We often associate technology with the concept of evolution.
Take, for example, cell phones.
30 years ago they were bulky mobile phones with many buttons and few functions. Today we say that they have “evolved” becoming an extension of our body, of our life.
They didn’t actually do it all by themselves.
Indeed, to tell the truth, no hi-tech sector evolves due to a “natural” need, or for the sake of it.
The market changes because, first of all, consumers change.
Age, passions, needs, priorities… are all factors that affect and then dictate the course of technology.
And yes, this also applies to televisions.
That’s why we went from 32-inch TVs, which seemed really big to us 10 years ago to huge ones, to 65-inch TVs that we look at thinking “Mh, maybe I could have taken it bigger“.
In fact, the trend is this: Italians like giant screens.
Although the real estate market in big cities is populated by tiny and very expensive homes, we don’t want to deprive ourselves of a family-sized Smart TV that can satisfy all our needs.
But that’s not all: those who really have space won’t settle for more than 50-55-65 inches. He wants more.
Samsung he knows it and therefore he has decided to bring his own to our market QLED Q80C, a TV is fine 98 inches.
Hard to imagine? We understand that.
We’ll give you a couple of numbers: 2.20 meters wide and 1.20 meters high.
We then add a third: 65.8 kg in weight including base. So yes, you need a very strong piece of furniture to hold it up. Or a sturdy wall to hold the 56.3 kg weight without base.
The thickness, on the other hand, might surprise you: 4,8 cm.
And all of Samsung’s technology and all the ports you need are condensed in this handful of centimetres: 4 HDMI 2.1 inputs – one of which is eARC -, two USB-A ports, Ethernet, optical digital audio output and everything you need for digital terrestrial, satellite and similar. And then there is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The test of Samsung QLED Q80C
We spent an hour in the company of Samsung QLED Q80C, too little to draw adequate conclusions – therefore we are not dealing with a review – but certainly enough to notice some interesting features of this TV.
An eye on sustainability
98 inches is a lot.
We help you with a small comparison.
Think of the smartphone you are holding. Probably the display will be around 6 inches, and these 6 inches are animated by the battery of the device. If you’re lucky, with average use you’ll get to the end of the day, after which you’ll have to plug it in and recharge it.
Now relate that to a 98 inch.
We don’t want to scare you but let you understand that a little energy is needed to power a panel of this kind.
However, Samsung is particularly attentive to the sustainability of its products. And “sustainability” does not only mean attention to the environment but also to consumption.
Its Q80C therefore comes with an Eco mode that we found particularly interesting.
Let’s explain better.
This gigantic TV provides 5 modes: Dynamic, Standard, Eco, Film and – when available – Filmmaker.
In absolute terms, Film and Filmmaker will probably give you the best viewing experience. This is because, for the same content, you will be able to appreciate a greater number of shades of colour, moreover closer to what is the vision of whoever created the content – be it a film or a TV series.
The modalities Standard instead it offers greater brightness but a less faithful albeit extremely satisfactory rendering while Dynamics it tends to lose shades of colors otherwise visible with the other modes.
However, it is Eco who surprised us.
Basically Samsung has thought of this option to promote energy saving and, obviously, this involves “sacrifices”.
Simplifying, we could say that the brightness drops a bit and the processor performance also drops.
Why did we put “sacrifices” in quotation marks?
Because, on balance, the brightness is not too different from the Film mode and the interface becomes imperceptibly slower. The user experience therefore remains very good and in addition we maintain excellent color reproduction, again almost comparable to the Movie mode.
In essence, you could use Samsung QLED Q80C in Eco all the time without losing anything in terms of performance and satisfaction.
Attention to consumption yes but also attention to the environment. That’s why Samsung used recycled materials, an eco-friendly packaging and above all its now proven solar cell remote control, so a little sun is enough to recharge it.
Nobody ever talks about safety
Samsung Knox it became famous thanks to the devices of the Galaxy family.
It is in fact a security system that protects user data at all times and which we have found on smartphones and tablets of the Korean brand for years now.
But Knox is much more than that. That’s why we also find it in Samsung’s Q80C, because it can – and must – also keep secure the information that the TV collects, especially now that it is no longer a device that we connect to the antenna to watch some channel.
Today’s smart TVs contain accounts and passwords of all kinds but are also connected to our smart home: with SmartThings, for example, you can monitor the status of all your appliances. It therefore becomes essential to protect our data and Knox does it more than well.
What else to add?
We don’t want to dwell too much on the technical characteristics of this TV but let’s rattle off some specifications for enthusiasts.
The panel is a Quantum Dot 4K at 120 Hz while the processor is the Neural Quantum 4Kwhich uses 20 neural networks for content upscaling, thus ensuring excellent performance even for content that is not born in 4K.
We then have the Quantum HDR+, HDR10+ support, Pantone certification e a 2.2 Dolby Atmos audio system with OTS Lite which gives a good surround performance. So no, you don’t need the soundbar to enjoy some movies.
A complete offer
Alongside the peculiarities of Samsung QLED Q80C we find the software that now animates all the TVs of the Asian giant: Tizen.
Quick, complete, intuitive: using it is truly a pleasure.
In addition we find Samsung TV Plus with over 100 free channels and the Gaming Hubso you can play even without a console, just connect a controller to the TV.
Price and availability
Samsung QLED Q80C is already available on the market at the list price of 7.499,00 €.