Samsung Q60A (QE65Q60A) Review: Delivers vibrant colors and crisp details

Tech Week Score
5.0
- Michail Yahontov

Samsung Q60A is the base series from Samsung’s 2021 QLED TV lineup. As a basic QLED TV, the Q60A comes with Quantum Dot Color, which lets you enjoy rich colors and accurate color reproduction. The Q60A’s 4K resolution is complemented by UHD Upscaling technology, which delivers superb image clarity not only for 4K, but also for regular content.

The Samsung Q60A comes in a huge range of sizes, from the smallest 43 “diagonal to a whopping 82”. This means that there is always a Q60A that fits your home, whether you live in a small hostel or a large house outside the city. In our review of Samsung QE65Q60A TV 4K HDR as a representative of the series, we will take a closer look at the functional equipment of the TV.

Samsung Q60A review

Design

The Q60A inherits the same simple and elegant design as last year’s Samsung Q60T QLED TV . The main difference in appearance is the case thickness that has decreased by more than three centimeters. This design is called AirSlim. It has a thin bezel to ensure that the image takes up as much space as possible on the front panel.

The dark plastic case looks sturdy and has a slight embossing on the back, which gives it a bit of finesse. It’s not as elegant as the metal cases of higher-end TVs, but it doesn’t look cheap. The legs of the TV have been slightly modified. They have become noticeably lower, due to this, the overall installation height has decreased by about 4 cm. Note that the Q60A with a diagonal of 75 inches and above has adjustable legs.

Samsung Q60A - design

You can also use a wall mount (not included), or a standard VESA 400 x 300mm mount, or a Samsung mini wall mount. This is useful if you want to minimize the distance between the TV and the wall. But it must be borne in mind that all ports look sideways, which makes it difficult to access them without moving the Samsung Q60A TV away from the wall.

Image quality

The Samsung Q60A has an outstanding contrast ratio (of the order of 7000: 1), which is quite expected from a VA panel as opposed to an IPS . It displays deep blacks but lacks local dimming to further enhance contrast. Peak brightness in real scenes exceeds 400 nits. This allows the QE65Q60A TV to cope well with glare in bright rooms. But for HDR content, that’s a pretty mediocre value.

Despite the use of side lighting, the uniformity of the gray color on the screen is quite acceptable. The uniformity of black is generally very good. Like most VA TVs, the Samsung Q60A has poor viewing angles. The image looks blurry when viewed from an angle.

Advertisement

Quntum Dot Color provides good color accuracy from the factory. After calibration, the color accuracy is incredible. Remaining roughness should not be visible to the naked eye. White balance is near perfect and gamma is on target, so most scenes are displayed with the correct brightness.

The TV supports HDR (high dynamic range) content, including Samsung’s proprietary HDR10 + (but not Dolby Vision). This provides detailed colors in a variety of TV shows and movies. The color gamut covers almost 100% of the Rec. 709.

Advertisement

Motion processing and game mode

The Samsung Q60A’s motion processing technology is a Motion Xcelerator based on a native 60Hz refresh rate. While this is indeed the basic motion technology for Samsung 4K LED TVs, it is capable of delivering fluid motion pictures in action movies and sports. The Q60A also supports ALLM to enhance the on-screen gaming experience.

The Q60A TV has a mediocre response time. There is some trace of blur in fast moving scenes, and overshoot at 0-20% transition can cause some artifacts in dark scenes. But due to the slow response, there is almost no stutter when watching content at a lower frame rate (such as 24p).

The GameView game bar allows you to change the aspect ratio of the screen from 21: 9 to 32: 9. It also gives you the ability to quickly track and tweak important aspects of your gameplay – be it switching aspect ratios, checking input lag, or plugging in a headset. With Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), the TV automatically switches to Game Mode to minimize input lag and optimize picture settings.

Smart TV

The Q60T features the same Tizen Smart TV platform as Samsung’s more expensive QLED models. It inherits all its advantages, including a huge selection of applications and support for multiple voice assistants. The easiest way to set up your TV is to create a Samsung account online and install the Samsung SmartThings app on your smartphone.

Advertisement

It discovers the TV and helps you set it up. You can also use the on-screen menus to make adjustments, but this is a little more difficult. Thanks to the SmartThings integration, you can also use your TV to control connected gadgets in your home. Tizen’s interface is very simple and easy to use for common tasks such as launching frequently used applications.

But finding additional settings is a little difficult. For example, if you want to turn off motion anti-aliasing, then you need to go to Settings> Image> Additional settings> Image clarity settings, and only then turn it off. Some applications start slowly, probably due to the Quantum Lite Q60A processor. But after launch, there are no problems with viewing.

Samsung Q60A - switching

The remote control is similar to the already well-proven OneRemote. But in the new model, it is equipped with a solar panel on the back. The TM2180E SolarCell battery can also be charged via the USB connector. A 15-minute charge can last a week. But a small solar cell can charge a battery for up to two years before it needs to be plugged in and charged via USB.

Sound quality

The two speakers inside the Q60A with a total output of 20W do a good job of sounding, but it can’t even match the basic Samsung soundbars. Best of all, the TV audio system copes with the reproduction of dialogues. The lack of bass is very obvious when watching action movies and listening to music.

Object Tracking Sound ( OTS ) Lite uses artificial intelligence and the TV’s bottom speakers to simulate overhead sounds. As a result, we have an almost three-dimensional sound that tracks the actions on the screen. And all this without additional speakers. The Adaptive Sound option adjusts the sound in each scene according to what is on screen for maximum detail.

Advertisement

Connections

The Samsung Q60A TV has three HDMI ports – all versions are 2.0. There are also two USB ports for connecting multimedia peripherals such as flash drives. The Q60A has built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity. Bluetooth version 4.2 is supported. The sound can be transmitted via the optical digital output as well as via the eARC channel . There are two antenna sockets for satellite and terrestrial TV.

Conclusion

If you need a Samsung TV but can’t afford one of its premium models, the Q60A QLED TV is fine. In most cases, it produces vibrant colors and crisp details. However, lower processor power and lower refresh rates affect performance in games and watching combat scenes.

There are also problems with viewing angles. But in general, you can get good image quality on the screen, where color accuracy is provided by quantum dots. Moreover, with support for HDR10, HDR10 + and HLG based on the Quantum Processor 4K Lite processor.

TAGGED:
Share This Article