Sony Bravia 7 (XR70) vs SAMSUNG QN80F

Now that we know the TV handles contrast well, let’s check how it performs in terms of HDR effects. The luminance graph shows very high capabilities for this model – 1500 nits is truly an impressive result. HDR effects are particularly striking in scenes where most of the screen is covered in light, such as in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th test scenes. Minor imperfections, typical of this technology, are still visible with very small light effects, as seen in the scene from the film "Sicario 2," where brightness drops to 500 nits. Although these aren't staggering results, they can be considered decent. Additionally, it's worth praising the TV for its high coverage of a wide colour gamut – DCI-P3 at 96%, which allows for vibrant, saturated colours.

QN80F is quite a bright screen – in synthetic tests, it reached nearly 1000 nits, which allows for reasonable expectations of HDR content. And indeed, in many scenes, the TV can truly shine. Sequences with a lot of light – like shots from the movie Life of Pi or wide, bright surfaces in The Meg – look impressive. Brightness stays around 700 nits, which provides a solid effect, enough to feel the true "HDR magic." Unfortunately, not every scene looks this good. In content with small, bright details on a dark background, like in Sicario 2, the TV can struggle – it can significantly dim individual elements, sometimes to the point where they disappear from the image. This is a result of the limited number of dimming zones, forcing the device into compromises: either stick to inky blacks or sacrifice some detail. QN80F usually chooses the former. As a consolation, it offers quite decent coverage of a wide color palette – DCI-P3 at 93%. It's not the highest score on the market, but it's more than enough for most content on streaming platforms.

The IMAX Enhanced mode on the Sony BRAVIA 7 TV is definitely the best mode available on this model, although it is not without its flaws, as its name might suggest. The biggest issue is white balance – both in HD and 4K HDR content, there is a noticeable dominance of the red colour, which causes the image to take on pinkish hues. This is particularly evident on the test image with snow, where the pinkish tint becomes very noticeable. Errors in the Colour Checker test also confirm these deviations – although they are not catastrophic, there is a tendency to lean towards warmer tones. In terms of brightness characteristics, the gamma remains at a decent level with a slight spike but without major issues. However, the biggest challenge is with 4K material. It is clear that the EOTF curve is significantly above the reference graph, making the image appear overly bright.

We always test TVs in the best available factory mode – for the Samsung QN80F, this is the Filmmaker mode, and indeed, it provides the settings closest to the creators' intentions. However, this doesn’t mean everything looks perfect. In SDR content, the biggest issue was an unbalanced white balance – slight deficiencies in green and a noticeable excess of red led to noticeable colour errors, and one could say the screen had a pinkish hue. This was clearly visible in the colour checker test, where colours “escaped” outside their target fields – to such an extent that a sensitive viewer's eye could catch it even without the help of a meter.

In HDR content, the white balance was much better, but another issue arose – brightness management. The EOTF curve caused an overly bright image most of the time, which affected the perception of contrast and made the screen slightly “flicker” during dynamic changes in light. We’ve already discussed this in the paragraphs about black levels and HDR. Fortunately, Samsung offers users plenty of options. The QN80F features a rich set of calibration options, including a 20-point white balance – which is why we decided to check what this TV is really capable of after a proper calibration.

Sony BRAVIA XR70 offers a wide range of tools that allow you to customise the image to your own preferences, enabling significant adjustments to the settings. White balance has been freed from the red colour dominance issue – snow no longer takes on pink hues, which was previously noticeable. Although there are slight deviations in the final part of the white balance chart regarding a drop in blue colour, they are acceptable and difficult to notice in everyday use. The Colour Checker test confirms that colour reproduction errors are no longer as pronounced and rarely exceed a value of 2, which is a very good result. As for brightness, gamma, although it didn't require major improvement, has been slightly adjusted. However, the most significant change has been noted in the EOTF curve – the television no longer has issues with excessively brightening the entire image in 4K materials. However, upon closer examination and incorporating the EOTF characteristics in film materials, some limitations of the television become apparent due to the previously discussed dimming algorithm. Some small elements may be slightly more illuminated, but these errors are minor enough that most users won't notice them. Overall, the calibration results are very, very positive.

After conducting a thorough calibration, it was possible to bring most image parameters to a really good level. The white balance in both SDR and HDR presents itself almost perfectly – the image is natural, neutral, and free from the previously noticeable redness. Colours have gained depth, and the overall visual experience has become more pleasant and cohesive. It was also possible to partially manage brightness, which in the factory version could cause issues. The EOTF chart shows that the television performs much better with brightness after calibration – there is no longer excessive dimming of certain elements. In films, it can still be noticed that the QN80F has a tendency to slightly brighten the smallest bright details – this is already a consequence of the device's construction and the limited number of dimming zones. In short: not everything can be overcome, but what was possible has been improved. After calibration, the QN80F makes a really good impression, looking simply more mature and professional.

