At this point, Samsung might be better known for its smartphones than its TVs, but the company has deep expertise in display technology -- and owns a separate company, Samsung Display, dedicated to producing screens for other manufacturers -- that's made it a reliable source of great TVs for years now. Samsung has its own quirks and pet technologies it tries to push, but if you're looking for a bright, colorful LED display, especially an 8K one, you'll be happy with what the company offers.

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What to look for in a TV varies depending on what screen size, resolution, and feature set you're looking for, but for our money, we think the Samsung S90C 55-inch 4K OLED TV is the best the company makes, and strikes the right balance of display quality and premium software features. For other options, including Samsung's 8K and frame-shaped TVs, read through the rest of the list below.

The best Samsung TVs: Our favorites

Samsung S90C OLED for best TV gaming
Samsung S90C OLED
1. Best overall Samsung TV

Bright colors and multiple refresh rate options

The Samsung S90C 4K OLED TV is a vivid and color-accurate TV that still manages to create inky blacks and has a variable refresh rate for smooth motion and gameplay.

Pros
  • 4K at 144Hz or 120Hz
  • Great upscaling and HDR
  • Tizen OS is mature with lots of apps
Cons
  • Motion smoothing can have issues with low resolution video

We think the Samsung S90C 4K OLED TV is the best overall Samsung television because of the excellent OLED panel Samsung uses that manages to display deep blacks without losing its ability to reproduce a wide range of bright colors.

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It's slightly worse at smoothing motion in older, lower resolution videos, but you should still be pleased with its HDR performance and ability to do 4K upscaling. Even better, Samsung made the S90C a great display for gaming, in terms of software and hardware.

With Tizen's Samsung Gaming Hub, you'll also get a selection of game streaming services you can easily access with your remote and a Bluetooth controller, and the S90C's ability to play 4K video at 144Hz makes high-speed gameplay look even smoother.

A nearly bezel-less TVwith a center stand on a white background.
Samsung QN900C
2. Best premium Samsung TV

8K and anti-glare

Samsung’s QN900C 8K OLED TV is expensive, but highly capable, with an anti-glare screen, support for 8K video, and the ability to upscale just about anything you throw at it.

Pros
  • Anti-glare treatment improves viewing angles
  • Ultraslim design with breakout box
  • Quantum Dot LED panel looks beautiful
Cons
  • There's still not much 8K content

For a more premium option, consider the Samsung QN900C 8K OLED TV. It's worth stating upfront, there's not a ton of 8K content at this time to warrant buying a dedicated 8K TV unless you plan on exclusively watching YouTube videos of nature footage.

Read our review
Samsung QN900C: Peak 8K greatness
This flagship 8K TV delivers dazzling HDR thanks to peerless processing and a supremely bright Mini LED backlight.

But if you're already trying to spend a hefty chunk of change on a TV, why not get the best you can get? Like Samsung's other super slim televisions, there are no ports on the QN900C, so you'll be forced to do some cable management with the TV's Slim One Connect box, which connects to the TV over a single cable.

More importantly, the QN900C offers the best of Samsung’s QLED displays, which use Mini LEDs for display backlight, but still manage to minimize light bleed to preserve crisp blacks. You'll also get Samsung's most advanced HDR for even greater separation between the bright and dark parts of videos, and 8K upscaling, because that's the only way most content will play on your TV.

A small flatscreen TV with two support legs on a white background.
Samsung CU8000
3. Best budget Samsung TV

4K LCD with premium software features

The Samsung CU8000 4K UHD TV is a cheap TV with an LCD panel lit on the edges by LEDs that supports the Samsung Gaming Hub and motion-smoothing.

Pros
  • SolarCell remote control
  • Supports high-end motion smoothing
  • Bixby and Amazon Alexa built-in
Cons
  • Produces smaller range of colors compared to OLED

You'll notice the step-down to the more affordable 55-inch Samsung CU8000 4K UHD TV because of its LCD panel. The LED lighting Samsung uses for its UHD TVs is better than a traditional LCD, but it still doesn't compare to the company's OLED or QLED displays. And it's most noticeable in the smaller spectrum of colors or brightness the CU8000 is able to reproduce.

Even with a less than premium display, the CU8000 supports several of Samsung’s higher-end software features, like Motion Xcelerator Turbo Pro, for smooth action during live sports and video games, the company's SolarCell remote control, which can charge itself in direct sunlight, and the Samsung Gaming Hub for accessing game streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming.

SAMSUNG 32-Inch Class QLED 4K The Frame LS03C Series
Samsung The Frame LS03C
4. Best art display Samsung TV

Customizable bezels and an art subscription

Samsung's The Frame 4K QLED TV looks like framed art but is actually a matte QLED TV with a customizable bezel that's shaped like a frame.

Pros
  • It really does blend in
  • Matte display removes reflections
  • Slim One Connect Box for cable management
Cons
  • You'll need to pony up for more art

At this point, The Frame's reputation precedes it. A TV that looks like a piece of art when you're not using it is just hard not to find cool. The Samsung The Frame 4K QLED TV has a matte display which prevents reflections and an interchangeable bezel shaped like a frame to help sell the illusion. The device cycles through a collection of art out of the box, but for even more photos, you have to subscribe to an Art Store subscription or provide your own photos.

