Design
Curved No
The Samsung QN85C has a nice design, although it's nothing original, as it looks extremely similar, if not identical, to many of Samsung's other 2022 and 2023 TVs. But overall, the TV is sleek and feels well-built.
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Design
Uniformity Pictures N/A
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LEARN ABOUT ACCELERATED LONGEVITY TEST
Design
The Samsung QN85C's center-mounted stand is small and doesn't take up much space, so the TV doesn't require a large table or desk. The stand's small size doesn't stop the TV from wobbling, but it's not concerning.
Footprint of the stand on the 65" model: 15.4" x 11.3". The stand lifts the TV about 2.95" above the table, so most soundbars fit in front of the TV without blocking the screen.
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Design
Wall Mount VESA 400x300
The back of the TV looks good, with a nice textured design. There are cable channels on the back to help with cable management. There are also cable grooves in the stand, hidden with a cover, to further channel cables towards the stand's bottom and out of the TV. Note that the TV's inputs are in a recessed inlet on its back panel. They're hard to access if you wall-mount the TV with a fixed bracket.
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Design
Borders 0.35" (0.9 cm)
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Design
Max Thickness 1.06" (2.7 cm)
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8.0 Design
The build quality of the Samsung QN85C is very good. The TV wobbles from front to back and from side to side due to its small stand, but it's not concerning. However, there's a large amount of flex near the TV's VESA holes and its inputs; nothing too worrying, but it's something to note. Aside from that, the TV feels sleek and is made from premium plastic.
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8.2 Picture Quality
Contrast
Native Contrast
The Samsung QN85C has a great contrast ratio. Its native contrast ratio is rather bad, but with local dimming set to high, the TV's contrast is superb; the TV can produce very deep blacks that don't look gray when viewed in a dark room. Note that as you can't fully turn off the local dimming on this TV at the moment, even through the service menu, we calculated the native contrast ratio using this inverse contrast pattern.
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LEARN ABOUT CONTRAST
8.0 Picture Quality
There's some noticeable blooming around bright highlights and subtitles in dark scenes, but it looks very good overall.
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7.0 Picture Quality
Local Dimming
Backlight
Dimming Zones Count Of Tested TV
Lighting zone transitions on the Samsung QN85C are decent, but the algorithm that controls the local dimming feature can't quite keep up with fast content, so transitions are noticeable. When bright highlights move quickly across the screen, the leading edge is darker due to the TV not turning on zones fast enough. There's also a bright halo behind bright highlights that move quickly across the screen.
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8.0 Picture Quality
The TV's contrast and dark details in Game Mode are very good. The image is overall colder, i.e., has a blueish tint to it, than outside of Game Mode. As a result, colors really pop, and the contrast is very good, but it comes at the expense of a bit more blooming than in other modes.
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8.6 Picture Quality
Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)
Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)
Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)
Peak 2% Window
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Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
The TV's HDR peak brightness is excellent. Small specular highlights stand out very well, and while large bright scenes are dimmer, they're still very bright. The TV's Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) isn't aggressive at all, so variations in brightness are kept to a minimum, although they're still there.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
- HDR Picture Mode: Movie
- Brightness: Max
- Contrast: Max
- Color Tone: Warm2
- Local Dimming: High
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LEARN ABOUT HDR BRIGHTNESS
8.5 Picture Quality
Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)
Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)
Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)
Peak 2% Window
Peak 10% Window
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Peak 50% Window
Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
The TV's HDR peak brightness is very similar in Game Mode when compared to other modes, so it's excellent.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point, with the following settings:
- HDR Picture Mode: Game
- Brightness: Max
- Contrast: Max
- HDR Tone Mapping: Static
- Local Dimming: High
- Color Gamut: Auto
- HDR10+ Gaming: Off
- Game HDR: Basic
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9.3 Picture Quality
600 Nit Tracking Delta
1000 Nit Tracking Delta
4000 Nit Tracking Delta
The Samsung QN85C's PQ EOTF tracking is superb in 'Movie', 'Filmmaker', and 'Game' modes in HDR. It's overbrightened throughout, and its near-blacks are slightly raised. Aside from that, most content displays at the correct brightness level, respecting the content creator's intent. There's a sharp cutoff near the TV's peak brightness; this results in some clipping in really bright scenes, leading to a loss of fine detail.
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LEARN ABOUT PQ EOTF TRACKING
9.2 Picture Quality
Real Scene Peak Brightness
Peak 2% Window
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Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
The TV's SDR peak brightness is fantastic. It's bright enough to overcome glare in even extremely bright rooms with lots of natural light. The TV's Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) is not aggressive, although large bright scenes are still dimmer than scenes with smaller highlights. However, the TV is easily bright enough to overcome glare even when dimmed.
