Samsung QN80F 100" vs Hisense U8Q

When it comes to HDR in Filmmaker mode, the QN80F can make a great first impression. Our laboratory tests have shown that under the best conditions, the television is capable of achieving brightness exceeding 1200–1300 nits. These are truly excellent results, making HDR effects in many films look incredible. The television is simply bright enough not to need to artificially adapt the image – the bright parts of scenes have the right 'power' and actually look like a light source. Of course, the laboratory is one thing, and everyday viewing is another. In practice, in film scenes, brightness generally oscillates in the range of 700–1100 nits. These are still great values that, in most cases, provide a strong sense of realism and make the lights on the screen truly capable of blinding. The problem arises in exceptionally challenging sequences, where, like almost every mini-LED, it reveals its limitations. A good example is Sicario 2: the scenes with the helicopter in the night sky look much weaker, and the lights lose intensity, dropping to around 370 nits, making it hard to speak of serious admiration. To this, we must add the issue of colours. Although we are dealing with a QLED, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette is around 90%. This is a rather average result for a quantum dot television. In practice, this means that some colours may appear less saturated than we would expect, especially in demanding HDR productions.

When it comes to HDR, the Hisense U8Q shows its claws. On paper, that is, in synthetic measurement tests, the television can achieve nearly 4000 nits of peak brightness. This is a value that most models can only envy. In practice, this translates to very strong light effects in films – in some scenes, we managed to measure a real brightness of between 1500 and 2000 nits, which is a level typically reserved for the absolute top tier of televisions on the market.

Of course, it's not always perfect. In small, pinpoint elements, brightness can drop – a good example is scene number 4 from the film Sicario 2, where instead of thousands of nits, we get around 500. But it’s worth noting that the effect does not disappear completely – the light is still visible, and the image does not seem artificially dimmed. This is a typical issue with Mini LEDs, so it's difficult to consider this a major downside.

On the other hand, the colour reproduction is a huge plus. Thanks to additional coatings that enhance colour saturation, the U8Q nearly covers the entire DCI-P3 colour space (98%), and for the wider BT.2020 range, it achieved over 80%. This is an excellent result that makes HDR films look rich, vivid, and simply very cinematic.

The Samsung QN80F performs best in Filmmaker mode, which is designed to replicate the creators' intentions as accurately as possible. And indeed – this is the mode in which the television showcases its potential. But let’s not kid ourselves, it is far from perfect. In SDR content, the issue of white balance came to the forefront. Slightly lacking greens and a noticeable excess of reds caused the screen to take on a pinkish hue. You don't even need meters to notice this – in everyday viewing, the subtly shifted colour palette could be quite noticeable, and in colour checker tests, the colours would literally "pop" out of their reference fields. With HDR content, the situation looked a bit better, as the white balance was closer to ideal, but another problem arose – brightness management. The EOTF curve often caused the image to become too bright, which spoiled the sense of contrast, and in dynamic scenes, it led to a slight "flicker" in perception. We had already mentioned this when discussing black levels and HDR. The good news, however, is that Samsung provides a lot of tools for improvement. The QN80F allows for truly detailed calibration, including a 20-point white balance. And since the manufacturer has left us so many options, we decided to check how the television would perform after a thorough adjustment.

We must admit that when the U8Q arrived at our editorial office, we were slightly surprised… and positively so. Usually, in televisions, the white balance immediately requires adjustment – it can be too warm or too cold, which immediately leads to strange colour mistakes. Meanwhile, here the situation looks really good straight out of the box. Of course, we are talking about our unit, so there is no guarantee that every model will be equally well calibrated, but in our case, the first impressions were very positive. The only more apparent issue concerned the way the television manages brightness. Looking at the EOTF graph, it is clear that the U8Q tends to brighten small elements on the screen. This, in turn, caused what we mentioned earlier – slight overexposure and the impression that the entire scene can be a bit too bright. However, this is not a flaw that undermines the picture, rather an effect characteristic of this model.

After calibrating the QN80F, it immediately showed that it was capable of much more. The previous pinkish tint disappeared, and the white balance finally looks like it should – natural and without excessive deviations. The colours gained depth, and the image became more saturated and cohesive, making watching films simply more enjoyable. It's a bit like removing a light haze from the screen – suddenly everything appears sharper and clearer. The management of brightness has also improved. The television no longer gets easily lost in dynamic shifts, and the EOTF graph shows that the curve tracking is significantly more stable. Of course, there are no miracles – the limited number of zones still means that small bright elements can be slightly washed out, but that's a result of the design itself, not the settings. After this correction, the QN80F feels like a more mature piece of equipment, and watching films finally provides the satisfaction expected from a television even in a higher class.

