Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Almost brilliant

In my estimation, the Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV is unquestionably the most advanced television ever produced by the South Korean manufacturer from a technical standpoint. However, a couple of quirks hold it back from being one of the best TVs, period.

The QN990F boasts a number of clear advancements over last year’s Samsung QN900D, though some of them may be seen as a double-edged sword when judged solely by the TV’s unexceptional benchmark scores. Of course, context is everything.

Arguably the most immediately obvious upgrade comes with the addition of Samsung’s glare-free display tech, which blew my socks off on the Samsung S95F OLED TV recently. Needless to say, I consider this a welcome inclusion, though some A/V purists will disagree.

Next, Samsung’s One Connect Box has gone wireless this time around, meaning it can now transmit 8K/120Hz or 4K/240Hz signals to the screen from up to 10 metres away, so long as it isn’t placed in a metal cabinet. Unfortunately, the move to a wireless signal means the introduction of significant input lag.

Of course, there is a workaround to that involving an additional Micro HDMI 2.1 port on the panel itself, allowing gamers to bypass the One Connect Box entirely to achieve minimal lag, but that can only be used by one source at a time. In other words, it’s not very convenient.

My expectation going into this QN990F review was that it would effortlessly surpass last year’s excellent QN900D. Surprisingly, I ended up discovering one particular advancement that I could’ve done without. The QN990F is still an impressive television, but it’s no longer the GOAT in Samsung’s stable.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Pricing and availability

In the US and UK, Samsung’s QN990F is available in 65-, 75- and 85-inch models, while in Australia, the 8K flagship is only offered in the largest 85-inch version.

From an MSRP / RRP standpoint, pricing for the QN990F starts at $5,499 / £4,999 for the 65-inch model, followed by $6,499 / £6,499 for the 75-inch model, and $8,499 / £9,499 / AU$13,799 for the 85-inch model.

However, many retailers are already selling the QN990F below the recommended price point. In the US, Best Buy and even Samsung itself are selling the 85-inch QN990F at a $500 discount, bringing its price down to $7,999.

Meanwhile in Australia, retailers like JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys are selling the same model for AU$11,995 — a whopping AU$1,804 less than what Samsung is asking on its online store.

Unsure about which TV size is right for you? Our ‘What TV size should you buy?’ guide can help.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Design and remote

Judged purely on aesthetics, Samsung’s 8K flagship is, in my opinion, the most beautiful TV in the world this year thanks to its thin design (the 85-inch model being reviewed here is just 13.3mm thick) and a near absence of bezels around its display. It also sports the same Infinity Air stand that came with last year’s QN900D — it’s flat, centered and makes the TV look like it’s floating.

Like Samsung’s S95F OLED TV, the QN990F achieves its slim profile by moving most of its inputs to a separate One Connect Box, making it easier to access its HDMI and USB ports — especially when the TV is wall-mounted.

However, the One Connect Box supplied with the QN990F differs from its OLED counterpart in a rather significant way: it’s now capable of transmitting 4K/2400Hz (or 8K/120Hz) signals to the panel wirelessly rather than through a single cable.

That also means that this time around, there’s no way to create a physical connection between the One Connect Box and the display — signals are delivered exclusively over Wi-Fi.

The decision to go wireless does provide one major benefit — it allows the user more flexibility in their living room layout. The new (much smaller) One Connect Box can now be placed anywhere within 10 metres / 30 feet of the display, meaning you can maintain a minimalist appearance for the screen itself while keeping any connected Blu-ray player or gaming consoles tucked away in a separate area.

But while previous iterations of the One Connect Box also delivered power to the display along with audio and video signals, the new wireless version does not. That means the QN990F’s screen and One Connect Box each require their own power source.

Additionally, the ability to place the One Connect Box anywhere in the room may prove moot for those looking to use anything but a compatible Samsung soundbar with wireless Dolby Atmos capabilities — the Sonos Arc Ultra, for instance, will still require an HDMI connection, which defeats the purpose of placing the One Connect Box far away from the screen.

