Samsung QN90F Neo QLED hands-on review: bigger is better for this gaming TV
An absolute showcase of Samsung's flagship TV technology
Pros
✅ ↔️ Now in a bigger 115-inch screen size for living room theaters
✅ Glare-Free makes this TV look almost flat
✅ 🌓 Improved contrast with pure blacks and searing brightness
✅ 🎮 Gaming motion and clarity has never looked better
✅ 🗣️ Improved Bixby voice command accuracy thanks to LLM training
✅ 👋 Motion-based gesture controls with the Galaxy Watch feel 1:1 smooth
Cons
❌ 🔍 Click to search is limited to the Samsung TV Plus app
❌ 🖐 Gesture control actions require exaggerated pinching and fist-clenching
The Samsung QN90F Neo QLED is a flagship TV showcasing all of Samsung’s latest display technology. During my two-hour hands-on with the display, I was able to test picture quality, gaming, AI features, and even gesture controls, and almost everything works as well as Samsung has promised. The QN90F Neo QLED’s picture looks even better than ever with a seemingly Glare-Free panel and even sharper details and deeper contrast. Gaming on the QN90D also looks smoother than ever, and I was able to capture several free-frame shots that look like perfect screenshots thanks to the TV’s high framerate.
Samsung has also shown a huge accuracy improvement in Bixby's voice commands thanks to some rigorous LLM training. Gesture controls also surprisingly work as promised, and it feels like you can finally control the TV with force. The only thing I haven’t completely loved is how Click to Search is limited to Samsung’s own TV Plus app and it basically serves you information pulled from IMBD. The Samsung QN90F Neo QLED has otherwise been off to a stellar start, and I can’t wait to go even more in-depth with the TV soon to test its other karaoke and AI live translate capabilities.
↔️ Now up to 115-inches. Every TV manufacturer is going big screen, and Samsung is going the biggest with an up to 115-inch QN90F Neo QLED. That’s bigger than even the 97-inch LG G5 OLED evo or any of Hisense’s new 100-inch 2025 ULED TVs. To reduce the barn door effect (aka, seeing individual pixels on a bigger screen), Samsung has implemented a new Supersize Picture Enhancer that promises to optimize picture quality for ultra-large displays.
🪞 Glare-Free finish. In addition to the larger panel options, the QN90F sports Glare-Free technology. This new Glare-Free technology is an improvement to the Anti-Glare Samsung debuted on last year’s S95D QD-OLED TV. Samsung tells us it makes any glare even less perceptible by significantly reducing light reflection from the surrounding environment. Sure enough, the new finish made the TV look like a matte screen, even with some harsh overhead lighting. From my photos, you can see there’s virtually no glare, even on the corners. Of course, we were in a windowless room, so I’ll stress test the Glare-Free tech more in my full review.
🌓 Fantastic contrast. The Samsung QN90F Neo QLED delivers a stunningly clear picture. The 1917 flare scene looks breathtaking. I felt like I was right there in the scene, between the pure darkness of night juxtaposed with searing brightness. I also found more sharp details in the stucco on the buildings I had never seen so clearly before.
🎮 Buttery gaming. This is the premier QLED gaming TV. PS5 Pro games like Spider-Man 2 looked buttery-smooth on the Samsung QN90D thanks to its stellar motion rendering. With the frame rate cranked all the way up to 120Hz, I was even able to capture freeze-frame stills of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 with my camera. That’s not a screenshot; the TV is literally rendering frames as a perfect image, and it’s a real testament to the QN90D’s gaming capabilities.
⚡️ Faster 165Hz refresh rate. The Samsung QN90F Neo QLED also increased the speed of its refresh rate to 165Hz, a nice bump from last year’s 144Hz Samsung QN90D Neo QLED. Now that higher frame rate requires you to turn on the Motion Xcelerator, otherwise, the display panel runs at a native 120Hz.
🔌 4x HDMI 2.1. The Samsung QN90F Neo QLED is a fully loaded gaming TV with four HDMI 2.1 ports, matching its closest competitor, the LG C5 OLED evo. That gives you enough 4K 120Hz-ready ports to plug in your PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch 2, gaming PC, or Blu-Ray player.
🤖 AI processor. The QN90F Neo QLED is equipped with a new NQ4 AI Gen3 processor, and it’s packing the most Samsung AI features to date. Under the hood, the extra AI power will better enhance upscaling, HDR, color, and audio. There’s also a new AI button on the remote you can press to talk to Bixby, which now can better understand you with LLM training. You can summon it to change the channel and raise the volume.
🔍 Click to Search. One AI feature I was truly excited about was Click to Search. On paper, it sounded like a universal version of Prime Video’s X-Ray that would use AI to see what’s playing on-screen and provide real-time cast, location, and other information. Unfortunately, my hands-on time revealed that it only works with Samsung’s TV Plus app, and the information provided seems to just be stripped from IMDB. I’m hoping that Click to Search’s functionality expands to Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming apps in the near future.
👋 Gesture control. Controlling the QN90F with gesture controls through a Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 sounds excessive and implausible, but it really works. It actually feels like you’re controlling the TV with the force from Star Wars, which I know everyone has done if they’ve ever found themselves with their TV remote out of reach.
🤏 Use the force. To get gesture controls to work, you need to pair your smartwatch and TV through the SmartThings phone app. Two wrist shakes activate the pointer, which moves in an almost 1:1 motion with your hand. Moving your arm causes the cursor to follow in the same direction, and double-pinching your thumb and finger lets you select items. You can also clench your fist to go back, and double-clenching returns you to the home screen. Unlike moving the cursor, you have to exaggerate pinching and clenching for the watch to recognize your desired actions because it detects the movement in your muscles.
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.
