Samsung The Frame 2025 (LS03F) vs Haier Q80FUX

The Frame LS03F is a television that can surprise with its brightness. The maximum luminance reaches around 650 nits, which already looks impressive on paper. But as we know, laboratory tests are one thing, and real film scenes are quite another. When watching HDR materials in natural conditions, The Frame 2025 maintains very good results. In most film scenes, the peak brightness remained at around 550–650 nits. This is a sufficient value to feel the difference between standard picture quality and that of HDR – bright highlights, reflections on water, or moonlight are presented clearly and spectacularly.

It is also worth remembering that the LS03F is a QLED television, which translates into solid colour saturation. The coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space reaches about 92%, allowing for vibrant, intense colours in HDR content. This is not the level of top premium models, but for a lifestyle screen, the result truly deserves recognition.

Alright, let’s move on to the topic that stirs up so much discussion, namely the capabilities of the television in HDR mode. Let’s state it clearly right away: the Haier Q80FUX is certainly not a brightness demon. The panel of this receiver can generate about 350 nits at peak, which in today’s terms is the absolute minimum to even talk about the presence of High Dynamic Range (HDR). On the positive side, this power is at least stable – regardless of which test pattern or film scene we used, the measurements consistently oscillated in the range of 300-350 nits. These are therefore results that are at best sufficient, definitely far from the dazzling display of capabilities we are accustomed to with more expensive models. Fortunately, there is one aspect in which the Q80FUX compensates for these shortcomings and does so impressively. After all, we are talking about a QLED television (more precisely PFS LED), which means that thanks to the quantum dot filter applied to the panel, it can generate really juicy, vibrant colours. These are not empty promises – a DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of nearly 95% is an impressive result and directly translates into colours that are very pleasant to the eye and saturated.

When it comes to image quality straight out of the box, even in Filmmaker mode, which is supposed to be the closest to reference, there were issues. We noticed clear deviations in white balance in both HD and 4K HDR content. The image was heavily skewed towards red and blue, giving the screen a characteristic pinkish tint. This effect was most noticeable in bright scenes – for example, in shots with a lot of white, where neutral light should naturally dominate. At such moments, the screen clearly took on pink tones, which is also visible in the attached comparison photo. As for the brightness characteristics – it wasn’t as bad as one might expect with such colour inaccuracies. The analysis of the gamma curve and EOTF showed a slight brightening of the image compared to the reference, but not enough to drastically ruin the viewing experience.

Factory settings for movie mode are rarely perfect, but in the case of the Q80FUX, we were confronted with a noticeable imbalance. In SDR content, the image was decidedly too warm, a result of excessive red in the white balance, giving the whole a slightly sepia tone. Ironically, in HDR materials, the television fell into the opposite extreme – an excess of blue caused an unnatural, cold effect in perception. However, it was not the capricious white balance that was the biggest problem with this television. The real culprit, responsible for the aforementioned issues, was hiding deeper. It turned out that the Q80FUX has completely miscalibrated gamma values and, crucial for HDR, a poorly executed EOTF curve. It was these erroneous factory settings that caused persistent clipping of the brightest parts of the image, overlaying them with that characteristic milky filter. Thus, we found the source of the problem. This state of affairs led to general, significant colour errors, which were easy to catch even for an untrained eye. Like every television we tested, we decided to calibrate this model as well, and the results of these adjustments can be found in the next paragraph.

After calibration, the movie mode has gained a completely new quality. The issue of the pink tint, which had been clearly visible before, especially in bright scenes, has been effectively eliminated. Colours now look much more natural, and the white balance no longer dominates the rest of the image. It is no longer the same exaggerated "box picture" – everything now has coherence and a cinematic character. Additionally, the tendency of the television to slightly brighten scenes, previously visible in the EOTF curve analysis, has been partially corrected. Of course, this is within the limits of what the design allows without local dimming – one cannot speak of perfect brightness management here. Nevertheless, the final effect was definitely closer to what one might expect from a mode called Filmmaker.

The results of our calibration procedures must, regrettably, be acknowledged as twofold. Generally speaking, the picture is undeniably better than before the corrections; however, the biggest winner of this process turned out to be SDR content. It is precisely there, after correcting the gamma and white balance graphs, that we achieved results that can confidently be called very good. After adjustment, the Q80FUX truly shines in standard dynamics, showing only slight errors in the most difficult skin tone reproductions. Unfortunately, the weakest link remains HDR content. Here lies the paradox: despite having calibrated the white balance to nearly perfection, the overall colour errors still remain at quite a high level. The reason is that the television continues to interpret static HDR10 metadata "in its own way," stubbornly enforcing that unfortunate image burn-out effect, which inevitably leads to significant distortions. Although we have successfully eliminated the factory excess of blue, it is precisely due to this interference of electronics that the screen still tends to stray into somewhat overly cold tones. That is just how this television is.

LS03F has been equipped with the NQ4 processor, which is responsible for improving image quality – particularly in lower quality materials. In practice, this works surprisingly well, especially when it comes to older content and recordings with lower resolution. Activating the "noise reduction" function yields noticeable effects. The TV effectively smooths tonal transitions and removes digital noise that can appear in darker areas of the image. Compared to previous generations, there is a clear advancement – previously, this function often smoothed everything too much, including details that it shouldn't remove. In this year's model, smoothing still occurs, but in a much more acceptable manner. Textures of materials, skin, and fabric details are no longer subdued as strongly as before – the image retains more naturalness. However, this does not change the fact that film grain is still removed by the TV, which may not appeal to everyone. On the other hand, it is no longer as aggressive an intervention as in previous models. It is also worth mentioning that the LS03F may struggle with very weak signals – for example, from VHS tape recordings or low-resolution video. In such cases, we noticed slight clipping of the image at the edges – so-called overscan. This can lead to a situation where a small part of the image (e.g., subtitles at the bottom edge) gets cut off.

