The Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED is the entry-level QLED in Samsung's 2022 lineup. It sits below the Samsung Q70/Q70B QLED, and it replaces the Samsung Q60/Q60A QLED from 2021. It uses quantum dot technology to display a wide range of colors, but besides this, it's limited in features as it doesn't have local dimming, HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, or variable refresh rate (VRR) support that most of the higher-end QLED models have. However, it still comes with the Tizen smart platform that's easy to use and has a ton of apps available to download. It has a few added features compared to past versions, like the support for Google Duo if you connect a compatible webcam to make video calls. It also supports different voice assistant features, like Bixby, Alexa, and Google Assistant, meaning you can choose which one you want to use.
Our Verdict
The Samsung Q60B is decent overall. It's good for watching movies in dark rooms because it displays deep blacks and has incredible black uniformity but lacks a local dimming feature. It's also good for watching TV shows or sports in bright rooms as it has great peak brightness and decent reflection handling, but it has a narrow viewing angle if you want to watch content in a wide seating arrangement. Lastly, it's decent for gaming or for watching HDR content thanks to its great dark room performance, but it doesn't have any extra gaming features, and highlights don't pop in HDR.
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High native contrast for deep blacks.
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No issues upscaling lower-resolution content.
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Great SDR peak brightness.
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Easy-to-use Tizen smart platform.
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Narrow viewing angle.
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Noticeable motion blur.
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Highlights don't pop in HDR.
The Samsung Q60B is good for watching movies in dark rooms. It has a high native contrast ratio that results in deep blacks, and there's minimal blooming around bright objects thanks to the incredible black uniformity. However, it doesn't have a local dimming feature to further improve the picture quality in dark scenes. Still, it doesn't have trouble upscaling lower-resolution content, and it's judder-free with native 24p sources.
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High native contrast for deep blacks.
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Incredible black uniformity.
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No issues upscaling lower-resolution content.
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Lacks a local dimming feature.
The Samsung Q60B is good for watching TV shows in bright rooms. It has great peak brightness, meaning it fights glare in most bright rooms, and the reflection handling is decent. It upscales 720p and 1080p content without issue, and the Tizen platform makes it easy to stream your favorite shows. Sadly, it has a narrow viewing angle, meaning it's not ideal for watching shows in a wide seating area as people viewing from the sides see an inaccurate image.
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No issues upscaling lower-resolution content.
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Great SDR peak brightness.
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Easy-to-use Tizen smart platform.
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Narrow viewing angle.
The Samsung Q60B is decent for watching sports. You can easily stream your sports using the Tizen smart platform, and if you watch games from cable boxes, it upscales lower-resolution content well. It's also good for well-lit rooms as it has high peak brightness and decent reflection handling. Sadly, fast-moving players don't look good because it has a slow response time that results in motion blur. Also, it has a narrow viewing angle, so the image looks washed out from the sides, and it's not ideal for watching the game in a large seating area.
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No issues upscaling lower-resolution content.
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Great SDR peak brightness.
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Narrow viewing angle.
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Noticeable motion blur.
The Samsung Q60B is decent for gaming. It has low input lag for a responsive feel, and it looks great in dark rooms thanks to its high contrast and incredible black uniformity. However, it has a slow response time that results in visible motion blur, and it doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing. It's also limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, meaning you can't play high-frame-rate games.
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High native contrast for deep blacks.
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Incredible black uniformity.
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Low input lag.
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Noticeable motion blur.
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Limited to HDMI 2.0 bandwidth.
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No VRR support.
The Samsung Q60B is decent for watching HDR movies. It looks great in dark rooms because it has a high native contrast ratio that results in deep blacks, and the black uniformity is incredible. It displays a wide range of colors in HDR, but it doesn't have a local dimming feature, and its HDR peak brightness is limited, so highlights don't pop in HDR. Also, it has banding with shades of similar colors that can get distracting.
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High native contrast for deep blacks.
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Incredible black uniformity.
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Lacks a local dimming feature.
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Highlights don't pop in HDR.
