Early review: Samsung 2025 Neo QLED TVs, OLEDs, and soundbars

We got our first news about Samsung’s 2025 TV and soundbar lineup back at CES 2025. Now, those new models are starting to roll out onto store shelves and into living rooms. Like last year, we got an early chance to see (and hear) Samsung’s entire 2025 lineup, including the new glare-fighting QLEDs, the upgraded OLED, and the Quantum Dot-enhanced Frame. We got time with all of them. Here’s what we found.

The testing process

We spent several hours cycling through the various TVs with their companion soundbars. To test the TVs, we watched streaming content through both an Apple TV 4K and the TVs’ native streaming apps. We also watched both 4K and standard Blu-Ray content through a dedicated Blu-ray player. The titles we use for reference are The Fifth Element, Blade Runner 2049, Alien, Dune 2, and others.

For the soundbars, we analyzed movie soundtracks and dialogue, then listened to Spatial Audio and stereo tracks on Apple Music through an Apple TV 4K connected via an AudioQuest Carbon 48 HDMI cable.

Samsung S95F OLED TV

Samsung’s S95D OLED TV was my favorite TV of 2024. It introduced Samsung’s new anti-glare technology and also integrated Quantum Dot technology, both of which did ample work to combat OLED technology’s inherent weakness in bright conditions. The S95F builds on the S95D’s success by doubling down on the features that made it great.

Samsung has already revamped its anti-glare coating in an effort to further deepen black levels in situations with moderate or ample ambient lighting. In our testing, the coating still does an excellent job of shrugging off glare from overhead lighting as well as specular reflections from more direct light sources. Without comparing the new model to the old model side-by-side, it’s difficult to tell how much black levels have improved. However, the S95F is impressive on its own. With strong overhead light, dark scenes were still visible without losing much in the way of contrast.

While the anti-glare coating is responsible for some of those improvements, Samsung has also augmented the S95F’s brightness with tweaked Quantum Dot performance. The company claims a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, which is a 22 percent improvement over last year’s S95D, as well as a 165Hz refresh rate for games. We spent roughly half of our time with the S95F in a space lit like a corporate conference room—brutal overhead fluorescents that create a Severence-like vibe. The plucky S95F performed admirably with scenes of just about every type.

AI improvements represent a huge selling point for Samsung’s 2025 TVs, and the S95F comes equipped with the new NQ4 AI Gen3 Processor. While the chip is no doubt very powerful and promises various features, from Click to Search about what’s on screen to Live Translate of broadcasts, the true inner workings of AI image and sound clarity processing can be a bit of a black box. This TV offers an AI-enhanced setup process, which allows viewers to customize picture performance without requiring them to know explicitly what sharpness and contrast actually do. It’s a clever system, though I still almost always prefer traditional Filmmaker Mode for most content.

Overall, the S95F improves on an already-great TV. It’s brighter than before and offers more customization, as well as Samsung’s latest processing hardware. As with the S95D, the new Samsung OLED comes with a premium price tag. It includes premium features, like Samsung’s One Connect Box, which puts all the connections and ports on a separate box that connects the panel with a single wire. But you’re paying a premium to get the latest and greatest. Still, if you want an OLED and you don’t have an optimal dim OLED environment, it may very well be worth the cost.

Available sizes: 42″, 48″, 55″, 65″, 77″, 83″

Samsung QN90F Neo QLED TV

I talked a lot about glare reduction in my coverage of Samsung’s OLEDs, but now the company has ported similar glare-fighting tech into its Neo QLED flagship (along with the NQ4 AI Gen3 Processor and its on-device adaptive personalization). We didn’t have access to any outside windows during our initial testing process. Still, the coating fends off overhead lights and even the pinpoint illumination of an iPhone flashlight with surprising efficacy for a glossy screen.

Behind that glossy front surface, Samsung has done quite a bit of work to increase this TV’s brightness without falling into some of the common traps like blooming, which is when light from bright on-screen objects leaks into darker surrounding areas to create annoying halos. The Quantum Matrix Mini LED backlight system basically allows for black areas to render perfectly black. Combined with this TV’s exceptional peak brightness, sudden transitions from dark to bright can almost feel jarring. In Dune 2, for instance, a sudden jump from a dim interior to a bright desert scene actually made me squint briefly as my eyes adjusted.

This TV offers a native 120Hz refresh rate, but you can push that performance up to 165Hz with VRR (variable refresh rate) enabled. We concentrated our testing mostly on watching content and not gaming, but Samsung has a solid track record with its gaming performance, and our surface-level tests suggest that continues here. It offers low lag, variable bit rates, and ample HDR support for fast gaming action.

