The Samsung Q800T is a new TV in Samsung's 2020 8k QLED lineup and it's sold as the Samsung Q850T at Costco. It has all the features found on other high-end TVs and its high resolution delivers exceptional picture quality. Its VA panel has Samsung's 'Ultra Viewing Angle' layer added to it, improving its viewing angles at the cost of a lower native contrast ratio. Luckily, there's a full-array local dimming feature that darkens any blacks. Unfortunately, it has some uniformity issues, as parts of the screen are darker and blotchy, and there are some upscaling artifacts with both 4k and native 8k content. On the upside, this TV has support for FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to reduce screen tearing, and it has a black frame insertion feature to help improve the appearance of motion. Also, the TV comes equipped with Samsung's Tizen operating system, which is easy to use and has a ton of apps available to download.
Our Verdict
The Samsung Q800T is a great TV for most uses. It gets bright and it has impressive reflection handling if you watch TV during the day. It's a good choice for movies due to its full-array local dimming and it doesn't have any issues upscaling 480p, 720p, or 1080p content. Unfortunately, it has some uniformity issues with visible dirty screen effect, which might bother you during sports. On the upside, it's an excellent gaming TV due to its fast response time and incredibly low input lag.
- Impressive reflection handling.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Easily gets bright enough to combat glare.
- Full-array local dimming.
- Disappointing out-of-the-box color accuracy.
- Uniformity issues.
- Low contrast ratio for a VA panel.
The Samsung Q800T is good for watching movies. Its contrast ratio is low for a VA panel, but the full-array local dimming feature helps deepen any blacks. It upscales lower resolution content, like 480p from DVDs or 1080p from Blu-rays well, but there are some artifacts with 4k content. Unfortunately, this TV also has some uniformity issues as parts of the screen are darker.
- Full-array local dimming.
- Removes judder from any source.
- Upscales 720p and 1080p content properly.
- Uniformity issues.
- Low contrast ratio for a VA panel.
The Samsung Q800T is great for TV shows. It gets bright enough to combat glare, it has impressive reflection handling, and its viewing angles are decent. It also upscales lower resolution content, such as from cable boxes, without any issues, but sadly, the screen has some uniformity issues.
- Impressive reflection handling.
- Easily gets bright enough to combat glare.
- Decent viewing angles.
- Uniformity issues.
Great for sports. The Samsung Q800T has impressive reflection handling if you place it in a bright room, and the viewing angles are wide enough if you want to watch the game with a big group of friends. Unfortunately, there's visible dirty screen effect in the center, which could be distracting. On the upside, motion looks smooth since it has a very good response time.
- Impressive reflection handling.
- Very good response time.
- Decent viewing angles.
- Uniformity issues.
Excellent for video games. The Samsung Q800T has an incredibly low input lag, a very good response time, and it has FreeSync VRR support. It's a good choice to use either in dark rooms, as it has a good local dimming feature that darkens any blacks, or in bright rooms since it gets bright and has impressive reflection handling.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- FreeSync VRR support.
- Very good response time.
- Full-array local dimming.
- Uniformity issues.
- Low contrast ratio for a VA panel.
The Samsung Q800T is good for HDR movies. It has a great wide color gamut and gets bright enough in HDR to make highlights pop. It's also able to display deep blacks thanks to its full-array local dimming, but sadly, the screen has uniformity issues.
- Full-array local dimming.
- Excellent HDR peak brightness.
- Great wide color gamut.
- Uniformity issues.
- Low contrast ratio for a VA panel.
The Samsung Q800T is great for HDR gaming. It has a very good response time, incredibly low input lag, and support for FreeSync VRR. HDR content looks great, as it displays a very wide color gamut and it gets bright enough in HDR to bring out highlights. It also performs well in dark rooms as it has a good contrast ratio.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- FreeSync VRR support.
- Excellent HDR peak brightness.
- Great wide color gamut.
- Uniformity issues.
- Low contrast ratio for a VA panel.
The Samsung Q800T is an excellent choice to use as a PC monitor. It displays proper chroma 4:4:4 at most common resolutions, which is important for reading text. The input lag is low and if you want to place it in a meeting room, it has fairly wide viewing angles. This TV also gets very bright and it has impressive reflection handling, but unfortunately, it has some uniformity issues.
- Impressive reflection handling.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Decent viewing angles.
- Uniformity issues.
Changelog
- Updated Jul 30, 2021: We added the real content local dimming videos and retested 4k @ 120Hz VRR.
- Updated May 19, 2021: Updated the PS5's software and confirmed the TV now supports 4k @ 120Hz in HDR from it.
- Updated Apr 29, 2021: Updated the motion interpolation input lag results.
- Updated Mar 01, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.6.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 65" Q800T (QN65Q800T), and for the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 75" (QN75Q800T), and the 82" (QN82Q800T) variants. There's a Q850T variant sold at Costco that's available in the same sizes, and we expect it to perform the same for the most part.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Samsung Q800T doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests such as gray uniformity, and in this case the build quality, may vary between individual units.
| Size | US | Canada | UK | Italy | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65" | QN65Q800TAFXZA | QN65Q800TAFXZC | QE65Q800TATXXU | QE65Q800TATXZT | GQ65Q800TGTXZG |
| 75" | QN75Q800TAFXZA | QN75Q800TAFXZC | QE75Q800TATXXU | QE75Q800TATXZT | GQ75Q800TGTXZG |
| 82" | QN82Q800TAFXZA | QN82Q800TAFXZC | QE82Q800TATXXU | QE82Q800TATXZT | GQ82Q800TGTXZG |
Our unit was manufactured in February 2020, you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung Q800T is a very good overall 8k TV, but for its price, there are better 4k TVs out there. Also, 8k content is very limited in 2020, so having an 8k TV doesn't add much. See our recommendations for the best TVs, the best smart TVs, and the best outdoor TVs.
The Samsung Q900/Q900R 8k QLED is a bit better than the Samsung Q800T 8k QLED. The two TVs perform very similarly but the Q900R gets a bit brighter, handles reflections a bit better, has improved uniformity, much better out-of-the-box color accuracy, and much faster response time. The Q800T has a lower input lag and content stutters less on this TV.
The Samsung Q80T is better overall than the Samsung Q800T 8k QLED. The Q80T is a 4k TV with a better contrast ratio, better uniformity, improved reflection handling, a quicker response time, and much better out-of-the-box color accuracy. On the other hand, the Q800T is an 8k TV with slightly better viewing angles, and it can get much brighter. There still isn't much 8k content to really take advantage of the Q800T's 8k capability.
The Samsung QN800A 8k QLED and its predecessor, the Samsung Q800T 8k QLED, are great TVs with different strengths and weaknesses. The Q800T has a much better local dimming feature, making it a better choice for dark room gaming, and it displays a wider color gamut. However, the QN800A gets brighter, especially in Game Mode, so it's a better choice for bright room viewing. The QN800A displays 4k @ 120Hz content in HDR with the PS5, which the Q800T can't do. The QN800A is also slightly redesigned because it comes with a One Connect box, but other than that, they have many of the same features and performance.
The Samsung Q90/Q90T QLED is better than the Samsung Q800T 8k QLED. The Q90T is a 4k TV that has a better contrast ratio, slightly better uniformity, much better reflection handling, better out-of-the-box color accuracy, and a quicker response time. Both TVs have one HDMI 2.1 input, so they're both future-proof, but the Q800T can display 8k content.
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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