As I was writing up my review for the Samsung Q7F (2025), it occurred to me that QLED, as a technology, seems to be reaching towards the end of its lifecycle.
It has become what Direct LED and Edge-lit backlights have become, TV technology that’s slightly long in the tooth with no real progress being made in terms of improving the performance.
Sure, Quantum dot panels are still being made in huge quantities, but that QLED branding? I think its best days are behind it.
Slow progress
First things first, QLED and Quantum dot are the same thing. A QLED TV uses Quantum dot filters/panels to produce the colours you see on screen. I won’t bore you with all the technobabble behind it; you can read what that entails with this explainer.
Around ten years ago, QLED was given a huge push by Samsung to the point where you thought that Samsung created the technology. It didn’t, but the name became synonymous with the Korean electronics brand that its success or failure seemed to be tied to how many sets Samsung sold. And as Samsung was on a run of selling the most TVs on this planet, you can guess they sold a lot of QLED TVs.
But then OLED came to challenge, especially from the corner of LG, and that caused friction for a few years as both TV technologies battled for supremacy. But while OLED maintained a high price, QLED seemed to fade and was succeeded by Quantum dot panels that meshed with Mini LED backlights, and this time it was Samsung and TCL both leading the charge on that front.
So now, QLED is the technology that you see in less expensive TVs, your affordable models that litter the stores of electronics retailers. But therein lies the problem, as the QLED branding is not really driving sales, and is not really the focus of many manufacturers’ output.
You might see on the retail page for a QLED TV that it boasts dazzling colours, but from my point of view as someone who tests TVs regularly, that’s not the case compared to Mini LED TVs with Quantum dot colour filters. It’s a colourful image, most of the time, but often these TVs lack the brightness output to bring those colours to life. What you get from today’s QLED TVs is not much better than QLED TVs you’d have bought five years ago. As far as QLED branding goes, progress seems to have stagnated.
Which is why I was quite disappointed with the latest Samsung Q7F. Compared to the previous Q7F (2017), the 2025 model reaches above 300 nits for HDR brightness. The 2017 model? 1500 nits.
Both are edge-lit screens, but considering the Q7F (2017) was one of Samsung’s more “affordable” higher-entry TVs in 2017 when it was priced at £2299, the £799 RRP for the 2025 model shows it’s been relegated to the lower tiers as far as what Samsung wants you to focus on.
The QLED stand-off
But that’s not to say that Samsung doesn’t believe in QLED. It’s not uppermost in its focus but as the company has been the number one selling brand for 19 consecutive years, it has a record to uphold.
Earlier in the year, I wrote about how Samsung had an eye on the competition from TCL and Hisense, and in March it developed into what I might describe as a spat.
A class-action lawsuit in the US was made against TCL and Hisense for falsely alleging their TVs had Quantum dot technology, when actually they may have feature negligible amount or none at all.
It’s quite the allegation, and while I’m certainly not saying that Samsung was behind it, it’s… interesting timing considering both TCL and Hisense are in fierce competition with Samsung in several markets. Samsung is still a distance ahead, but both TCL and Hisense are eating into that margin.
And Samsung has certainly emphasised that its TVs are not only ‘proper’ QLED models but that they do not feature Cadmium, which is said to be a harmful material. Much like when Samsung and LG put their boxing gloves on during the QLED vs OLED battle, this feels like it’s building up to a similar, if three-way confrontation, between these companies.
However, is this fight at the more affordable end of the market really worth it? Even as Samsung claims that its TVs are ‘true’ QLED TVs, the results I see with my eyes suggest that it’s much of a muchness. Whether it’s Samsung, TCL, Hisense or any other manufacturer that puts the QLED branding on its TVs, the performance has fallen off from the heights of before.
It’s a bit of corporate posturing for sure, but it also feels like a distraction or these companies testing the waters. They’re all sussing each other out and probing for weaknesses. It’s in 2026 when I think we’ll see the gloves really come off between Samsung, TCL and Hisense.