Philips Ambilight 7985 QLED TV review: A high-value TV that lights up the room 

Quick Recap

At under $400, the Philips 55-inch 7985 QLED lights up your wall with whatever is on the screen with its Ambilight lighting system, and that’s the main reason you would buy this TV. I have seen a lot of add-on lighting features come in for review from the likes of Govee or the Hue light strip, but spending time behind the TV trying to apply them never seemed appealing to me.

Would the adhesive come off, and would they work as well as a built-in lighting system? Of course, the OG, Philips, has been doing their whole Ambilight thing in Europe for more than 20 years. Since 2025, it has been showing up in the US on Roku TVs built by Skyworth under the Philips license, and the 2026 7985 Series is the first to add a quantum dot layer to the TV.  

This leaves two questions to consider when thinking about this TV. Is the Philips 7985 a good TV, or just a good lighting system with an adequate TV attached? And is $389 for a 55-inch TV a fair price when TCL and Hisense have Mini-LED offerings for just a slightly higher price? I spent a few weeks with the Philips 7985 in our Digital Trends office and concluded that this is an average TV with a very cool lighting experience tied to it.

Streaming content looks clean and colorful, Dolby Vision is a nice touch, and the Roku integration works seamlessly. The panel is a letdown for me at 60Hz, has no local dimming (overrated anyways?) so contrast and HDR never really stood out. And if you are a gamer with a PS5 or Xbox Series X and like to play games at 120Hz, you’re out of luck. Pro Tip though: You’ll likely want to run most games at 60Hz so you have a higher frame rate and quicker response time.  

Ultimately though, if you mostly stream in the evening and want your TV to feel more like an event, the Philips 7985 is a lot of fun to use for under $400. If you really want to nitpick the picture quality and don’t care about the light show, I’d go with another brand of TV. But let’s be real here, we are talking about a $389 55-inch TV, and the 7985 has a lot of value going for it at this price.  

Philips Ambilight 7985 specifications

Philips Ambilight 7985 design: Slim enough, light enough, and hiding the lights on the back 

Out of the box, the 55-inch 7985 looks like every other budget TV I’ve unpacked this year. It has slim black bezels, two feet that screw into the bottom edge, and weighs a lot less than I expected at 22lbs (without the feet);  one person can easily lift this and move it around without help. There’s no center pedestal in the box, which could be a mild annoyance if your media console is on the narrow side. 

Turn the TV around, and you’ll see where you’re spending your money. There are LED strips running up both sides and across the top of the back panel; that’s the Ambilight lighting system. There’s no bottom strip, which makes sense since most people place a TV on furniture. It does mean a wall-mounted 7985 won’t glow beneath the screen, though. Just setting expectations here. 

For wall-mounting, the 7985 uses a 200 x 100 mm VESA pattern, which is small for a set this size (but likely because of the light weight), so check your bracket before you buy. Mounting also matters more here than it does with most TVs because Ambilight needs a wall a few inches behind it to bounce light off. I originally had the TV in front of a wood panel wall here in our office, but the Philips representative recommended I move it to a regular white wall (or light colored paint) for the best experience.

I couldn’t find anywhere online where Philips recommends a wall color for best use, but I am guessing you’ll want to consider this. As far as the I/O situation goes, you get four HDMI 2.0 inputs with eARC on HDMI 1, plus USB, Ethernet, optical, and an antenna jack. For a $370 TV, that’s a generous amount of inputs/outputs. 

Score: 7/10 

Philips Ambilight 7985 picture quality: QLED color, budget contrast 

The 55-inch 7985 uses a VA-panel LCD with a quantum dot layer and no local dimming. It’s important because local dimming lets a TV turn down the backlight behind dark parts of the picture, which is how Mini-LED TVs get deep blacks and a bright color pop next to them. The 7985 can only dim its whole backlight at once, so night scenes come out charcoal gray at times. You probably have never noticed this from a TV, and now that you know, you might pay attention. Sorry about that.

In a bright room, you’ll barely notice, but in a dark room, you might, and, funny enough, Ambilight seems to help with this. The glow from the Ambilight raises the light level around the screen, so your eyes don’t view the blacks as so washed out. It’s an optical illusion that fooled some people in our office here.   On the color side, Quantum dots are new to Philips’ US Ambilight lineup this year, and they give reds and greens a richness the older 7875 Series didn’t have.