Of course, we wouldn’t be ourselves if we didn’t make adjustments to the white balance. After calibration, we managed to equalise the SDR signal to practically perfection – older films, YouTube content, and classic television looked almost ideal on the U8Q. This is truly an exceptional level that shows this model can do a lot if given a bit of help. Unfortunately, the situation is different with HDR content. The colours themselves don’t pose many problems, but the U8Q’s biggest issue remains the EOTF brightness characteristics. In practice, the television tends to “over-expose” beyond how the image should look in its original form. It’s that slight "bleeding" that we noticed earlier in comparisons with the best screens on the market. It’s a bit of a shame that this characteristic can’t be fully tamed – if we could maintain equally good control over brightness in HDR as in SDR, we would be dealing with an absolutely reference-quality image.

With lower quality materials, such as films from YouTube or older television recordings, the QN80F can display its strengths and weaknesses. If strange colour transitions or artefacts start to appear on the screen, it is worth using the noise reduction function. The best setting is at "medium" – it smooths out problematic sections while not blurring the entire image. However, one compromise must be remembered: this function always removes film grain. If someone enjoys its presence in older productions, it is better to keep the reduction turned off, as the grain simply disappears regardless of the setting.

Resolution scaling, or upscaling, is another strong point of Samsung. The QN80F may not be the best television on the market in this regard, but it performs very well in its price range, which is very important for such a large size as a 100-inch screen. Even lower quality materials can gain a second life – the image becomes sharper, more readable, and overall much more pleasant to perceive. A weak point remains overscan, which is the slight cropping of edges in very low resolutions (e.g., 576p), something that has been a longstanding issue for Samsung. Fortunately, this is practically of no consequence when watching HD and 4K content on a daily basis.

Hisense U8Q handles lower quality materials quite well. The television can smooth out tonal transitions thanks to the "Smooth and Gradient Picture" feature – it works best when set to Medium. At this setting, it nicely dims unwanted bands and unevenness in the picture, but importantly, it does not remove the film grain or fine details.

The upscaling itself is also at a good level. Images from lower resolutions appear smooth and soft, sometimes even overly so – we get a plastic effect that may not appeal to everyone. Fortunately, this can be easily corrected with the sharpness slider, allowing the picture to be adjusted to personal preferences.

The QN80F features a 144 Hz panel, and this is evident in practice – with full refresh, the image is remarkably smooth, and motion blur remains at an acceptable, barely noticeable level. However, this mode is primarily aimed at PC gamers. The most important reference point in everyday use remains the 120 Hz refresh rate, and this is where a certain discrepancy arises. During the UFO test, we noticed a splitting of the contours of rapidly moving objects – it looked as if the television had the BFI (Black Frame Insertion) feature permanently activated, which in practice led to an unpleasant effect of double edges. We do not yet know whether this is a software issue or a characteristic of this model, but in its current form, such behaviour is hard to commend.

Hisense U8Q features a panel that can refresh the image up to 165 Hz in 4K resolution. In practice, this will primarily be utilised by PC gamers, but as the saying goes – it’s better to have it than not 😊. For films and series, we have a built-in smoothness enhancer called Ultra Motion Smoothness. In the settings, it can be easily adjusted to suit personal preferences – whether we want a more “cinematic” frame rate or a smooth, theatrical spectacle.

The Samsung QN80F gives the impression of a television designed with gamers in mind. On the list of advantages, we have a 144 Hz panel, four full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, complete support for VRR and ALLM, as well as one of the best-designed game bars on the market. Additionally, there is the Game Motion Plus motion smoother, which works even in games without any real increase in input lag, making the QN80F an absolute standout in this category. In practice, this means you can enjoy smoother visuals without sacrificing responsiveness, which is a dream for many console gamers!

As is usual with Samsung, there is no Dolby Vision support in games, and this is no longer surprising. However, we were much more surprised to find that in the 2025 models… the HGIG function has disappeared. This function allowed consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X to perfectly adjust HDR tone mapping to the capabilities of the television. In the current firmware for the QN80F, this option simply does not exist – it seems more like an error rather than a conscious decision by the manufacturer, but as of the day of testing, it must be acknowledged that HGIG is not available. Due to this one omission, the QN80F, instead of being almost the perfect television for gamers, becomes a device that is only "almost" perfect. This is quite a shame because, aside from this, Samsung has created a model that truly raises the bar in the gaming equipment segment.

In terms of features, the Hisense U8Q has practically everything one could expect from a modern gaming television. Thanks to the new processor, the manufacturer managed to implement as many as three HDMI 2.1 ports, so there is no problem connecting several consoles or a computer. On top of that, it includes all the key technologies – Game Bar with parameter preview, variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low latency mode (ALLM)… in a word, a complete set.

But as is often the case with Hisense, it fell a bit short of perfection. The biggest drawback remains the lack of support for the HGiG format, which allows the brightness of the television to be adjusted to the console and maximises HDR in games. It’s a shame, because if this element were included, we would have a device practically made for gamers. As it stands, the U8Q remains “only” a very good choice 😉