Samsung S90 Samsung - QN65S90FAFXZA 65 Inch 4K OLED Smart TV Review

The Samsung S90F OLED is a gaming beast, scoring in the 86th percentile for smooth, responsive play. However, its HDR and picture quality scores are surprisingly middling, at the 33rd and 40th percentiles. Buy it for the 120Hz panel and four HDMI ports, but plan to add a soundbar and maybe lower your expectations for eye-searing brightness.

The Samsung S90F is a 65-inch OLED TV that lands in the 86th percentile for gaming, which is its main selling point. That means it's faster than most TVs out there, with a 120Hz refresh rate and four HDMI ports for your consoles and PC. It's a solid choice if you're building a setup around your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. But it's not a total all-rounder. Our data shows its picture quality and HDR performance sit in the 40th and 33rd percentiles, respectively. That's a bit surprising for an OLED, and it tells us this panel might not have the absolute peak brightness or processing power of some rivals. You're getting a gaming-focused screen first, and a movie-watching powerhouse second.

Let's talk about where this TV shines: gaming. An 86th percentile ranking is legitimately high. The 120Hz panel and low input lag make it feel responsive, and the four HDMI 2.1 ports mean you can hook up multiple next-gen consoles without a switcher. That connectivity score of 76th percentile backs that up. However, the performance story gets murkier when you look at picture quality. A 40th percentile score for picture quality and a 33rd percentile for HDR suggests the NQ4 AI Gen3 processor isn't keeping up with the competition in upscaling and dynamic tone mapping. In simpler terms, non-4K content might look a bit soft, and HDR highlights won't pop as much as on higher-ranked sets. The audio score of 39th percentile means you'll definitely want a soundbar.

The price swing here is interesting. We see this TV listed from $1800 to $2090 across different vendors, a $290 spread. That's a big enough difference to shop around. At the lower end of that range, you're getting a capable gaming OLED for a decent price. But at the high end, you're brushing up against more complete packages from LG and Sony. The value proposition really hinges on that sale price. If you can snag it for $1800, it's a compelling gaming monitor on a huge scale. Pay over $2000, and the weaker picture and smart scores start to feel harder to justify.

Stacked against its peers, the S90F has a clear niche. The LG OLED evo G5 will likely beat it in overall picture quality and processing, especially for movies, but might cost more. The Sony BRAVIA 5, with its Mini-LED tech, will destroy it in HDR brightness (where the Samsung is at the 33rd percentile). The Hisense U6 and TCL QM6K are Mini-LED budget kings that will offer much brighter HDR for less money, but they can't match the OLED's perfect blacks. So, the trade-off is clear: you pick the Samsung for its gaming-centric connectivity and motion, but you accept middling HDR and smart TV performance compared to others in its price class.

Skip this TV if you're a cinephile chasing the best possible HDR experience. With an HDR performance score in the 33rd percentile, this isn't the set for jaw-dropping specular highlights. Also, avoid it if you hate slow smart TV interfaces—its 22nd percentile smart score suggests the menus won't be the snappiest. And obviously, if you need to move your TV often, its 24/100 portable score and 46-pound weight tell you everything you need to know.

Here's the data-backed take: if your primary use case is gaming on a next-gen console or PC, and you prioritize smooth motion and low lag over cinematic HDR impact, the Samsung S90F is a strong contender, especially if you find it near $1800. Its 86th percentile gaming score doesn't lie. But if your weekend is more about movie marathons with dazzling highlights, or if you hate sluggish smart menus, look at the LG OLED or Sony BRAVIA models instead. This TV is a specialist, not a generalist.