Thinking about the TV market, there’s low end, high-end and mid-range TVs in every single size. I guess in some cases there are Ultra-Premium too. By my reckoning the LG QNED81 sits right in the middle offering quality, speed, content and design, without the premium price tag and well over and above those low end TVs.
I’ll tell you straight off the bat, the only thing holding this TV back is the backlighting technology. It’s edge lit, which means it’s certainly not OLED, it’s not Mini LED, and it’s not “full array” which means the lights are behind the picture, instead the lights are around the edge. Now as someone who watches a different TV almost every week, I notice this. I notice the slight blooming where the bright colour hits black, or when white text appears on a black screen.
But if you’re worried about all that, you’re in the wrong price bracket. You need to be looking at MiniLED and OLED technology to cure that visual ailment which I’m convinced not all viewers really notice.
So, back to the QNED81 – It ticks a lot of boxes.
LG’s Adaptive AI Sound makes things sound great, while the processing power of the alpha7 Processor provides for excellent colour reproduction and upscaling to 4K.
At this stage I should say the TV I reviewed was 65 inches, purely because that’s about the most I can handle on my own at the office, but this unit does come up to 86 inches in size!
During the setup, I love that LG ask you how you use your TV.
If you want to power it on and go straight to TV – done. If you know you’re going to hit the apps more often than not – done.
When you’re good to go and WiFi connected, all the apps you could want for are there. Stan, Netflix, Kayo, Disney Plus, Netflix, Amazon – brilliant choice. And Apple TV and Airplay connectivity.
So this has all the smarts you will want for, plus the integrated Smart Home stuff LG does through ThinQ.
Why go to mid-range instead of cheaper TV’s – they will lack the power and smarts. So the launching of apps, use of apps and the quality of picture you see just won’t be the same for all content.
This is a pretty simple design, thin enough to seem modern, yet sleek enough not to stand out.
The centre mounted stand for sitting the TV on is easy to install and looks great, plus it has cable management around the back.
Four HDMI inputs is a dream, including two of which that are 4K 120Hz.
Oh yes, you read that right, 120Hz – that is probably why this is able to sit in that mid-range price point because while gamers might long for OLED, it’s out of many budgets, so if you want a bigger screen but also want to game, the QNED81 might just be a great compromise.
For general viewing I found the colours and black reproduction excellent, though that edge lighting means more greys than blacks a lot of the time.
I guess it’s a real example of you get what you pay for – short of the great, but far beyond the basic, the QNED81 is a great choice for those looking for a great picture, loads of apps and some top class features.
