Samsung QN85F vs Samsung R85H / R86H

Although more than twice the number of dimming zones compared to its predecessor did not translate into a spectacular jump 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, making a huge impression in dynamic scenes. The peak brightness can reach almost 1700–1800 nits, which is truly impressive for Mini-LED in this 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 experience 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 small light drops to around 500 nits. This result is not stellar, but it is still much more acceptable than last year's model. Samsung therefore deserves applause, as the improvement in brightness in the QN85F is drastic compared to its predecessor. However, it is a shame about a certain trend visible in this year's televisions – the manufacturer has worsened the colour gamut coverage. Although the QN85F has a QLED panel, its score of around 90% DCI-P3 is average, and in the most demanding films, it can lead to less vibrant colours than its predecessor. Despite this shortcoming, the overall HDR effect stands at an excellent level and truly makes a big impression in this class of devices.

When it comes to brightness, the R85H performs really respectably. In most of our test scenes the TV reaches around 800 to 900 nits, and with larger bright elements it can exceed 1000 nits. These are not, of course, levels on a par with the pricier Mini-LEDs, but they are more than enough for watching films and TV shows in HDR, and the effect can already be quite noticeable. The problem reappears in more demanding scenes where there is a small bright element on a very dark background. Here the TV can significantly limit its brightness so as not to light up too large a portion of the screen. In our measurements such small highlights fell even to around 200 to 250 nits, so it is clear that a small number of zones combined with the particular behaviour of the algorithm has consequences here. Fortunately, this is not something that disturbs viewing all the time. In typical mixed HDR scenes the R85H looks good and can deliver appropriate image dynamics. It's just that with very small points of light you shouldn't expect an effect as strong as on TVs with many more zones or on OLEDs.

Samsung QN85F offers several preset picture modes, but by default, when the television is turned on, it starts in "Eco" mode. And we could actually end the discussion here, because for such a model, using this setting makes no sense – the picture is washed out, unpleasant, and far from what we expect from a television of this class. We therefore carried out our tests in the best of the available modes, which is the Filmmaker mode. Its purpose is to faithfully reproduce what the directors saw during the filming of the movies, and indeed this is the setting that performs best among all factory options. However, this does not mean that it is without flaws.

Both in SDR and HDR, the QN85F quite strongly emphasised warm colours. This resulted from deficiencies in white balance, where there was a distinct lack of blue. Additionally, the picture was sometimes overexposed – as indicated by both the gamma brightness characteristic and the EOTF curve, which showed that the television tends to blow out scenes. In SDR, the colour reproduction errors (Delta E levels of 4-5) were still acceptable, but in HDR the discrepancies became quite large 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.

In Filmmaker mode our R85H sample performed acceptably in SDR, but a few things stood out immediately in the measurements. In the white balance red increased with rising brightness while blue decreased. As a result the brighter parts of the picture had a slightly too warm tint. Gamma only held to the target value at the start. It then gradually fell, which left most of the image a little too bright. The combination of these two effects also showed up in the colours, with errors growing particularly in the brighter and more saturated samples. It did not look bad, but for Filmmaker mode we had expected a bit more accuracy. Interestingly, in HDR our sample fared noticeably better. The white balance was much more even and, over most of the range, the individual components stayed close together. Only in the very brightest areas did red start to be lacking, causing white to shift subtly. The EOTF curve, by contrast, looked very good and followed the target luminance levels across almost the entire range. That does not mean HDR colours were perfect. The Colour Checker still showed some deviations, especially for some of the more saturated hues, but the errors were clearly smaller than in SDR.

After calibrating the film mode, we managed to tame the colours in both modes to near perfection – most of them did not exceed an error value of 3, which is the threshold of perception by the human eye. The image became more natural, fuller, and at the same time free from bloom, which was noticeable right after taking the television out of the box. This shows the great potential of 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 of 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 gently visible halo effects around bright objects. Nevertheless, the experience after calibration is truly pleasant and demonstrates how good a screen the QN85F can be if we just take a moment for proper settings.

After calibration the R85H shows it has genuinely substantial capabilities in colour reproduction. It performed best in SDR, where the white balance could be brought almost perfectly into line and the gamma stays very close to the target value across most of the range. This also translated into very low errors on the Colour Checker, so there is really little to pick fault with. HDR also shows a clear improvement, although some things can no longer be corrected as well. At the highest brightness levels the character of the backlight begins to make itself felt and the individual components of the white balance start to drift apart. The same applies to the most saturated colours, which do not always land exactly where they should. Despite these limitations the overall image is much more accurate than with the factory settings, and the biggest difference is definitely seen in SDR. There is, however, one thing calibration cannot fix. With heavily saturated elements the colour can slightly bleed onto adjacent bright areas of the image. It is easiest to notice this on white, which can pick up a faint tint of a neighbouring colour. It does not appear in every scene, but when the material is demanding the effect can be visible. This is more a characteristic of the way the RGB backlight works than a matter of picture settings.

