The Best Samsung TVs in 2025

I review new TVs every year, and Samsung is consistently one of the top brands I recommend. The company sells a wide range of reliable displays across sizes and budgets, but some models are better than others. The best Samsung TVs provide an excellent balance between picture quality and smart features.

To help narrow your search, I’ve put together a list of the best Samsung TVs you can buy. My top pick is the Samsung S90D, which uses an OLED screen with quantum dots to deliver high contrast and bright colors. But if you’re on a tighter budget, you should consider the entry-level Samsung U8000F. Its picture quality is limited, but it’s an affordable smart TV that works well for casual viewing. 

My picks for the best Samsung TVs are informed by more than a decade’s worth of experience covering home entertainment products. Top recommendations also include colorful QLED displays and an anti-glare OLED with high-end image quality. 

Our top picks for the best Samsung TVs

Best overall: Samsung S90D OLED 4K TV – See at Amazon

Best on a budget: Samsung U8000F LED 4K TV – See at Amazon

Best high-end set: Samsung S95F OLED 4K TV – See at Amazon

Best QLED display: Samsung QN90D QLED 4K TV – See at Amazon

Best for your wall: Samsung LS03D Frame QLED 4K TV – See at Amazon

Best overall

When looking at overall value for your money, the S90D is the best Samsung TV I’ve tested. In fact, it’s my pick for the best TV from any brand.

Thanks to its QD-OLED panel, the S90D delivers an infinite contrast ratio and better color performance than similarly priced OLEDs from LG and Sony. It also boasts a high 144Hz refresh rate when paired with a PC to enable smooth gameplay. 

Like all Samsung TVs, the display supports the HDR10 and HDR10+ high-dynamic-range (HDR) formats, and it looks stunning when playing compatible movies and TV shows. Highlights pop off the screen, and the S90D produces deeper, more precise black levels than any of Samsung’s QLED displays. It also has wider viewing angles than a QLED, so you can sit to the side of the TV without any notable loss in image quality.

The S90D is also bright for a midrange OLED. I measured a peak of around 1,240 nits, which beats the older S90C by around 200 nits. This makes it an excellent fit for movie-watching in a dark home theater and casual TV viewing in a typical living room.

However, the S90D’s brightness still can’t match the 2,000-nit max of Samsung’s top QLEDs, like the QN90D, or its pricier S95F OLED. It also has a glossy screen rather than the anti-glare matte screen found on some of Samsung’s other TVs. Higher brightness and a matte screen are both beneficial for viewers who struggle with reflections in their rooms. That said, I prefer glossy screens for most uses since this type of panel is better at preserving contrast.

All things considered, the S90D is the best Samsung TV for most people with typical viewing needs. Its image quality is nearly on par with sets that cost $1,000 more, and it often gets fantastic discounts during sales.

Buyers should note that Samsung sells a new 2025 edition of this display, the S90F. The new model offers some improvements in performance, but it costs a lot more. With that in mind, the S90D remains the better value.

Note: Samsung’s 42- 48-, and 83-inch S90D models do not feature quantum dots, so their screens can’t match the color performance of other sizes.

Best on a budget

While many of Samsung’s high-end and midrange TVs deliver good value, its budget options tend to be lacking compared to similar TVs from Roku, TCL, and Hisense. But if you prefer the Samsung brand, the U8000F is the company’s best entry-level option.

The U8000F is a new model for 2025, replacing my previous pick in this category, the CU7000, which is now hard to find in stock. The U8000F uses a regular LCD panel with a standard LED backlight. This is fine for casual viewing needs, but the TV is missing all of the step-up picture quality features you’d find on Samsung’s QLED and OLED models.

Most notably, the U8000F doesn’t use quantum dots and lacks local dimming. As a result, the TV offers a more restricted range of colors, and its black levels aren’t as deep or uniform across the screen. This is also one of the dimmest TVs in Samsung’s lineup. It can technically process HDR10 and HDR10+ signals, but it can’t get bright enough or control its contrast precisely enough to actually showcase the benefits of HDR.

Still, the U8000F is capable of full 4K-resolution playback for a crisp, sharp image. It plays standard-dynamic-range (SDR) content in both 4K and high definition just fine, so HD cable channels and all of the best live TV streaming services look solid. 