Since we know that the television handles high-quality content very well, it's worth checking how it performs with lower-quality material. Here, the television shows its potential, and the graphics processor used works remarkably well. On the test screen with the light bulb, there are no issues with colour blending, and the gentle gradation function works very well – we recommend setting it to "Medium".

When it comes to digital processing, or the so-called upscaling, the television sharpens the image quite significantly, which leads to a slight jaggedness, for example on branches in the background, but it doesn't remove desired details. Despite this, the overall appearance is really attractive and may appeal to most users. However, if you prefer a softer, more plastic image, you can reduce this effect in the settings by adjusting the sharpness level to your liking.

If you notice strange colour transitions or unwanted artefacts while watching lower quality materials – for example from YouTube – it's worth checking the settings and enabling the noise reduction feature. In our opinion, the best setting is at the 'medium' level – it effectively smooths out problematic colour transitions without overly blurring the entire image. However, it's important to know one thing: this option tends to remove film grain. If someone values preserving that effect (e.g., in older films), it's better to simply turn it off – regardless of the level, the grain always disappears.

Regarding resolution scaling (also known as upscaling), Samsung – as usual – performs very well in this area. The QN80F doesn't quite match the top models costing tens of thousands, but for its price class, it performs impressively. Materials of very poor quality (e.g., from SD television or older video files) are noticeably improved and look surprisingly decent. The only noticeable downside is the typical Samsung issue with overscan – which is a slight cropping of the image edges at very low resolutions, such as 576p.

The Sony BRAVIA 7 TV with a 120 Hz panel will satisfy most users in terms of motion fluidity. Additionally, Sony offers a Motion Flow feature that allows for the selection of three different picture settings, adjusting them to personal preferences: Smoothness – Film: This setting improves motion fluidity, giving the image a more cinematic or theatrical quality. Smoothness – Camera: This setting provides even greater fluidity, useful for watching dynamic scenes like sports broadcasts. Clarity: This setting focuses on minimising noise and motion artifacts, resulting in a more stable and clear image.

QN80F is truly a “fast” TV. The panel used offers a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz, which in practice means that the screen keeps up with the action – whether we’re watching a movie, playing games, or browsing dynamic content online. The image doesn’t stutter, isn’t overly blurred, and everything simply looks smooth and pleasing to the eye. Of course, the manufacturer hasn’t forgotten about cinema fans – in the settings, we find an option to adjust motion smoothness, allowing us to tailor the effect to our own preferences. You can leave a more “frame-y” look (for those who enjoy the classic film vibe) or crank up the smoothness to a higher level to achieve a theatrical smoothing effect. Importantly, the choice is ours. Watching movies and playing on the QN80F is just plain fun.

Sony Bravia 7 has significantly improved its capabilities in terms of compatibility with consoles compared to earlier models. The TV supports variable refresh rate (VRR), which eliminates screen tearing, and it syncs with graphics cards to ensure smooth display. The automatic low latency mode (ALLM) effectively reduces input lag, which is crucial in dynamic games. Dolby Vision with low latency further delivers impressive HDR effects that look great during gameplay.

Sony Bravia 7 also offers a Game Bar feature, providing quick access to settings and monitoring parameters while gaming. An interesting option is the ability to enable a virtual on-screen reticle, which can give a slight advantage in shooter games. However, compared to the Bravia 9 model, the HGIG feature in the Bravia 7 doesn't perform as well, which may be noticeable for more demanding gamers – particularly as the HGIG mode is becoming increasingly popular among gamers as the preferred method for reproducing HDR effects.

A downside is the lack of support for 1440p@120 Hz resolution, which could make gaming easier for users with less powerful graphics cards. Additionally, the Sony Bravia 7 is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which is often used to connect an audio system via eARC, limiting the number of available ports for connecting next-gen consoles.

Samsung QN80F is a TV that delivers on almost every front when it comes to gaming. We have a 144 Hz panel, four fully-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, support for gamers in the form of variable refresh rate (VRR), auto low latency mode (ALLM), and even one of the best-designed game bars on the market. The cherry on top is the motion smoother, which – as the only one in the world – works in games without significantly increasing input lag. Sounds like an almost perfect TV for gamers? And indeed, it’s almost that.

As usual, Samsung does not support Dolby Vision in gaming, but that’s no surprise anymore. However, what is much more surprising is that... the HGIG feature has disappeared – which is a system that allows a console (e.g. PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X) to precisely match HDR tone mapping to the capabilities of the TV. In the latest firmware update for the 2025 models, this option simply vanished. It looks more like a bug than a deliberate move, but it must be honestly noted that as of the writing of this review, the HGIG feature is simply absent.

And it’s this one missing feature that turns the QN80F from an almost perfect gaming TV into a “nearly” perfect device. It’s a pity – because everything else indicated that Samsung could once again set the bar very high in this generation.