In May, TCL stunned us with the price of its new Q Class QM8 98-inch TV. At a mere $10,000, it was far less than the cheapest comparable model from Samsung. Today, Samsung is answering that challenge with an impressively low-priced 98-inch model of its own: the 98-inch Q80C , which will be available starting in July for $8,000.
Samsung is keen to start moving these behemoth screens as soon as possible, so it’s got two launch promotions to entice buyers. Starting today through July 2, if you reserve the 98-inch Q80C on Samsung.com or at participating retailers, you’ll get a $500 credit that can be used to purchase the TV during the early order period.
That early order period runs from July 3 through July 23. If you go through with the purchase during this period, Samsung will give you an additional $1,000 off the price, it will throw in a $1,000 Samsung Q800C soundbar, and it will give you free delivery and installation. To recap: that’s the 98-i nch Q80C and the Q800C soundbar, delivered and installed, for $6,500.
It’s worth noting that the Q80C isn’t as tricked-out as Samsung’s flagship Neo QLED models or the TCL QM8. The biggest difference is how these TVs are backlit. Samsung’s Neo QLED and TCL’s QM8 use a mini-LED backlight — thousands of tiny LED lights that are divided into hundreds of control zones. The Q80C, while still a quantum dot model, uses conventionally sized LEDs with full-array local dimming (FALD), so brightness and black levels may not be quite as good.
Still, the Q80C isn’t shy on features. For starters, it gets Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor 4K, which delivers a number of picture enhancements, including very good upscaling of non-4K content. It also supports adaptive HDR10+, which can adjust the brightness and intensity of HDR content based on the ambient lighting conditions in your room, and it’s compatible with Dolby Atmos for immersive, 3D sound.
The giant screen should also be a great canvas for gaming. Like the rest of Samsung’s 2023 lineup, you get access to Samsung Gaming Hub, an all-in-one platform with 3,000 games from Xbox, Nvidia GeForce NOW, Amazon Luna, Utomik, Antstream Arcade, and Blacknut — all of which are streamed from the cloud, so no console required.
The TV has auto low-latency mode (ALLM) and support for 4K at 120Hz over HDMI 2.1. However, PC gamers should note that this model doesn’t do variable refresh rate (VRR).
We feel like TCL might have gotten wind of Samsung’s news. When we checked Best Buy, we couldn’t help noticing that the 98-inch TCL XL Collection has been reduced from $8,500 to $5,000. So if you’re in the market for a monster TV, you now have some serious thinking to do before you make your selection.
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