I tested flagship mini-LED TVs from Samsung, TCL, and Hisense – here’s why brightness isn’t everything

[ad_1] It’s solely mid-June, and I am lucky sufficient to have already examined three new flagship mini-LED TVs for 2025. The underside line is that these new TVs are critically shiny – brighter, even, than final 12 months’s crop, and all three look primed to take their place amongst our checklist of the perfect TVs.

The three fashions I’ve examined are the Hisense U8QG, Samsung QN90F, and TCL QM8K, every with a 65-inch display screen measurement. The Hisense and Samsung TVs have been totally reviewed, whereas my TCL evaluation is at the moment in course of.

Launch pricing for the 65-inch mannequin of those TVs is as follows:

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Hisense U8QG: $2,199 / £2,199 / AU$2,999Samsung QN90F: $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$3,499TCL QM8K (US-only mannequin): $2,499 Although it’s nonetheless comparatively early within the 12 months, US costs have already dropped for a few of these TVs, with the 65-inch Hisense U8QG now promoting for round $1,499, and the TCL QM8K for $2,199. The Samsung QN90F hasn't but seen a value drop, however we anticipate it, together with different TVs, to get a considerable low cost in the course of the upcoming Amazon Prime Day gross sales occasion on July 8 via July 11.

If you happen to’re available in the market for the most effective mini-LED TVs, you could be questioning which of those three TVs is the perfect match for you. To assist information your procuring journey, I’ll take you thru the plus and minus factors of every, beginning with some revealing graphs of their measured efficiency.

Hisense U8QG

(Picture credit score: Future) As you'll be able to see from the above chart, the Hisense U8QG has the very best peak and fullscreen brightness of those three TVs. The U8QG’s image is critically shiny! It additionally has the very best HDR coloration gamut protection, with 97.8% for UHDA-P3 and 82.8% for BT.2020 – each incredible outcomes for a mini-LED TV.

In my U8QG evaluation, I praised it for its refined native dimming, which yielded photos with highly effective distinction and detailed shadows. Colours additionally seemed wealthy, although the TV benefited from some pro-level adjustment to its default Filmmaker Mode for greatest outcomes.

The U8QG’s excessive brightness makes it an amazing TV for watching sports activities, and helpfully my time reviewing coincided with the NBA playoffs right here within the US. For daytime sports activities viewing, that is helped alongside by an anti-reflective display screen, which does an efficient job of limiting display screen glare from home windows, lamps, and overhead lighting.

One space the place the U8QG’s image got here up quick in my testing was off-axis uniformity – when seen from a far off-center seat, distinction and coloration saturation each took successful. The TV’s in any other case spectacular 4.1.2-channel built-in speaker system was additionally susceptible to subwoofer rattling on motion pictures with heavy bass, and I had frustrations with its Google TV sensible TV platform when trying to browse broadcast TV channels pulled in by its ATSC 3.0 tuner (a US-only downside).

Players will discover a lot to like in regards to the U8QG, which options three HDMI 2.1 ports with 4K 165Hz, FreeSync Premium Professional, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, and HDR10+ gaming help (although it could be higher if the U8QG had 4 HDMI ports). General, the Hisense U8QG is a superb TV, and likewise an amazing worth at its present value.

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Deal ends Mon, Jun 23, 2025

Samsung QN90F

(Picture credit score: Future) As you’ll see within the chart above, the Samsung QN90F isn’t the identical brightness beast because the Hisense and TCL TVs, however its image continues to be a lot shiny sufficient to face out for daytime viewing, and its Broad Viewing Angle characteristic and superior movement dealing with make it an ideal TV for sports activities.

One other QN90F characteristic that makes it good for sports activities, and likewise for watching motion pictures in shiny room lighting situations, is its Glare-Free display screen, a tech present in different flagship Samsung TVs, such because the Samsung QN990F 8K mini-LED and Samsung S95F OLED, that successfully eliminates mirror-like display screen reflections from all gentle sources, lamps included. The one caveat right here is that in such situations, you’ll must forgo Filmmaker Mode and as a substitute use the TV’s Film mode, which was the one we used for our QN90F measurements and analysis.

Apart from having a near-flawless image, the QN90F has clear, highly effective sound from its 4.2.2-channel built-in speaker array, and an nearly impossibly svelte, trendy design for a mini-LED TV.

Samsung’s Tizen Sensible TV platform has seen quite a few enhancements over time, and the newest model incorporates the Samsung Artwork Retailer, a subscription service that permits you to “stream” artworks from museums world wide to show on the TV’s matte display screen.

Gaming is a QN90F energy, and it leapfrogs over the competitors with 4 HDMI 2.1 ports with 4K 165Hz, FreeSync Premium Professional, and HDR10+ gaming help, together with Samsung’s Gaming Hub for cloud-based gaming. We measured enter lag in Sport mode at a mere 9.5ms – about as little as it will get on TVs.

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TCL QM8K

(Picture credit score: Future) Though I haven’t but revealed my TCL QM8K evaluation, I've already spent sufficient time evaluating this TV to get a way of its general efficiency, and the information right here is superb. As you'll be able to see within the chart above, peak and fullscreen brightness are about on par with the Hisense U8QG, and so is its HDR coloration gamut protection.

(An equal mannequin to the QM8K within the UK and Europe is the TCL C8K.)

Colours look wealthy, but correct on the QM8K, and its powerfully shiny picture and anti-reflective display screen make it an amazing possibility for daytime sports activities viewing. Its image seems to be uniform over a wider viewing angle than the Hisense U8QG, nearly matching the Samsung QN90F in that regard.

The films that I’ve watched on the QM8K up to now have additionally seemed nice, with the brand new mannequin equalling the native dimming prowess of its TCL QM851G predecessor. Movement dealing with is common, which is similar end result we noticed with the QM851G.

The QM8K has a robust built-in Dolby Atmos/DTS:X speaker system with each side- and up-firing drivers that’s tuned by Bang & Olufsen. It additionally helps Dolby Atmos Flexconnect, which lets the TV transmit sound on to wi-fi audio system as a substitute of connecting a soundbar.

The QM8K additionally has stable gaming options, with 4K 144Hz (and 1080p at 288Hz) and FreeSync Premium Professional help. However with solely two HDMI 2.1 ports, the specs for TCL’s TV lag behind its competitors, and at 13.6ms, its measured enter lag can also be increased.

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Which one to purchase? These are all very sturdy TVs on the subject of each efficiency and options. Given the present pricing, I’d be inclined to select the Samsung QN90F, which mixes wonderful all-around efficiency with a surprising design, nice sound and sensible TV options, and superior gaming options and efficiency.