Recently, I reviewed Samsung’s S95F OLED TV and was blown away by its anti-glare display. Now, that same glare-free display technology has made its way over to Samsung’s Neo QLED TV range, and it’s just as impressive on the QN990F.

Just like with the S95F, I tested the QN990F in a fully illuminated room with a chandelier positioned to potentially cause reflections. Once again, the glare-free display dispersed light in such a way that no discernible reflection was visible. At most, an extremely faint haze could be observed when the screen was black, but it was nothing close to the mirror-like reflection offered by my own television.

Some A/V purists will argue that anything but a pure glossy display will result in image quality loss, but I can honestly say that hasn’t been my experience with the QN990F (or the S95F for that matter). It’s also not realistic to expect the majority of people to only watch television in complete darkness.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Remote

As for the QN990F’s remote, there’s nothing new to report — it’s basically identical to what we got with the last few generations of Samsung’s top Neo QLED TVs.

It’s small, has a round directional pad and center button for getting around menus and selecting things, a settings button, a microphone button, a back button, a home button, a play/pause button, volume and channel rockers, and dedicated buttons for launching Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and Samsung TV Plus.

Once again, there’s a small solar panel on the back of the QN990F’s remote to help keep it charged, and there’s also a USB-C port at the base of the remote for when you need to top it up quickly.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Ports

As previously mentioned, most of the QN990F’s ports are located on the wireless One Connect Box, with the exception of an additional Micro HDMI 2.1 port and a USB-C port on the rear of the panel.

On the One Connect Box itself, you’ll find four HDMI 2.1 ports (one of which has eARC capability) alongside three USB-A ports, an ethernet (LAN) port, a digital optical audio output, and a RF input for good old terrestrial broadcasting.

Unlike previous models, you won’t find the standard One Connect cable port, as the new box will only transmit signals to the screen over Wi-Fi.

Of course, it’s worth noting that the One Connect Box is no longer required for the QN990F to function now that the panel has its own power source. In fact, if your plan is to exclusively watch content via streaming and catch-up services, or game via the fifth HDMI port on the panel’s rear, you can skip the One Connect Box entirely.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: How we test

At Tom’s Guide, we follow a standard testing protocol for every TV we review. Our benchmarks include technical and subjective tests designed to rate the set’s performance.

For our technical tests, we use a Jeti spectraval 1501-HiRes spectroradiometer, a Klein K10-A colorimeter, a Murideo 8K-SIX-G Metal pattern generator, and Portrait Displays’ Calman TV-calibration software to take measurements. We also use a Leo Bodnar 4K Input Lag Tester for determining the TV’s gaming prowess.

Subjective tests vary based on the reviewer, but usually feature anecdotes from a diverse selection of movies, TV shows, and other content reflecting the types of things you may actually want to watch on the TV. For a more detailed look at what we do and how we do it, check out our “How we test TVs” page.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Performance and test results

Having grown accustomed to Samsung topping its own peak brightness records each year, it’s surprising to see the QN990F’s HDR peak luminance (in a 10% window in Filmmaker Mode) falls short of last year’s QN900D by a significant margin.

By default, the QN990F’s Filmmaker Mode reached just 1,402 nits — well below last year’s equivalent model, the QN900D, which reached 2,338 nits in the same test. It also failed to reach the 2,138 nits achieved by Samsung’s top OLED of 2025, the S95F.

Needless to say, it’s a curious result for a panel backed by thousands of typically ultra-bright Mini LEDs. The QN990F did manage to reach a more respectable 2,109 nits (in a 10% window) outside of Filmmaker Mode, so maybe there’s just something amiss with that setting. Alternatively, maybe Samsung just wants to encourage users to apply its Vision AI features.

Finding the default Filmmaker Mode to be unusually dark, I set out to brighten it up by delving into the TV’s expert picture settings, where I was able to set Contrast Enhancer to High and tweak a few other levels to improve the viewing experience.

Sitting down with the QN990F, my first instinct was to capture the metrics that really matter, such as how the 2006 big screen adaptation of “Miami Vice” looks on it. Immediately, I was impressed by how the TV handled contrast in the film’s opening scene, which opens with a silhouetted woman dancing against a large, bright screen of swirling colors.

