Samsung QN80F vs TCL C69K / Q6C

QN80F is quite a bright screen – in synthetic tests, it achieved nearly 1000 nits, which allows for justified expectations regarding HDR content. And indeed, in many scenes, the television can truly shine. Sequences with a lot of light – like shots from the film Life of Pi or wide, bright surfaces in The Meg – look impressive. Brightness remains around 700 nits, which provides a solid effect, sufficient to feel the true "HDR magic." Unfortunately, not every scene looks that good. In materials with small, bright details on a dark background, such as in Sicario 2, the television has issues – it can significantly dim certain elements, sometimes to the point where they disappear from the image. This is the result of a limited number of dimming zones, which forces the device to make compromises: either maintain inky blacks or sacrifice some detail. QN80F usually chooses the former. As a consolation, there is quite decent coverage of a wide colour gamut – DCI-P3 at 93%. This is not the highest score on the market, but it is more than adequate for most content on streaming platforms.

In terms of brightness, TCL C69K / Q6C is a moderate model. In optimal film conditions, it shows its full potential, achieving a maximum of around 600 nits. In scenes with large, intense light sources, the HDR effect can be truly satisfying, providing a cinematic shimmer. However, it should be noted that when managing backlight zones, there are situations where parts of the image become dimmed, and sometimes they are barely visible. This suggests that there is still a lack of proper optimisation of the algorithms; however, considering the technical parameters in this price range, the design itself still presents very well.

We test televisions always in the best available factory mode – in the case of the Samsung QN80F, this is the Filmmaker mode, and indeed, it is this mode that offers settings closest to the creators' intentions. However, this does not mean that everything looks perfect. In SDR content, the biggest problem turned out to be an unbalanced white balance – slight deficiencies in green and a noticeable excess of red led to discernible colour errors, one could even say a pinkish tint on the screen. This was well demonstrated in the colour checker test, where the colours 'escaped' beyond their target fields – to the extent that even a sensitive viewer's eye could catch this without the aid of a meter.

In HDR content, the white balance was much better, but another issue arose – brightness management. The EOTF curve resulted in an overly bright image for most of the time, which could affect the perception of contrast and caused the screen to subtly 'flicker' during dynamic light changes. We have already written more about this in the paragraphs on black levels and HDR. Fortunately, Samsung leaves the user with plenty of options. The QN80F offers a rich set of calibration options, including a 20-point white balance – therefore, we decided to check what this television is really capable of after proper calibration.

The Filmmaker mode, which has made its debut in this year's TCL televisions (including the C69K / Q6C), is definitely the best choice "to start with." This is the mode we recommend for daily film and series viewings. Unfortunately, as is often the case, best does not mean perfect. In SDR material, the image proved to be too warm, with a pronounced red tint in the white balance. We had the opposite impression with HDR content – here the image became cooler than it should, due to an excess of blue. Additionally, there is the characteristic of brightness, which at times resulted in overexposure. In practice, this translated into quite noticeable errors in colour tests, which is difficult to accept in a mode branded as "from the creators."

After conducting a thorough calibration, it was possible to bring most of the image parameters to a really good level. The white balance in both SDR and HDR is nearly perfect – the picture is natural, neutral and devoid of the previously noticeable redness. The colours have gained depth, and the overall visual reception has become more pleasant and cohesive. It was also possible to partially master the brightness management, which in the factory version could be problematic. The EOTF chart shows that the television performs significantly 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, light details – however, this is the effect of the device's design and the limited number of dimming zones. In short: not everything can be overcome, but what could be has been improved. After calibration, the QN80F makes a really good impression; it simply looks more mature and professional.

Through white balance correction, we were able to significantly reduce the tendency of C69K / Q6C to distort colours, which yielded a very good final result. After calibration, the issue of excessive warming of scenes in SDR and excessive cooling of the image in HDR disappeared. However, it is worth analysing the brightness characteristics more closely. While in SDR content it is hard to have major objections – the image looks really good, especially in older films, TV programmes or on YouTube – it performs significantly worse in the case of HDR content. Analysis of the EOTF curve suggests that everything is fine, yet in practice (EOTF in films) the limitations of the design itself become apparent. This model has a tendency to excessively brighten small parts of the frame, only to overly dim the entire scene in other situations. The effect of calibration is therefore undeniable, and in terms of colour reproduction, C69K / Q6C gains a lot. Unfortunately, certain limitations arising from local dimming management simply cannot be bypassed.