These measurements are after calibration with the following settings:
- Picture Mode: Movie
- Brightness: 50
- Local Dimming: High
- Color Tone: Warm2
8.1 Picture Quality
Wide Color Gamut
DCI P3 xy
DCI P3 uv
Rec 2020 xy
Rec 2020 uv
The Samsung QN85C has a great color gamut. It can display almost the entire range of colors in the widely used DCI-P3 color space, so HDR content is vivid and lifelike, although most colors are slightly undersaturated. It has an okay coverage of the Rec. 2020 format, good enough for when it becomes more prevalent. However, this isn't the TV for you if you want strong Rec. 2020 coverage for future-proofing.
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LEARN ABOUT COLOR GAMUT
8.3 Picture Quality
1,000 cd/m² DCI P3 Coverage ITP
10,000 cd/m² Rec 2020 Coverage ITP
White Luminance
Red Luminance
Green Luminance
Blue Luminance
Cyan Luminance
Magenta Luminance
Yellow Luminance
The Samsung QN85C has great color volume. It has bright, vibrant colors and can display bright colors very well. It can't quite display the most saturated colors, but it still does an excellent job for an ADS panel.
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LEARN ABOUT COLOR VOLUME
7.8 Picture Quality
White Balance dE
Color dE
Gamma
Color Temperature
Picture Mode
Color Temp Setting
Gamma Setting
The TV has very good pre-calibration accuracy. Its white balance is slightly off, especially in very bright shades of gray, where blues are underrepresented. This explains the warmer white balance, which veers towards red. Its gamma tracking is excellent, almost exactly at our target of 2.2 for a moderately lit room, although dark scenes are slightly too dark.
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LEARN ABOUT PRE CALIBRATION
9.5 Picture Quality
White Balance dE
Color dE
Gamma
Color Temperature
White Balance Calibration
Color Calibration
After calibration, the TV has fantastic accuracy. Blues are stubborn and require some work to calibrate, but aside from that, it's not a hard TV to calibrate for. Still, dark scenes are still very slightly too bright, and bright scenes are a tad too dark.
You can see our full calibration settings here.
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LEARN ABOUT POST CALIBRATION
7.6 Picture Quality
50% Std. Dev.
50% DSE
5% Std. Dev.
5% DSE
The TV has good gray uniformity. There's some vignetting, where the sides of the image are slightly darker than its center, and vertical banding is noticeable in content with large sections of bright colors, like when watching sports like hockey. Its uniformity with very dark colors is excellent, however.
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LEARN ABOUT GRAY UNIFORMITY
8.9 Picture Quality
Std. Dev.
Native Std. Dev.
The TV's black uniformity is amazing. Note that you can't turn local dimming completely off on this TV due to a more limited service menu, so we took the native black uniformity picture with local dimming set to 'Low'. With that setting, the TV's black uniformity is inadequate; there's a lot of blooming around the bright cross, going beyond it to give the whole screen a blue-ish tint. With local dimming set to 'High', the TV's black uniformity is exceptional.
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LEARN ABOUT BLACK UNIFORMITY
7.9 Picture Quality
Color Washout
Color Shift
Brightness Loss
Black Level Raise
Gamma Shift
The Samsung QN85C has a very good viewing angle. The colors wash out and lose some brightness at moderate angles, but overall it's good enough for a wide seating arrangement.
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LEARN ABOUT VIEWING ANGLE
7.4 Picture Quality
Screen Finish
Total Reflections
Indirect Reflections
Calculated Direct Reflections
The TV has decent reflection handling. Its semi-gloss coating diffuses reflections across the screen, making them bigger but less bright.
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LEARN ABOUT REFLECTIONS
8.5 Picture Quality
100% Black to 50% Gray 8.0
50% Gray to 100% White 8.0
100% Black to 50% Red 10
50% Red to 100% Red 10
100% Black to 50% Green 10
50% Green to 100% Green 6.0
100% Black to 50% Blue 10
50% Blue to 100% Blue 6.0
The Samsung QN85CD has impressive HDR gradient handling. However, there's very noticeable banding in saturated greens, as well as in brighter blues.
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LEARN ABOUT HDR NATIVE GRADIENT
6.3 Picture Quality
Smoothing 6.0
Detail Preservation 7.0
The TV's low-quality content smoothing is acceptable. It does a decent job of preserving details, but it does a mediocre job smoothing out any macro-blocking in dark scenes.
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7.5 Picture Quality
The TV has good sharpness processing when upscaling content. It's good enough that low-resolution content looks sharp, although you'll lose some fine details in the process.
