00:00:02
Not that I’m keeping count, but I’m pretty sure
we have already unboxed and reviewed more diagonal
00:00:09
inches of TV than anybody else on YouTube. Is that
a weird flex? I don’t know; I don’t care. It’s
00:00:16
been a lot of fun—a lot of work, but a lot of fun.
And we’re going to continue breaking that record
00:00:22
with our next television, this monster behind
me: the Samsung 98" QN90D. Let’s get into it.
00:00:36
Alright, here we go, guys. I can’t go
any further in this video without once
00:00:39
again thanking Peter and Greg for coming
down and helping us out, lending a little
00:00:45
bit of muscle. These TVs are no joke—they are
super, super heavy, and, yeah, there’s no way
00:00:53
we could do this without their assistance. So
toss them a thanks in the comments, would you?
00:00:58
Also, by the way, I have seen some comments from
previous videos (I think the Hisense 110 UX) from
00:01:05
folks insisting that neither Peter nor Greg really
look like they wanted to be here. I can assure
00:01:12
you that this is the best part of their week.
There is no way they’re having more fun sitting
00:01:17
behind their desks than they are here helping us
unbox these amazing TVs. So, yeah, just chalk it
00:01:24
up to them not knowing that the camera was on
them at that time. Give them a break, y'all.
00:01:29
With that said, if you notice that
their smiles today seem a little bit—oh,
00:01:35
I don’t know—aggressive, you’ll know why. You
know, because I shared your feedback with them,
00:01:41
and so they are going to bring
their best efforts today.
00:01:46
Alright, so, as you know, whenever we unbox
these TVs, it’s kind of a, I don’t know,
00:01:50
“discover as we go” kind of thing. We don’t
know exactly how this is going to proceed,
00:01:55
and that’s definitely the case
here. Although, I have to say,
00:01:58
the fact that this does not open like a
gigantic encyclopedia is kind of a good
00:02:04
start. I never know what to do with these pieces
of box material. Yep, that’s going to fall on me.
00:02:09
Alright, what do we have here? Power
cable, remote—no batteries, because
00:02:13
it’s a rechargeable remote. We’ll look at that a
little more closely in a minute. And then, yeah,
00:02:18
I checked this out before we started the unboxing.
I was really, I’m still kind of shocked at the
00:02:26
fact that this—oh my gosh, how do we even get this
thing out of here? Here we go. Kind of shocked
00:02:31
that this thing has a centralized pedestal stand.
Normally, a TV of this size and weight gets feet
00:02:39
because that’s the most stable and the easiest
thing to do. But Samsung, I mean, I think they’re
00:02:45
going for a specific kind of look here. Samsung
really needs to differentiate this particular TV
00:02:51
from the competition because, let’s be honest,
it’s a lot more expensive than the competition.
00:02:58
Actually, let’s talk about that for a minute,
folks. As I load my kitchen up with a bunch of TV
00:03:04
box material, let’s talk about the price of this
TV. This 98" Samsung QN90D had a coming out price,
00:03:14
or a list price, of no less than $15,000. Now,
that is a lot of money without any context,
00:03:32
but let’s throw some context behind this. TCL
sells the 98" QM8 851G for about $5,000 or $6,000,
00:03:44
depending on what day of the week it is.
Samsung, even after a $5,000 price drop,
00:03:52
is selling this TV for $10,000. And I, I
don’t know, I think a lot of people are
00:03:58
wondering where you find four to five
thousand dollars’ worth of premium.
00:04:02
Certainly, Samsung makes a premium
TV, and it offers features that you
00:04:06
can’t get from any other TV brand—like
integration with other Samsung products,
00:04:10
for example. I imagine this TV right here
is going to be an excellent pairing for
00:04:14
the Q990D soundbar. But still, four to five
thousand dollars more than TCL or Hisense’s
00:04:22
high-performance models? These are not
their budget 98" models. That’s a lot,
00:04:26
and so I can’t help but have that be kind of an
underlying undercurrent during this whole review.
00:04:34
But that brings up a good opportunity to ask
for your comments. Let me know what you think:
00:04:40
is there any world in which Samsung can
justify that kind of price premium for
00:04:45
a TV like this? Also, keep in mind that,
if I’m not mistaken, this is a size of TV
00:04:52
that you can’t get in 8K from Samsung,
so if you want to get up to the 98",
00:04:58
it’s going to be this particular 4K set. So,
yeah, let me know what you think about that.
