Samsung Neo QLED E1SAMQN65QN85CARB 65"

The QN65QN85C delivers strong picture quality at the 79th percentile thanks to its Mini-LED Quantum Matrix backlight, but the overall score of 49.9 out of 100 tells a more complicated story. You get 4K at 120Hz and Dolby Atmos, but only one HDMI port and HDR performance at the 36th percentile. At $5,196, it's a tough sell when competitors offer more for less.

Picture quality is the star here, sitting at the 79th percentile. That's well above average, and the Mini-LED backlight deserves most of the credit. The Quantum Matrix system controls individual zones of light, so dark scenes stay dark while bright highlights pop without the halo effect you see on cheaper LEDs. The NQ4 AI Gen2 processor handles 4K upscaling well, cleaning up HD content scene by scene. It's not the absolute best upscaling we've seen, but it's noticeably better than midrange sets.

Gaming performance is solid but not spectacular at the 61st percentile. You get 4K at 120Hz with Motion Xcelerator Turbo+, which means smooth frame rates for fast-paced games. The Samsung Gaming Hub is built in, giving you access to cloud gaming services without extra hardware. But here's the catch: only one HDMI port. For a TV at this price, that's a real head-scratcher. Most gamers will want at least two or three HDMI inputs for a console, soundbar, and streaming box. The connectivity score of 33rd percentile reflects that limitation clearly.

Stacked against the competition, the QN85C has a tough time justifying its price. The LG C5 OLED55C5PUA will give you better contrast and deeper blacks thanks to OLED tech, and it typically costs less. The Sony BRAVIA XR XR77A95L is a bigger screen with Sony's excellent processing, though it's also pricey. The TCL QM8K Series 75QM8K and Hisense U8 Series 100U8QG both offer Mini-LED tech at larger sizes with more HDMI ports and better value. Even the Roku Plus Series 55R6C7, while smaller and less premium, delivers a simpler smart TV experience at a fraction of the cost. The Samsung's 79th percentile picture quality is respectable, but the competition is fierce, and most of these alternatives give you more for your money.

At $5,196, the value proposition here is rough. That's flagship money for a TV with an overall score of 49.9 out of 100. The picture quality is good, sure, but you're paying a premium for the Samsung name and the Mini-LED tech without getting the full package. The single HDMI port alone is a dealbreaker for a lot of setups at this price. If you're spending over five grand, you should expect better HDR performance than the 36th percentile and more connectivity than one lonely HDMI input. The budget score of 55.2 out of 100 tells the story: this TV costs too much for what it delivers.

The Samsung QN65QN85C sits in a weird spot. Picture quality lands at the 79th percentile in our database, which is genuinely strong, but the overall score gets dragged down to 49.9 out of 100 by some rough edges elsewhere. You're getting a 65-inch Mini-LED panel with the NQ4 AI Gen2 processor, 120Hz refresh rate, and Samsung's Quantum Matrix backlight doing the heavy lifting. At $5,196 from the single US listing we found, this thing is priced like a flagship but performs like a solid upper-midrange set.

The headline feature is that Mini-LED array. Samsung's Quantum Matrix tech splits the backlight into individual zones, which means better contrast and less blooming than a standard LED. Pair that with Neo Quantum HDR and you get a picture that punches above its weight class. But the HDR score itself lands at just the 36th percentile, which tells you the brightness and tone mapping aren't keeping pace with the best sets out there. It's a good TV with a confusing identity crisis.

Skip this one if you need more than one HDMI port, because that's all you get. The connectivity score of 33rd percentile is a real weak spot, and at $5,196, buying an HDMI switch just to make the TV functional feels like an insult. Also skip it if HDR brightness matters to you, since the 36th percentile HDR score means you're not getting the punchy highlights that Mini-LED should deliver. And if you're looking for a portable or flexible setup, the 31.6 out of 100 portable score and 10,433 gram weight mean this TV is staying wherever you mount it.

The Samsung QN65QN85C is a good TV trapped in a bad price tag. The Mini-LED picture quality is genuinely impressive at the 79th percentile, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes it a decent gaming display. But the single HDMI port, mediocre HDR performance, and $5,196 price make it hard to recommend. If you can find this set on a significant sale, it's worth considering. At full price, you're better off looking at the LG C5 or TCL QM8K for better value. The 4.4-star customer rating shows that people who bought it are happy, but the specs and scores suggest they might have been happier with something else.