This is a decent entry-level model for casual viewers who just want a basic smart TV and don’t care about paying extra for better picture quality. But keep in mind, if you’re willing to go outside Samsung’s lineup, you can find TVs with better contrast and color performance, like the Roku Plus Series, for around the same price.

For more cheap display recommendations from other brands, check out our guides to the best budget TVs and best TVs under $500.

Best high-end set

Samsung’s S95F OLED is the brand’s most impressive TV yet. That said, it’s also one of its most expensive. Like the cheaper S90D, this OLED delivers an infinite contrast ratio and wide viewing angles. But this step-up model can get much brighter, enabling even more HDR impact when watching high-brightness movies and TV shows.

I measured a peak of around 2,170 nits using the TV’s most accurate HDR picture mode. That’s almost 1,000 nits more than the S90D, which is a substantial bump. In fact, the S95F is one of the brightest OLED TVs available, second only to the LG G5.

The S95F uses Samsung’s latest anti-glare matte screen, which could be a pro or con depending on your viewing needs. This feature significantly reduces reflections in rooms with ambient light, making it a perfect fit for people who struggle with glare in their space. Sports fans, in particular, should consider the S95F, as it’s great for watching games during the day.

However, this glare-free coating does have one negative side effect: it causes black levels to look a bit elevated in a bright room. As a result, dark scenes lose some of the inkiness that OLED TVs are known for. To be clear, black levels are still perfect in a dark room, but perceived contrast takes a hit when watching dim scenes with the lights on.

Ultimately, whether you favor a reflective or matte screen comes down to personal preference, but if you find glare to be a constant headache, the benefits of the S95F’s screen outweigh its drawbacks.

The S95F is also a great gaming TV. It’s one of the few models to support up to a 165Hz refresh rate for smoother motion when hooked up to a PC. I also like the TV’s design, which has a thin profile that’s less than an inch thick. It achieves this by using a separate One Connect Box to house all its HDMI ports, something that the brand’s cheaper models lack.

Read our full Samsung S95F 4K TV review.

Best QLED display

Though I favor Samsung’s OLED TVs for their superior black-level performance, the company’s QLEDs are still worthwhile options. My favorite is the QN90D, which is an especially good pick if you want a bright TV that costs less than the flagship S95F OLED.

The QN90D is part of Samsung’s “Neo QLED” series, which means it uses quantum dots for expanded color and a Mini LED backlight with local dimming for improved contrast. The TV’s Mini LEDs enable it to produce solid black levels with good brightness control.

However, the QN90D’s dimming isn’t perfect, and it has flaws you won’t see on an OLED. Some blooming (small halos around bright objects) and vignetting (darkening around the edges of bright objects) cropped up in a few scenes during my evaluation. For instance, one test sequence that featured candles burning against a black background had noticeable halos around the flames.

But on the plus side, the QN90D offers excellent brightness. I measured a peak of around 2,040 nits. This makes the TV well-suited for bright rooms and allows HDR content to look bold and punchy. The QN90D’s viewing angles are also solid, but still not quite as wide as they are on an OLED, like the S90D or S95F.

Samsung also sells a 2025 version of this TV, the QN90F, which offers some small improvements. When I tested the QN90F, it delivered a slightly higher peak brightness of 2,130 nits and produced fewer halos during my dimming tests. It also adds Samsung’s glare-free tech, which greatly reduces screen reflections at the expense of raising black levels in a bright room. That said, the QN90F costs more. Given the current price difference, I recommend the QN90D as the better buy.

Best for your wall

Samsung’s Frame TV is an excellent choice for anyone planning to mount their display on a wall. This unique TV is built to look like a piece of art hanging in your living room.

The Frame has a black border by default, but you can pay extra to get different bezel colors for the exact picture-frame look you want. Options include white, brown, teak, red, beige, and more. The add-on bezels magnetically snap onto the display for simple installation.

Like Samsung’s S95 series, the Frame TV uses an external One Connect Box to house its video ports, which enables the panel to maintain a one-inch profile from top to bottom. When paired with the included slim-fit wall mount, the TV can be hung flush on your wall, just like a framed work of art.

