The Samsung QN800A 8k QLED is a great TV overall. It's one of two 8k TVs from Samsung's 2021 Neo QLED lineup, and it features Mini LED backlighting. Despite its great overall performance, it's disappointing considering its premium lineup placement and price tag. Even though it has Mini LED backlighting with over 1300 dimming zones, its local dimming feature performs quite poorly. It helps improve the low contrast ratio but, at the same time, causes intense blooming around bright objects. This TV isn't the best choice for dark room viewing, but if you want to use it in a well-lit environment, it has high peak brightness and fantastic reflection handling. Gamers should appreciate its HDMI 2.1 and variable refresh rate (VRR) support, low input lag, and excellent response time, but some people may still notice some dark smearing with fast-moving content.
Our Verdict
The Samsung QN800A is great for most uses. It's an excellent choice for use in bright rooms, like when you're watching shows or sports, because it gets bright enough to combat glare and has fantastic reflection handling. It has great gaming features like VRR technology and HDMI 2.1 support. It also has very low input lag and an excellent response time. However, it struggles in dark rooms due to its low contrast ratio and poor local dimming feature that causes blooming around bright objects. It also doesn't display a wide color gamut for HDR content, but has fantastic brightness.
- Fantastic peak brightness in SDR and HDR.
- HDMI 2.1 support on all four ports.
- High 8k resolution helps deliver clear text and crisp images.
- Local dimming feature causes blooming around bright objects.
- Contrast ratio lower than most VA panel TVs.
- Can't display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung QN800A is good for watching movies. It has a VA panel with a decent contrast ratio that's lower than most VA panel TVs, causing blacks to look gray. Its full-array local dimming feature does a good job at improving the contrast for deep blacks, but it causes a ton of blooming. Luckily, the TV upscales lower-resolution content, like from Blu-rays, without many issues.
- Upscales lower-resolution content well.
- Automatically removes 24p judder from any source.
- Local dimming feature causes blooming around bright objects.
- Contrast ratio lower than most VA panel TVs.
The Samsung QN800A is impressive for watching TV shows. It gets bright enough to fight glare and has fantastic reflection handling, so visibility shouldn't be an issue in well-lit rooms. It doesn't have issues upscaling lower-resolution content like from cable boxes. Sadly, its viewing angles are a bit narrow, so you lose image accuracy when viewing at a wide angle.
- Upscales lower-resolution content well.
- Fantastic peak brightness in SDR and HDR.
- Remarkable reflection handling.
- Somewhat narrow viewing angles.
- Rainbow-like effect with reflections.
The Samsung QN800A is great for watching sports. Visibility shouldn't be an issue in well-lit rooms because of its fantastic reflection handling and high peak brightness. It has an excellent response time, but you may notice some motion blur with fast-moving sports. It has only okay viewing angles, so it's not suggested for really wide seating arrangements as you lose image accuracy.
- Fantastic peak brightness in SDR and HDR.
- Remarkable reflection handling.
- Motion looks smooth for the most part.
- Somewhat narrow viewing angles.
- Rainbow-like effect with reflections.
The Samsung QN800A is great for gaming. It has many of the popular gaming features like HDMI 2.1 and VRR support. Its input lag is incredibly low, and it has an excellent response time. Sadly, it's not the best for dark room gaming due to its lower contrast ratio and its bad 'Game Mode' local dimming feature that causes intense blooming around bright objects.
- Motion looks smooth for the most part.
- HDMI 2.1 support on all four ports.
- FreeSync VRR support.
- Local dimming feature causes blooming around bright objects.
- Contrast ratio lower than most VA panel TVs.
The Samsung QN800A is good for watching HDR movies. It has fantastic HDR brightness, so highlights pop the way the creator intended, but sadly, it doesn't display a wide color gamut. It's not a good choice for dark room viewing because it has a low native contrast ratio, and its full-array local dimming feature is poor as there's too much blooming around bright objects.
- Upscales lower-resolution content well.
