Sony Bravia 8 (XR80) vs Samsung QN900F

The Sony Bravia 8 performs commendably in terms of HDR brightness, reaching a peak of 880 nits. This level is sufficient to render lighting effects effectively in most scenes. In tested clips from Life of Pi and Sicario 2, the television demonstrated vibrant, detailed imagery that captured the atmosphere of these films beautifully.

However, challenges arise in scenes with consistently high brightness, such as in The Meg, where the display's limitations become apparent. In these situations, OLED technology can struggle, with brightness levels dropping to around 450 nits, which can be less satisfying when intense illumination is needed throughout a scene. Despite this, the Sony Bravia 8 remains a strong contender, offering excellent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage and 74% BT.2020 coverage. These attributes result in rich, accurate colours and fine details, enhancing HDR content and providing an enjoyable viewing experience.

QN900F is really a bright TV – it can generate nearly 2000 nits, which is a value that remains unattainable for most models available on the market. But the mere ability to achieve such brightness is not everything – it also matters whether the TV can use it well. And this is not always perfect. Our tests on movie scenes showed that in scenes such as those from Life of Pi or The Meg, the QN900F can truly shine – literally and figuratively. In such moments, its greatest advantage, which is brightness, makes a huge impression. However, in more challenging scenes, the issues begin – similar to assessing contrast. When smaller, bright elements appear on the screen, the TV often struggles with the decision: whether to highlight them at the expense of black levels, or perhaps maintain deep black but tone down the brightness. The result of this is situations where, for example, in the movie Sicario 2, the brightness dropped to just 200 nits, making details barely visible. The dimming algorithms could definitely be better for a TV of this class.

The best factory mode on the Sony Bravia 8 television is IMAX Enhanced, offering the most cinematic experience, though it isn't perfectly calibrated. The TV attempts to replicate cinematic settings as accurately as possible, but some issues are evident. Starting with white balance, both for SDR and 4K content, there is a noticeable blue dominance, making the image appear too cold and lacking in natural warmth. Colour Checker tests reveal a shift towards cooler tones, affecting colour accuracy and making the image feel less lifelike.

Regarding brightness and contrast, the gamma shows a significant drop towards the end of the spectrum, meaning dark details may become too shadowed, and bright areas too intense, causing a loss of subtlety and detail. This is particularly noticeable in the sky, as seen in the comparison image. Additionally, the EOTF curve is considerably above the reference value, making bright elements overly intense. As a result, users may experience an unnatural image, with bright parts losing detail and negatively impacting the overall viewing quality.

Testing the QN900F in Filmmaker mode, one quickly noticed the characteristic features of the image despite the fact that this mode is designed to reflect the director's vision. The white balance was not perfect – the television had noticeable deficiencies in blue color. This made the entire scene take on a warmer tone, as if someone had applied a subtle filter in shades of yellow and orange. In movies where bright shots dominate – for example, scenes in the snow or in strong daylight – this created a slight warming effect, which does not always convey the director's intent. The second noticeable element was brightness management. The QN900F sometimes managed to brighten the image more than necessary. It looked as if the exposure had been slightly "pulled up," causing the scene to lose its naturalness. Shadows were sometimes too shallow, and contrast was slightly weakened. These are not disqualifying errors, but for a television in this price range, it is evident that Filmmaker mode has not been perfected one hundred percent. This is particularly evident when comparing its image to what was visible after screen calibration.

The calibration process of the Sony Bravia 8 television resulted in significant improvements in image quality. The white balance was notably enhanced for both SDR and 4K HDR content, with minimal errors in the middle section of the graph. Gamma calibration was one of the biggest improvements, eliminating previous dips that had impacted brightness stability and the reproduction of detail in dark areas. The EOTF curve was also corrected, making bright elements appear more natural and improving the overall tonal balance.

However, the most attention should be given to colour reproduction, where some issues persist despite calibration. Sony has omitted the CMS system in this model, which would allow for more precise colour control. As a result, the Colour Checker test for 4K content still reveals significant colour inaccuracies. Despite these limitations, calibration is still recommended, as the improvements in brightness and contrast are noticeable and greatly enhance the overall image quality.

After calibration, we were able to eliminate the errors in white balance and adjust them to a level that can be considered acceptable. It's not perfect, but definitely better than the factory settings. Most color errors are now within the deltaE 2–3 range, so in practice they shouldn't be noticeable during everyday viewing. The biggest improvement is seen in how the television manages brightness in SDR content. Shadows and details are no longer flattened, giving the image depth and naturalness. When it comes to 4K HDR materials, colors themselves are no longer an issue, but some imperfections of the Mini-LED technology can still be observed. The QN900F tends to dim the smallest bright elements too much, causing them to sometimes disappear from view. However, it should be added that this is a much better solution than boosting the entire screen, which would spoil the contrast. It's more of a characteristic of this technology than a typical flaw, but it's worth keeping in mind. The effects of calibration are really very good.

