Hisense U6NQ vs Samsung The Frame 2025 (LS03F)

Hisense U6NQ offers a stable HDR effect, which is rare in TVs with local dimming. On most streaming platforms, in movies and series recorded in 4K, the TV presents consistent performance – in every tested scene, regardless of difficulty level, brightness is around 450 nits. This is a pleasant surprise, as many models in this class show significant differences – some scenes are well-lit, while others are heavily dimmed by dimming algorithms. However, Hisense U6NQ prioritizes maintaining higher brightness, which comes at the expense of black levels, as mentioned in the paragraph about contrast testing.

The HDR effect on the U6NQ is satisfying, offering a noticeable "hit" of light in bright moments, although it is worth remembering the previously mentioned blooming, which can be visible in more challenging scenes. In terms of colours, the TV also performs decently – the coverage of the DCI-P3 palette is 89%, and BT.2020 is 71%. Although these are not results that would impress more demanding users, for beginners in the world of high-quality content, the U6NQ serves as a solid choice. Thus, it presents an interesting option as an "entry-level" TV for home cinema.

The Frame LS03F is a television that can surprise with its brightness. The maximum luminance reaches around 650 nits, which already looks solid on paper. But as we know, lab tests are one thing, and real movie scenes tell a completely different story. When watching HDR content in natural conditions, The Frame 2025 maintains very good results. In most film scenes, peak brightness remained at levels of 550–650 nits. This is enough to feel the difference between standard image quality and that of HDR – bright highlights, reflections on water, and moonlight appear clear and impressive.

It’s also worth noting that the LS03F is a QLED television, which translates to solid color saturation. The coverage of the DCI-P3 color space reaches about 92%, allowing for vibrant, intense colors in HDR content. It may not be at the level of top premium models, but for a lifestyle screen, the result truly deserves recognition.

The Hisense U6NQ in Filmmaker mode offers truly decent colour reproduction, although it is worth noting that differences between individual units can be noticeable. The model we tested surprised us positively, especially with HD content in SDR quality. The white balance was correct, and errors around 3–4 ΔE should be acceptable for the average viewer. The TV performed slightly worse in colour reproduction with 4K HDR materials. The dominance of blue hues led to unnatural cool tones on the Colour Checker chart, giving the picture a "store-bought" character. Combined with issues in brightness characteristics – gamma and EOTF curve caused some parts of the image to be too dark – the Filmmaker mode loses some of its credibility in this case. Although the factory settings of the tested unit deserve praise, especially in SDR, there were still minor shortcomings that would require adjustment to fully leverage the capabilities of the TV.

When it comes to image quality right out of the box, even in Filmmaker mode, which is supposed to be the closest to reference, there were issues. In both HD and 4K HDR content, we noticed noticeable deviations in white balance. The image was heavily skewed towards red and blue, giving the screen a characteristic rosy tint. This effect was most visible in bright scenes – for example, in shots with a lot of white, where neutral light should naturally dominate. In such moments, the screen clearly leaned towards pink tones, which can also be seen in the attached comparison photo. As for brightness characteristics – it wasn't as bad as one might expect given such color inaccuracies. Analysis of the gamma curve and EOTF showed a slight brightening of the image compared to the reference, but not enough to drastically affect the perception of the material.

Although the factory settings of the Filmmaker mode on the Hisense U6NQ were quite good, we decided to carry out calibration to fully assess the capabilities of this model. Only after such an adjustment can you see how the TV performs in ideal conditions. In the case of SDR content, which was already at a high level, we managed to further improve the white balance. However, the biggest change came from the brightness characteristic correction - gamma was optimized and no longer causes excessive dimming of the image, which improves its naturalness.

For 4K HDR content, calibration also yielded positive results. We eliminated the problem of blue dominance, which translated into a more balanced and natural image. However, managing brightness in HDR materials remains a more complicated issue. The EOTF curve, although it had problems with dimming the image in the range of 10-30% brightness under laboratory conditions, reveals other shortcomings in real scenes. The TV tends to excessively brighten the smallest elements on the screen. As a result, this leads to noticeable halo effects around bright objects. This phenomenon, which we mentioned earlier in the context of contrast and HDR, stems from the technological limitations of the model and is often difficult to eliminate.

In short: although the Filmmaker mode with factory settings looked decent, calibration allowed for an even better effect - minor adjustments resulted in a more balanced image, especially in HDR content. Calibration will be a beneficial step for users seeking the highest quality image.

After calibration, the movie mode gained a completely new quality. The issue of pink tint, which had previously been clearly visible, especially in bright scenes, was effectively eliminated. Colors began to look much more natural, and the white balance no longer dominated the rest of the image. It was no longer the same exaggerated “box picture” – everything gained coherence and a cinematic character. Additionally, the tendency of the television to slightly brighten scenes, previously visible in the EOTF curve analysis, was partially corrected. Of course, this was within the limits of what the design allows without local dimming – it’s hard to speak of perfect brightness management here. Nevertheless, the final effect was definitely closer to what one would expect from a mode called Filmmaker.