The display uses a matte finish that’s similar but not identical to the one used on Samsung’s flagship S95 series OLEDs. This finish helps prevent reflections and gives the screen a more canvas-like appearance. When you’re not watching TV, you can have it enter “Art Mode,” which will cycle through various paintings and photographs you can pull from Samsung’s Art Store (subscription required) or a USB drive. A built-in motion sensor can even toggle the Art Mode to activate when people are in the room.

While the Frame’s unique design is its main selling point, the TV also benefits from using a QLED panel, albeit without all the bells and whistles that Samsung’s best QLEDs have. The Frame can’t hit the same peak brightness levels as my high-end picks, and it lacks local dimming for precise contrast control.

I don’t recommend this TV for anyone focused on picture quality, but it still delivers a nice enough image for casual viewing. The Frame is really geared toward people who want the best Samsung TV that can double as an attractive design piece to hang in a living room, and in that sense, it excels.

The model highlighted here is the 2024 version of the Frame TV. Samsung does sell a newer 2025 model, but it costs more and doesn’t offer a big upgrade. For now, the 2024 model is a better buy.

Note: The 32-inch Frame TV features a Full-HD 1080p screen rather than a 4K panel.

Other Samsung TVs we reviewed

Though the five models highlighted above represent our picks for the best Samsung TVs, we also tested other worthwhile models from the brand. Here’s a roundup of some other Samsung TVs we reviewed, along with details on why they didn’t quite make it in as top picks.

Samsung S90F 4K TV – See at Amazon
The S90F is Samsung’s new 2025 edition of the S90D. This model offers a modest increase in brightness, which results in slightly punchier HDR quality when watching certain programs. But it’s otherwise a very similar TV. Since the S90D is still available for less money, it remains our pick for the best Samsung TV overall. However, the S90F is likely to take that spot later this year once the S90D sells out.

Read our Samsung S90F review.

Samsung Frame Pro 4K TV – See at Amazon
Samsung now offers a step-up version of its Frame TV, called the Frame Pro. The Pro adds an edge-lit Mini LED backlight for improved picture quality with higher contrast and brightness. It also has a wireless connect box so you can pair your media devices without any cables dangling from the display. Ultimately, we still give the standard Frame an edge in overall value, but the Pro has its benefits for certain use cases.

Read our Samsung Frame Pro TV review.

Samsung S95D 4K TV – See at Amazon
The S95D is an older version of Samsung’s S95F TV, which is our pick for the brand’s top high-end display. This 2024 model is also an excellent premium TV, but it can’t get as bright. If you’re an enthusiast after the best picture quality Samsung offers, the S95F is worth splurging on. But if you want to save some cash, the S95D remains a good alternative.

Read our Samsung S95D 4K TV review.

How we test Samsung TVs

Our picks for the best Samsung TVs are based on a combination of hands-on testing and research informed by more than a decade’s worth of experience covering the home entertainment market. Our testing consists of several key evaluation points that we use to judge a TV’s overall performance and value, including HDR quality, brightness, color gamut coverage, contrast, local dimming performance (if applicable), viewing angles, navigation speed, design, and price. 

When measuring a TV’s brightness and evaluating other technical picture quality attributes, we use a colorimeter with test patterns on the Spears & Munsil UHD HDR Benchmark 4K Blu-ray disc. 

However, test patterns only show one part of the equation, so we rely on real-world content and day-to-day viewing to see how Samsung’s TVs look when watching typical programs in bright and dark rooms. Our demo material is selected to feature scenes that show off black levels, highlights, color fidelity, and fine details with 4K Ultra HD, high definition (HD), and standard definition (SD) material. We also use various sources, including streaming services, cable channels, and a 4K Blu-ray player. 

General usability and design are also considered. We get a feel for living with a TV for a few weeks while using its basic functions and smart TV features. If a TV has slow navigation or is missing key functions, that impacts our assessment, but we place expectations for each model within the context of its price range. 

For more details on our testing methodology, check out our breakdown of how we review tech products.

Samsung TV FAQs

Should you buy a Samsung 2025 or 2024 TV model?

Samsung’s 2025 TV models are now shipping. The collection includes new OLED and QLED sets with brighter images, faster refresh rates, and bigger screen sizes. The brand is also emphasizing AI-powered smart features and audio-visual optimizations that it calls “Vision AI.” You can learn more in our full roundup of Samsung 2025 OLED and QLED TV prices and features.

