SAMSUNG QN80F vs TCL C6KS / C69KS / Q6CS

QN80F is quite a bright screen – in synthetic tests, it achieved nearly 1000 nits, which allows for reasonable expectations with HDR content. And indeed, in many scenes, the television truly shines. Sequences with a lot of light – such as shots from the movie Life of Pi or wide, bright surfaces in The Meg – look spectacular. Brightness maintains 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, like in Sicario 2, the television has problems – it can dim certain elements significantly, 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 stick to inky blacks or sacrifice some details. QN80F usually chooses the former. As a consolation, it has quite decent coverage of a wide color gamut – DCI-P3 at 93%. This is not the highest score on the market, but it is more than enough for most content on streaming platforms.

And how does the issue of HDR look? Here the C6KS performs quite well and – as is becoming a recurring theme in this review – identically to the C6K model. The maximum brightness generated by this television is around 600 nits. In bright scenes, this translates to a really solid, cinematic effect, and generally, the video materials look good here. However, one must remember the specifics of the dimming algorithm in this model. When very small, bright points (e.g., stars) appear against a dark background, the television can dim them quite significantly. The goal is simple: to eliminate blooming and maintain the best possible black levels. It’s a reasonable compromise. Most viewers will definitely appreciate deep, “true black” more than additional micro-details that could cause grayness on the screen. Such is the nature of local dimming technology in this price range, and one must be aware of it. It’s also worth noting that the TCL C69KS (C6KS) has an additional PFS coating, which is marketed under the tagline of QLED technology. Thanks to this, the colors are saturated and vibrant – our measurements showed that the coverage of a wide color gamut reaches 92% here.

We always test televisions in the best available factory mode – for the Samsung QN80F, this is the Filmmaker mode, and indeed, it offers the settings closest to the creators' intentions. However, this doesn't mean that everything looks perfect. In SDR content, the biggest issue turned out to be an unbalanced white balance – slight deficiencies in green and a noticeable excess of red led to noticeable color errors, and one could almost say there was a pinkish tint to the screen. This was clearly visible in the color checker test, where colors would "escape" their target fields – to the extent that a sensitive viewer's eye could catch it even without the help of a meter.

In HDR content, the white balance was much better, but another problem emerged – brightness management. The EOTF curve caused an overly bright image most of the time, which could affect the perception of contrast and made the screen slightly "flicker" during dynamic light changes. We have already discussed this in the paragraphs about black 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 – that's why we decided to check what this television is really capable of after proper calibration.

Unlike the more expensive C6K model, the tested C6KS does not have an option labeled Filmmaker Mode in the menu. Is this a reason to cry? Absolutely not. Our tests have shown that in practice, in terms of color reproduction, the absence of this specific label makes virtually no difference. The best available Film/Cinema mode here offers nearly identical picture characteristics to the aforementioned Filmmaker mode in the more expensive model. So we get a very similar image, just under a different name. So if you were wondering whether paying extra for the C6K gives you better colors – the answer is: no, in both cases the base is the same and requires slight adjustments.

After conducting a thorough calibration, it was possible to bring most image parameters to a really good level. The white balance in both SDR and HDR appears nearly perfect – the image is natural, neutral, and free of the previously noticeable reddening. The colors have gained depth, and the overall visual reception has become more pleasant and cohesive. It was also possible to partially master 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's no longer excessive dimming of certain elements. In films, it can still be observed that the QN80F has a tendency to slightly brighten the smallest, bright details – this is already a result of the device's construction and the limited number of dimming zones. In short: not everything can be overcome, but what could be improved has been addressed. After calibration, the QN80F makes a really good impression; it simply looks more mature and professional.

Thanks to the white balance adjustment, the tendency of the C69KS to distort colors has been effectively reduced, leading to a very good final effect. After calibration, we won't see excessive warmth in SDR scenes or overly cool tones in HDR. However, it's worth noting the brightness characteristic. In SDR content, there are hardly any objections – the image looks very good, especially in older films, television programs, or materials from YouTube. It is much more difficult to evaluate the performance of the television in HDR. Analysis of the EOTF curve suggests correct behavior, but its practical variant shows certain limitations. The C69KS can overly brighten the smallest elements of the frame, while at other times it can dim the entire scene. Calibration has therefore brought clear benefits in terms of color reproduction, but certain limitations arising from the operation of local dimming and the way it is controlled by the C69KS cannot be avoided, as we also saw in the C6K test.

If, while watching lower-quality materials – for example from YouTube – we notice strange color transitions or unwanted artifacts, it’s worth checking the settings and enabling the noise reduction function. In our opinion, the best setting is at the "medium" level – it effectively smooths out problematic color transitions while not excessively blurring the entire image. 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 just turn it off – regardless of the level, the grain always disappears.

When it comes to scaling resolution (i.e., the so-called upscaling), Samsung – as always – performs very well in this area. The QN80F may not compare to the top models worth several thousand, but for its price class, it really performs impressively. Very low-quality materials (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, slightly cropping the edges of the image at very low resolutions, e.g., 576p.

C69KS handles upscaling quite well. The tested 576p material looks surprisingly decent – a significant amount of detail is preserved, and the algorithm adds a subtle "rounding" effect to sharp edges, making the image appear more cohesive. However, the smoothing of tonal transitions is lacking. The television practically cannot improve them, leaving the image in a somewhat raw state. With older materials, this can be simply exhausting, as the lack of additional processing highlights all imperfections.

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 movie, playing games, or browsing dynamic content on the internet. The image doesn't tear, it doesn't excessively blur, and everything simply looks smooth and pleasant to the eye. Of course, the manufacturer hasn't forgotten about movie fans – in the settings, we find an option for motion smoothness adjustment, allowing us to tailor the effect to our personal preferences. You can leave a more "cinematic" look (for those who enjoy a classic film vibe) or crank up the smoothness to a higher level for a theatrical smoothing effect. Importantly, the choice is ours. Watching movies and playing on the QN80F is simply a joy.

C69KS offers a simplified motion improvement panel in movies, allowing you to adjust the intensity of the effect using a slider. This makes it easy to match the smoothness to your own preferences. The possibility of using higher refresh rates is also a plus – even though the panel operates natively at 4K at 60 Hz, lowering the resolution to 1440p allows you to enable 120 and 144 Hz modes, both on consoles and PC. This sounds like great news, but in practice, the image at these settings suffers from significant motion blur. The effect is noticeable enough that the overall experience feels simply mediocre and loses its appeal in everyday use.

The Samsung QN80F is a television that delivers on almost every front when it comes to gaming. It features a 144 Hz panel, four full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, support for gamers in the form of variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic 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 TV for gamers? And indeed, it is almost that way.

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

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

And it is precisely because of this one absence that the QN80F turns from an almost perfect gaming TV into a "nearly" perfect device. It's a shame – because everything else indicated that Samsung could set the bar very high again in this generation.

If we overlook the smearing and lack of native 4K at 120 Hz, the C69KS impresses with how well it performs during gaming. We get everything you can expect from a gaming television: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic switching to game mode (ALLM), Dolby Vision Gaming mode, and a reasonably functioning HGiG. The TV can also operate at 120 and even 144 Hz at lower resolutions, allowing for smoother gameplay on console or PC. Additionally, there is a clear Game Bar that lets you quickly glance at key settings during gaming. As a result — despite a few limitations — the C69KS can be a truly successful screen for gamers.