The LG QNED85 is a mid-range 4k TV in LG's 2022 QNED lineup, which combines a quantum dot color filter and LG's NanoCell technology to display a wider range of colors. It mainly competes with other mid-range models, like the Sony X90K/X90CK, Samsung QN85B QLED, and the Hisense U8/U8H, and it's available in a few sizes, from 55 to 86 inches, so you can choose the size that best fits your room. It's the lowest-end model in LG's 2022 lineup to feature a Mini LED full array backlight, which is designed to improve dark scene performance while reducing blooming compared to standard LED backlights with fewer zones. It's powered by LG's α7 Gen 5 AI processor and supports some advanced formats like Dolby Vision HDR.
Our Verdict
The LG QNED85 is a very good TV for most uses. It delivers a great gaming experience thanks to its low input lag and fast response time. It looks good in most viewing environments, so it's a great choice for watching movies in the dark or for watching shows during the day. It's also good for watching sports, as it has very little dirty screen effect in the center, and its wide viewing angle makes it a great choice for watching the big game with a large group of friends. It also delivers an excellent PC monitor experience, and it displays chroma 4:4:4 properly for clear text.
- Displays lower-resolution and 4k content without issue.
- Image remains consistent at an angle.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Great peak brightness to overcome glare in a bright room.
- Colors aren't very bright.
- Noticeable distortion at high volume.
The LG QNED85 is a great TV for watching shows in a bright room. It has great peak brightness in SDR and decent reflection handling, so it can easily overcome glare in a moderately-lit room. It also has a wide viewing angle, ensuring the image remains consistent if you move around with the TV on. It upscales lower resolution shows on DVD and Blu-ray well, and its built-in webOS smart interface has a great selection of streaming apps.
- Displays lower-resolution and 4k content without issue.
- Image remains consistent at an angle.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Great peak brightness to overcome glare in a bright room.
- Noticeable distortion at high volume.
The LG QNED85 is a good TV for watching sports during the day. It has great peak brightness and decent reflection handling, meaning it can handle moderate amounts of glare in a bright room. It also has a wide viewing angle, so the image remains consistent from the sides, making it a great choice for watching the big game with a group of friends, as everyone will see the game clearly. It also has very good uniformity, with very little dirty screen effect in the center, so large areas of uniform color look clean.
- Image remains consistent at an angle.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Very good response time with little blur behind fast-moving objects.
- Great peak brightness to overcome glare in a bright room.
- Noticeable distortion at high volume.
The LG QNED85 is an impressive TV for playing games. It has superb low input lag, so your actions are in sync with what you see on the screen, and it supports variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing. It has a quick response time, so fast motion is clear and easy to see, and it supports HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on two ports for 4k @ 120Hz gaming from a new-gen console or PC. It looks great in any viewing environment, with high peak brightness and decent reflection handling for gaming in a bright room, and good contrast and dark scene details in game mode. Finally, it has a wide viewing angle, so it's a good choice for couch co-op or party games.
- Very good response time with little blur behind fast-moving objects.
- 4k @ 120Hz support.
- Variable refresh rate support to reduce screen tearing.
- Noticeable distortion at high volume.
The LG QNED85 Series is a good TV for watching movies in HDR in a completely dark room. Its Mini LED backlight delivers excellent contrast, with bright highlights in HDR and just a bit of blooming around bright objects. It tracks the PQ EOTF well, ensuring most content is displayed at the brightness level the content creator intended. It has just okay gradient handling in HDR, though, and there's some noticeable banding in dark shades. Finally, it has an impressive color gamut, but just decent color volume overall, so colors are saturated but not very bright.
- Automatically removes 24p judder from any source.
- Impressive color gamut.
- Mini LED local dimming feature delivers deep blacks.
- Some blooming around bright objects in dark scenes.
- Banding in dark shades.
- Colors aren't very bright.
- No support for DTS audio passthrough.
The LG QNED85 is a very good TV for gaming in HDR. It has low input lag, a fast response time, and variable refresh rate support to reduce tearing. It supports 4k @ 120Hz gaming with HDR, which is great for new-gen consoles or PC gamers. HDR looks good thanks to its good contrast and dark scene details in a dark room, and it has decent peak brightness in HDR to bring out bright highlights in games.
