Finally, Samsung's new 98-inch QLED 4K TV is a bargain compared to LG's same-size OLED TV and it's now available to buy in the US for $7,999.99. And if you order it today (July 3), you can get another $500 off.
We've been excited about the Samsung 98Q80C for some time now – it's a massive 98-inch QLED TV with a price tag that's a lot lower than you might expect. But it's not available everywhere. Potential buyers in the UK and the Netherlands can register their interest and will get an email when it's available there. If you pre-register in the UK, Samsung will take £300 off the price, whatever that turns out to be.
It's a lot of money, I know. But it's not that much money when you look at the market for big screen TVs. Some similarly sized TVs such as LG's 97-inch G2 OLED go for two or three times the money – LG's recommended price was $24,999 – and it's priced very competitively compared to key rivals. For example in the UK, the LG OLED Evo G3, an 83-inch TV, is £7,499.98.
So what do you get for the money?
Samsung Q80C 98-inch: key features
The Q80C is a QLED TV, but it isn't a Neo QLED, which is the panel with a mini-LED backlight. This has a Direct Full Array backlight with local dimming, a system we've seen in many other Samsung TVs and found quite impressive. It's not as bright as the Neo QLEDs but it's not bad either.
The screen has a bezel-free appearance on three of its four sides, and inside there's Samsung's Neural Quantum Processor for upscaling regular HD to 4K. There's Dolby Atmos and Samsung's own Object Tracking Sound Lite, with support for Samsung's Q Symphony 3.0. The spatial audio technology is Samsung's system that enables you to use the TV's speakers as part of a wider subwoofer/soundbar setup.
This is far too big for most of us, and for our test rooms. But it's an industry that didn't exist until a few years ago, with big screen fans having to move to projectors because decent TV panels just couldn't be made without completely terrifying price tags.
That said, there are still very few TVs of this size at this price, although we should mention TCL here. Its 98-inch Collection XL has a retail price of $8,499.99 but has been offered for around $6,000 on Amazon. Similar discounting on the Samsung is unlikely in the very short term, but who knows what Black Friday may bring?