If there is one area where Haier clearly shows it still has a long way to go compared to the market leaders, it is digital image processing. The upscaling, well... is just alright. And that’s really about all that can be said about it. It does what is expected of it: it ensures that lower resolution signals do not scare us with harsh pixelation on the screen and do not look like a forcibly enlarged postage stamp. However, it is far from the finesse and “intelligent” sharpening that more experienced players in this market have developed over the years. The biggest shortcoming of the Q80FUX software is the almost complete lack of any additional "cleaning" and smoothing functions for the image. The receiver does not offer any noise reduction or gradient improvement mechanisms. This means that with older or heavily compressed materials, we simply have to come to terms with the fact that any imperfections in tonal transitions or blending of colours, which we mentioned earlier, will continually accompany us during the viewing.

The new feature in The Frame for 2025 is a display with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. Yes – in a television that is mainly associated with displaying works of art, you can now not only watch Van Gogh but also comfortably play on a console or follow dynamic sports events. This is a definite step towards greater versatility. In the case of Samsung films, as usual in models with a display rate of 120 Hz and above, it allows you to adjust motion smoothness according to your preferences. You can set a more cinematic reproduction while maintaining frame rate or opt for full motion smoothing. The range of options is broad, allowing you to tailor the effect to your own taste – whether the viewing experience is meant to resemble classic cinema or a show on a modern theatre screen.

*this part of the test refers to the LS03FAU model in sizes 55 and 65 inches, which is equipped with a 144Hz panel, while sizes 43 and 50 inches have 60Hz displays, and thus perform much worse in terms of motion smoothness.

The issue of motion fluidity and blurring is largely predetermined by the use of a 60-hertz panel, which naturally makes it difficult to recommend this receiver to enthusiasts of very dynamic content. Fortunately, in the Q80FUX, we find a few options (although, as we shall see shortly, in reality only one) that are supposed to improve the experience with older film productions. There is a "De-Judder" slider available, which actually controls the smoothness of the image and allows us to adjust it to our preferences: from raw, cinematic frame rates to a more theatrical, smoothed presentation. However, a true surprise awaits us just beside it in the menu. There is also a second slider, supposedly dedicated to removing blur – a feature we typically encounter in 120Hz panels to combat motion blur in sports. However, as we expected, recalling memories from the tests of the K85F model, this slider here is merely a façade. Its adjustment does absolutely nothing to the image and it simply appears to be an oversight by the product engineers who left a non-functional option in the software for this type of panel.

As we mentioned earlier – although The Frame likely displays images and artworks most of the time, Samsung has recognised that a Van Gogh enthusiast could just as easily be a passionate gamer. And it must be admitted that The Frame 2025 has almost everything to become a fully-fledged gaming television.

On board, we find support for ALLM (automatic game mode) and variable refresh rate (VRR) thanks to the implementation of one HDMI 2.1 port. The television handles lower resolutions at higher refresh rates without any issues and features an extensive Game Bar – already known from other Samsung models – which allows for quick preview and change of the most important gaming-related settings. For this, it earns extra points from us. It is also worth highlighting the custom motion smoothening technology, Auto Motion Plus Game, which – and it is worth emphasising – works without increasing input lag. Samsung remains the only manufacturer that has managed to implement this feature in a practically unnoticeable manner regarding delays. The result? Much better fluidity in games, especially those that struggle to maintain a stable 60 frames. This solution can genuinely improve the gaming experience in more demanding titles – particularly on consoles that do not always manage full fluidity, especially in AAA games.

As for the downsides – the lack of Dolby Vision is already regarded as standard in Samsung televisions, so there's nothing to specifically complain about here. However, the issue is something entirely different. In the latest version of the Tizen system, the HGiG option has disappeared. Literally – it is gone. This is a significant hindrance when configuring consoles for proper HDR content display in games. It is hard to understand why such a decision was made, but one thing is certain – this should be fixed as soon as possible. We are talking about a brand that has set standards for years when it comes to gaming on televisions. If HGiG returns – and we hope it will – The Frame LS03F can confidently aspire to the title of a genuine gaming television. Not just as a wall decoration, but as equipment that truly provides enjoyment in gaming.

[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 HGiG function crucial for gamers.

Stepping into the realm of gaming, the Haier Q80FUX proves to be quite a decent companion for the "casual gamer". Onboard, we find highly desired features such as VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). However, the biggest surprise is something else altogether. Although we are not dealing with a 4K@120Hz panel here, the television is capable of accepting and displaying a 120Hz signal at a lower resolution (Full HD). This is a very useful feature that allows for a conscious switch of the console to a lower resolution mode in exchange for significantly higher smoothness, which is a compromise entirely acceptable in the gaming world.

We won’t particularly complain about the lack of extras like the "Game Bar", as it's merely a nice addition. The most concerning issues arise when we delve into the world of HDR in gaming. Due to the television constantly adapting the signal "in its own way", setting the brightness on the console according to the HGIG standard is nearly impossible to achieve as per instructions. Worse still, in the Dolby Vision mode for gaming, the input lag increases to around 50 ms, which is a value high enough to render this mode practically unusable. However, in general, we would not recommend gaming on this television in HDR mode, so these are not such grave shortcomings. What is most pleasing is the presence of 120Hz in Full HD, which makes the Q80FUX a rather nice television for the occasional gamer.