The Samsung Q60B is decent for HDR gaming,. Its dark room performance is great because it displays deep blacks with minimal blooming. HDR content doesn't look anything special because it doesn't have a local dimming feature to help it get bright enough to truly make highlights pop. It doesn't have many gaming features either, and it has a slow response time, but it has low input lag for a responsive feel.
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High native contrast for deep blacks.
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Incredible black uniformity.
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Low input lag.
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Lacks a local dimming feature.
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Noticeable motion blur.
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No VRR support.
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Highlights don't pop in HDR.
The Samsung Q60B is decent to use as a PC monitor. It displays clear text as it displays proper chroma 4:4:4 with any signal and has low input lag in PC Mode. It performs well in bright rooms because it has decent reflection handling and gets bright enough to fight glare. Sadly, it has a narrow viewing angle meaning the edges of the screen look washed out if you sit too close.
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Great SDR peak brightness.
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Low input lag.
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Displays clear text with any signal.
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Narrow viewing angle.
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Noticeable motion blur.
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Limited to HDMI 2.0 bandwidth.
- 7.8 Mixed Usage
- 8.6 Movies
- 7.6 TV Shows
- 7.0 Sports
- 7.9 Video Games
- 8.1 HDR Movies
- 8.0 HDR Gaming
- 7.0 PC Monitor
- Updated Dec 12, 2022: Updated to Test Bench 1.9, modifying our Contrast testing and splitting our local dimming testing into multiple sections covering Blooming, Black Crush, and Lighting Zone Transitions. You can see our full changelog here.
- Updated Dec 01, 2022: Updated to Test Bench 1.8, adding a new box for PQ EOTF tracking and updating our Color Volume and Color Gamut tests to better reflect real world usage. You can see our full changelog here.
- Updated Nov 17, 2022: We uploaded the initial brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Jul 25, 2022: Updated to Test Bench 1.7 with an updated HDR Brightness test that better reflects real world usage. We've also split the console compatibility boxes into separate PS5 Compatibility and Xbox Series X|S Compatibility tests. You can see our full changelog here.
- Updated May 09, 2022: Review published.
- Updated May 04, 2022: Early access published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 65 inch Samsung Q60B, which is also available in 43 inch, 50 inch, 55 inch, 60 inch, 70 inch, 75 inch, and 85 inch sizes. The review is valid for all sizes. Note that with Samsung TVs, the six letters after the short model code (AFXZA in this case) vary between specific retailers and regions and even between different retailers. It's also known as the Samsung Q60BD at certain retailers.
Samsung's lineup is different in Europe, so the Samsung Q60B is slightly different, and the review isn't valid for it. The European Samsung Q65 is a closer equivalent.
| Size | US Model |
|---|---|
| 43" | QN43Q60BAFXZA |
| 50" | QN50Q60BAFXZA |
| 55" | QN55Q60BAFXZA |
| 60" | QN60Q60BAFXZA |
| 65" | QN65Q60BAFXZA |
| 70" | QN70Q60BAFXZA |
| 75" | QN75Q60BAFXZA |
| 85" | QN85Q60BAFXZA |
If you come across a Samsung Q60B with a different panel type, or if it doesn't correspond to our review, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
Our unit was manufactured in March 2022, and you can see the label here.
Compared To Other TVs
The Samsung Q60B is a decent entry-level QLED that improves in a few areas compared to its predecessor, the Samsung Q60/Q60A QLED. It's a good choice for watching movies in dark rooms, and it gets bright if you want to use it in a well-lit room. However, it's limited on features and has disappointing motion handling, and you can get better TVs in the same price range.
Also see our recommendations for the best Samsung TVs, the best 65 inch TVs, and the best TVs for movies.
The Samsung Q70/Q70A QLED is better overall than the Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED. The biggest difference between each is that the Q70A has more gaming features like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, a 120Hz panel, and VRR support, all of which the Q60B doesn't have. Also, the Q70A has a much better response time for better motion handling. The Q70A also gets brighter in SDR, so it's better for well-lit rooms, but the Q60B still gets bright.
The Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED is extremely similar to its predecessor, the Samsung Q60/Q60A QLED. The Q60B is slightly better in a few areas, like the contrast and black uniformity, so it's better for dark room viewing, and it has improved out-of-the-box accuracy. The updated version of Tizen on the Q60B has a few more features like the support for Google Assistant, Bixby, and Alexa voice assistant features. On the other hand, the Q60A has a quicker response time.
The Sony X85K is better than the Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED. If you're a gamer, you'll enjoy the Sony TV's features, like the HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and VRR support, which the Samsung TV doesn't have. The Sony is also a better choice if you want to use it in a well-lit room as it gets slightly brighter and has better reflection handling.
The Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED and the Samsung AU8000 are both decent TVs, but the Q60B is slightly more polished overall. It displays a wider range of colors thanks to its quantum dot technology, and it has much better out-of-the-box accuracy. It also has higher peak brightness, but the AU8000 has better reflection handling. The Q60B is better for dark rooms as it has a higher native contrast and improved black uniformity. In terms of smart features, they both have Tizen, but the Q60B has a few extra features that the AU8000 doesn't have, like the support for different voice assistant features.
The Samsung QN85B QLED is much better overall than the Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED, but they're different types of TVs. The QN85B is a high-end TV with Mini LED backlighting that allows it to get very bright, and it has a local dimming feature that delivers deep blacks. It also has more gaming features like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and VRR support to reduce screen tearing. The QN85B has a wider viewing angle that makes it a better choice for wide seating areas. However, the Q60B is an entry-level TV with a different panel type with less blooming around bright objects.
The Sony X85J is better overall than the Samsung Q60/Q60A QLED and has a few more features. The Sony is better for gaming because it has a 120Hz panel with HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and VRR support, while the Samsung is limited to a 60Hz panel without HDMI 2.1 bandwidth or VRR support. The Sony also has better motion handling, but other than that, the picture quality between both TVs is very similar overall.
The Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED and the Sony X80K are different types of entry-level TVs. The Samsung is better for bright and dark rooms because it gets brighter and it has a better contrast for deeper blacks. On the other hand, the Sony is better for wide seating areas because it has a wider viewing angle. It also has better motion handling thanks to its quicker response time.
The Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED is much better than the LG NANO75 2022. The Samsung has significantly better contrast and black uniformity, so it looks way better in a dark room. The Samsung also gets significantly brighter, so it can better overcome glare in a bright room, and HDR content looks more impactful as highlights stand out better.
The Samsung Q60/Q60B QLED is a newer version of the Samsung Q60/Q60T QLED that's very similar overall. The picture quality is very similar between both, and any differences are hard to tell, but the biggest change is with the included Tizen smart platform. The Q60B has a newer version that feels better and has a full-screen page to control your apps, and the remote doesn't need disposable batteries like the remote with the Q60T.
Test Results
The Samsung Q60B is a simple TV and looks nice, especially for an entry-level QLED TV. It's entirely plastic, which has a gray tone, and it has thin borders, so it'll look nice in any setup.
The stand is wide-set plastic feet that support the TV well, but there's still a bit of wobble from front to back. Because the stand is so wide, you'll need a big table to place it on. You can adjust the height if you need to put a soundbar in front, but some thicker soundbars still block the screen.
Footprint of the 65 inch TV: 42.5" x 10.8".
- Height in lower position: 1.45" (to the bezel) and 1.92" (to the screen)
- Height in raised position: 2.44" (to the bezel) and 2.91" (to the screen)
The back of the TV is brushed gray-tone plastic. There are tracks along the back to help route the cables to the inputs for cable management, and the feet have clips. Sadly, the inputs are set into the TV, so they're hard to reach if you wall-mount the TV with a fixed bracket.
The Samsung Q60B has decent build quality. It's fairly stable on the stand, and even if there's a bit of wobble from front to back, it's not an issue once you place your TV on a table. The TV is entirely plastic, and while there's nothing wrong with it, there's nothing special about the materials either. Sadly, the back panel flexes easily near the inputs.
