Last month, Samsung announced its full 2019 QLED TV line-up in the US and opened pre-orders for a 19th March shipping date. Fast forward to today and we now finally have the first details of UK pricing and availability.
While the US has a total of 18 4K QLED models across four ranges, the UK appears to be getting fewer. Across the Q80R, Q85R and Q90R 4K QLED series are eight models, ranging between 55in and 75in, and priced from £1999. They can all be pre-ordered on Samsung's UK site now, with shipping beginning on 26th March.
The flagship 4K range, the Q90R, features 55in (£2799), 65in (£3799) and 75in (£4999) variants, while the Q85R brings those price points down to £2299 for the 55in, £2999 for the 65in, and £4499 for the 75in.
The Q80R features only 55in and 65in sizes, priced £1999 and £2499 respectively.
The difference between the three ranges lies mainly in the panel and processing discrepancies. While the Q90R uses Direct Full Array Elite with Q HDR 2000 (Quantum HDR technology that aims to optimise HDR content), the Q85R uses a slightly inferior Direct Full Array Plus with Q HDR 1500, while the Q80R facilitates Direct Full Array with Q HDR 1500.
It's early days in 2019 TV testing, but we've been lucky enough to have already reviewed the 65in flagship 4K QLED (Samsung QE65Q90R) - and the emphasis is on 'lucky' considering it left our test rooms with a full five stars. An OLED beater? Quite possibly. But to know whether Samsung's QLEDS will be the best value 4K TVs on the market this year comes down to a) how good its OLED rivals are, and b) how competitively they are priced.
For those with deeper pockets and 8K early adopter ambitions, the 8K Q950R range comprises 65in (£4999), 75in (£6999) and 82in (£9999) sizes.
MORE:
QLED TV: Samsung's next-gen TV tech explained
Samsung QE65Q90R 4K QLED TV (2019) review