00:05:03
Alright, so, to get the pedestal stand on
this particular TV, and you do this with
00:05:08
smaller TVs as well, the idea is that you kind
of deconstruct the lower portion of the box,
00:05:15
undo the flaps on the side, put this rear flap
down, and then we should be able to remove one
00:05:20
piece of foam, exposing where the pedestal stand
is going to attach to the back of the TV. Now,
00:05:26
this is something I normally don’t do because,
I don’t know, it just seems extra to me. I
00:05:33
just prefer to lay the TV down flat, have
easier access to the back of the panel,
00:05:38
and then erect the TV up on our media stand.
But, obviously, we’re not going to be laying
00:05:43
this thing down on anything—it is a well-built,
super heavy TV, and I don’t trust whatever I
00:05:50
would put this on top of. We’re going
to follow the instructions on this one.
00:05:55
Alright, so it looks like we’re working
with a two-piece stand. It is robust;
00:05:58
this thing is very heavy.
00:06:01
So I do have good confidence that it’s going to
support the TV well. What’s interesting, though,
00:06:05
is that it appears this TV is going to be held
up with the assistance of these tiny four screws.
00:06:14
I’m not a physics major; it just blows my mind
that that’s even possible, you know what I mean?
00:06:19
Alright, so we’ll start by getting this decorative
plastic cover off so that we can access our four
00:06:25
screw points here. Interestingly enough, this
rear, I guess we’ll call it, doesn’t actually
00:06:31
need to be screwed into the base. It’s got this
interesting sort of lever-style clasp that holds
00:06:37
it into position. So, yeah, kind of, I don’t
know if you can see this right now, but there
00:06:43
are keyholes on the bottom of this, so it’ll
lower down, kind of slide into a keyhole lock,
00:06:49
and then we’ll flip the lever, and that
should hold these two pieces together.
00:06:52
Alright, so we’re on the nubbins, but there
we go—like I’ve done this before. And then,
00:06:58
well, plastic flew off there, so
hopefully that’s not the end of
00:07:02
the world. But let’s give it a stress
test. Yeah, I think that will work.
00:07:06
Now, let’s see what we’re working with here on
the back of the TV. Something tells me that maybe
00:07:12
this piece of foam is going to get in the way.
I don’t know; let’s give it a shot. You know,
00:07:16
aside from the figuring-it-out-as-we-go part, does
anybody else feel like this is maybe a little bit
00:07:21
easier than the 110 and 115 we did? Nope, just
me? Okay, thanks for the commentary, fellas.
00:07:27
I know people don’t look at the back
of a TV very often, but, I mean,
00:07:31
as I’m assembling this right now, it really does
have a more premium vibe to it. Samsung’s been
00:07:38
pretty good about putting attractive backing on
their TVs, which I’ve always clowned because,
00:07:42
like, when are you looking at the back of your
TV? But that whole “pride of ownership” thing
00:07:47
that happens in the first 10 or 15 minutes of
you interacting with a TV—I guess there’s that.
00:07:54
Also, while we’re here, before I slap
this cover on, let’s note that there is
00:08:00
some cable management here. You’re not going
to be able to fit super-thick cables here,
00:08:06
but it looks like there’s room for three or
four HDMI cables’ worth of cable management,
00:08:12
which will route things right out through
this little notch at the bottom, which is
00:08:16
great. Cable management is important; sometimes
I feel like I gloss over that. Not today, pal.
00:08:23
Guys, I think all we need you for
now is to lift this up onto the BDI,
00:08:28
and then you can go home or to the office or
wherever you want to go. Commentary police again;
00:08:38
that’s classic. I’ve done that so many times,
man—all of a sudden it’s like you’re under arrest.
00:08:43
Real quick, while we’re back here, you know
what I am surprised by? That there are no
00:08:49
bass transducers back here. That’s something
that we see on most of Samsung’s premium TVs.
00:08:54
I’m not sure why they’re not here—probably
some other kind of speaker solution. There
00:08:59
are a couple of vents toward the top,
so I will be putting my ear right up to
00:09:05
those and seeing what they do. Especially
with all this surface area, normally I
00:09:08
would expect to see some bass transducers
back here, so TBD on the sound quality.
00:09:14
Alright, now let’s get this thing
up on the BDI. Alright, there’s one,
00:09:18
and then let’s go get the other corner.
Got that, Peter? Outstanding. Alright,
00:09:22
let’s do some reveal action. Greg and Peter,
would you mind grabbing the cardboard,
00:09:27
and then I’ll get the foam sheath. Yeah, good,
just tear it up. Oh man, that’s a big one.
