Hisense U7Q PRO vs SAMSUNG OLED S95F (QD-OLED)

U7Q PRO is truly a bright television. In synthetic tests, it achieved over 1500 nits, which is an outstanding result for this price bracket. Such brightness – at least in theory – allows it to display HDR content as intended by the creators, even in more demanding scenes with strong lighting. In practice, it performs very well, but not always perfectly. In bright scenes with large areas – like the test screen with intense sunlight from the film "Pan" – the U7Q PRO makes a huge impression. It can even dazzle with its light, which is definitely an advantage in the context of HDR content. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always manage to maintain this when there are many small bright details on a dark background. In such moments, the local dimming algorithms tend to dim some bright elements to maintain good blacks – and the side effect is that some details simply vanish from the frame. This is a classic compromise in mini-LED televisions – and the U7Q PRO is no exception. With such a large number of dimming zones, however, one could have hoped for a slightly more mature algorithm responsible for their control. Fortunately, the overall perception of HDR content is very positive. The U7Q PRO is not only bright but also colourful, thanks to the PFS LED (QLED) coating, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette is at 95%, and BT.2020 around 73%.

The new generation of QD-OLED panels in Samsung's S95F showcases its full potential, and the brightness results are simply astounding. In test film scenes, such as “Life of Pi” or “Sicario 2”, where smaller light elements appear – stars, the moon, or spotlights – the television managed to achieve over 2000 nits of brightness. This is a result that surpasses even most top Mini-LED models.

The secret lies in the technology itself – instead of a limited number of dimming zones like in Mini-LED televisions, here we have millions of glowing pixels, allowing the television to fully demonstrate its power without technological compromises. Of course, since it is still an organic panel, in scenes that are full-screen and flooded with white – like in the final sequence from The Meg – brightness drops to around 1400 nits. Nevertheless, the result remains excellent and definitely exceeds what any OLEDs, both QD-OLED and WOLED, have offered so far. The colour reproduction is also particularly noteworthy. Thanks to QD-OLED technology, the television achieves almost 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space and around 80% in BT.2020. These values make HDR images not only dazzling in brightness but also stunning in their range of colours.

We tested the U7Q PRO in the best possible picture mode that this model offers – Filmmaker Mode. And indeed, this mode performs the best in terms of colour reproduction. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. In our test unit, both in SDR and HDR content, the image had a slightly cooler tone. The white balance was shifted towards blue, which made the overall image feel a bit "cooler." It may not be glaring, but it is definitely noticeable – particularly on white backgrounds, which instead of being neutral, seemed slightly bluish. Additionally – as we mentioned earlier – the television has a tendency to slightly brighten and oversaturate the image, which is also confirmed by the gamma and EOTF charts. All of this together means that without calibration, the image may appear somewhat unnatural – too cool, with slightly exaggerated dynamics. That’s why we decided to perform our own calibration – and you can see its effects and charts below.

The best picture mode straight out of the box is undoubtedly Filmmaker Mode – a mode that Samsung has been using for several years and which is intended to faithfully convey the creators' vision. In SDR content, its implementation is not bad, although some imperfections can be noticed. The image is slightly dimmed, and the screen has a subtle pinkish hue resulting from an excess of red and blue in the white balance. Colour errors remained at a level of 3–4 ΔE units – and for the uninitiated: a value above 3 is the threshold where the average human eye starts to notice differences.

Much bigger problems arise in HDR content, however. Here, the white balance was not as much of an issue – a slight excess of blue did not significantly hinder things. The problem became brightness management. In practice, the TV "blows out" the image too much, causing details in the blacks to completely disappear. The final effect was far from what was expected, and the colour errors in this mode became quite significant. It’s hard to say why such a design decision was made, but it was clear that the factory HDR settings do not allow this TV to showcase its full potential.

Thanks to calibration, we've managed to tame the white balance in SDR and HDR content. For SDR material, the effect is really quite good – the image becomes neutral, cohesive, and simply pleasant to watch. Everything looks the way it should.

HDR performs a bit worse. Although the white balance looks correct and overall the image gains naturalness, unfortunately, the delta E errors are still noticeable. Why? Because Hisense's U7Q PRO model does not give us full control over how the television manages brightness in HDR mode. And this is where the limitation arises. When we look at the EOTF curve for HDR content, it clearly shows what we mentioned earlier – at the beginning of the graph, there’s a noticeable drop, meaning the television darkens the smallest portions more than it should. On the other hand, those brightest elements can be overly bright. As a result, some details are lost, others are too aggressive, and overall control over brightness doesn't always align with what we’re trying to achieve during calibration.

Does the image look better after calibration? Definitely, yes, in terms of colour. But when it comes to brightness management in HDR, one must accept that the Hisense U7Q PRO will still do it in its own way.

After calibration, it was possible to make subtle adjustments to the white balance and significantly improve the image characteristics. In SDR content, the quality has become practically reference-level – most colour errors have dropped below a ΔE value of 1, which is the level at which the human eye can no longer perceive differences. This is a result that places the S95F among the absolute top TV models available on the market.

