and can reconstruct lower resolution images into 4K.
Pretty much everything that was on last year’s QN90A is here on the QN90B, although the interface has changed, and I will get into that more in a minute. Ambient Mode is back, something that started on The Frame and has made its way to Samsung’s higher-end TVs. Ambient Mode allows you to choose wallpapers, live wallpapers, weather, and news to display on your screen while not watching.
Multi-View is also on the 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV, which is a feature Samsung hopes will be helpful to gamers.
Gamers can now pull up YouTube tutorials on their phones and have them playing on screen as they play those same games. This can help gamers get through challenging levels without looking down at their other device or pausing anything.
Multi-View could also be used for fact-checking while watching news programs or political debates. Having your phone screen available on the same display where everyone can see it and verify facts is actually a pretty good idea.
Now, about that interface. I have always loved Samsung’s TV UI since 2018, and it has had some minor changes over the years. This year, the interface has been drastically changed, but most of it is good. The apps bar has been moved to the center of the screen while we have a new menu bar on the left side.
The left menu allows you to search, turn on Ambient Mode, select media/apps, and get to the system settings. The one fault I found in the new UI is that you can no longer bring up the app bar within an app. Now, if you hit home, it kills the currently playing app and brings up the home screen with the apps bar. I made a short video below to go over the changes in the UI.
Neo-QLED is back and is a significant upgrade to Samsung’s QLED technology. Neo-QLED is essentially Mini-LED backlighting, but everyone needs a buzzword. I could go on for many paragraphs talking about Neo-QLED, Mini-LED, QLED, and more, but I think my buddy Caleb Denison from Digital Trends produced a short informative video that explains it well.
Along with Mini-LED backlighting, this TV is packed with the usual suspects such as HDR 10+, Q-Symphony Sound, 120Hz refresh rate, Quantum Dots, Anti-Reflection, great viewing angles, and Game Mode for gamers. Q-Symphony Sound is Samsung’s TV and soundbar tech. This new tech allows you to use a compatible Samsung soundbar in conjunction with your TV speakers. That’s not usually possible with most TVs and soundbars; the sound is off-balance when you try to do it. Check out the video below to see how Q-Symphony Sound works.
Neo-QLED has been a game-changer for Samsung. There will always be an OLED vs. QLED argument among the faithful on each side. I like the looks of OLED TVs; there is no doubt that their blacks are deep, but Samsung’s NeoQLED has caught up and is better in many ways.
The 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV does a better job of making blacks deep but not wearing away the dark grey areas. OLED tends to grab these colors and ink them out, which loses detail. The clarity and detail in the QN90B are fantastic.
Colors are also vibrant out of the box. You can pull these back in the settings, but I like how Samsung has calibrated the display here. The color calibration lends itself well to HDR10+ content. The brightness is off the scales as well, Samsung does a great job of giving you excellent brightness, and that’s the same case here.
You can also use the ambient light setting, which adjusts the brightness according to the lighting in the room. Before last year, I was not too fond of this feature. But Samsung improved it last year, and it’s an excellent feature this year as well.
Viewing angles are also spot on, and our pre-production unit did not show signs of light bleed or blooming. Samsung TVs in this range have been fantastic, and that hasn’t changed in 2022. Game mode is excellent when playing Xbox One games. There is much more to unpack, but we’re going long already.
Overall, Samsung continues to make improvements to its TV line. The 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV isn’t a massive jump from the QN90A, but there are decent display improvements for sure.
Sound Quality
The 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV comes with Dolby Atmos, Q-Symphony Sound, and Object Tracking Sound+. Object Tracking Sound makes you feel like you’re in the middle of the action with a directional, realistic sound that projects from the TV speakers. The video below shows how this newer technology works, and it works with Q-Symphony Sound too.
I’ve said this in previous Samsung TV reviews, and I feel strongly about it. The speakers on TVs like the QN90B are the best on any TV out there. Some users may find that they like them well enough not to need a soundbar or sound system to enhance the sound. When combined with OTS+ and Dolby Atmos, that is how good these speakers are.
One of Samsung’s compatible soundbars that support Q-Symphony Sound would up your sound game a thousandfold, but many people will find these speakers more than acceptable.
Overall, the Dolby Atmos and Object Tracking Sound+ features make these speakers shine. The soundstage is very close to being nearly perfect and probably good enough for most users.
Performance
As far as I can tell, the 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV has the same Neo Quantum Processor 4K that the QN90A had last year. This processor includes Samsung’s AI engine, which, as we explained earlier, uses onboard artificial intelligence to upscale lower resolution content to 4K.
Gaming performance is also enhanced with Samsung’s improved version of Game Mode. When you have your Xbox or PlayStation plugged into the TV and turned on, Game Mode will automatically be applied. Game Mode changes the colors and refresh rate, giving you a better gaming experience.
Game Mode plus delivers a 9.4ms input lag which is freaking amazing for a TV. This means gamers can enjoy a more responsive experience within their favorite games. Game Mode Plus also adds some surround sound improvements, making the sound more immersive for gamers and more exciting. It also supports Freesync.
The new SmartHub is mostly an improvement over the old SmartHub; see our video above on that. Overall, there are no complaints about the performance of the QN90B.
Wrap Up
These first-look reviews aren’t easy to do. I only get the TV for a short time, and then it goes on to the next reviewer. So I’m sure there was plenty more I could have covered, but I didn’t have the time to do that.
I’ve been doing Samsung TV reviews since 2018, and each year they seem to outdo themselves. Last year was a giant leap forward with Neo-QLED, and this year, the company keeps refining the formula for the better. If you have a 65″ Samsung TV 2020 or older, the 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV will be a significant upgrade for you. If you have any other TV, it most certainly is an upgrade. If you’re rocking a Neo-QLED from 2021, stick with that.
Once again, the 65″ 4K Samsung QN90B Neo-QLED TV gets our Editor’s Choice award for 2022 if you’re looking for a fantastic 4K TV for gaming, movies, and more. You cannot go wrong with the QN90B!
Pricing Samsung QN90B
Samsung has added a 50″ model to this range and lowered the price on everything up to the 65″ version. Last year’s QN60A started with a 55″ at $US1,799.99 and the 55″ Samsung QN90B is US$1,699.99. So that is a US$100 price cut. The same price cut applies to the 65″. The 75″ and 85″ remain the same price. Click the links below to check them all out.
- 50″ Model# QN50QN90BAFXZA: US$1,599.99
- 55″ Model# QN55QN90BAFXZA: US$1,699.99
- 65″ Model# QN65QN90BAFXZA: US$2,499.99
- 75″ Model# QN75QN90BAFXZA: US$3,499.99
- 85″ Model# QN85QN90BAFXZA: US$4,999.99
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