The fluidity of tonal transitions in lower-quality materials on the Bravia 8 is lacking. Unfortunately, the gentle gradation function, which was available in previous models, is missing, which is a significant drawback. The digital noise reduction feature can improve tonal transitions, but it often removes fine details, such as clouds in scenes from The Martian, which may not be to everyone's taste. On the other hand, the digital processing in the Sony XR80 is quite effective. In test scenes, it performed well without noticeable flaws, and the branches in the background remained smooth without jagged edges. This indicates that the Bravia 8 is capable of handling complex low-resolution image details with relative ease.

If we would like to eliminate non-fluid tonal transitions that can be annoying, for example while watching YouTube, we can use a feature called noise reduction. It works really effectively – it removes the issues with color blending when we set it to Standard level. However, as with most Samsung televisions, this comes with compromises. Although we did not notice that this feature significantly affects the structure of objects in the image, it unfortunately reacts rather aggressively to film grain. Most people will appreciate this effect – the noise is simply removed – but if someone is looking for an image as close as possible to reference settings, then we definitely recommend turning off this option.

As for scaling, which means handling very low-quality content, the QN900F performs really well. On the test screen with the model, the image looked clear, with only slight aliasing that should not bother most viewers. However, it is worth mentioning one issue – the television has problems with so-called overscan, which can cause older content to be slightly cropped. This can manifest itself, for example, with subtitles disappearing from the bottom of the screen.

The Sony Bravia 8 offers a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz, ensuring smooth viewing of dynamic content such as sports and games, with sharp and fluid motion. For more demanding users, the Sony XR80 features an advanced motion smoothing system, divided into three settings: Smoothness (Film), Smoothness (Camera), and Clarity. The first two settings adjust the level of blur and smoothness, while the Clarity setting will be discussed in more detail below. Each of these parameters can be customised to suit individual preferences, allowing users to fine-tune the settings for the optimal viewing experience.

There really isn't anything to complain about here – the QN900F looks very good when it comes to motion. Thanks to the 165 Hz panel in 4K, one can confidently say that this TV is suitable for both watching sports and gaming. The motion smoothness feature plays a key role here. It works remarkably well – not only during sports broadcasts, where it can eliminate blurring and image jitter, but also in games, where the animation becomes clearer and smoother. And of course, if someone likes to experiment with movies – they also have that option. At lower settings, there's a slight graininess and filmic character, while at higher settings, it reaches soap opera effect territory. So everyone can adjust the picture to their preferences, and the TV has the power to handle it.

The Sony Bravia 8 has greatly improved its compatibility with consoles compared to earlier models. It supports variable refresh rate (VRR), which eliminates screen tearing and can sync with graphics cards for smooth visuals. The Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) reduces input lag, a crucial feature for fast-paced games. Additionally, Dolby Vision with low latency enhances HDR effects, offering stunning visuals during gameplay.

The Sony XR80 also includes a Game Bar, which provides quick access to settings and monitoring tools during gaming. A notable feature is the option to enable a virtual crosshair on the screen, giving players a potential advantage in shooter games.

However, there are some drawbacks. The TV lacks support for 1440p@120Hz resolution, which would benefit users with less powerful graphics cards. Furthermore, the Sony XR80 has only two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which is typically used for connecting an audio system via eARC, limiting the number of available ports for next-gen consoles.

[UPDATE] We have updated our 2025 Samsung TV reviews following the release of firmware version 1131, which officially restores the essential HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) support.

It is really nice here. The QN900F offers a full set of features that we would expect from a top-tier gaming television – we have VRR, ALLM, Game Bar, and also cloud gaming applications. However, the biggest highlight is the proprietary motion smoothing, which also works in games and – importantly – does not add noticeable delays. This is something we won't find in its other competitors. Unfortunately, there is also something concerning. This year, Samsung has apparently messed something up with its televisions. During the test of the QN900F before its update, it had the HGIG feature, which allowed for perfect adjustment of HDR settings for the console. However, according to our procedures, we always update the equipment to the latest version – to give the manufacturer a chance to fix any shortcomings. And here… it turned out the opposite. After the update, the HGIG feature disappeared from the menu, making the proper configuration of the console for HDR practically impossible. It was supposed to be complete – 165Hz, four HDMI 2.1 ports, a full gaming package… but unfortunately, it turned out to be a little blunder. Such a shame.