No obvious light blooming was present, although there was some loss of shadow detail around her arm, back and face. Of course, shadow detail can be tweaked in the QN990F’s settings, though increasing it may come at the slight expense of the inky blacks this Mini LED TV is capable of.

During my QN990F review period, I took the opportunity to catch up on the “Mission: Impossible” movies, starting with “Mission: Impossible III” in 4K and was flabbergasted by how punchy and vibrant the film looked for the majority of its runtime.

Contrast and shadow detail were mostly excellent — particularly in the film’s show-stopping bridge sequence, where explosions burn with vibrant orange intensity. However, the QN990F’s backlighting system didn’t handle the film’s nighttime-set Shanghai sequence very well, with darker shots (particularly in close-ups) forcing the TV’s Mini LEDs to overcompensate, resulting in swirling backlights and obvious blooming.

In terms of color accuracy, Samsung’s QN990F faired decently in the all-important Delta-E test, which is used to determine color error and where lower scores are favored, measuring 2.1922.

That said, last year’s QN900D performed better with 1.8413, while Samsung’s flagship OLED of 2025, the S95F, achieved an exemplary 1.1972 measurement — the lowest color error reading of any TV we’ve tested this year.

Of course, it’s believed that a Delta-E score of 3 is where the threshold of perceptibility lies, so it’s unlikely for anyone to notice any real difference in color accuracy between any of the models discussed above (at least not with the naked eye).

In case you missed it, “The Terminator” movies were wrong — it turns out we will look back on 2025 as the year that AI took over. Samsung’s QN990F is a testament to that, given how much of a focus there is on the company’s Vision AI technology, which offers more than mere upscaling advancements.

Users can personalize the AI mode picture settings and UI through a screen-based interface. The customization process starts with selecting a scene type: sports, movie, or general. Subsequently, users are shown visual examples for brightness, contrast, color, and color tone, with four options available for each. Alternatively, users can choose to let Vision AI do its own optimizing based on your viewing environment and the content you’re watching.

I watched “Pulp Fiction” in 4K and used it to cycle through the AI modes offered by the QN990F. As you would expect, elements like color, shadow detail and tone all varied depending on which visual samples I selected, but I can say that image quality was exquisite in every instance.

Now that I’ve looked at different AI-tweaked picture setting combinations across multiple Samsung TVs, I’m not entirely convinced by the results. In my experience, the AI gives films an appearance verging on artificial, reminiscent of the Dynamic setting on most modern televisions (this one included). I appreciate that the functionality is there, but I’m glad it can be switched off.

Thankfully, the QN990F offers two Smart Calibration options through the SmartThings app for compatible smartphones. Basic Mode quickly optimizes white balance in about 15 seconds, while Professional Mode offers a more comprehensive calibration, taking several minutes and requiring a tripod-mounted phone in a dark room to perform a 20-point white balance adjustment, including gamma, grayscale linearity, and chromaticity fine-tuning.

Despite this, Samsung’s continued refusal to incorporate Dolby Vision 12-bit color is a letdown. The company has chosen to use its own HDR10+ format, which unfortunately restricts the QN990F from showcasing many TV shows and movies at their best.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Audio

Samsung’s QN990F features a 90W 6.2.4 speaker system, seemingly identical to last year’s QN900D, delivering loud and high-quality audio with clear dialogue enhanced by Samsung’s AI-powered Active Voice Amplifier Pro. As is typical with Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs, speaker grilles are positioned along the top and side edges of the panel.

The TV offers Dolby Atmos support, Object Tracking Sound+ (OTS+) technology and built-in height channels — all of which help to provide a subtle form of spatial audio. As always, you should probably consider purchasing one of the best soundbars available to achieve appropriately cinematic audio.

During my review of the QN990F, I tested its Q-Symphony feature with Samsung’s flagship HW-Q990F soundbar. This technology allows the TV’s built-in speakers and the soundbar to operate in tandem, creating a richer audio experience with noticeably improved dialogue clarity.