Animated content and nature documentaries, of course, look great. HDR is where the compromises come in. Dolby Vision is a nice surprise at $389, and the TV handles the metadata properly, but Philips doesn’t publish peak brightness, and the panel doesn’t get bright enough for specular highlights to pop out for me.  

The VA panel on the 7875 Series gives you better native contrast than IPS would, at the cost of viewing angles. There is a notable contrast shift at 30 and 45-degree angles, so you’ll want to sit dead center if you want the most accurate contrast possible.  Upscaling, thankfully, is solid and works as it should. Moreover, 1080p streams and cable sports look clean, without the crunchy over-sharpening some budget TVs have. Motion is acceptable for 60Hz, on the other hand.

For clarification, however, the 120 PMR label describes motion processing, not refresh rate. The panel is still locked to a 60Hz refresh rate. That means you might experience judder on 24fps films and maybe blur on a 60fps sporting event. If you are replacing an older TV, you’re used to this, and shouldn’t be too bothered. In fact, some of the higher-end TVs almost have an artificial look to the content being played on them. Movie fans might care, and you should go to your local Costco/Sams Club or Best Buy to compare TVs side-by-side if this is important to you. 

Score: 6/10 

Philips Ambilight 7985 lighting: Your kids will want it permanently turned on 

I’ve used plenty of add-on bias lighting kits, especially from Govee, who we work with at Digital Trends. Most of them mean sticking LED strips to the back of the TV, mounting a camera above it, or routing HDMI through a sync box, and then fiddling with colors in an app. It’s a weekend project that takes time and focus for calibration. Ambilight is just on with this TV. 

Setup took me under 5 minutes overall. You pick a brightness level and tell the TV what color your wall is so it can adjust its output. “Follow Video” is on by default, and that’s where I left the setting. It reads the edges of the image and throws matching color onto the wall in real time, with presets for movies, sports, and games. 

The effect is better than I expected and worked great for my Timbers Soccer game and the Original Knives Out movie on Netflix. The light tracks fast, and I didn’t notice any lag between a cut on screen and a shift on the wall. You’ve got other modes to play with, too. Follow Audio pulses the lights to music, which is fun at a party or watching YouTube music videos and silly the rest of the time.

Lounge Light keeps the LEDs glowing a static color with the screen off, so the TV doubles as a giant mood lamp. Pair that with Roku Backdrops, which puts art or photos on screen, and you have something for guests to focus on during a house party. The Ambilight isn’t without its issues, though. Every once in a while, I would catch a flicker where an image would appear to skip as Ambilight caught a bright edge. It was not consistent, and I caught it a couple of times over the course of a week.  

Score: 9/10 

Philips Ambilight 7985 software: Integrated Roku keeps things simple 

The 7985 runs Roku OS, which is a nice touch on a value TV. Plenty of cheap TV’s ship with sluggish homegrown software, and some of the higher-end TV’s have poor software. For example, I am not a fan of LG’s WebOS, which runs on their higher-end TVs. Roku won’t win any beauty contests, but it’s quick and simple to navigate. 

Every major streaming service is here, and if you just want something on in the background, the Roku Channel adds hundreds of free live channels, too. 

There is, however, the Roku tax: ads. Expect a promoted banner on the home screen and sponsored content in some rows. This seems to be getting more common among TV and CE brands in general. Samsung is even catching flak for putting ads on their refrigerators.  

Apple’s AirPlay is built in, which iPhone households will appreciate, and the TV works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri through Apple Home. The included Roku voice remote covers basic search and volume, but who really uses voice commands on a remote control? Maybe I am out of touch, but I never do. 

The wider Roku ecosystem is a perk as well. You can pair Roku’s wireless speakers, soundbars, and subwoofer directly, and if you’re coming from another Roku TV, your old Roku speakers carry over.  HDMI-CEC worked as designed when switching between our PS5 and Sonos Soundbar. 

Score: 8/10 

Philips Ambilight 7985 sound output: Dolby Atmos is here, but don’t get your hopes up 

The 7985 has two 10-watt speakers and Dolby Atmos decoding. That Atmos technology is a step up from last year’s 7875, which only had Dolby Audio built-in, but don’t expect sound raining down from the ceiling like you would think when you hear the name Atmos. Atmos is supposed to add a sense of height, with effects that seem to come from above you, and two small drivers in a thin TV chassis will never be able to pull that off.

