looks, with its cinematic landscapes, rich character modeling, and sheer amount of stuff on screen at any given point. And even with the Omni QLED’s somewhat lackluster 60Hz refresh rate, I never had any issues with screen tearing or artifacting; and I never had any issues with motion blur feeling excessive or like an annoyance.
It does get a bit tricky when playing rhythm games, as it can throw you for a loop when trying to hit complicated beat combos, but it doesn’t detract from most games.
Taylor Clemons/ZDNET The Switch looks nice on this TV as well, especially since many Nintendo titles have bold colors and interesting art direction that work really well with the QLED panel. The original Paper Mario looks clean, if clunky in comparison with later entries to the series, and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a delight.
Taylor Clemons/ZDNET Another home screen issue I have is the ads. They’re not quite as invasive or annoying as what you’d see on a Kindle, but a good portion of the home screen is taken up by ads for various Amazon-produced shows and movies, streaming partners, and even tips for setting up and configuring your new TV.
While these are generally helpful for finding new things to watch, if you’re absolutely against ads, it’s something to keep in mind. Especially since they don’t always load on startup, leaving your TV screen a void of various shades of gray.
Taylor Clemons/ZDNET Along with apps, you can also share your mobile device screens via AirPlay or Chromecast. I will say that when the Omni QLED arrived at my house, I had quite a bit of trouble getting AirPlay to work properly. I ended up contacting Amazon for troubleshooting help. One factory reset and several firmware updates later, we were able to get the issue fixed.
So if you’re having issues sharing anything via AirPlay or Chromecast, I suggest checking the settings menu for the latest firmware update. And if that doesn’t work, a good old-fashioned reset usually takes care of any software or connectivity weirdness. Which unfortunately means you’ll have to go through your setup and home screen configuration process again.
Also: How to AirPlay to a TV
Once I got AirPlay to work properly, it was fairly easy to stream Twitch broadcasts, TikTok videos, and YouTube clips to the TV. A few image quality issues cropped up, like weird white balancing and washed-out colors, but I chalk this up to the way screen mirroring works rather than any fault with the TV. And unless you plan on scrolling through your TikTok FYP for hours, you’re not going to notice much of a difference anyway.