The Samsung Q60B has a fantastic native contrast ratio for deep blacks. There's no local dimming feature to further improve the contrast, but it still looks good in dark rooms.
There's no local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the TV to show you how the backlight performs and make it easy to compare it with a TV that has local dimming.
The Samsung Q60 QLED TV has great SDR peak brightness. It's enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms and there's no variation in brightness between different scenes.
These results are from after calibration in the 'Movie' Picture Mode with the Backlight at its max, Gamma at '2.2', and the Color Tone set to 'Warm2'. You can get a slightly brighter image of 497 cd/m² in the 10% window by setting the Contrast to its max, Color Tone to 'Standard', and Contrast Enhancer to 'High'. However, the difference is minor, and the image is less accurate with these settings.
The HDR peak brightness is alright. Highlights don't stand out and it doesn't have a local dimming feature to help make small objects pop. The EOTF follows the target well until there's a slow roll-off at the peak brightness, meaning you don't lose details in bright scenes.
The results are from before calibration in the 'Movie' Picture Mode with the Brightness and Contrast at their max, and the Color Tone set to 'Warm2'. If you find the image too dim, try setting the ST.2084 to its max and Contrast Enhancer to 'High'. This makes the image appear brighter, as you can see in this EOTF, but it doesn't change the peak brightness.
The HDR peak brightness in Game Mode looks the same as outside of Game Mode. The difference in results are due to margin of error, and you can't see any visible difference in the image. The results are from the 'Game' Picture Mode with the same settings as outside of Game Mode, and with the Color Gamut set to 'Auto'.
The gradient handling is good, but there's noticeable banding with darker shades. Sadly, the Noise Reduction doesn't do much to reduce the banding.
The Samsung Q60 TV has good gray uniformity. The edges of the screen are a bit darker than the rest, which you'll notice when using it as a PC monitor, but besides that, the screen looks uniform. There's a bit of dirty screen effect in the center, but it's not too distracting while watching sports.
The black uniformity is incredible. There's only a bit of clouding towards the edges of the screen, and there's minimal blooming around the center cross. Sadly, it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve it.
The Samsung Q60 has a narrow viewing angle. This means the image looks inaccurate as you move off-center, and it's not a good choice for wide seating areas. If you want something with a wider viewing angle, look into the Sony X80K.
The Samsung Q60B has decent reflection handling. Combined with its great peak brightness, you won't have issues using it in rooms with a few lamps and pot lights around, but it struggles when there's a bright window.
The Samsung Q60B has incredible out-of-the-box accuracy. Nearly all colors are spot-on with their target, and the color temperature is close to the 6500K target, but bright whites are a bit off. Sadly, gamma doesn't follow the 2.2 target, as most scenes are too bright, especially really bright ones.
The accuracy after calibration is fantastic. It doesn't improve the color accuracy or temperature all that much, but the white balance is better, and gamma is significantly improved. It has basic support of the new Smart Calibration feature, but it doesn't seem to actually improve the color accuracy, so you still need a full calibration for the best results.
You can see our recommended settings here.
The Samsung Q60 upscales 480p content from DVDs and SD cable channels without issue.
There aren't any noticeable problems with 720p content, like from HD cable channels.
1080p content from Blu-rays looks almost as good as native 4k content.
The Samsung Q60B uses a BGR subpixel layout, which doesn't impact the image quality, but it makes text look blurry in some applications that don't support the BGR layout if you want to use it as a PC monitor. You can read more about it here.
The HDR color gamut is very good. It has excellent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space used in most HDR content, and the tone mapping is good too. However, it's not future-proof because it has limited coverage of the Rec. 2020 color space, which more content will start to use, and the tone mapping with green and cyan is off.
The Samsung Q60B has a decent color volume. Colors get as bright as pure white, and it displays dark colors well, but it's limited by the incomplete color gamut.
The Samsung Q60B has a disappointing response time. Motion looks blurry, and because it has a slow response time with dark transitions, there's noticeable black smearing with dark objects.
