Sony X85L vs Samsung QN85F

The Sony X85L TV offers solid HDR performance with a brightness of 750 nits, which is sufficient to enjoy vibrant effects. In scenes of moderate difficulty, such as the first, third, or fifth test scenes, a brightness of around 600 nits allows you to fully experience the HDR effect. Unfortunately, in more demanding segments, like the scene from the film Sicario 2, the TV reveals its limitations. Drops in brightness to 250 nits make the HDR effect lose its impressive quality and resemble ordinary SDR. Nonetheless, it is worth highlighting the very good coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette at 95%, which definitely deserves praise and positively impacts the overall image quality.

Although more than twice the number of dimming zones compared to its predecessor did not result in a spectacular leap in black levels and contrast, we definitely felt it in the HDR effect itself. The QN85F is up to 50% brighter than last year's model and it makes a huge impression in dynamic scenes. Peak brightness can reach almost 1700–1800 nits, which is an impressively high result for this Mini-LED class. The best part is that almost regardless of the scene being watched, the HDR effect remains strong and vibrant. In four out of five test scenes, brightness was maintained around 1000 nits, a level that in most cases allows the viewer to feel the true magic of this format. Of course, in scene number 4 from the film Sicario 2, the limitations of Mini-LED technology become apparent – the brightness of the helicopter's subtle light drops to around 500 nits. This isn't an outstanding result, but it is still much more acceptable than last year's model. Samsung deserves applause for the dramatic improvement in brightness with the QN85F compared to its predecessor. However, there's a certain trend visible in this year's televisions – the manufacturer has worsened colour gamut coverage. Although the QN85F has a QLED panel, its result at around 90% DCI-P3 is average, and in the most demanding films, it may lead to less vibrant colours than its predecessor. Despite this drawback, the overall HDR effect is at an excellent level and truly makes a big impression in this class of devices.

The television Sony X85L has been tested in IMAX Enhanced mode, which, while associated with world-class cinema, does not guarantee an image consistent with the director's intent. The main issue is the white balance – there is a noticeable strong dominance of blue and significant deficiencies in red. As a result, the image becomes unnaturally cool and looks artificial. Errors in colour reproduction were confirmed by the Colour Checker test, which showed significant discrepancies – colours were "scattered" like shots from a rifle, and only a few samples hit the target values. This clearly shows that the precision of colour reproduction leaves much to be desired.

The brightness of the image is one of the positive features of the television. The gamma for HD content is at an acceptable level, although minor errors occur, but generally it is quite good. However, the issue remains the brightness characteristic for 4K materials, controlled by the EOTF curve. It is evident here that very small, bright elements of the image are too dim, which is the result of the limited number of backlight zones due to the design of the television.

Samsung QN85F offers several preset picture modes, but out of the box, the television starts in 'Eco' mode. We could almost end the discussion here, as using this setting on such a model makes little sense – the picture is washed out, unpleasant, and far from what we expect from a television of this class. Therefore, we conducted our tests in the best available mode, which is Filmmaker mode. Its purpose is to faithfully reproduce what the directors saw during filming, and indeed, it is the setting that performs best among all factory options. However, this doesn't mean it's free from flaws.

Both in SDR and HDR, the QN85F prominently highlighted warm colours. This was due to a lack of white balance, where the blue colour was noticeably absent. Additionally, the image was sometimes overexposed – both the gamma brightness characteristic and the EOTF curve indicated that the television has a tendency to blow out scenes. In SDR, colour reproduction errors (Delta E around 4–5) were still acceptable, but in HDR, the inaccuracies became quite significant and clearly deviated from what the creators intended to show us. Fortunately, Samsung provides a wide range of calibration tools in its televisions, so – as always – we proceeded with professional calibration to see how much could be improved.

Thanks to the use of calibration tools offered by Sony X85L, it has been possible to significantly improve the image quality. After calibration, the white balance for HD content is much more stable, making colours look more natural and enhancing the authenticity of the image. Although it's not perfect, these changes allow viewers to enjoy a more realistic representation of colours, eliminating the earlier cool tone. The gamma, which already performed reasonably well, has been adjusted to an even better version. As a result, tonal transitions and brightness are more consistent, positively impacting the depth and detail of the image.

As for 4K content, despite efforts, the white balance still struggles with a lack of red, which can cause overly warm colours in some scenes. Synthetic tests showed that the EOTF curve in HDR is fairly stable, with a slight boost in mid-bright scenes. However, in actual film material, the TV can still be too bright with fine, light details, which is a result of the limitations of large local dimming technology.

Nonetheless, the calibration has brought significant benefits, particularly in terms of colour accuracy, improving overall image quality and providing a more natural and consistent directorial vision.

After calibrating the movie mode, we managed to tame the colours in both modes almost to perfection – most of them did not exceed an error value of 3, which is the threshold of perceivability by the human eye. The image became more natural, fuller, and at the same time free of the overexposure that was noticeable right after taking the television out of the box. This demonstrates the significant potential that lies within the QN85F and how well it responds to precise settings. However, this does not change the fact that certain technological barriers cannot be overcome. Despite the enormous benefits of calibration, there are still limitations to the panel itself. Although the number of dimming zones has doubled compared to its predecessor, the algorithms controlling the backlighting can manipulate brightness in their own way. Sometimes this leads to slight colour inaccuracies or subtly visible halo effects around bright objects. Nonetheless, the viewing experience after calibration is really enjoyable and shows how good a screen the QN85F can be if we just take a moment for the right settings.

