Nobody needs an 8K TV in 2022. The vast majority of us aren’t even watching 4K resolution content all of the time, unless you pay for upgraded streaming (and even then, the bitrate sucks compared to a HD Blu-ray disc). Most high-quality 8K content online is just demo videos.
The reason you buy a TV like the Samsung QN900B—the company’s flagship 8K LED TV for 2022 —is to be absolutely positive that your neighbor won’t have something prettier in their living room. After a few weeks with it set up in mine, I’m pretty sure you won’t find a better screen in your neighborhood, no matter how many gates and gold toilets there are.
You’ll be hard-pressed to push the TV as hard as it can go with current available content, but that’s not really the point. It’s so overpowered that it doesn’t care what you feed it. The QN900B has gorgeous color, excellent processing, and sleek design. If you’re tired of keeping up with the Joneses and want to become Indiana, this is the model to buy.
Standing Tall
The first thing I love about the QN900B is the center pedestal mount. I’ve been begging more TV makers to use this design, and I’m happy to see Samsung employ it here. The bezels around the TV are thin, and the overall design feels robust and was easy to mount.
Photograph: Samsung
A small One Connect box sits on the back of the mount and supplies the TV with power and HDMI signal but allows you to mount it flat on the wall without annoying multi-cable runs—a nice touch. You also get Samsung’s slim, solar-powered remote, so you’ll never need to search a drawer for AAA batteries.
The TV has perforated edges around the outside, presumably to vent heat, and they lend a very professional feel that helps differentiate it from more affordable models—something that the buyer of this TV probably wants, for all the extra cash.
The main reason to buy a TV with this many pixels is the processing. 8K TVs are able to upscale and manipulate whatever picture you feed them into near window-like clarity. There were multiple times when watching this quantum dot, mini-LED-enabled TV that I felt like I could literally stick my head through the screen and into the scene beyond.
Various neural processors and advanced display technology pair together inside the QN900B, with the TV delivering insane color accuracy, astonishing highlights, and extremely smooth action when watching sports.
Sitting Pretty
Photograph: Samsung
I watched my usual weekend Formula One race with friends on this thing, and the group commented on just how gorgeous the Ferrari red and Mercedes silver looked flying around Belgium. Sports with green fields also look awesome, with the processing keying in on what you’re watching and allowing for crystal clear action.