In HDR material, calibration also brought a significant improvement. The tendency of the TV to blow out the image was managed, as confirmed by the analysis of the EOTF curve. There is still a slight tendency to brighten the entire scene or occasional loss of detail in the blacks, but this does not significantly affect the overall perception. After calibration, the S95F shows its full potential and can be regarded as one of the best TVs on the market!

If someone happens to come across older materials where the banding issue arises – Hisense has a solution for that. In the U7Q PRO, we find a feature called "Smooth and Gradient Picture". Set to the "Medium" level, it works really well – eliminating most gradient problems without smoothing the entire image like a blur in Photoshop. 😉 Film grain remains, details don't disappear – that's exactly how it should work. Well done on the implementation!

As for scaling weaker materials, it's simply good. It's not at the level of the most expensive TVs with advanced upscaling, but older content looks good. There is some minor banding at very low resolutions, but that's perfectly normal and hard to avoid. On the plus side – even with the oldest materials, there is no overscan effect, the image isn't cropped or artificially stretched.

Samsung S95F offers a noise reduction feature that smooths tonal transitions. It works very effectively, but in practice, it can be too aggressive. Materials of lower quality – e.g. older recordings or videos from YouTube – become soft and plastic when it is enabled, resembling an image digitally smoothed in graphic software. Unfortunately, the natural film grain, which often adds authenticity to the image, disappears in the process. Fortunately, the television does not lose too much fine detail, e.g. in skin textures or environmental elements. Therefore, this feature is best used judiciously – depending on preferences, one can achieve a smooth but less natural image or one that is truer to the original. In our opinion, the most universal choice is the “Standard” setting.

Image scaling performs significantly better. The television handles lower resolution materials well – even 576p content looks quite decent, though slight blockiness can be observed. Overall, the effect is very good, although it slightly trails behind what Sony Bravia 8 (II) or LG G5 can achieve. It’s also worth mentioning a small imperfection of the S95F – in older materials, overscan may occur, causing a slight trimming of the left edge of the image.

“Speed” – this word was most frequently mentioned during our tests of the U7Q PRO. The television is equipped with a 165 Hz panel, which in itself is impressive – especially considering we’re talking about a mid-range model. Of course, PC gamers will benefit the most from its full capabilities, but even during everyday viewing, it’s clear that this is a fast and efficient panel. Like most modern televisions, the U7Q PRO can also enhance the smoothness of films that were originally recorded at 24 frames. In the menu, we find a slider that allows us to adjust the effect to our own preferences – from a more cinematic feel, with subtle motion, to a stronger smoothing with the characteristic “soap opera effect.”

The Samsung S95F excels in motion fluidity, presenting phenomenal performance. The panel operates at a native resolution of 4K with a refresh rate of up to 165 Hz, and when combined with QD-OLED organic technology, it delivers incredible results. Sports and games look sensational – the picture is fast, dynamic, and very natural. Additionally, the built-in motion smoother and blur reduction system allow you to customise the character of the image to your own preferences. You can opt for a more 'framey' effect with visible film texture or a smooth, cinematic spectacle. Every viewer will find a setting that suits them.

Hisense U7Q PRO is a TV that seems to have been designed with gamers in mind. We have practically everything that can be expected from a gaming screen: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic mode (ALLM), and as many as four HDMI 2.1b ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s. Additionally, there’s a clear and quite functional Game Bar, as well as a well-implemented Dolby Vision GAMING mode that works seamlessly with Xbox Series S and X consoles.

Sounds like the ideal? Well, almost. Unfortunately, Hisense has still not implemented the HGiG feature, which is the system's tone mapping limitation on the TV's end. This means that when configuring HDR brightness on the console, we do it “by eye” or look for settings in online guides, as the screen does not display its actual brightness range. It’s a shame – because HGiG makes it easier to match the console to the TV and helps avoid overexposed or too dark scenes in HDR games.

Fortunately, the other elements work very well. Input lag is low, responsiveness is excellent, and the handling of other features is faultless. And although not everything worked perfectly, the U7Q PRO can still be confidently recommended to gamers.

The same advantages of low motion blur and excellent motion fluidity characteristic of OLED panels are just the beginning, as the Samsung S95F has been designed with gamers in mind. The manufacturer has equipped it with four HDMI 2.1 ports – though limited to a bandwidth of 40 Gb/s, in practice, this has no impact on compatibility with consoles or PCs. We get a full package of gaming features: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic game mode (ALLM), as well as a very well-implemented HGiG standard, ensuring that HDR titles look as the creators intended. This is complemented by Game Bar – a clear settings hub, where with one motion, we can preview and change all key image parameters. The proprietary motion smoother Game Motion Plus also deserves praise, as it can smooth out animation, which is especially useful in productions running at 60 frames, where stability is not always exemplary. While there is no support for Dolby Vision in games, it’s hard to consider this a serious drawback – Samsung compensates with other solutions. This is one of the best, if not the best, gaming TVs available on the market today.