Any real alternatives to the Q70r in the 80”+ market

lozkinjones

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Hi guys. I’ve had a 65” Samsung ks8000 for years now and absolutely loved it, but it’s On the way out and needs replacing!

I rather rashly bought a new LG 8500 86” model but the picture quality is just not up to scratch, and the “wow” factor of such a large screen doesn’t make up for such a lower quality picture, so I’m sending it back

I’m looking for an 82-85 inch tv that shines when playing HDR content...we watch a lot of 4K movies in our house, as well as game on a PS4 pro, so good quality HDR is key

I see that the Q70r has very similar movie and hdr movie scores on Rtings as the Ks8000, and I can pick one up for £2299, but before I pull the trigger I was keen to see if there were any alternatives people could recommend in the 2-2.5k price point

I sit centrally around 2.5m from the screen, so wide viewing angles aren’t important
 
You already have the best option. The others are pretty overpriced.

If you wanted to wait for its price to be reduced you might find a discount in the future on the new 2020 85" Sony XH9005 which has promised HDMI 2.1 support and will perform very similar overall to the Samsung Q70R, but its only just been released so it costs a premium.

The step up models in the 2019 85XG9505 and 2020 85XH9505 are too expensive.

Seems Samsung have limited availability again in Europe at larger sizes. I haven't seen anything other than the Q800T at 82" and its very, very expensive.

Compared to your current TV the Q70R is an upgrade in almost every area. Its short of bit on peak brightness and its anti glare isn't quite as good, but its a tier up really from your old model due to the addition of local dimming.

It is however still an entry level model with dimming, and you'd need to consider downsizing to get better HDR performance. Its good enough, but not as impressive as other TVs like the Q85R or Q90R.
 
Thanks - would there be a 75" or similar at the same price point (£2500) that you think would give a significant HDR performance increase?
 
The Samsung Q85R or Q90R. Those TVs will give you less uniformity problems with HDR (as the backlight has to be on full) and they also won't get dimmer than your old TV, or have worse anti glare.

The Q90R has more zones than the Q85R, but the Q85R is good enough for most people. Given the price difference and size though I'd say the Q90R is worth the extra. The bigger the TV, the more zones you'll want.

The Q90R has also not really been replaced. The 2020 Q90T is a regression in dimming, with the more expensive 8k 2020 models performing more similarly with dimming in the Q900T and Q950T.
 
That is the unfortunate nature of this time of year. 2019 models are at very good prices but sell out fast as stock is replaced in shops by 2020 models.

Here's a comparison of the Samsung models:

So the Q85R should be about similar to the Q90T with dimming and is around £3500 currently. It will come down in time, but now isn't a great time to buy a 2020 model as they are overpriced having just been released.

You could go for the 8k 75" Q950R from Samsung's store. They are offering 10% off their 8k TVs now which would bring it to £2700.

On the Sony front the XH9505 performs similarly to the cheaper Samsung Q80R. It has better motion, worse smart TV and is available at a decent cost at 75" presently for £2400.
 

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