New to this model is access to the Samsung Art Store, which was previously reserved for the Frame series. It’s somewhat curious, however, that Samsung has integrated the ports directly into the back of the panel rather than opting for the One Connect box found on the top-of-the-line OLED, as that system makes wall mounting much more convenient. With this model, you actually have to get at the back of the TV to access the ports. While I don’t love that design choice, I do appreciate that Samsung found room in the panel for a robust sound system. The 60W built-in sound system is compatible with Dolby Atmos and provides a 4.2.2 virtual surround experience. The spatial effect is not profound, but the output is very clean and punchy. Maximum volume was too loud for the room we were in.

Like the OLED, these QLED models come with a premium price tag, but the exceptional brightness and lack of blooming make this a very attractive alternative for people who would like an OLED but don’t have the ideal setup for it. It’s tricky to try and overpower this TV with ambient light, no matter how bright.

Available sizes: 43″, 50″, 55″, 65″, 75″, 85″, 98″, 115″

Samsung QN990F 8K QLED TV

Samsung QN990F TV with The Fifth Element on it — Stan Horaczek

We’re still firmly in the 4K era when it comes to content, but Samsung’s flagship QLED makes one of the most compelling cases for an 8K display yet. The follow-up to last year’s QN900D, the QN990F offers an increase in color, contrast, and brightness all within an even more minimalist footprint by adding Samsung’s Wireless One Connect Box for easy installation. The box can sit anywhere within 10 feet of the screen and wirelessly beam content from attached devices to the display. The wireless connection supports up to 8K at 120Hz. Nothing is currently outputting content at those specs, but it’s there if you need it down the road. That also means it can easily handle the 4K and 120Hz content currently available (and can go up to 4K “Motion Xcelerator” 240Hz when gaming).

As this is a flagship, don’t expect any small sizes. It comes in 65-, 75-, 85-, and 98-inch screen options (we consider the 75-inch the value “sweet spot”), all of which include Samsung’s anti-glare tech for fighting reflections. The heart of the TV, however, is the NQ8 AI Gen3 processor, which is crucial for an 8K TV that has to upscale every single piece of content fed into it. The hardware succeeds in making everything look excellent. From all those Vision AI generative features to 4K Blu-rays and streamed content through native apps, everything looked clean and clear from a normal viewing distance. Even off-angle performance was excellent, keeping contrast and color accuracy impressively consistent as we moved off-axis.

The back of a Samsung Wireless One Connect Box

While the TV is bright and glare isn’t an issue, you likely will want to jump around between modes depending on your ambient light situation. I always prefer Filmmaker Mode when I can, but that mode doesn’t take advantage of the screen’s full brightness. In a light room, I prefer the AI-powered Movie Mode, which increases overall brightness and contrast with Auto HDR Remastering without making things look ridiculous. As for audio, the 90W 6.2.4-channel sonic output is as vivid as the visuals, with object tracking doing an admirable job during scenes like the ocean crash scene in Blade Runner 2049. Depth is also enhanced, and while it can more than satisfy, it won’t rival the immersive experience of a soundbar setup.

Overall, this TV delivers what you’d expect out of a flagship. Is it overkill for most uses? Probably, but you’ll likely have it for a decade, and those future-oriented features will come in handy eventually.

Available sizes: 65″, 75″, 85″

Samsung Frame Pro

The Frame TV series has always been a hit with interior designers and people who don’t want a giant black void in the wall of their home when they’re not watching content. The anti-glare panel and excellent color reproduction make these “Art TVs” fantastic to look at when they’re displaying art. Watching content on them, however, always fell short of a typical high-end TV due to a lack of brightness and perceived contrast. Now, Samsung has introduced the Frame Pro TV, featuring its Neo QLED tech to improve brightness.

In art mode, the Frame Pro is still striking. It genuinely looks like a painting from 10 feet away (and access to 3,000-plus works in the Samsung Art Store ensures it’s whatever type of painting you prefer). In the photo above, the TV is lit by a camera flash bounced off the back wall of the room. You can see some glare surrounding the TV’s slim enclosure, but the glare doesn’t render at all on the screen. This is the final boss of anti-glare tech. That matte screen still cuts down on contrast to an extent, but it’s not nearly as much of a drawback as it once was.

This is what Samsung considers a Pro TV, so it comes with high-end features. That includes the Wireless One Connect box, which can sit within a 10-foot radius of the TV and connect wirelessly. That means the panel has just a single power cord to hide during installation. That’s great for Samsung’s design-conscious target audience.

The Frame commands a premium over typical TVs, which means you’ll really have to care about the style of the display to warrant the price. But it’s hard to overstate how striking this TV is to look at in person. The bezel is sleek and sophisticated, and the screen, with its new 144Hz refresh rate, looks amazing.