00:09:37
We've got a special little barcode happening right
here. Before we get it up there, I'm wondering if
00:09:41
we get to have an awesome film peel, and I think
not. Actually, that reminds me of a story that I
00:09:49
don't think I've told, ever. This happened a
while ago, but I was unboxing a Samsung TV,
00:09:56
and I was sure that it had protective film on it.
So, I kept looking for the place to kind of, like,
00:10:03
get that initial, you know, pick at it so that
you could get that film peel off. Turns out,
00:10:08
there was no film on that TV, so I was literally
picking the panel apart. I destroyed the TV for
00:10:15
my review, and that was embarrassing. That was
not a fun call to have with Samsung. Samsung,
00:10:20
I'm still sorry about that. So, yeah, I learned
from that mistake. There will be no film peel.
00:10:26
Now, for real this time—actually, for real—we're
going to get this up on the BDI and see what it
00:10:30
looks like. Is there a barcode on the actual
screen? Then it's just a sticker. Hold on,
00:10:36
I lied. I lied! Oh, man, there is film here, which
is good. You know, it makes me look like an idiot,
00:10:44
but also, that's going to be a lot of
fun. Alright, fellas, would you go ahead
00:10:47
and get that guy up there, and then we'll
reconstitute the box? Yes, perfect, guys.
00:10:57
Alright, so we're going to peel
the film off this thing and get
00:11:00
it going. But just to make sure that this
remote has some power to the batteries,
00:11:04
I'm going to ask Greg here—can you just
hold this in front of the studio light and
00:11:08
let it solar charge? I'm just kidding;
it's probably got power in it anyway.
00:11:14
I gotta say, the energy guide sticker says
$31, and, I mean, that's amazing to me. Even
00:11:21
in eco mode, for it to only be $31... Like I
said, the previous television, the Hisense,
00:11:28
I believe, was up in the $177 territory,
presumably in its eco mode as well. So,
00:11:37
kind of amazing that you can have a TV this
big and as bright as I assume it's going to
00:11:41
be and still have that kind of annual
electricity cost. Alright, peel time.
00:12:21
[Applause]
00:12:22
If "professional TV peeler" isn’t something
you can put on your LinkedIn profile,
00:12:27
then it needs to be. I think we have
a little bit more around the edges.
00:12:32
[Music]
00:12:40
Here and I think... one more...
00:13:03
oh, fail. Alright, I think that is it.
I'm sure I'm going to find some more
00:13:10
plastic at some point to peel off, but
I'm good with how far we've gotten. It's
00:13:16
not like we're leaving the plastic on the
lampshade here—don’t do that, by the way,
00:13:22
please. Alright, a power cable,
and we're going to be powered on.
00:13:30
I gotta say... yeah, Z, see if you can
catch the anti-glare that it's doing for
00:13:38
the studio light. Mhm, yeah, it's definitely
diffusing some of that light. But, I mean,
00:13:47
it's a big TV. It's going to have some reflection
to it. Let's see if it comes on by itself or if
00:13:55
we have to use the remote. We'll give it a
second... nope, power button—there we go.
00:14:11
Something tells me I'm going to want to have
my phone around for this. Two simple options:
00:14:17
"How would you like to get started? Choose
one to use the accessibility function." Yes,
00:14:28
I'm quite certain we’ll do that later.
00:14:34
Yeah, I know that our studio lights are very
intense today, but I'm getting a little bit
00:14:42
of reflection here. I said "agree to all."
Also, since we’re doing shout-outs today,
00:14:57
shout-out to Zeke and Chris, who
have to try and shoot around the
00:15:02
studio lights on these massive TVs. I
don’t think anybody really understands,
00:15:06
unless you've tried to shoot a TV yourself, just
how difficult it can be to shoot such a massive
00:15:11
TV while trying to have decent lighting in
the room. It’s really, really difficult.
00:15:16
Wait, is it telling me that I need a Samsung
account just to do these apps? I think it is.
00:15:21
I don’t remember my Samsung account. This
might be the first time I've ever had a QR
00:15:28
code that actually expires. That’s...
I don’t know why that’s interesting,
00:15:32
but it is interesting to me. Bixby or Alexa?
What do you think, guys? That’s a trick question.
00:15:39
Oh, there it is! Did you guys see
that? Samsung's ditching Tizen. Yeah,
00:15:53
they’re ditching Tizen for... I can’t
remember what it is. Probably my fault. Yeah,
00:15:58
that’s fine. I'll take responsibility for that.
