The Samsung QN85C/QN85CD QLED is the Samsung QN85B QLED's successor and is Samsung's lowest Neo QLED offering in 2023, sitting below the Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED and the Samsung QN95C QLED. It features a Mini LED backlight, allowing for high levels of brightness and fine control over the TV's local dimming zones. It uses Samsung's 2023 Tizen OS smart interface, which offers many apps. It also has an integrated microphone on both the TV and the remote, allowing for hands-free voice control through Bixby or Amazon's Alexa. It's a fully featured gaming TV with 4 HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports for up to 4k @ 120Hz gaming and support for every variable refresh rate (VRR) technology. It comes in 55, 65, 75, and 85-inch sizes.
Our Verdict
The Samsung QN85C is a very good TV overall. Its contrast is exceptional, especially with local dimming set to 'High', so movies look amazing in a dark room. It has decent reflection handling for bright rooms, and the TV gets bright in both SDR and HDR, so TV shows and sports look great even when there are a ton of lights around. Its primary weakness is its mediocre low-quality content smoothing, negatively affecting the image quality of TV shows and movies from streaming services. Aside from that, the TV has plenty of strengths: exceptionally low input lag for very responsive inputs when gaming or using a PC mouse, a ton of gaming features, and a good response time for clear motion whenever fast-moving objects are on screen. As a whole, the TV is solid.
- Image remains consistent at moderate angles.
- Bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room.
- Easy-to-use smart interface with a great selection of apps.
- Local dimming cannot be fully disabled on this TV.
The Samsung QN85C is very good for TV shows. It has exceptional SDR peak brightness and decent reflection handling, easily handling bright rooms. If you're watching your shows with your family or friends, the TV has a very good viewing angle; people sitting around the TV have an overall pleasant viewing experience. Unfortunately, the TV doesn't have the best image processing capabilities; it's good when upscaling low-resolution content, but its low-quality content smoothing is mediocre, so shows from streaming services don't look their best.
- Image remains consistent at moderate angles.
- Bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room.
- Easy-to-use smart interface with a great selection of apps.
- Local dimming cannot be fully disabled on this TV.
- Mediocre low-quality content smoothing.
The Samsung QN85C is a very good TV for watching sports. Its SDR peak brightness is exceptional, and this model has decent reflection handling, so the TV looks amazing in very bright rooms. The TV has a good response time, so fast-moving objects like a puck or a player are clear and easy to make out. The TV has good gray uniformity, so while there is some banding and vignetting on it, it's not bad enough to be annoying while watching sports with large sections of bright color. Finally, the TV has a very good viewing angle, so your friends have a consistent viewing experience even when sitting at various angles from the TV.
- Image remains consistent at moderate angles.
- Bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room.
- Easy-to-use smart interface with a great selection of apps.
- Good response time.
- Local dimming cannot be fully disabled on this TV.
The Samsung QN85C is a great TV to play games on. It has a bit more blooming in Game Mode, but colors pop, and the TV looks good overall. The TV has superb SDR brightness and decent reflection handling, so games look bright and vibrant in even the brightest of rooms. The TV has four HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports with up to 4k @ 120Hz support, which is great if you own multiple consoles and a PC, and it supports every variable refresh rate (VRR) technology for a nearly tear-free gaming experience. Finally, the TV has an incredibly low input lag, so your inputs are fast and responsive, and its response time is good for clear motion when gaming.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Supports every variable refresh rate (VRR) technology.
- Good response time.
- Local dimming cannot be fully disabled on this TV.
The Samsung QN85C is a very good TV for watching the latest HDR movies. It has a great contrast ratio, especially with local dimming set to 'High'. This means that HDR movies pop when watched in a dark room; blacks don't look gray, and highlights are bright and vibrant next to very deep blacks. Plus, the TV has excellent HDR peak brightness, so highlights look amazing in a dark room, and HDR movies on this TV can even wow in a bright room. Unfortunately, it has mediocre low-quality content smoothing, so movies from streaming services have some noticeable macro-blocking in dark scenes, as well as a loss of detail due to the smoothing process.
- Amazing peak brightness in HDR.
- Completely judder-free from all sources.
- Easy-to-use smart interface with a great selection of apps.
- Superb contrast and black uniformity with local dimming set to 'high'.
- Doesn't support Dolby Vision and DTS.
- Local dimming cannot be fully disabled on this TV.
- Mediocre low-quality content smoothing.
The Samsung QN85C QLED is amazing for HDR games. Its HDR brightness in Game Mode is just as good as outside of it, and its contrast and dark details look great in Game Mode. It does come at the expense of a bit more blooming, however. The TV has four HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports with up to 4k @ 120Hz support, which is great if you own multiple consoles and a PC as you can connect them all, and it supports every VRR technology for a nearly tear-free gaming experience. Finally, the TV has a good response time, ensuring motion is clear even when the action gets fast and furious.
- Amazing peak brightness in HDR.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Supports every variable refresh rate (VRR) technology.
- Good response time.
- Superb contrast and black uniformity with local dimming set to 'high'.