With high-quality materials, such as 4K, tonal transitions on the U6NQ look really good – the colours blend nicely and the image is cohesive. Unfortunately, when we switch to content in a lower resolution, the television does not offer any additional features that could improve this aspect. An example is the test with the light bulb, where it is clear that the television has trouble rendering subtle tonal transitions.

On the other hand, digital processing performs quite well. The image looks plastic, pleasantly soft, and free of excessive aliasing. Moreover, thanks to the sharpness settings, it can be adjusted according to personal preferences – whether towards a softer or sharper image. Overall, although scaling lower-quality materials could be better, the television does well with image processing.

The LS03F is equipped with the NQ4 processor, which is responsible for improving image quality—especially in lower-quality materials. In practice, it works surprisingly well, particularly with older content and recordings with lower resolution. Activating the "noise reduction" feature yields noticeable effects. The television 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 improvement—previously, this feature often smoothed everything too much, including details that it shouldn't have removed. In this year's model, the smoothing still occurs, but it is done in a much more acceptable manner. Textures of materials, skin, or fabric details are no longer so heavily muted as before—the image retains more naturalness. However, this does not change the fact that film grain is still removed by the television, which may not be to everyone's liking. 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—such as recordings from VHS tapes or video in low resolution. In such cases, we noticed slight clipping of the image at the edges—so-called overscan. This can lead to situations where a small part of the image (e.g., subtitles at the bottom edge) gets cut off.

The Hisense U6NQ offers a native refresh rate of 60 Hz at a 4K resolution, but the manufacturer has added a feature that allows increasing the refresh rate to 120 Hz at the cost of reducing the resolution to Full HD. This is a solution we have seen before in TVs from TCL, such as the C655 and the C655 PRO. This gives the user the option to choose – higher motion fluidity or full resolution. This is a sensible approach, especially considering that many games on new-generation consoles do not achieve full performance in 4K at 120 Hz.

As for movies, the TV is equipped with a motion smoothing feature that allows adjusting motion characteristics to personal preferences. This can create a more cinematic effect or increase fluidity in dynamic scenes. Overall, the Hisense U6NQ offers reasonable solutions for motion fluidity that should satisfy both gamers and movie lovers.

A novelty in The Frame for 2025 is the panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. Yes – in a television primarily associated with displaying artwork, you can now not only watch Van Gogh but also comfortably play on a console or follow dynamic sports action. This is a definite step towards greater versatility. In the case of Samsung films, as usual in models with a 120 Hz panel and above, it allows you to adjust motion smoothness according to your own preferences. You can set a more cinematic representation while maintaining frame rate or opt for full motion smoothing. The range of options is wide, allowing you to tailor the effect to your taste – whether the viewing experience is meant to resemble classic cinema or a presentation on a modern theater panel.

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

The Hisense U6NQ offers the option to choose between 4K at 60 Hz and Full HD with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. This solution may appeal to gamers who want to decide what is more important to them – higher resolution or smoothness. The television supports features such as ALLM and VRR, which help in achieving smoother gameplay. A nice addition is the GameBar – an easy-to-use panel that allows for quick changes to picture settings and checking statistics. It also includes a Dolby Vision Gaming mode, which works with low input lag, a big plus for console enthusiasts. Unfortunately, it lacks HGiG, which could further enhance HDR quality in games. Nevertheless, the Hisense U6NQ performs quite well as a gaming television, especially for those who play occasionally and do not require the highest refresh rates in 4K. It is a solid choice for less demanding users.

As we mentioned earlier – although The Frame likely displays images and works of art most of the time, Samsung has recognized that a Van Gogh enthusiast can just as easily be an avid gamer. And it must be admitted that The Frame 2025 has almost everything it needs 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 expanded Game Bar – already known from other Samsung models – which allows for quick previewing and changing of the most important gaming-related settings. For this, it earns additional points from us. The proprietary motion smoother Auto Motion Plus Game also deserves special mention, which – and it's worth emphasizing – works without increasing input lag. Samsung remains the only manufacturer that has managed to implement this feature in a practically noticeable way in terms of delays. The result? Much better fluidity in games, especially those that struggle to maintain stable 60 frames. This solution can realistically improve the gaming experience in more demanding titles – especially on consoles that don’t always manage full fluidity, especially in AAA games.

As for the downsides – the lack of Dolby Vision is already considered standard in Samsung televisions, so there's nothing to particularly complain about here. However, the problem is something entirely different. In the latest version of the Tizen system, the HGiG option has disappeared. Literally – it's not there. This is a significant setback when configuring a console for proper HDR content display in games. It’s 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 gaming on televisions for years. If HGiG comes back – and we hope that it will – The Frame LS03F can confidently aspire to be a true gaming television. Not just as a decoration on the wall, but as equipment that really provides joy in gaming.