Michał Wołoszyn
The best TV for home theater, the best TV for the living room, and finally the best TV of 2026. The Samsung S99H won all three main categories at this year’s HDTVTest TV Shootout organized by Vincent Teoh. We had the chance to sit on the judging panel for this special comparison, and this year’s final was particularly interesting. For the first time, a Mini-LED TV went up against the top OLEDs.
Samsung S99H named Best TV of 2026
This year's final ended in a clean sweep for the Samsung S99H, known in the US market as the Samsung S95H. The model scored 21.43 points in the Best Home Cinema TV category and 17.21 points as Best Living Room TV, which combined gave it 34.58 points and the title Best TV of 2026. Samsung thus became the first TV in HDTVTest TV Shootout history to take all three top awards in a single final.
The test itself was conducted as a blind comparison, and the TVs were judged, among other things, on performance in dark scenes, color reproduction, HDR, motion handling, panel uniformity, image processing, and picture quality in a bright room. The panel included eight judges (including our Maciej).
You can find our full test of the Samsung S99H on our website and YouTube channel.
Sony BRAVIA 9 II surprised. Mini-LED ahead of two OLEDs
This year's shootout was special for another reason, too. For the first time a Mini-LED LCD TV reached the final: Sony BRAVIA 9 II. Earlier the model won a separate comparison of the best LCD TVs of 2026, beating RGB Mini-LED, Micro RGB and SQD-Mini LED designs. That allowed it to go head-to-head directly with the best OLEDs.
And it was not merely symbolic. The BRAVIA 9 II finished the whole comparison in second place with a score of 32.54 points, losing only to Samsung. In doing so, the LCD TV outscored both LG G6 (30.00 points) and Sony BRAVIA 8 II (28.56 points). The Near-Black category was particularly interesting. The BRAVIA 9 II posted an average of 3.63 here, practically only slightly less than the LG G6's 3.69 and even a touch higher than the OLED Sony BRAVIA 8 II's 3.56. This shows how closely the best Mini-LEDs have come to OLEDs in handling image detail just above black.
Last year's winner finishes last this time. Sony Bravia 8 II
Also in the final was Sony BRAVIA 8 II, the winner of the previous (2025) HDTVTest TV Shootout. The model was carried over into this year's lineup as still the highest-ranked Sony OLED. This time, however, it fared much worse. A score of 28.56 points put it in last place among the four finalists.
It wasn’t such a big surprise to us. The unit used during the shootout showed some of the same issues we had already pointed out in our own BRAVII 8 II test. In several categories the TV still performed very well, but compared with this year’s competition its weaker points were much more noticeable.
LG G6 on the podium, but not a winner
LG G6 finished the comparison in third place with exactly 30 points. The LG OLED performed very well with motion and HDR content, but it wasn't as consistent across all evaluated areas. It lost particularly in the image processing category, where it scored an average of 2.84, while the Samsung S99H achieved 4.25. Versatility proved to be Samsung's greatest strength. The S99H won categories including Near-Black, Color Accuracy, HDR, Video Processing, Bright Room and Out of the Box, and it didn't have any major issues in the other categories either.
HDTVTest TV Shootout 2026 Results
Place | TV | Best Home Cinema TV | Best Living Room TV | Best TV of 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Samsung S99H | 21.43 | 17.21 | 34.58 |
2. | Sony BRAVIA 9 II | 21.04 | 15.70 | 32.54 |
3. | LG G6 | 18.00 | 15.49 | 30.00 |
4. | Sony BRAVIA 8 II | 16.59 | 16.29 | 28.56 |
There can only be one winner
So, in the end, this year's title goes to Samsung S99H. And perhaps the most interesting thing is that it didn't win solely because of one particularly strong feature. It was simply the most consistent TV in the whole lineup, both when watching movies in a dark room and in a bright living room.
Congratulations to Samsung! And if you want to see where the S99H's excellent result came from, you can find its full review on our channel. Interestingly, we recently put the three podium models side by side, the Samsung S99H, the Sony BRAVIA 9 II, and the LG G6, so you can also see how they compare directly.
