Samsung Q60D (UE55Q60D) review: Feature-packed and great value for money

The Samsung Q60D is a lower-tier 4K HDR TV that represents the entry point into the brand’s latest QLED range. These models don’t use a Neo QLED Mini LED backlight, but instead employ an ingenious Dual LED design with quantum dots for superior contrast and wider colours.

Tizen OS equips the Q60D with a comprehensive smart platform, there’s Object Tracking Sound Lite to match audio with on-screen action, while input lag is low. While there’s no support for 4K/120Hz, VRR or Dolby Vision, this capable TV delivers excellent picture quality at an affordable price.

Samsung Q60D review: Key specifications

Samsung Q60D review: What you need to know

The Samsung Q60D is a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) HDR smart TV that comes in screen sizes ranging from 43in up to 85in. It uses a 50Hz VA LCD panel with Dual LED edge lighting, runs Samsung’s latest image processing, and supports HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ Adaptive.

Tizen OS provides access to all the key streaming services and plenty of smart functionality, while gaming features include Samsung’s Game Bar 3.0 and the Samsung Gaming Hub.

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Samsung Q60D review: Price and competition

At the time of writing, the Samsung Q60D is very competitively priced. You can buy the 43in model for £429, the 50in version for £540, the 55in TV reviewed here for £629, the 65in version for £859, the 75in variety for £1,288 and the huge 85in model retails for a £1,599 steal.

If you’re looking for alternatives, there’s the Hisense E7N Pro, which is quite a bit more expensive at £999 but supports current-gen gaming features like 4K/120Hz and VRR, not to mention Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. The Samsung Q60D has the edge in terms of picture quality, smart platform and price, while the Hisense sneaks it when it comes to gaming features and also has Freely integration going for it.

Both Samsung and Hisense struggle when pitted against the TCL C745, which is a serious contender at this end of the market. It not only uses full array local dimming for excellent picture quality, but includes all the features found on the Hisense E7N Pro with the exception of built-in access to UK TV catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer. It’s cheaper than the Q60D at £549 but the latter benefits from Samsung’s superior image processing.

Samsung Q60D review: Design, connections and control

The Samsung Q60D sports a AirSlim design finished in Titan Grey, with a minimal bezel around the screen. The build quality is good for a lower-tier TV, and the Q60D sits on a pair of widely spaced feet that provide solid support and are finished in the same Titan Grey to match the panel.

These feet are attached without requiring any screws, and their height can be adjusted to increase the clearance below the screen, which is handy if you’re planning to add a soundbar. If you prefer wall mounting, the Q60D is compatible with a standard 200 x 200 VESA bracket.

There’s a trio of HDMI 2.0 inputs, two of which face sideways, while the third is rear-facing. All of them are capable of handling 4K/60Hz, HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and ALLM, with HDMI 2 also supporting eARC. Since this is a Samsung TV there’s no Dolby Vision, and the 50Hz panel also means the Q60D can’t handle 4K/120Hz or VRR.

Also facing sideways are two USB 2.0 ports, terrestrial and satellite tuners, a CI slot and an Ethernet port, plus there’s an optical digital output facing rearwards. In terms of wireless connectivity, there’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay.

The Q60D comes with Samsung’s standard controller or its SolarCell remote that recharges using solar energy, and offers a stripped-down set of keys including basic navigation controls, volume and channel up/down, plus direct access buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Samsung TV Plus.

Samsung Q60D review: Smart TV platform

The Samsung Q60D runs the full version of the brand’s Tizen-powered operating system, which is one of the big selling points of its lower-tier TVs; you’re getting all the smarts and features of the more expensive models with sufficient power to run them.

This means you also get a well-designed, intuitive-to-use and highly responsive interface based around a full screen home page featuring three sub tabs labelled ‘For You’, ‘Live’ and ‘Apps’. The first includes recently watched content, recommendations based on viewing habits, a row of apps and then layers of additional content also based on viewing histories. The second offers live TV content for browsing, plus the electronic programme guide (EPG) with its sensibly laid-out channels, times, information and thumbnail image. The final tab offers various apps recommended by Samsung.

The Media section contains every video streaming app imaginable, along with information about any attached HDMI devices. The Smart Hub automatically detects and connects smart devices in one location, plus the HDMI ports will detect and set up any newly connected devices. Searching for content and finding recommendations is simple, while Samsung’s TV Plus offers an extensive lineup of Free Ad-supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels.

Finally, the SmartThings app makes setup simple, and provides an extensive amount of control, while smart assistance and voice control is provided through built-in Bixby, along with Amazon Alexa and Siri thanks to the Q60D’s support for Apple’s AirPlay 2.

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Samsung Q60D review: Image quality

The Samsung Q60D may be a lower-tier model, but still delivers excellent pictures thanks to a VA panel that, for an LCD TV, delivers a decent contrast performance. Unfortunately, optimal viewing angles are rather limited, but shadow details are well defined, screen uniformity is good and the backlighting is very effective thanks to the use of Samsung’s Dual LED technology.

As with all current Samsung TVs, the Q60D ships in the Eco mode, which is too bright, colours are oversaturated, there’s excessive blue in the grayscale and a manipulated gamma. The Filmmaker mode immediately improves accuracy, with equal levels of red, green and blue in the greyscale, the gamma is still subject to manipulation though, unnecessarily boosting the midrange.