I should also note that Samsung’s QN990F TV was able to transmit Dolby Atmos audio to the HW-Q990F soundbar wirelessly using Dolby Digital Plus, meaning eARC isn’t required. That said, lossless Dolby Atmos TrueHD can only be achieved with a wired connection.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Gaming

The QN990F boasts specs and features that make it seem like a gamer’s dream, and in some ways, it is. That said, it’s worth noting that there are a few asterisks on Samsung’s claims about what the TV is capable of.

You may have read that the QN990F is capable of 4K/240Hz on all five of its HDMI 2.1 ports. However, the TV is actually using Samsung’s Motion Xcelerator 240Hz technology to simulate a higher refresh rate via interpolation and VRR. This is because the QN990F’s native refresh rate is only 120Hz.

Unfortunately, the biggest stumbling block comes in the form of the QN990F’s new wireless One Connect Box, which introduces higher-than-normal latency. Our tests revealed an input lag of 36.4ms, which is almost 4x what the S95F recorded, and 3.5x what last year’s QN900D achieved.

Granted, it’s likely that the QN990F’s fifth HDMI port, located behind the stand on the panel itself, would drastically cut down on said lag, however, I wasn’t able to test this during my review period.

Sure, casual gamers might not even notice the lag, but it still feels counterintuitive for a TV to boast about blisteringly fast refresh rates while simultaneously offering the highest latency of any TV in recent memory.

Obviously, those who don’t care about any of that stuff will be able to make their games look great without any fuss using the QN990F’s AI Auto Game Mode, which automatically optimizes picture settings based on the detected game genre.

However, serious players looking to fine-tune every aspect of their experience can still hold the remote’s ‘play’ button to open the QN990F’s Game Bar UI, providing access to a comprehensive range of settings. Here, users also quickly toggle through features like Virtual Aim Point, Minimap Zoom, and Game Motion Plus while viewing their game’s resolution, FPS, and other relevant settings information.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Smart features

Samsung’s Tizen smart TV platform continues to offer one of the most cluttered interfaces on any television, with way too much to sort through when you press the home button on your remote.

I can see that Samsung’s heart is in the right place as it tries to enable content discovery, but sometimes you just want a simple list of apps or devices. Instead, the home screen is split into three tabs: Discover (content suggestions), Live (currently streaming content from Samsung TV Plus channels), and Apps (recommended apps).

In my review of Samsung’s S95F, I mentioned that the Tizen smart TV platform features a cluttered interface with an overwhelming amount of options accessible from the home button. Well, the same can be said for the QN990F, which offers an identical UI.

While Samsung aims to facilitate content discovery, I would personally prefer a straightforward list of apps and devices, and I have to imagine I’m not alone in that desire. Once again, the home screen is divided into three tabs: Discover (content suggestions), Live (Samsung TV Plus channels), and Apps (recommended apps).

All apps and content sources are located within the ‘Discover’ tab that initially displays a ‘Recent’ content row, followed by a row listing installed apps and connected devices, and numerous content suggestions from these apps. A large portion of the home screen will often be taken up by marketing for shows and Samsung TV Plus channels you may have no interest in, and it’s something I could do without.

On a positive note, Samsung has refined other UI elements. For example, the QN990F’s settings now appear as smaller, floating windows on the left, improving content visibility during adjustments.

Additionally, Samsung has brought its Art Mode to more TVs than ever this year, and the QN990F is one of them. Along with the ability to access celebrated works of art and officially licensed content from the likes of Disney via the Samsung Art Store, the TV’s Vision AI technology now lets you generate bespoke AI art through a series of prompts.

Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV review: Verdict

Despite a host of improvements, the Samsung QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV has a few drawbacks that prevent it from being the best Samsung TV of 2025.

I absolutely love its glare-free screen, but can appreciate that it won’t be to everyone’s taste. The main fly in the ointment for me, however, is that its new wireless One Connect Box causes significant latency on all but one HDMI port, located on the panel itself. That might appeal to PC gamers, but will likely turn off those of us with multiple consoles.

Given the QN990F’s hefty price, I would’ve liked for the One Connect Box to at least provide the option of a wired connection. While the QN990F is undoubtedly impressive in many ways, those seeking Samsung’s top TV of the year might find the S95F a more suitable option.