- Local dimming cannot be fully disabled on this TV.
The Samsung QN85C is amazing when used as a PC monitor. Its reflection handling is decent, but the TV makes up for it in a big way with exceptional brightness in SDR and amazing brightness in HDR, so it can handle any bright office. It has an RGB subpixel layout, so there are no issues with text clarity. Its viewing angle is very good; not the best, but there's minimal color shifting when sitting close to it, except if you were to sit very close to a bigger-sized panel. It supports up to 4k @ 120Hz on all of its HDMI ports, and it supports every VRR technology, so it's a great choice for some PC gaming. It also has an incredibly low input lag and a good response time; your inputs are fast and responsive on this TV, and there's little blur behind fast-moving objects, like when you're quickly dragging windows around on a contrasting background.
- Image remains consistent at moderate angles.
- Bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Supports every variable refresh rate (VRR) technology.
- Good response time.
- Local dimming cannot be fully disabled on this TV.
Changelog
- Updated May 14, 2024: We mention the newly-reviewed Samsung QN85D/QN85DD QLED in the Compared To Other TVs section of this review.
- Updated May 09, 2024: Mentioned the newly-reviewed Samsung The Frame 2024 QLED in the Response Time section of this review.
- Updated Sep 08, 2023: Updated the text in Pre Calibration to accurately reflect the TV's performance.
- Updated Sep 07, 2023: We retested the response time and flicker frequency in the correct modes, as we originally tested them in the wrong picture mode. As a result, the response time is slower than our initial results. The Response Time, Flicker-Free, and Stutter results have been updated. Multiple usage scores have also decreased slightly as a result.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 65-inch Samsung QN85C (QN55QN85CAFXZA), but it's also available in 55, 75, and 85-inch sizes. Note that with Samsung TVs, the six letters after the short model code (CAFXZA in this case) vary between specific retailers and regions. There's also a QN88C variant sold in some UK retailers; differences with the QN85C are cosmetic. European versions of this TV are equipped with a VA panel and perform differently than the North American model we reviewed. VA panels have better native contrast but a worse viewing angle.
| Size | US Model | Short Model Code | Panel type (US) | Panel type (Europe) | Dimming zones* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55" | QN55QN85CAFXZA | QN55QN85 | ADS | VA | 504 |
| 65" | QN65QN85CAFXZA | QN65QN85 | ADS | VA | 720 |
| 75" | QN75QN85CAFXZA | QN75QN85 | ADS | VA | 900 |
| 85" | QN85QN85CAFXZA | QN85QN85 | ADS | VA | 1210 |
*Samsung hasn't confirmed this information, but it's currently what they're thought to be.
Our unit was manufactured in March 2023; you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung QN85C is a great TV with a truly amazing local dimming feature, giving it an amazing contrast and truly exceptional black uniformity. Overall, it's an excellent TV and is almost as good as the more expensive Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED, so it's the better value for most people. It's also leagues ahead of the models below it, like the Samsung Q80C QLED. It's very similar to its predecessors, the Samsung QN85A QLED and Samsung QN85B QLED, so don't bother upgrading if you own one. It's also very similar to its successor, the Samsung QN85D/QN85DD QLED, although the QN85D uses a VA panel, giving it better contrast but with a far worse viewing angle. Still, if you already own the QN85C, it's not worth the upgrade. Unfortunately, the QN85C is outpaced by the top-tier models from budget brands. The Hisense U8/U8H, in particular, is a much better deal for a superior level of performance.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best TVs, the best QLED TVs, and the best 4k gaming TVs.
The Samsung QN85D and the Samsung QN85C are almost identical, with a few notable exceptions. The newer QN85D has a VA panel, giving it better contrast than the QN85C at the cost of a significantly worse viewing angle. Thus, the QN85D is better as a home entertainment option as movies look extremely punchy when watched in a dark room, while the QN85C is better for large viewing parties as its image doesn't degrade nearly as much when viewed from the sides.
The Samsung QN90B is better than the Samsung QN85C. The QN90B gets much brighter than the QN85C, but in practice, this isn't always noticeable as most content just isn't mastered to take advantage of such high brightness levels. The QN85C is the more accurate TV of the two; it respects the content creator's intent well. However, the QN90B is the more colorful TV, with a wider color gamut and better color volume, and it has much better reflection handling, although it does have some rainbow smearing.
The Samsung QN90C is better than the Samsung QN85C, but not by as much as you'd think. The QN90C gets much brighter than the QN85C in both SDR and HDR, but in practice, this isn't always noticeable, as most content isn't mastered to take advantage of such high brightness levels. The QN90C's Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) also more aggressively dims the scene when it gets extremely bright, to a point where the two TVs are equally as bright in the brightest of scenes. However, the QN90C has better color volume and reflection handling than the QN85C.
The Samsung QN85B and Samsung QN85C are extremely similar TVs. The QN85C is the more accurate TV with a wider color volume, so it looks more vibrant than its predecessor. Inversely, the QN85B's local dimming zone transitions are a bit better than its successor except in Game Mode, where its zone transitions are noticeably worse than in other modes.
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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