Think of the badge as a compatibility note more than a promise of amazing sound. Dialogue holds up well at moderate volume, which covers a lot of what most people watch on a weeknight. Crank it during an action scene, though, and the low end disappears and sounds muddy. 

That’s normal for a $389 TV, and I wouldn’t hold it against the 7985 too much. The upside is that eARC on HDMI 1 makes adding a soundbar about as painless as it gets. If you’d rather stay in one ecosystem, Roku’s own wireless speakers pair natively. Set aside $100 to $200 for a soundbar (I recommend one with a subwoofer), and the 7985 turns into a much better movie night TV. 

Score: 6/10 

Philips Ambilight 7985 durability and warranty 

Philips backs the 7985 with a standard 1-year limited warranty in the US, which is typical for a TV in this price range. In North America, Philips TVs are made and supported by Skyworth under a licensing deal.  

The bigger long-term question for me is those Ambilight LEDs. They’re built into the TV, so if a strip dies out of warranty, you can’t just swap in a cheap replacement light kit. You’ll be back to the Govee add-on strip.   On the software side, Roku pushes OS updates automatically, and Roku TVs typically get feature updates quite frequently.  

Should you buy? 

Yes, if you’re a person wanting the cool Ambilight feature. You’re someone who mostly streams in the evening, wants the room to feel a bit more like a theater, and has no interest in buying, installing, and calibrating a separate light kit. At $389, you get a capable 4K QLED with Dolby Vision, Roku, and four HDMI ports.

The lighting system you’d otherwise have to buy, stick on, and calibrate yourself comes along for free and is very low-hassle. It’s also a great pick for a bedroom, basement or game room, where atmosphere counts for more than reference-grade blacks. Keep the light on and the TV off for a bedroom nightlight if you want. 

Skip the 7985 series if you care about HDR highlights or own a current-gen console and want to play games at 120Hz. For you, a Mini-LED set with local dimming will look noticeably better for roughly $100 to $200 more. You can always add a light strip later. 

Already own last year’s Philips 7875 Series? Don’t bother upgrading. You’d gain quantum dot color, Dolby Vision and Atmos decoding, but the core experience is basically the same.  

Why not try

The Philips offering is the cheapest set here by $130 or more and the only one that has Ambilight built-in. The Hisense and TCL alternatives both cost more, but give you local dimming, a 144Hz panel, and better gaming features. Moroever, the Hisense TV has the best built-in sound of the three. 

Hisense U6 (55U6SF Pro)

Why pick this one? You get Mini-LED with local dimming, much stronger contrast, and brighter HDR. You lose Ambilight and Roku support. 

TCL QM6K 55-inch

Why pick this one? A Mini-LED set with a native 144Hz panel and VRR, which makes it the obvious pick for console gamers. It usually runs about $150 to $200 more than the Philips, but look for it on sale. 

2026 Philips 55-inch 7875 Series

Why pick this one? Last year’s Ambilight Roku TV, often cheaper if you can find one. It skips quantum dots and Dolby Vision, but Ambilight works the same way. 

Govee TV Backlight 3

Why pick this one? If you already love another TV, an add-on kit gets you most of the Ambilight effect. It’s more work to install and less tidy, but you can take it from TV to TV. 

How I tested 

I tested the Philips 55-inch 7985 Series (55PUL7985/F7) in the Digital Trends HQ living room for most of October for a total of 15 or so hours of viewing. I watched streaming content from Netflix, Disney+, Max, and Apple TV+, including Dolby Vision and HDR10 titles; live sports on YouTube TV NFL Ticket. I tested in a dark room at night and in daylight with light coming in from the west windows and checked off-axis viewing at roughly 30 and 45 degrees. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What’s the screen size and type on the Philips 55-inch 7985 Series TV?

You get a 55-inch 4K UHD (2160p) QLED display powered by Quantum Dot technology on this one.

Does the Ambilight tech come built-in?

Yes, and it doesn’t require any technical setup either.

Can the lights sync to content?

Yes, the lights are dynamic and adjust to music. You can even keep them on when the screen is off.

What video formats does it support?

This TV can handle Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG content.

What’s the software?

It runs the Roku TV platform.