The Frame uses a QLED panel, so it should be able to produce vibrant colors and suitably black blacks. The only problem is that a matte display makes everything look a bit duller than it normally would. You'll be fighting The Frame's special skills if you're expecting the saturated colors of Samsung's other QLED TVs. But like The Frame’s lack of built-in port, it's a trade-off you accept for the TV's fantastic gimmick.

A flatscreen Samsung TV on a white background.
Samsung QN85C
5. Best mid-range Samsung TV

Mini LEDs make a difference

The Samsung QN85C 4K QLED TV uses Mini LEDs for improved local dimming, supports 4K upscaling, and can play 4K video at 120Hz.

Pros
  • Neo QLED is an improvement
  • Supports 4K upscaling
  • Can play 4K video at 120Hz
Cons
  • Cannot turn off local dimming

Samsung's QN85C 55-inch QLED 4K TV uses one of Samsung's variations on a QLED display, in this case with Mini LED backlighting for improved local dimming. The QN85C comes in under some of the other picks on this list in terms of price, but still has some of the software features you might expect from a more premium TV, like Samsung's Neural Quantum Processor for 4K upscaling and powering the TV's Tizen OS.

Under some of the other picks on this list in terms of price, but still has some of the software features you might expect from a more premium TV, like Samsung's Neural Quantum Processor for 4K upscaling and powering the TV's Tizen OS.

The QN85C also supports the company's unfortunately named Motion Xcelerator Turbo+, which enables the TV to play 4K content at a smooth 120Hz. Like other TVs in the price range, you'll also get a SolarCell remote control rather than a traditional battery-powered one, for added convenience.

A small flatscreen Samsung TV on a white background.
Samsung Q60C
6. Best small Samsung TV

32-inches of dual LED goodness

The Samsung Q60C 4K QLED TV is available in smaller sizes than some of the company's other models and uses dual LED backlights for more balanced color reproduction.

Pros
  • Actually available in sizes under 50 inches
  • Dual LED backlights for balanced color
  • Object-Tracking Sound Lite for immersive audio
Cons
  • Worse HDR than other Samsung TVs
  • Less bright

For a truly compact option, try the 32-inch Samsung Q60C 4K QLED TV. One of its best features is that it comes in a smaller size, making it easier to fit into offices and spare rooms. This model also uses dual LED backlights set at cool and warm temperatures, which Samsung says helps the TV have more balanced colors regardless of what you're watching.

Thanks to the Q60C's Quantum Processor, you'll get 4K upscaling and smooth performance in the usual suite of streaming apps. The small TV also includes what Samsung calls Object-Tracking Sound Lite for 3D audio effects, but unfortunately no support for more widely supported audio standards like Dolby Atmos.

The best Samsung TVs: Bottom line

The Samsung S90C 4K OLED TV is the best overall Samsung TV because of how bright it is, the wide range of colors it produces, and all the helpful software features Samsung offers. If you're willing to pay more, you can opt for the Samsung QN900C 8K OLED TV, which features four times the number of pixels as the company's 4K TVs and an anti-glare coating to make it viewable from even more angles. For a cheaper option, or a second TV for your home, the Samsung CU9000 4K UHD TV comes in smaller, sub-50-inch sizes while still offering an LCD panel that's a cut above thanks to Samsung's LED lighting.

Samsung S90C OLED for best TV gaming
Samsung S90C OLED
Editor's Choice

How we picked the best Samsung TV

Pocket-lint tries to stay on top of all the latest advancements in TVs, and review new models when we can, and this draws on the criteria we used to pick the best TVs in previous reviews and guides and the wealth of user reviews available for Samsung’s numerous TV models.

In general, we focused on 4K TVs over 8K (though Samsung is one of the few TV makers making them) because of how many films, TV shows, and YouTube videos are available in 4K, Samsung's Quantum Dot OLED displays, since they're unique to the company's products, and stuck to 55-inch models, which is big enough to feel immersive, but not so big you have to dedicate a wall in your house to a screen. Otherwise, other design elements or software features were taken into account if they made one model more appealing than another, until we arrived at this list.

How do Samsung’s TV naming conventions work?

You'll need to pay attention to the letters and the numbers to understand how each TV is named. Take the Samsung S90C. Typically, the last letter at the end of the model code (or first letter on UHD TVs) refers to the year the TV was released. "A" means 2021, "B" means 2022, and in this case "C" means 2023.

In Samsung's higher-resolution QLED and Neo QLED models, a triple-digit number means an 8K panel, while a double-digit number indicates a 4K panel. In the case of the S90C, the "90" lets us know it has a 4K panel. In contrast, UHD TVs always use a four-digit number for some reason.

What's the difference between OLED, QLED, and UHD?

OLED stands for "organic light emitting diodes," small dots of a carbon-based lab-grown material that emit white light when a current is passed through them, that's then filtered to produce the variety of colors your TV needs. OLED displays tend to offer better color saturation, deeper blacks, and better HDR than other TVs, but with a shorter lifespan over time.

QLED stands for Quantum Dot-LED, a Samsung created display technology that combines LED backlights with a layer of imperceptible crystals that show different colors depending on their size. By bundling the Quantum Dots together, you can produce all the colors you normally would at even higher brightness levels. Neo QLED refers to the same setup but with smaller Mini LEDs rather than traditional LEDs for even more brightness, improved local dimming, and better contrast.

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UHD stands for Ultra High Definition, another name for 4K resolution. Samsung's "Crystal UHD" TVs offer the same 4K resolution but with more dynamic colors and support for HDR. They're essentially LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panels lit with LED lights.