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LEARN ABOUT UPSCALING: SHARPNESS PROCESSING
Picture Quality
Subpixel Layout
Type LED
Sub-Type
The Samsung QN85C uses an ADS-type panel, similar to the more commonly known IPS. It uses an RGB subpixel layout, so it won't have any issues rendering text when used as a PC monitor.
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7.6 Motion
80% Response Time
100% Response Time
The TV has a good response time. Most transitions are very fast. However, it struggles in very dark scene transitions and has a lot of overshoot in those, causing inverse ghosting behind dark areas. Look at the Samsung The Frame 2024 QLED if you want a Samsung TV with a faster response time.
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LEARN ABOUT RESPONSE TIME
9.9 Motion
Flicker-Free
PWM Dimming Frequency
The Samsung QN85C uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to dim its backlight, so unfortunately, it's not flicker-free. The flicker frequency varies between picture modes and with certain settings.
It flickers at 960Hz in the following pictures modes between the stated backlight levels:
- Dynamic: between 26 and 46.
- Standard: between 25 and 47.
- Movie: below 48.
Game Mode flickers at 960Hz in these circ*mstances:
- No motion interpolation: always flickers at 960Hz.
- Game Motion Plus enabled: between 25 and 48.
All other modes and/or backlight levels flicker at 120Hz, except for Game Mode with LED Clear Motion enabled, which stays locked at 60Hz, and the 'Graphic' mode of 'PC' mode with the backlight set to Max, also locked at 60Hz.
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LEARN ABOUT FLICKER-FREE
Motion
Optional BFI
Min Flicker For 60 fps
60Hz For 60 fps
120Hz For 120 fps
Min Flicker for 60 fps in Game Mode
The TV has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion (BFI). The feature helps reduce blur caused by the TV's fast response time, otherwise known as persistence blur. It works at both 60Hz and 120Hz, which is great, but unfortunately, its timing is off, and it causes a duplicate image when enabled.
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LEARN ABOUT BLACK FRAME INSERTION (BFI)
Motion
Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
The Samsung QN85CD has a feature to increase the frame rate of low frame-rate content up to 120Hz. As is typical of this feature, it works very well with slow panning shots and other slow-paced scenes but shows a lot of artifacts once the action ramps up.
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LEARN ABOUT MOTION INTERPOLATION
7.1 Motion
Frame Hold Time @ 24 fps
Frame Hold Time @ 60 fps
Due to the TV's good response time, low frame rate content, like movies, stutter a bit. It's mainly noticeable in slow panning shots, and motion interpolation or backlight strobing features can mitigate this to some degree, but they come with their own problems.
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LEARN ABOUT STUTTER
10 Motion
Judder-Free 24p
Judder-Free 24p via 60p
Judder-Free 24p via 60i
Judder-Free 24p via Native Apps
The Samsung QN85CD automatically removes judder from any source, with no additional settings needed. It's great for watching movies, as motion appears smooth.
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LEARN ABOUT 24P JUDDER
9.4 Motion
Native Refresh Rate
Variable Refresh Rate
HDMI Forum VRR
FreeSync
G-SYNC Compatible
4k VRR Maximum
4k VRR Minimum
1080p VRR Maximum
1080p VRR Minimum
1440p VRR Maximum
1440p VRR Minimum
VRR + Local Dimming Yes
The Samsung QN85CD is compatible with all three variable refresh rate (VRR) formats, and it works across a very wide refresh rate range, which ensures that your games remain nearly tear-free when gaming.
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LEARN ABOUT VARIABLE REFRESH RATE
9.7 Inputs
1080p @ 60Hz
1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
1080p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 144Hz
1440p @ 60Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1440p @ 144Hz
4k @ 60Hz
4k @ 60Hz + 10-Bit HDR
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
4k @ 60Hz With Interpolation
4k @ 120Hz
4k @ 144Hz
8k @ 60Hz
The TV has extremely low input lag in Game Mode. It results in a very responsive gaming experience, with very little delay between your inputs and the on-screen action. Unfortunately, the input lag outside Game Mode is too high for gaming or PC use.
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LEARN ABOUT INPUT LAG
9.6 Inputs
Resolution 4k
480p @ 59.94Hz (Widescreen)
720p @ 59.94Hz
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
1080p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 144Hz
1440p @ 60Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1440p @ 144Hz
4k @ 60Hz
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 120Hz
4k @ 120Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 144Hz
8k @ 30Hz or 24Hz
8k @ 60Hz
The TV supports all common resolutions up to 4k @ 120Hz. All supported formats display chroma 4:4:4 signals properly, essential for clear text from a PC. There are no resolution-halving issues on this TV at any resolution, which is great.
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LEARN ABOUT SUPPORTED RESOLUTIONS
Inputs
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
4k @ 120Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 120Hz
HDR
VRR
The Samsung QN85CD can take full advantage of the PS5, with up to 4k @ 120Hz support on all HDMI ports and support for variable refresh rate (VRR).
