REVIEW: Samsung QLED Q60D, a great upgrade from smart LED TVs

A Samsung has in its portfolio the QLED smart TVs, which bring the quantum dot layer for better color fidelity and are positioned above the line CrystalUHD. And, showmetech received the QLED Q60D smart TV for testing, bringing good features and being a great investment for those who have an LED TV and want improved image quality without spending a lot more for it. Is the technology leap worth it? Check out all the details in our full review.

Design

Following the trend of all modern Smart TVs, the QLED Q60D It's super thin, following the design AirSlim da Samsung. It is less than 2,6cm thick, making everything very beautiful, but with a more fragile appearance than seen in less slender TVs, such as the brand's own Crystal UHD. It's all made of plastic, but that's not necessarily a problem, in addition to having a very nice finish on the back, with some grooves and space to pass the wires.

This space, called cable-free look ends up not working as it should. Not even the Smart TV's power cable fits properly into it and in the end we use it in the conventional way with the wires loose. The model received is 50 inches, size that fits well for most TV rooms.

Something very successful here are the TV's feet. Unlike what we see in models from other manufacturers, here you just have to find the correct hole and fit it, without the need for tools or screws. It's important to emphasize that there are 2 feet in this model, unlike other Samsung models that only use a central base — I prefer the way they did it here. And if you want to put it on the wall, it comes with the pattern VESA 200x200mm for supports.

Adjustable

A QLED Q60D It is very complete when it comes to connections. Here you won't have any problems connecting a console, operator service and even a Home Theater, if you have it. Check out the full list of connections:

• 1 LAN port for wired internet
• 3 HDMI 2.0 ports (one with eARC)
• 2 USB-A
• 1 RF input
• 1 digital audio output (Optical)

Something that I found curious was that this model has the HDMI 2.0 and on Smart TVs Crystal we have the HDMI 2.1. As both models offer 4K resolution at 60 Hz, there is no advantage to having HDMI 2.1.

As for the other ports, everything is correct and as expected. You will be able to connect your Home Theater, your Soundbar, your notebook and of course, your video game console too. It is possible to connect pen drives to the USB ports to view videos, photos and documents.

Apart from physical connections, the Q60D comes equipped with wireless connections Wi-Fi 5 e Bluetooth 5.2. Although they are not the most recent versions, they are enough to take advantage of all the TV's functions.

Remote control

It's been a few years since the Samsung implemented your remote control SolarCell which does not require batteries and is automatically charged with ambient and sunlight. This is one of the best decisions she could make and now all the brand's models have it, from the most basic to the top of the line.

In the 2024 version, there were some design upgrades. The most visible is on the back of its body, where it now has some grooves to prevent it from slipping out of your hand. Otherwise, it remains the same.

I really like not needing batteries and, best of all, charging using the ambient light in your room or sunlight. It's a great change and one that I hope will soon reach other manufacturers as well. If necessary, you can also charge via USB-C.

Regarding use, it has the main functions for volume, changing channels, some streaming and has voice commands. There's also a button to control media playback, a back button, and a button to return to the TV's home menu. Very straight to the point and it works, which is great.

Fabric

The panel QLED can achieve up to 1 billion vibrant colors, according to Samsung. Compared to conventional LCD, this TV is much more interesting, with more vibrant and detailed colors and contrasts. Keep in mind that this model is Samsung's entry-level QLED, so it will have similar features to what we see in the entry-level smart TV line, in this case the CrystalUHD.

I decided to watch the movie Mad Max: Fury Road na QLED Q60D and the experience was excellent. Vibrant colors, good contrast and impeccable quality with 4K. I really felt like I was in the cinema there, given the proportions. QLED technology makes a good difference here: in the same film, I felt that the colors were a little washed out on my other TV, a Crystal UHD CU8000.

Even though it is the most basic model with QLED technology, I found it very satisfactory in terms of color quality and even brightness, which sometimes catches the eye. The frame rate here is only 60Hz and 4K resolution, great for watching movies and series, but a little limited for those who enjoy competitive games.

A QLED Q60D It has a very interesting viewing angle. Despite being a VA LCD panel, the brightness guarantees good visibility in any direction and with a very cool quality. What kills here are the reflections. It doesn't take much for you to see yourself on the screen or see your window, or the sun's rays on the screen, which is annoying very.

As for HDR, you can rest assured that it does the job. With technology HDR10 +, you will have a screen full of good colors and vibrant scenes — and all of this is more evident in dark environments, of course. In these cases, you will be able to perceive shadow details and strong lights clearly and even leave your mouth open in some cases.

For those who are more curious, you can try the image modes Dynamic, Standard, Eco, Film and the MOVIE MAKER, the latter highly recommended for those who want to watch the films in the purest way and similar to the director's vision. I missed just one way Football ou Sports.

A Q60D also has a new energy saving feature using Artificial Intelligence. The feature is connected to the TV system's economical mode and works similarly to the automatic brightness on smartphones. With it active, the TV will automatically detect the brightness in the environment and adapt the screen brightness according to this scenario, thus saving energy. It is worth remembering that, when activating the feature, the brightness will be reduced and the image quality will not be ideal.

Audio

Where I most like to test the sound of TVs is by watching music videos, after all, I'm doing other things while I leave the music playing there. A QLED Q60D bet on two 10W RMS speakers, one on each side, totaling 20W RMS.

The quality is not bad, but it fails to offer a powerful experience, especially in the bass. If with the images we often have something close to cinema, in the sound part we go far from that, requiring you to invest in a Soundbar ou Home Theater to achieve these cooler results. 