- Fantastic peak brightness in SDR and HDR.
- Local dimming feature causes blooming around bright objects.
- Contrast ratio lower than most VA panel TVs.
- Can't display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung QN800A is great for HDR gaming. It delivers a responsive gaming experience thanks to its 120Hz panel, FreeSync support, low input lag, and an excellent response time. It has fantastic HDR peak brightness, but it doesn't display a wide color gamut. Also, it has a poor local dimming feature and combined with its low contrast ratio, doesn't deliver a good dark room experience.
- Upscales lower-resolution content well.
- HDMI 2.1 support on all four ports.
- FreeSync VRR support.
- Local dimming feature causes blooming around bright objects.
- Contrast ratio lower than most VA panel TVs.
- Can't display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung QN800A is an excellent choice to use as a PC monitor. It has a high 8k resolution that helps deliver clear text, and it displays proper chroma 4:4:4. It performs best when used in a well-lit room because it has fantastic reflection handling and high peak brightness. However, it has somewhat narrow viewing angles, so the image looks inaccurate at the sides if you sit too close.
- Fantastic peak brightness in SDR and HDR.
- Remarkable reflection handling.
- Motion looks smooth for the most part.
- High 8k resolution helps deliver clear text and crisp images.
- Somewhat narrow viewing angles.
- Rainbow-like effect with reflections.
Changelog
- Updated Sep 26, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Jul 08, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Apr 17, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Feb 11, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 65 inch Samsung QN800A (QN65QN800A) variant, and for the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 75 inch (QN75QN800A), and the 85 inch variants (QN85QN800A) available in North America. It's known as the Samsung QN850A at Costco and it's available in 75 and 85 inch sizes. We expect the QN800A in Europe to perform similarly, but we don't know for sure because Samsung's lineup is a bit different in Europe.
| Size | US | Costco | Canada | UK | Italy | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65" | QN65QN800AFXZA | - | QN65QN800AFXZC | QE65QN800ATXXU | QE65QN800ATXZT | GQ65QN800ATXZG |
| 75" | QN75QN800AFXZA | QN75QN850AFXZA | QN75QN800AFXZC | QE75QN800ATXXU | QE75QN800ATXZT | GQ75QN800ATXZG |
| 85" | QN85QN800AFXZA | QN85QN850AFXZA | QN85QN800AFXZC | QE85QN800ATXXU | - | GQ85QN800ATXZG |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Samsung QN800A doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between units.
Our unit of the QN800A was manufactured in February 2021; you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
Considering its price point and place in Samsung's Neo QLED lineup, the Samsung QN800A is pretty disappointing. It fails to take advantage of its Mini LED backlighting as its local dimming feature performs poorly and causes too much blooming around bright objects. Also, there isn't much 8k content available, so if you're only going to watch 4k content, the Samsung QN90A QLED costs less and performs better.
See our recommendations for the best Samsung TVs, the best QLED TVs, and the best TVs for watching sports.
The Samsung QN900A 8K sits above the Samsung QN800A 8k QLED in Samsung's lineup. They're similar, but there are a few key differences. The QN900A has a slimmer construction with thinner bezels. It also has a better local dimming feature, but the QN800A gets a bit brighter overall in SDR and HDR and has a slightly faster response time.
Despite having a lower resolution, the Samsung QN90A is much better overall than the Samsung QN800A 8k QLED. The main difference is the improved dark room performance. The QN90A displays a wider color gamut, has a much better contrast ratio, and has a far superior local dimming feature, as there's too much blooming around bright objects with the QN800A. The QN800A is an 8k TV, but since there isn't much 8k content available in 2021, it's worth getting the QN90A.
The Samsung QN900B 8K is slightly better than the Samsung QN800A 8k QLED. The QN900B has a much better local dimming feature, with significantly less blooming around bright objects. The QN900B is also better for gaming, especially for PC gamers, as it has a higher max refresh rate and better motion handling, with less blur around fast-moving objects.
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.
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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