- Very good response time with little blur behind fast-moving objects.
- 4k @ 120Hz support.
- Variable refresh rate support to reduce screen tearing.
- Impressive color gamut.
- Banding in dark shades.
The LG QNED85 is an excellent TV for use as a PC monitor. It has very good uniformity, so the screen looks clean when browsing the web. It also has a wide viewing angle, which means the sides of the screen remain uniform even if you're sitting up close. It displays chroma 4:4:4 properly, which is essential for clear text from a PC, and it has low input lag for a responsive desktop experience. It has a very good response time, with very little black smear when you're scrolling text quickly.
- Image remains consistent at an angle.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Very good response time with little blur behind fast-moving objects.
- 4k @ 120Hz support.
- Chroma 4:4:4 displayed properly for clear text.
Changelog
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Updated Nov 12, 2024:
Mentioned the newly-reviewed LG QNED85T in the Contrast section.
- Updated Jul 24, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 1.11. With this update, we've added a new Upscaling: Sharpness Processing test and revamped our Blooming test so the scores and picture better match the real world experience. With this change, it was necessary to remove the Black Crush test. Finally, we've updated our usage scores to better align our scores with user expectations.
- Updated May 17, 2023: We updated the Version number in the Interface section of the review to match our other reviews, as LG uses the year to indicate the interface version now, not the internal software version.
- Updated Feb 22, 2023: Updated the Differences Between Sizes And Variants section to mention that the AQA variant has a NEXTGEN TV (ATSC 3.0) tuner.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the 65-inch LG QNED85, and these results are also valid for the 55, 75, and 86-inch models. The exact model code varies between regions and retailers. The QNED85AQA variant sold at Costco comes with a remote that supports NFC and a much longer warranty, and it has a NEXTGEN TV (ATSC 3.0) tuner. There are two minor variants of this TV sold in Europe: the LG QNED86 and the LG QNED87. They both offer nearly identical performance to the QNED85, but with a center-mounted stand and slight cosmetic differences.
| Size | Model Number | Costco Model | Dimming Zones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55" | 55QNED85UQA | 55QNED85AQA | 120 |
| 65" | 65QNED85UQA | 65QNED85AQA | 180 |
| 75" | 75QNED85UQA | 75QNED85AQA | Unknown |
| 85" | 86QNED85UQA | 86QNED85AQA | Unknown |
The unit we bought and tested was manufactured in August 2022. You can see the label for it here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The LG QNED85 is a very good TV overall, with a wide viewing angle and deep blacks in a dark room, making it a versatile choice that looks good in any viewing environment. There are good alternatives from other brands, like the Hisense U8/U8H, that offer better overall picture quality but have a worse viewing angle.
See our recommendations for the best smart TVs, the best TVs under $1,500, and the best 4k TVs.
The TCL QM6K is a bit better than the LG QNED85. Although the LG is a bit brighter in some scenes, the TCL delivers better picture quality overall, with much deeper blacks and a more effective local dimming feature. The LG has a wider viewing angle, though, so it's a slightly better choice for a wide seating area.
The TCL QM7K is much better than the LG QNED85. The TCL delivers much better dark room performance, with deeper, more uniform blacks and less noticeable haloing around bright parts of the scene. The TCL also gets much brighter, so small specular highlight details are much brighter and more impactful in HDR. Finally, the TCL is better for gaming, as it supports a much higher refresh rate.
The Sony X90L/X90CL is a bit better than the LG QNED85. The Sony is the brightest of the two TVs, so it pops more when watched in bright rooms. It also has much better image processing than the LG, so if you watch low-bitrate content or low-resolution content from DVDs, the Sony TV has you covered. The LG does have a vastly wider viewing angle, so it's the better model for large viewing parties.
The LG QNED85 is notably better than the LG QNED85A, despite the former being released two years prior. The QNED85 has worse native contrast, but its local dimming feature performs significantly better, delivering deeper blacks and less haloing than the one on the QNED85A. If you're an Xbox gamer, the LG QNED85 also offers the added benefit of supporting Dolby Vision.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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