I don't particularly like this type of solution, but on the other hand, it's the price to pay for the super thin designs we currently have. While testing the QLED Q60D, I didn't go much above 30 or 40 volume in quieter moments. In the midst of family gatherings, it was more difficult to keep everything in order without having to increase the volume considerably. In any case, let's consider that using the TV in a noisy scenario is not the best solution nor the goal.

She also has Adaptive Sound and the OTS, two technologies that serve to amplify sound and theoretically make everything more immersive. The first one I particularly like and I liked leaving it activated. The second one is not as cool as it seemed and requires you to have an external sound device for it to work properly.

This is in line with what the Samsung call of Q Symphony, technology that ensures that the sound from your Smart TV and your Soundbar, for example, work together without delays and with the best possible audio. In short, if you want the full sound experience from your TV, you'll have to spend a little more money there.

Operating system, interface, features and apps 

Here we have the already known OS Tizen, but with an updated look. The design is the same, but the Home screen has been completely redesigned for easier access to resources. Divided now into Discover, Channels e Apps, you have quick access to all the main activities related to media consumption. Something that bothered me was not being able to place the apps I wanted in the home tab like it was before.

the resources Daily+ e Ambient These are the new features for this model. The first brings together the main apps in Samsung as SmartThings and other things you can link there, like the Dex, connection to PC, Mac and even the Office 365. It's a cool new function that better organizes some resources.

Already Ambient It's a cool feature, just useless in the way it's used. You can place different images of landscapes such as beaches and mountains that move with a lower brightness, like wallpaper. Other content that can be displayed includes photos of artists from the K-POP world, images from an online art gallery, and even NFT items. The problem is that this feature does not activate automatically like a screen saver, and must be activated by the user. And then I personally find the resource meaningless.

The initial configuration of the QLED Q60D Smart TV It's relatively simple. However, I had an annoying problem during installation. As I already have other Samsung devices, I chose to link everything using my smartphone and pull the data from my already configured TV. I don't know if there was a lack of processing or if there was a network problem, but what was supposed to be something super fast took more than 30 minutes to load and I had to cancel it and do it manually.

I also noticed that the Smart TV sometimes takes a while to load apps and functions. For example, when pressing the quick menu button, it takes about 5 seconds to perform the action. The same happens when opening streaming apps. I noticed that this only happens the first time you open that function or app, but it's still annoying. Speaking of the quick menu, it gained new functions as well.

Previously, when pressing it, the system already placed the main settings on the screen. Now, we have another menu before, allowing you to choose to access the SmartThings or change the control numbers. Despite being an additional resource, I still prefer how it was before, more straight to the point.

Price

At the time of writing this review, the QLED Q60D is being sold in Magazine Luiza by R$2.561 in cash. It's a very attractive value, especially for those who just enjoy watching movies and series and don't care much about competitive games. 

However, with a similar price, it is possible to find the TCL C645, also with QLED technology, which we have already reviewed here and which is an excellent TV, with the advantage of having a 120Hz refresh rate, making it more competitive for the gamer audience.

Conclusion

A QLED Q60D delivers what it promises. Your dashboard makes good use of technology QLED, but as it is an entry-level model of this aspect, it cannot stand out in areas other than the visual aspect.

The evolution of Tizen and the construction of the product are also very pleasing, but with other models with a similar price (some of these with more benefits), is it worth opting for an inferior model? If she is competing with a model CrystalUHD from Samsung itself, choose the model QLED, but in cases where a model like TCL C645 If this is an option, I wouldn't think twice about this second option, as it offers more features for the same price.

Technical specifications

Mark	Samsung
Model	Q60D
Screen size	50″, 55″, 65″ or 75″
panel frequency	60Hz
Resolution	4K (3,840 x 2,160)
Anti-reflective	No
Processor	Quantum Lite 4K Processor
HDR (High Dynamic Range)	QuantumHDR HDR10 +
Image upscaling with AI	No
Contrast	Dual LED
Microphone Dimming	Supreme UHD dimming
contrast enhancement	Yes
Motion Technology	Motion Xcelerator
Audio	Adaptive sound; Sound in Virtual Motion; Sound Synchrony; Power of 20W divided into 2 channels;
Operational system	Tizen
Virtual Assistants	Alexa and Bixby
Multi-device experience	TV to Mobile Mirroring, Mobile to TV Mirroring, Audio Mirroring, Wireless TV On, Tap View
game mode	Auto Game Mode ALLM; Game Motion Plus; Super Ultra Wide Screen and Game Menu; Minimap zoom; HGiG; gaming hub
Connectivity	3 HDMI; 2 USB-A; 1 LAN; 1 Digital audio output (Optical); 1 RF input; WiFi 5; Bluetooth 5.2
Food and energy consumption	Ecological sensor; Maximum consumption of 145W; PROCEL A seal; Automatic shutdown; Automatic energy saving
Dimensions	1118.3 x 681.7 x 224mm (with stand) 1118.3 x 644.1 x 25.7mm (without stand) 756.4 x 224mm (feet size) VESA bracket specification: 200 x 200mm Weight with base: 11.5kg Weight without base: 11.2kg
Price	R$2.561 at Magazine Luiza

And you? Have you tested a TV with QLED technology? Comment below what you think of this Samsung model and if you intend to invest in it and other models. Additionally, take the opportunity to check out our other articles, such as this news about Samsung's speaker, the Music Frame.

See also other features

REVIEW: TCL C645 QLED 4K Smart TV

reviewed by Glaucon Vital in 13 / 6 / 24.