Available sizes: 65″, 75″, 85″

2025 Samsung soundbars

When it comes to Dolby Atmos in a box, 2024’s Samsung HW-990D is already a formidable performer. So much so that we gave it top marks last year. So much so that we worried this year that a radical redesign might do more harm than good. Well, we need not have worried about that last bit. The new HW-990F’s enclosure has the same angular aesthetic as its predecessor. It’s still a chonky boi, albeit with an updated, subtly striped top grille design. It’s a 48.5″ x 2.79″ x 5.43″ slab. It also remains as sonically expressive as it is visually unremarkable, now with a few added tricks.

Of course, a soundbar’s performance depends on a room’s shape, ceiling height, wall and floor coverings, furnishings, etc. So how it sounds in a quality assurance lab deep in a New Jersey industrial park isn’t necessarily how it will sound in your home. Or our homes, which is why we plan to test a setup more thoroughly in the real world in the near future. Still, you kept reading for this long, so I imagine you want to know if this soundbar is a sound investment. That deserves some first impressions.

Samsung HW-Q990F Q-Series Soundbar

samsung 2025 tv soundbar review 3588 — Stan Horaczek

To reiterate, the Q990F soundbar looks like more of the same, and that’s not a bad thing. It can operate standalone, but you’ll want to pair it with its wireless satellite speakers and subwoofer. Actual speakers behind you let you leave virtual surround behind you. And the newly redesigned subwoofer leaves you with more floor space. That component, in particular, is noteworthy. The previous model was a somewhat awkward 16-inch-tall cuboid with a single woofer set in an acoustic lens, which could hit but not sit low. This new revision is more simply a rounded cube, featuring dual 8-inch opposing drivers to offset vibration and increase bass precision. (It should be noted that they’re exposed drivers, so watch out for children, pets, rogue vacuums, etc.) Despite seeing a substantial size reduction, the sub still delivers the same 32Hz~20kHz frequency response, making it dense in both chassis and acoustics.

Samsung's cube-shaped HW-Q990F subwoofer

In total, it’s an 11.1.4-channel system featuring 23 center, front wide-firing, side-firing, and up-firing drivers in total. That’s only one more driver than the 990D, yet a perceivable improvement in clarity. That’s thanks to, you guessed it, AI at work. Active Voice Amplifier (AVA) Pro draws out dialogue from ambient chaos while another dynamic algorithm optimizes bass punch (you can also manually set independent bar/sub levels).

Put on the right scene (Mad Max: Fury Road or pretty much anything by Denis Villeneuve), and it’s overwhelming in the best way; not just loud, but lysergic. Explosions sigh and whispers erupt. The Q990F array also executed all the swelling choreography of Spatial Audio tracks with aplomb, from Rage Against the Machine to U2 to Flaming Lips. For stereo playback, no soundbar replaces a proper set of floorstanding speakers. Still, the expansive perceived soundstage will benefit any object-based mix (Atmos, DTS:X, or Samsung’s own open-source Eclipsa Audio format).

One of the most compelling features of the Q990F comes into play if you have a newer Samsung TV, and that’s Q-Symphony. Paired up with a compatible flatscreen, the Q990F works in tandem with the TV’s built-in speakers to anchor dialogue while expanding the soundstage in nuanced, natural ways. And that offers one of the most desirable attributes of a speaker system: the illusion of invisibility, where you forget the hardware and just melt into the scene. Oh, and Wireless Dolby Atmos is supported with select flagship screens, so there are fewer cables to distract you, too. And if you are going to wire things, there are three HDMI 2.1 ports for 4K/120Hz gaming (with eARC, VRR, and ALLM). Rounding out the connectivity are Bluetooth, Chromecast, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and Roon certification for audio streaming.

A second soundbar, the HW-QS700F, was also introduced, offering a similar blend of utilitarian looks and intriguing versatility. This low-profile rectangular soundbar is convertible, with gyroscope-guided drivers along multiple borders to facilitate installation either table-top or wall-mounted. A 3.1.2-channel configuration, no matter how you orient it (assuming you also have its accompanying 8-inch subwoofer plugged in), the HW-QS700F is mid-range compared to the Q990F but could be the preferred pick in tighter spaces. There’s no 4K/120Hz passthrough, but it supports Wireless Dolby Atmos with a compatible TV, making it extra adaptive. We didn’t spend a lot of time with this model, but it does feature AI for volume optimization and clarity enhancement, and what we heard in both orientations was articulate and ample (though more weight- and height-wise than wide).

Samsung HW-QS700F Soundbar

samsung 2025 tv soundbar review 3618 — Stan Horaczek

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