The colour accuracy is also improved, the greyscale, however, is not improved quite as well resulting in average errors of around the visible threshold of three on a full saturation sweep. Despite these remaining minor errors, the SDR performance is excellent, with defined images that are free of visible artefacts or other aberrations, combined with colours that look saturated but also very natural.

The overall picture feels nicely balanced, with decent blacks despite the use of edge
backlighting. This is thanks to the Dual LED design, which uses a row of warmer LEDs down one edge and cooler LEDs down the other, which results in a balanced backlight with better screen uniformity, improved contrast performance, brighter specular highlights and finer gradation in the shadows.

Since this is a Samsung TV there’s also some highly effective image processing and upscaling, enabling the Q60D to render lower resolution content in a clear and detailed fashion that allows users to enjoy standard and high definition content along with native 4K and make full use of all the pixels in the panel. The processing can also clean up heavily compressed or grainy content.

The motion performance is generally good for an LCD TV, despite the panel being limited to a 50Hz refresh rate, and importantly the Q60D handles films in 24p or games in 60Hz without introducing judder or other issues. Picture Clarity offers frame interpolation options, and while good for fast-paced sport like football, should be avoided when watching films and TV dramas.

Samsung Q60D review: HDR performance

The Samsung Q60D is as impressive with HDR as it is with SDR thanks in part to its quality panel, quantum got filters and Dual LED backlighting that can hit consistent brightness levels of 600cd/m2 using 1% to 100% test patterns. These numbers are the same regardless of the picture setting, so you should use the more accurate Filmmaker mode and enjoy images as originally intended.

In Filmmaker mode, the Q60D delivers a very accurate greyscale, and some excellent tone mapping that closely tracks the target PQ curve. The latter is important because it allows for effective rendering of HDR without compromising the artistic intent. The TV covers 93% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and colours are fairly accurate, marking the Q60D out as a capable lower-tier HDR performer.

When it comes to actually watching HDR content, the overall picture looks natural and nicely detailed, with suitably saturated colours. The blacks are deep as long as viewed on-axis, and the highlights enjoy some pleasing punch. If you feed the Q60D a good HDR source then you’ll be rewarded with a generally impressive performance that makes the most of the TV’s capabilities.

The Q60D supports HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ Adaptive, but not Dolby Vision. The absence of the latter reflects Samsung’s continued corporate rejection of the format, but at least there’s HDR10+. The latter format’s dynamic metadata helps overcome any of the TV’s limitations, and while not as prevalent as Dolby Vision, the format is used by Prime Video, 4K Blu-rays and Apple TV+.

As a result, when watching The Flash on 4K Blu-ray you’re rewarded with saturated comic book primaries, while The Revenant retains the nuanced colours and bright specular highlights of its naturalistic HDR photography. Both also reveal all the fine detail in their native 4K images, while the blacks and shadows in Alita: Battle Angel benefit from the dynamic metadata of HDR10+.

To test the Samsung Q60D we used Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software.

Samsung Q60D review: Gaming

The Samsung Q60D is great all-rounder, but not ideal for hardcore gamers because its 50Hz panel precludes support for 4K/120Hz high-frame-rate gaming, along with VRR (variable refresh rate), Freesync and the Motion Xcelerator Turbo Pro technology found on higher-end Samsung televisions.

However, the Q60D does support 4K at 50Hz, along with HDR10, HDR10+ and HGiG. It also includes ALLM (Automatic Low Latency Mode), which detects a console and selects the Game mode, which produces an incredibly low input lag of 9ms.

The Q60D also includes Samsung’s Game Bar, which brings together game-related information, controls and features in a single convenient location. It pops up automatically when a game console is detected, but can also be selected by holding down the play/pause button on your remote.

Finally, there’s Samsung’s Gaming Hub, which you can access through the list of options offered down the left hand side of the main home page. This curates cloud services for gaming into a single location and enables you to play modern games without a console, though you will need a subscription to one of the supported platforms, which include Xbox Games Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now.

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Samsung Q60D review: Sound quality

The Samsung Q60D sounds reasonably good for a modern slimline TV, but it’s hard to create a convincing sonic delivery using only a pair of downward-firing speakers.

There’s no real low-end extension, although the mid-range is pleasingly clean. Dialogue is presented in a clear and focused fashion, and the overall delivery has width and balance.

Unfortunately, the treble feels a bit harsh and sibilant, while the 20W of amplification struggles at higher volumes. Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound Lite immersive audio algorithm and AI Adaptive Sound acoustic processing give the audio delivery greater presence, however.

Since the Q60D includes Samsung’s Q Symphony feature, which integrates the TV’s speakers with those in a supporting soundbar, you might consider buying one of the company’s compatible models – especially if you want big sound to complement the larger screen sizes in the range.

Samsung Q60D review: Verdict

The Samsung Q60D is an accomplished and capable lower-tier TV that delivers detailed 4K HDR pictures with excellent accuracy and very good image processing. The optimal viewing angles are quite narrow but the Dual LED edge backlighting combined with quantum dot filters produces an impressive contrast performance, while effective tone-mapping ensures no crush or clipping.

The smart platform offers the full Tizen experience, but the gaming features are aimed at the more casual player, with no support for current-gen technologies like 4K/120Hz or VRR. The sound quality is pedestrian, but otherwise the Q60D is a great all-rounder for both SDR and HDR, and, thanks to some recent price reductions, offers cracking value for money and comes recommended.