In terms of smoothing tonal transitions, the Sony X85L television doesn’t offer any dedicated enhancement options, which is a bit of a downside. On the other hand, the image scaling performs quite well – the television adds a touch of artificial sharpness, which can make details such as tree branches more pronounced, although sometimes with visible jagged edges. This type of effect may appeal to some viewers who prefer a more detailed image.

Although the native tonal transitions on the QN85F perform excellently with 4K content, we don't always have to deal with the highest resolution material. This is where how the TV handles upscaling and digital image processing becomes crucial. This process is managed by Samsung's proprietary processor – AI NQ4 Gen2. In practice, it works very effectively. If visible colour banding or other undesirable phenomena appear on the screen, for instance with content from YouTube, they can easily be smoothed out using the "noise reduction" feature. Set to medium, it improves tonal transitions while not overly blurring desired details. However, it should be noted that – like in most Samsung TVs – this feature heavily interferes with film grain. Therefore, during movie screenings, it’s wise to use it cautiously to avoid losing the natural character of the image.

The upscaling itself looks very good. Test materials in lower resolutions were displayed sharply and clearly, with a lot of details. The only drawback remains the issue with overscan, which cuts off the edges of the screen. In most situations, this isn't noticeable, but with very old materials below HD quality, there may be instances where a fragment of the image from the left side gets slightly cut off.

Sony X85L, equipped with a 120 Hz panel, will meet the expectations of a wide range of users – from sports and gaming fans to movie enthusiasts. Movie lovers will surely appreciate the presence of one of the best motion smoothing systems, known as Motionflow. This system offers adjustment using smoothness and clarity sliders – smoothness is responsible for fluid motion, eliminating the stuttering effect, while clarity enhances the sharpness of fast scenes, reducing blur.

Motion blur and fluidity of movement in the QN85F is a topic worth discussing further because the TV is equipped not with a standard 120 Hz panel but with a 144 Hz one. The extra hertz will mainly be appreciated by PC gamers, but the very fact of having such an option can be seen as a nice addition and a sign of the times – it's hard to complain about the trend of faster panels since in practice, each of us would like the picture to be as smooth as possible. However, the most important thing is how the TV performs with typical 120 Hz refresh rates – in the case of consoles, sports, or films recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second. And here, the QN85F performs really well. In films, you can easily adjust the character of the picture thanks to the "image clarity" feature, where you'll find two control sliders. Key in the case of screenings is the one responsible for reducing motion judder. Lower values give the image a more cinematic character with preserved "frame-ness," while higher values lead to strong smoothing, reminiscent of television theatre.

Sony X85L offers a fairly solid set of features for gamers, making it an attractive choice for gaming enthusiasts. First and foremost, the television has a 120 Hz panel, which translates to smooth and dynamic image display, ideal for both fast-paced action games and more demanding sports titles. It is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, allowing for the full capabilities of next-generation consoles to be utilised. Additionally, Sony X85L supports VRR (variable refresh rate) technology, which helps reduce stuttering and artifacts during gameplay, ensuring a smooth experience. The television also supports G-Sync, which is particularly beneficial for gamers using NVIDIA graphics cards, allowing for screen refresh rate synchronization with GPU performance, eliminating screen tearing. It’s worth mentioning the Game Bar feature, which facilitates quick access to important game-related settings, such as VRR, brightness levels, or display modes, making it convenient and useful during gameplay.

However, there are some limitations. The television does not support HGiG, which may be a downside for some gamers, as HGiG optimises HDR effect rendering in games, providing a more authentic visual experience. Additionally, the Dolby Vision mode, although available, is not practical for gaming due to very high input lag.

Samsung QN85F makes a really great impression in terms of features for gamers. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports, so we can easily connect several devices at the same time. There's also Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) to prevent screen tearing, as well as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), which allows the TV to automatically switch to the appropriate settings when we start the console. Additionally, it supports refresh rates of up to 144 Hz – something that PC gamers will particularly appreciate, but the very fact that such an option is available shows that Samsung is committed to full support for gamers. The Game Bar panel also deserves praise. It provides a quick overview of the most important parameters – from frame count to refresh rate mode, and even shortcuts to picture settings. Instead of digging through the entire menu, everything is at our fingertips, which proves to be really convenient in practice. However, the most interesting addition is the Game Motion Plus feature. It is nothing more than motion smoothing, adapted for the gaming world. When it’s turned on, the image becomes smoother, sometimes looking as if we’re getting several more frames, and importantly – the response delay doesn’t increase enough to interfere with gameplay. This is a solution that truly sets Samsung's 120Hz TVs apart from the competition.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung TVs from the 2025 model year due to the release of software version 1131, which restored the crucial gaming feature HGiG.

The only significant downside remains the lack of proper support for HGiG. This is a standard responsible for accurate tone mapping in HDR games, ensuring that brightness and contrast are displayed as intended by the creators. Without HGiG, we have to set brightness manually, which doesn’t always yield perfect results. This feature was available in previous models, but disappeared from the QN85F after one of the updates. We hope that Samsung will quickly fix this issue, and we will be monitoring to see if they succeed.