This TV is so good, I don't even want to say "buy it if you don't want to pay for an OLED." If you like to watch with lights on or in a bright room and you want top-tier picture quality, this is the TV to buy, period. It's expensive, but cheaper than the flagship OLEDs, and it'll class up your living room with its smooth design details and eco-friendly remote. Cinephiles who might begrudge the occasional LED bloom should probably go for an OLED—LG's G1 or C1 come to mind—but everyone else will love this TV.

With just one HDMI 2.1 input, no Dolby Vision, and a smart TV interface that could use a face-lift, the Samsung QN90A is not a perfect TV. But by the most meaningful measures, it is truly outstanding. Putting all the numbers aside, I like to do a simple gut check — I watch a lot of TVs, and some of them are a letdown, some are just fine, some are great, and some are real knockouts. I’ve got to put the Samsung QN90A in that last category. I simply love watching it.

It's over a year old now, but the Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV’s mini-LED backlighting makes for unmatched picture brightness, while a bounty of smart features and a new eco-friendly remote complete the premium experience.

Samsung's QN90A Neo QLED TV line delivers picture quality that rivals OLED and dual-LCD alternatives, with some of the best contrast we've seen.

The QN90A is loud, proud, and in your face. It's a home theater experience bold enough to fill any space with life, whether you're into movies, music, games, or even just art. The QLED display produces vibrant, vivid images, while the audio is equally as impressive thanks to the 4.2.2 60W OTS+ directional speaker array.

It's excellent for movies in dark rooms as its VA panel provides an excellent native contrast ratio and has a great local dimming to display deep blacks. It gets bright enough to combat glare and has fantastic reflection handling if you want to use it in a well-lit room while watching shows and sports. It also displays a wide range of colors for an excellent HDR experience. Also, it's amazing for gaming because it has variable refresh rate (VRR) support, low input lag, and quick response time for smooth motion handling.

OLED TVs still have the best picture quality I've ever tested, but Samsung's QN90A comes closer than ever. This QLED TV packs a punch brighter than any OLED television, while managing to maintain contrast and black level to a degree I've never seen on any non-OLED before. If you crave that brightness, or you watch in a bright room where ambient light is a big issue, you should definitely consider this TV over a comparable OLED.

The Samsung QN90A is thinner, brighter and bolder than previous high-end LCD TVs, offering a high peak brightness and fantastic contrast. Its thinner body comes with a few caveats in the form of thinner sound and a higher center of gravity, and it only sports one full spec HDMI 2.1 port. Its fantastic picture quality makes it a massively appealing choice, especially after some price cuts.

Gorgeous highlights. Superb contrast via Mini LED technology. Variable refresh rate support for gaming, with up to 120-Hz at 4K for the latest consoles. Elegant pedestal design. Simple interface. Comes in a variety of sizes. Excellent upscaling of non-4K content.

The Samsung QN90A is by no means a bad television – quite the opposite actually: in a vacuum, it’s really stellar. Unfortunately, it’s just awkwardly priced in a highly competitive market. It will be an attractive display thanks to its excellent brightness that comes without the fear of burn-in, which means it will last a lot longer than an OLED as a PC monitor. Otherwise, though, it will struggle to stand out for the cost.

While you need to tweak a couple of things to get the best out of it, a well set up 50QN90A proves that Samsung’s Mini LED-driven Neo QLED technology is capable of elevating the brand’s TVs to new OLED-challenging performance heights even at a relatively mainstream size.

The Samsung QN90A is an excellent entry point into Samsung’s Neo QLED range, delivering fantastic HDR images and impactful gaming features