00:16:01
I do like these kinds of messages. It's gone now,
but it said that the brightness optimization was
00:16:07
on, which I think is really important. A lot of
folks don’t understand that often these TVs come
00:16:16
with the ambient light sensor on by default.
That’s a really helpful feature for many,
00:16:22
but if you want to level out the
experience to get a predictable
00:16:29
brightness regardless of the ambient light
situation, that's something you want to turn off.
00:16:33
The TV is in its eco picture mode, which
is something I highly recommend everyone
00:16:39
get out of if you want the top brightness
from the TV. Man, it’s been a while since I
00:16:49
did a Samsung TV, but I keep forgetting that
it automatically starts playing FAST (free
00:17:00
ad-supported television) content,
which I’m not a fan of. We can put
00:17:05
a stop to that easily by pressing the
home button, which we have done here.
00:17:09
So by default, in movie mode, brightness
is set to 23, which indicates to me that
00:17:15
we have a lot of range to work
with. This is really bothering me,
00:17:19
this whole FAST TV playing in the background.
I specifically said "don’t." I’m sure if I tune
00:17:27
into an HDMI port, it’ll stop, but like,
just show me the home screen, please.
00:17:37
You all know how I feel about the soap
opera effect, so I'm turning off all
00:17:42
the motion smoothing stuff for now. Then
we’ll play around with various settings
00:17:46
to see if we can get a nice balance
between smoothing out some stutter and
00:17:52
not getting the full-on soap opera effect.
Local dimming is on "Standard" by default,
00:17:58
but I'm going with "High" just because I
feel like it. We’ll play with that when
00:18:04
we get to actually evaluating the measurements
on this TV. Everything else looks pretty good.
00:18:15
Oh yeah, friendly reminder to anyone who purchases
a Samsung TV: for both Samsung Galaxy phones and
00:18:22
iPhone, there’s a smart calibration process that
you can go through. My understanding is that it
00:18:28
works pretty well. One of these days, I'll compare
my calibration to the automated calibration,
00:18:33
which uses the camera in your smartphone
to measure the results. I love that they
00:18:38
make this available to folks. Nobody else is doing
this, and that right there is worth a lot for me.
00:18:44
Wow. We're going to need to cut the lights
off, but one of the first things I do with
00:18:50
any mini-LED or LED TV in general is step
well off-angle to see what I can detect in
00:18:57
terms of the backlight action, blooming,
or halo. There might be a little, but it
00:19:03
looks remarkably well-controlled. Another thing
I’ve got to say right off the bat: the off-angle
00:19:09
performance on this TV is outstanding. There's
a little bit of shift, but the massive amount of
00:19:18
washout we saw on the TCL and Hisense, and also
recently the Bravia 7, isn't happening here.
00:19:27
This just reinforces my opinion that
when it comes to off-angle viewing,
00:19:38
Samsung's got it unlocked—nobody is doing
it better right now. So, the conversation
00:19:46
around where that extra $4,000–$5,000
goes when you buy the QN90D versus,
00:19:51
say, the TCL QM8 or Hisense U8K remains
open. We’ll need to really dig into this
00:19:59
TV and discover every premium feature it
offers to justify that additional cost.
00:20:07
That said, I can tell you, after three minutes
of viewing a YouTube video—a nice YouTube video,
00:20:14
but a YouTube video nonetheless—that the
picture quality is at a higher level than
00:20:22
the TCL or Hisense options. It's hard
to put a finger on exactly what it is;
00:20:27
it just looks cleaner and more refined. Once we
measure it, we'll start discovering other things,
00:20:34
like where the peak brightness power goes and
how the backlight manages blooming and halo,
00:20:42
and how quickly it handles lighting transitions.
00:20:46
We’re going to dig deep into the nitty-gritty
to find out if this TV offers the exceptional
00:20:52
experience you should expect at such a price
premium, but we’re off to a pretty good start
00:20:58
here. Let me know in the comments what kind
of nitty-gritty, super TV-nerdy stuff you'd
00:21:05
like to see covered on this TV, assuming this
size performs similarly to the 65-inch size.
00:21:13
Alright, so even if you’re not getting the
gigantic version, any size of the QN90D—from
00:21:20
43 inches all the way up to this 98-inch
monster—should perform similarly. One thing
00:21:24
is for certain, though, my friends: I'm going to
be having fun the next few days. I’ll see you in
00:21:30
the comments. Don’t forget to like and subscribe,
and we’ll see you in the next one. Until then,
00:21:36
here are two other videos I think
you might like. That’s a gift—amen.