However, Samsung’s 2024 TV models will continue to be available for most of the year, and they’re a lot less expensive than their 2025 counterparts. With that in mind, we’ll continue to recommend certain 2024 TVs while they remain the best value. For instance, the 2024 S90D, QN90D, and Frame TV all remain picks in this guide.

For more details on this year’s new displays, visit our roundup of top TVs revealed at CES 2025 and our breakdown of 2025 TV trends.

What kind of TVs does Samsung make?

Samsung’s TV lineup can be divided into three categories: OLED, QLED, and Crystal UHD.

Samsung’s OLED TVs use organic light-emitting diode panels with self-illuminating pixels. This means they don’t need a backlight and can produce perfect black levels and an infinite contrast ratio. Most Samsung OLEDs also use quantum dots, which give them an expanded color range. On the downside, in extreme cases, OLED TVs are susceptible to burn-in, and even the best models can’t get quite as bright as top QLED TVs.

Samsung’s QLED TVs use LCD (liquid crystal display) panels with LED backlights and quantum dots. They can’t produce the pixel-level contrast and deep black levels of an OLED, but the best models can get brighter, and there’s no risk of burn-in. Top Samsung QLEDs, branded as Neo QLED, also incorporate Mini LEDs with full-array local dimming, which enables them to get a lot closer to the contrast performance of an OLED.

For more details on how OLED and QLED TVs stack up, check out our full QLED vs. OLED comparison.

Finally, Samsung’s Crystal UHD TVs use entry-level LCD panels with LED backlights. These displays lack the color, brightness, and contrast capabilities of Samsung’s OLED and QLED sets. This series is meant for casual buyers who just want a basic smart TV and don’t care about advanced picture quality.

All of Samsung’s displays are available in multiple sizes, often ranging from as small as 32 inches to as large as 100 inches. For TV recommendations at various screen sizes, check out our size-specific guides:

Does Samsung sell 8K TVs?

Yes, Samsung sells 8K TV models, and we’ve previously included 8K options in this guide. But given the current price and performance differences between the brand’s top 4K and 8K offerings, we recommend that most buyers just stick with 4K.

Though Samsung’s 8K TVs are impressive displays, the benefits of 8K resolution are extremely subtle. Beyond a few YouTube clips, there is no 8K content available, so most of what you watch will just be 4K and HD sources that get upscaled. With upscaling, an extra-large 8K TV can look a bit sharper than a 4K model if you sit close to your screen, but the difference is too small to justify the price premium of an 8K TV. You can simply get better overall performance for your money by opting for one of Samsung’s high-end 4K models.

However, if you’re dead set on buying an 8K TV, the Samsung QN900D and QN990F are the company’s top options. We tested both TVs, and they deliver excellent image quality. The primary difference between them is that the QN990F has a new anti-glare screen. However, we still think most people are better off with Samsung’s cheaper 4K OLEDs, as they provide better contrast performance despite their lower resolutions. High contrast offers a more noticeable benefit in overall image quality than 8K resolution.

Are Samsung TVs better than LG TVs?

Samsung and LG both make some of our favorite TVs, and it’s difficult to say that one brand is better than the other. Instead, they both have pros and cons depending on your needs and which specific TV models you’re looking at.

Regarding LCD-based models, the best Samsung TVs are branded as QLED, while LG’s are branded as QNED. There are some differences in the panel technology each uses, but they’re similar in overall capabilities. Samsung’s high-end QLEDs, however, have traditionally had an edge over LG’s best QNEDs thanks to their higher brightness and better local dimming. Though this remains true in 2025, recent LG models, like the QNED 90T, are getting closer to matching the performance of Samsung’s QLEDs. 

Both companies also sell some of the best OLED TVs, and the competition gets tougher here. Most of Samsung’s OLEDs use quantum dots, which give them an edge in brightness and color performance over LG’s midrange OLEDs. But LG’s top OLEDs, the G4 and G5, use other technologies to boost peak brightness, enabling them to achieve similar or higher levels than Samsung’s top OLEDs. LG also sells OLEDs across more sizes, with options for more budgets. 