The Samsung Q60B uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to dim the backlight at all brightness levels. It flickers at 480Hz in the 'Movie' Picture Mode which can be distracting if you're sensitive to the flicker, and it drops down to 120Hz in the 'Dynamic', 'Standard', 'Filmmaker', and 'Game' modes, or with Picture Clarity enabled. This lower flicker causes image duplication with 60 fps content and can cause headaches if you're sensitive to flicker.
There's an optional feature to introduce backlight strobing to reduce persistence blur, and this feature is also known as black frame insertion. It flickers at 60Hz when enabled, but the timing is off, resulting in noticeable image duplication, and the screen gets dimmer. Keep in mind that the BFI scored is based on the frequency at which it flickers, and not the performance.
There's a motion interpolation feature to bring lower-frame-rate content up to 60 fps. It doesn't look the best as even slight movement causes artifacts, and there's a ton of haloing around fast-moving objects. When there's too much on-screen movement, the interpolation stops altogether, so content suddenly drops back down to a lower frame rate.
Due to the slow response time, there isn't much stutter with low-frame-rate content because each frame isn't held on for a long time.
The Samsung Q60B removes judder from native 24p sources like native apps and Blu-ray players. It partially removes judder from 60p sources like cable boxes, but it doesn't get rid of it completely.
The Samsung Q60B doesn't have variable refresh rate support.
The Samsung Q60B has low input lag for a responsive gaming experience. All these results are in Game Mode where applicable, except for 1440p @ 60Hz, which was done in PC Mode because 1440p doesn't scale properly in Game Mode. You can enable the motion interpolation feature in Game Mode, and while it increases the input lag, it's still fine enough for casual gamers.
The Samsung Q60B supports all common resolutions up to 4k @ 60Hz. It displays proper chroma 4:4:4 with any signal, which is important for reading clear text, but you need to make sure you're in PC Mode with 1440p signals since the image doesn't properly scale in Game Mode because it doesn't fill the entire screen.
As the Samsung Q60B has HDMI 2.0 bandwidth and no VRR support, it has limited capabilities with the advanced gaming features on the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The Auto Low Latency Mode automatically switches the TV into Game Mode when you play a game from a compatible device, and you don't need to change any settings.
The Samsung Q60B doesn't support ATSC 3.0, meaning you can't use it to watch over-the-air 4k channels in the US. Although some retailers advertise it as having HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, it's limited to HDMI 2.0. If you want a similar TV with HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, then look into the Sony X85K.
The Samsung Q60 QLED has eARC support, allowing you to pass lossless Dolby Atmos audio to a compatible receiver. However, because it doesn't support any DTS or DTS:X signals, and many Blu-rays use this audio format, you'll need to connect your Blu-ray directly to your receiver to get the best sound experience.
The Samsung Q60B has mediocre speakers. It's well-balanced at moderate listening levels, which is great for listening to dialogue, but it doesn't get loud and doesn't produce any bass. Like most TVs, get a soundbar or a dedicated surround sound setup for the best sound possible.
The distortion handling is disappointing. It has more distortion at moderate levels than at its max level, but it doesn't get loud anyways, and the difference isn't that audible.
The Samsung Q60B comes with the same Tizen smart interface as higher-end models, but it has fewer features. It doesn't have a room correction feature or Intelligent Mode settings, but it's still user-friendly and navigating through the menus feels smooth.
Sadly, there are ads throughout the interface, and there's no way to disable them.
The Samsung app store has a ton of apps you can download. It's also compatible with Google Duo, allowing you to make video calls if you connect a compatible webcam.
The included remote is slightly redesigned compared to the 2021 model that came with the Samsung Q60/Q60A QLED. It's flat and has an extra quick-access button to open popular streaming apps. The manufacturer advertises it as not having a battery, but there's still an internal power supply that you can recharge via the solar panel on the back or with a USB-C cable, but it doesn't come with one. The built-in mic is compatible with Bixby, Alexa, and Google Assistant, and you can ask it to open apps, switch inputs, and change certain settings like the peak brightness.
