You Can Now Enjoy All of Samsung’s QLED Goodness for Under $700

July 17, 2020 Topic: Technology Blog Brand: Techland Tags: SamsungQLEDOLEDBest BuyHDTVTechnologyHDR

You Can Now Enjoy All of Samsung’s QLED Goodness for Under $700

We are indeed in the golden age of HDTVs. Just several years ago, some of these highly regarded QLED and OLED sets would have retailed for thousands of dollars. But today, some are well under a grand and can fit into most middle-class budgets.

We are indeed in the golden age of HDTVs. Just several years ago, some of these highly regarded QLED and OLED sets would have retailed for thousands of dollars. But today, some are well under a grand and can fit into most middle-class budgets.

Samsung’s 55-inch Q60T Series 4K TV is no different, and right now at Best Buy, you can nab this QLED beauty for less than $700—a wonderful entry-level price for those who want to enter the Korean tech giant’s high-end HDTV ecosystem.

The Q60T Series offers a premium viewing experience, thanks to its next-gen QLED tech and excellent overall image quality that boasts plenty-deep black levels. The set’s quantum dots let you experience images bursting with a dazzling range of more than a billion colors, each upscaled to incredible clarity driven by an intelligent 4K processor.

The high light output—a major strength of QLEDs—works incredibly well with HDR, and you’ll surely enjoy the accurate colors and robust video processing, which will be a boon for hardcore gamers waiting for next-gen consoles from PlayStation and Xbox and lovers of intense action films.

Know that despite the fancy “QLED” name, these sets are basically LCD TVs with quantum dots—microscopic particles that when hit by light, emit a certain different colored light. The source of this light is the LED backlight, and that light must pass through more layers, such as the LCD layer, to produce the images on the screen.

In improving QLED TVs, Samsung has created a new refined aluminum compound that can make the quantum dots more efficient, and the natural ability to produce more accurate colors. This technology replaces the red, green and blue color filters that many of the older TVs used.

The Q60T’s only real downside is its smart TV platform, which is powered by Tizen. First introduced in 2015 after years of development, the Tizen OS, much like Korean archrival LG’s webOS, has a pleasant stripped-down interface but it really lacks any real punch that is needed for today’s data-heavy streaming TV world.

Yes, Tizen offers access to popular run-of-the-mill apps like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, but a platform like Android TV or Roku will surely give you much more bang for your buck. Moreover, Tizen really isn’t that flexible when it comes to sideloading apps, which could affect the TV’s use in different markets and regions.

Despite these shortcomings, know that you no longer have to rely solely on the virtual assistant Bixby for voice control, as heavyweights Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are now built in.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.