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Inputs
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
4k @ 120Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 120Hz
HDR
VRR
The TV can take full advantage of the Xbox Series X or S, with up to 4k @ 120Hz support on all its HDMI ports and variable refresh rate (VRR) support.
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Inputs
HDR10
HDR10+
Dolby Vision
HLG
HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth
HDMI 2.1 Class Bandwidth
CEC Yes
HDCP 2.2 Yes (HDMI 1,2,3,4)
ATSC Tuner
USB 3.0
Variable Analog Audio Out No
Wi-Fi Support Yes (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz)
The Samsung QN85C supports full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four HDMI ports, making it very flexible for users owning multiple HDMI 2.1 devices. Unfortunately, Samsung still doesn't support Dolby Vision, instead supporting the less widely used HDR10+ format.
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Inputs
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Inputs
HDMI 4
USB 2
Digital Optical Audio Out 1
Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 0
Analog Audio Out RCA 0
Component In 0
Composite In 0
Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1
Ethernet 1
DisplayPort 0
IR In 0
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Inputs
ARC/eARC Port
eARC: Dolby Atmos Over Dolby Digital Plus
eARC: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
eARC: LPCM 7.1 Over Dolby MAT
eARC: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
eARC: DTS:X Over DTS-HD MA
eARC: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
eARC: LPCM Channels (Bitstream)
ARC: Dolby Digital 5.1
ARC: DTS 5.1
Optical: Dolby Digital 5.1
Optical: DTS 5.1
This TV supports eARC, which lets it pass uncompressed high-quality audio from a connected source to your receiver without sacrificing audio quality. Sadly, it doesn't support DTS audio formats, which is disappointing as many UHD Blu-rays and DVDs use DTS for their lossless audio tracks.
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6.9 Sound Quality
Low-Frequency Extension
Std. Dev. @ 70
Std. Dev. @ 80
Std. Dev. @ Max
Max
Dynamic Range Compression
The TV's frequency response is okay. Like most TVs, there's barely any bass. However, the TV sounds sharp and clear at moderate volume, but when you raise the volume near or at max, the TV's sound reproduction shows noticeable compression, with dialogue not sounding as clear. Unfortunately, this TV doesn't get loud, so you might have to raise the volume near its max if you are in a loud environment.
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LEARN ABOUT FREQUENCY RESPONSE
6.8 Sound Quality
Weighted THD @ 80
Weighted THD @ Max
IMD @ 80
IMD @ Max
The TV's distortion handling is okay. While its performance is good at moderate volume levels, distortion is more noticeable at higher volumes.
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LEARN ABOUT DISTORTION
8.5 Smart Features
Smart OS Tizen
Version 2023
Ease of Use
Smoothness
Time Taken to Select YouTube
Time Taken to Change Backlight
Advanced Options
The Samsung QN85CD runs the 2023 version of Tizen OS, which is fast and easy to use. There's no lag whatsoever when using the Smart Hub interface, and finding your favorite content is easy.
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0 Smart Features
Ads
Opt-out
Suggested Content in Home
Opt-out of Suggested Content
Unfortunately, like most TVs on the market, there are ads throughout the interface, and there's no option to disable them completely. You can turn off targeted ads, but it doesn't reduce the number of ads you see; it just makes them less personalized to you.
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LEARN ABOUT AD-FREE
8.5 Smart Features
App Selection
App Smoothness
Cast Capable
USB Drive Playback
USB Drive HDR Playback
HDR in Netflix
HDR in YouTube
The included apps cover most, if not all, of the common streaming services, and there's a great selection of additional apps available in Samsung's app store.
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8.5 Smart Features
Size
Voice Control
CEC Menu Control
Other Smart Features
Remote App Samsung SmartThings
The TV comes with a slim remote that is easy to use. It's minimalistic, with few intuitively laid-out buttons. It has a built-in rechargeable battery which you can either charge through USB-C, with a port on the bottom of the remote, or through the solar panel on the back of the remote. The TV is compatible with Bixby and Amazon's Alexa, and both the remote and TV have integrated microphones. The voice commands work well; you can tell the TV to change inputs, ask it to open apps, or even change the brightness. Unfortunately, you can't search for content within apps using voice.
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Smart Features
The button is under the Samsung branding on the bottom right of the TV. With it, you can turn the TV on and off, change the channel and the volume, and switch input sources. There's also a small toggle to turn the internal microphone on or off if you're worried about privacy.
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Smart Features
- Power cable
- Remote control
- User guide
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Smart Features
Power Consumption 60 W
Power Consumption (Max) 170 W
Firmware 1205
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