Although the native tonal transitions on the QN85F with 4K material perform excellently, we do not always deal with content in the highest resolution. At that point, it becomes crucial how the television handles upscaling and digital image processing. This process is managed by Samsung's proprietary processor – AI NQ4 Gen2. In practice, it operates very efficiently. If visible colour banding or other undesirable phenomena occur on the screen, for instance, in materials from YouTube, they can easily be smoothed out using the "noise reduction" feature. Set to a medium level, it improves tonal transitions without excessively blurring desired details. However, it is important to remember that – as with most Samsung televisions – this function heavily interferes with the film grain. Therefore, during cinematic screenings, it is 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 great deal of detail. The only downside remains the issue of overscan, which is the trimming of the edges of the screen. In most situations, this is not noticeable, but with very old materials below HD quality, there may be cases where a fragment of the image from the left side gets slightly cut off.

In the R85H image processing is handled by the Micro RGB AI Processor. The name is new, but when it comes to upscaling lower-quality material the TV’s behaviour is very similar to what Samsung has shown before. And that’s not a bad thing, because the manufacturer has dealt with this aspect quite well for years. Lower-resolution content is displayed cleanly, edges do not become excessively soft, and the TV does not try to artificially extract details at any cost. The result is simply well balanced, and with regular broadcasts or older recordings the R85H performs as you would expect from a Samsung in this class. There remains only a minor drawback in the form of overscan, which cannot be completely turned off at the lowest resolutions. A separate matter is the additional processing of weaker sources. The R85H can smooth posterisation and somewhat tidy up heavily compressed footage, but it is worth emphasising that it does this relatively aggressively. At stronger noise reduction settings it begins to remove not only compression artefacts but also fine details and the natural film grain. It is therefore best used only when the material truly needs it.

Motion smoothing and fluidity in the QN85F is a topic worth discussing in more detail, as the television 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 mere presence of such an option can be seen as a nice addition and a sign of the times – it’s hard to complain about the trend towards faster panels, as in practice, each of us would prefer the image to be as smooth as possible. However, the most important thing is how the television handles typical 120 Hz refresh rates – in the case of consoles, sports, or films recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second. Here, the QN85F performs really well. In films, one can easily adjust the character of the image thanks to the "image clarity" function, where we find two adjustable sliders. Key for screenings is the one responsible for reducing judder. Lower values give the image a more cinematic character with preserved "frame rate," while higher values lead to strong smoothing reminiscent of television theatre.

The R85H has a 144 Hz panel, so motion is really smooth here. Just bear in mind that the extra hertz above 120 are mainly used when connected to a PC, so in this category we don't treat them as any particular advantage. For films and TV, what's more important is that the panel is fast enough to provide access to an advanced motion-smoothing feature, "Motion Clarity", which lets you set motion anywhere from more film-like to very smooth. The panel's response time is a bit worse. Because it's a VA panel, fast-moving objects can leave a slight trail. On bright backgrounds this isn't very noticeable, but the darker the scene, the more pronounced the smearing becomes. This is a typical trait of this type of panel and it's easiest to notice in dark shots.

The Samsung QN85F makes a really great impression in terms of gaming features. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports, so we can easily connect multiple devices simultaneously. There is also variable refresh rate (VRR) which prevents screen tearing, as well as an automatic game mode (ALLM) that allows the television to 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 mere fact that such an option is available shows that Samsung is fully committed to supporting gamers. The Game Bar panel also deserves praise. It provides a quick overview of the most important parameters – from frame rate to refresh mode, even including shortcuts to picture settings. Instead of navigating through the entire menu, everything is at hand, which proves to be very convenient in practice. However, the most interesting addition is the Motion Plus gaming feature. It's effectively a motion smoother adapted for the gaming world. When enabled, the image becomes smoother, sometimes looking as if we've gained several extra frames, and importantly – the response time doesn’t increase enough to hinder gameplay. This solution truly sets Samsung's 120Hz televisions apart from competitors.

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

The only major downside remains the lack of proper HGiG support. This is a standard responsible for correct tone mapping in HDR games, meaning that brightness and contrast are displayed as intended by the creators. Without HGiG, we have to adjust brightness manually, which doesn’t always yield perfect results. The feature was available in previous models, but it vanished from the QN85F after one of the updates. We hope that Samsung will quickly resolve this issue, and we will keep checking to see if it has been fixed.

Samsung has been steadily expanding its gaming features for several years, and the R85H really doesn't miss anything important here. The TV supports 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM, so we can easily take advantage of the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. HGiG also works correctly, so with HDR properly set on the console, games retain the correct brightness and we don't unnecessarily lose detail in the brightest parts of the picture. The only major omission is Dolby Vision Gaming, which Samsung does not support on any of its TVs. The Game Bar is also very useful — a handy menu you can bring up without leaving the game. We can quickly check the frame rate, VRR status or change key picture settings. Samsung also adds a few less obvious features, such as the ability to change the aspect ratio and Game Motion Plus, which can further smooth games running at 30 or 60 frames per second. Of course this comes at the cost of higher input lag (around 55 ms), but for slower-paced titles it may be an interesting addition for some people.