Samsung OLED

About Samsung OLED

Samsung OLED is the self-emissive half of Samsung's television range. Each pixel makes its own light and switches off completely, so black is black rather than a dimmed backlight. Samsung sells it alongside Neo QLED rather than above it, and that is the right way to read the range: Neo QLED for a bright room and a lower price per inch, OLED for contrast and for a picture that holds up from an angle. The 2025 line, announced by Samsung on 9 April 2025, runs the S85F at 55 to 83 inches, the S90F at 42 to 83 inches and the S95F at 55 to 83 inches. What complicates the choice is that Samsung does not use one panel across the whole line, and does not support Dolby Vision on any of it.

How the Samsung OLED tiers differ

Samsung's April 2025 announcement sets the three tiers out clearly. The S85F takes the NQ4 AI Gen2 processor and Motion Xcelerator up to 120Hz. The S90F moves to NQ4 AI Gen3 and 144Hz. The S95F keeps the Gen3 processor, adds the Glare Free screen treatment and reaches 165Hz, and Samsung claims a 30 percent brightness increase for it.

Crutchfield's 2025 rundown fills in the gaming detail: FreeSync Premium on the S85F, FreeSync Premium Pro and 4K/144Hz on the S90F at 55 inches and above, and FreeSync Premium Pro with 4K/165Hz on the S95F.

The practical reading is that the S90F is the value tier and the S95F is the one you buy for a bright room, because the anti-reflection treatment and the extra brightness are what the money goes on. The S85F exists to hit a price and gives up the most.

QD-OLED, WOLED and the panel lottery

Samsung's OLED sets do not all use the same panel, and the company does not print which one you are getting on the box. FlatpanelsHD found that the S95F uses QD-OLED at 55 and 65 inches but a WOLED panel at 83 inches. Tom's Guide has covered the same problem under the name the panel lottery, describing it as a genuine gamble because a buyer cannot tell in advance which technology a given unit carries, and noting the 2024 S90D shipped different panels in different sizes.

The difference is real rather than academic. QD-OLED uses a quantum dot colour layer over blue OLED emitters and produces a wider colour volume, which FlatpanelsHD describes as more saturated reds than LG's WOLED. WOLED uses a white emitter with colour filters and behaves differently on brightness and on how black looks in a lit room. If this matters to you, check reviews of the exact size you are buying rather than of the model name.

What the Glare Free screen buys, and what it costs

The S95F's matte treatment is the most divisive thing about this line. TechRadar, which measured the 55-inch S95F at 2,132 nits peak HDR brightness and 390 nits fullscreen in Filmmaker mode, found the OLED Glare Free 2.0 screen cut mirror-like reflections down to a haze at most, and rated the set among the best OLEDs for a bright room.

FlatpanelsHD reached a more mixed conclusion. It measured 2,000 to 2,200 nits in Filmmaker mode with brief peaks near 3,600 nits in Vivid, and noted the brightness dims within 25 to 50 seconds of sustained peak output. On the coating itself it found the filter gives blacks a greyish look in brighter environments and produces a subtle blooming around bright text.

Both are true and they describe the same trade. The matte finish removes reflections and slightly raises black level from ambient light. In a room with windows that is a clear win. In a dark room it is a small loss against a glossy OLED.

Gaming and connectivity

This is one of the better gaming ranges on sale. TechRadar recorded four HDMI 2.1 ports on the S95F supporting 4K at 165Hz with VRR and ALLM, plus HDR10+ gaming and 9.5ms of input lag. FlatpanelsHD notes 165Hz is reachable over PC while a PS5 tops out at 120Hz, which is a console limit rather than a set limit, and flags that Game Mode makes you choose between colour accuracy and peak brightness, with the more accurate Original preset costing roughly 30 percent of brightness.

The One Connect box carries the inputs on the S95F and runs a single cable to the panel, which allows the very thin profile and clean wall mounting. FlatpanelsHD points out the cable connector is bulky enough to be awkward in a tight space.

Audio is a 4.2.2 layout rated at 70W with Dolby Atmos and no DTS. TechRadar found it clear but narrow. FlatpanelsHD found it short on bass. Budget for a soundbar.

Samsung OLED against LG, Sony and Samsung's own Neo QLED

Against LG the comparison is closer than the marketing on either side suggests. FlatpanelsHD found the S95F matches the LG G5 on brightness but handles sustained peak output less consistently, gives more saturated reds thanks to the quantum dot layer, and remains weaker on motion handling. LG's decisive advantage is Dolby Vision, which Samsung does not support on any television.

Sony sits further from the argument. Its OLED sets are bought for processing and tone mapping rather than peak numbers, and Sony supports Dolby Vision.

Against Samsung's own Neo QLED, the honest split is room and budget. Neo QLED goes brighter for the money and larger for the money, and carries no static image retention risk. OLED gives perfect black, better off-angle viewing and a thinner set. Samsung sells them alongside each other rather than ranked, and that reflects reality.

Who should buy something else

Buy something else if you need Dolby Vision. Samsung supports HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG and nothing more. TechRadar and FlatpanelsHD both confirm the omission on the S95F, and it applies across the range. If most of what you watch is graded in Dolby Vision, LG, Sony, TCL and Hisense all support it.

Buy something else if you watch mostly in a blacked-out room. FlatpanelsHD's finding that the matte filter lifts black in ambient light cuts both ways: with no ambient light a glossy OLED gives the same black with none of the coating side effects, and often for less.

Buy something else if you want the biggest screen your money will stretch to. TechRadar lists 2025 US launch prices of 2,499 dollars for the 55-inch S95F, 3,399 dollars for the 65-inch and 4,499 dollars for the 77-inch. A Neo QLED or a Hisense or TCL Mini LED set will get you considerably more inches at those numbers.

Buy something else if your television shows static content for hours a day, such as a news ticker or a games HUD. OLED image retention risk is lower than it was, but it is not zero, and a Mini LED LCD removes the question entirely.