If, while watching lower quality materials – for example from YouTube – we notice strange colour transitions or unwanted artefacts, it's worth checking the settings and turning on the noise reduction feature. In our opinion, the best setting is at “medium” – it effectively smooths out problematic colour transitions while not blurring the entire image too much. However, one must know this: this option tends to remove film grain. If someone cares about preserving this effect (e.g. in older films), it’s better to simply turn it off – regardless of the level, the grain always disappears.

When it comes to resolution scaling (or so-called upscaling), Samsung – as usual – performs very well in this area. The QN80F may not compete with top models costing tens of thousands, but for its price class, it really does impress. Materials of very low quality (e.g. from SD television or older video files) are noticeably improved and look surprisingly decent. The only noticeable drawback is the typical Samsung issue with overscan – that is, slight cropping of the image edges in very low resolutions, e.g. 576p.

In terms of image scaling, TCL C69K / Q6C performs quite well. Lower quality content appears acceptable, and thanks to the lack of overscan issues, the image is displayed in full without any cropping. However, one should not expect miracles – very low-quality materials will not gain a second life here, as the image processor has its limitations.

Thin lines and details exhibit characteristic tearing, which reveals the absence of more advanced image enhancement algorithms. It is also a pity that the C69K / Q6C lacks a tone transition smoothing feature. As a result, in older films or video materials, banding of colours can be visible and may become distracting during prolonged viewing.

QN80F is truly a "fast" television. The applied panel 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 film, playing games, or browsing dynamic content online. The image doesn’t stutter, isn’t excessively smeared, and overall looks simply smooth and pleasing to the eye. Of course, the manufacturer hasn’t forgotten about cinema fans – in the settings, we’ll find an option to adjust motion smoothness, allowing us to tailor the effect to our personal preferences. We can maintain a more "framey" appearance (for those who enjoy the classic cinematic vibe) or ramp up the smoothness to a higher level for a theatrical smoothing effect. Importantly, the choice is ours. Watching films and playing on the QN80F is simply a delight.

The use of a 144 Hz panel in TCL C69K / Q6C is a significant advantage in this price range. It represents an important step forward compared to its predecessor (C655 PRO), which only offered 60 Hz in 4K. The difference is particularly noticeable when watching sports or playing games – the ball, players, or dynamic action in games are displayed more clearly and without loss of detail. Another interesting feature is the panel's ability to work at 240 Hz (which the manufacturer does not officially mention) – we will return to this topic in relation to the PC gaming mode. TCL has also added a feature for movie fans: “Motion Clarity”. This allows users to adjust the picture to their preferences using two simple sliders. We can either keep the visible film frame or opt for very smooth, "

Samsung QN80F is a television 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 – uniquely in the world – works in games without significantly increasing input lag. Sounds like an almost perfect television for gamers? And indeed, it is almost that.

[UPDATE] We have updated our reviews of Samsung televisions from the 2025 model year due to the release of firmware version 1131, which restored the critical gaming feature HGiG.

As usual, Samsung does not support Dolby Vision in games, but that no longer surprises anyone. However, it is much more surprising that... the HGIG function has disappeared – the system that allows the console (e.g. PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X) to precisely adapt HDR tone mapping to the capabilities of the television. In the latest firmware update for the 2025 models, this option simply vanished. It looks more like a mistake than a deliberate move, but it must be honestly noted that at the time of writing the review, the HGIG function is simply not available.

And it is precisely because of this one absence that the QN80F shifts from being nearly perfect for gamers to being 'almost' perfect. It's a shame – because everything else suggested that Samsung could raise the bar very high again in this generation.

TCL C69K / Q6C is a television that can confidently be described as equipment created with gamers in mind. Here we have 4K at 144 Hz, VRR support, automatic game mode (ALLM), and Dolby Vision Gaming. Additionally, there is a practical Game Bar, which is a panel with the most important settings conveniently at hand – useful when we want to change something quickly during gameplay (e.g. screen aspect ratio: Yes, it can be done!). The wide range of VRR, reaching up to 240 Hz, is particularly noteworthy. However, this option is mainly for PC gamers who will operate below the native 4K resolution. In that case, the television can spread its wings and show additional smoothness, especially in fast-paced e-sports titles. For consoles, we stick to the classic limit of 120 Hz, but even so, the capabilities are truly extensive. The only downside is a slight ghosting that can occasionally be seen in dynamic scenes. Other than that, C69K / Q6C offers everything that gamers expect from a television.