No matter what type of TV you get, it’s important to remember that LG’s mid- and high-end displays support Dolby Vision, while Samsung’s support the competing HDR10+ format. Both high-dynamic-range formats offer similar capabilities, with scene-by-scene guidance for displaying contrast and color, but Dolby Vision is used on more streaming services and 4K Blu-ray discs. 

You can find LG recommendations in our guide to the best LG TVs.

What smart TV interface does Samsung use?

Samsung uses a proprietary smart TV interface built using the Tizen operating system (OS). Unlike other interfaces such as Roku OS, Android TV, Fire TV, or Google TV, Samsung’s Tizen platform is not available on smart TV models or streaming devices from other brands. 

For many years, Samsung’s Tizen OS featured a pop-up screen that displayed apps across a horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen, but Samsung updated its interface in 2022. Now, Samsung smart TVs use a full-screen homepage that organizes your favorite services and presents you with content recommendations. There’s also a Gaming Hub section that lets you access cloud services like Xbox Game Pass, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Amazon Luna. 

Samsung’s smart TV interface works well across its lineup of TVs and offers access to all of the best streaming services, but it’s not the smoothest OS we’ve used. Even high-end models, like the QN90D and S90D, are prone to hiccups and slight lag when navigating menus and content libraries. 

Most buyers should be satisfied with Samsung’s smart TV performance, and no major services or features are missing. But if you prefer a different interface with slightly snappier navigation, we recommend checking out our guide to the best streaming devices for other options. 

For display recommendations that use other systems, check out our full guide to the best smart TVs.

Are Samsung TVs prone to burn-in?

Samsung’s QLED and Crystal UHD TVs are not susceptible to burn-in, but the company’s OLED models can experience this issue in extreme cases. Burn-in occurs if a static image is left on an OLED screen for hours on end — the CNN or ESPN logo in the corner, for example — which can cause a faint, ghostly image to get stuck on the screen.

Though Samsung OLED buyers should be aware of this risk, OLED TVs have built-in measures to prevent burn-in, including automatic pixel-shift modes and pixel-refreshers. Publications like Rtings have done long-term tests with many OLED TVs, including Samsung’s models, and while results do show that burn-in is possible, the tests show that people with regular viewing habits don’t need to worry about it. 

As long as you don’t plan on watching cable news channels all day, burn-in shouldn’t be a factor when deciding whether to buy an OLED TV. But if you tend to watch just one cable channel for several hours daily, you’re better off getting one of Samsung’s QLED or Crystal UHD models so you don’t have to think twice about burn-in. 

Do Samsung TVs support Dolby Vision?

Even the best Samsung TVs lack Dolby Vision support. However, they do support a similar format called HDR10+. Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are both dynamic metadata high-dynamic-range formats. This means that compatible content can be encoded with specific instructions that tell your TV how to handle HDR contrast and color on a scene-by-scene basis. 

This is in contrast to the standard HDR10 format, a static metadata format that can only include one set of instructions for an entire video rather than scene-by-scene details. In practice, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ can deliver a more refined HDR experience with video quality that better matches the specific capabilities of your TV. However, these benefits over standard HDR10 are often very subtle. 

Though Dolby Vision and HDR10+ offer similar capabilities, Dolby Vision is supported on more streaming services and 4K Blu-ray discs, which makes it the more desirable of the two formats. 

Check out our HDR TV guide for more information about how these formats stack up. 

Are matte screens better than glossy ones?

Most of Samsung’s TVs use a glossy or semi-glossy screen, but the company has started to release more models that use a matte finish instead. They both have pros and cons that make them better suited for specific types of viewers.

Glossy screens are great at preserving high contrast and deep black levels, but they’re prone to mirror-like reflections. This can be a problem if your room has lots of lights or windows. On the other hand, Samsung’s anti-glare matte screens significantly reduce reflections. On the downside, the matte filter causes black levels to look a bit elevated and washed out in a bright room.

Which style is right for you depends on your personal preferences and viewing needs. We tend to favor glossy screens for most uses since high contrast is a big part of preserving good picture quality, but matte screens are better for spaces where you can’t control ambient light.

Notable Samsung TVs that use matte screens include the S95D, S95F, QN90F, and Frame models.