Samsung S95H OLED TV review

Samsung’s S95H is an excellent OLED TV. It has wonderfully vivid colors, enough brightness to hold up in a sunny room, and some of the best picture processing Samsung offers. The built-in speakers are surprisingly good, too.

But last year’s S95F already did most of this very well. The S95H brings a striking new design and a few improvements, though the picture itself hasn’t changed nearly as much as the appearance. That makes the older model a serious alternative if you can still find it for less.

The S95H’s metal bezel is easily its most divisive feature. Samsung has given the TV a frame-like appearance that feels closer to The Frame than the more conventional design of the S95F. It’s a big change, and whether you like it will probably come down to where and how you plan to use the TV.

We think this design makes more sense on a wall. On its stand, the bezel looks a little awkward, and we’re not entirely sold on it. If you prefer your TV to have as little visible framing as possible, this might be a reason to look elsewhere.

Samsung has also dropped the S95F’s One Connect box. All the connections are now on the back of the TV, so you’ll need to account for that when planning your setup.

Our review is based on the US S95H. In some other markets, the model with this design is called the S99H, while the local S95H can look different. We can’t confirm that those regional versions perform identically, so the model name alone doesn’t tell the whole story.

Before getting into the picture, there’s another regional difference to keep in mind: panel type. The QD-OLED experience covered here won’t necessarily apply to every S95H.

The 83-inch version is expected to use WOLED rather than QD-OLED, and the 77-inch model sold in Australia also uses WOLED. We can’t confirm whether those versions use tandem WOLED panels.

On the QD-OLED version, color is one of the biggest attractions. Bright, vibrant colors have a richness that stands out even against OLED TVs using other panel technologies. If you haven’t owned a QD-OLED TV before, this is likely to be one of the first things you notice.

Brightness is another strength. The S95H is among the brightest OLED TVs you can buy, and it has enough output to remain enjoyable when there’s plenty of sunlight coming into the room. You don’t have to save your viewing for the evening to appreciate what it can do.

Samsung’s Glare Free coating helps here as well. Like the S95F, the S95H has a matte screen surface that reduces distracting reflections. The combination of high brightness and that coating makes this a particularly good choice for a bright living room.

Picture quality is impressive overall, but don’t expect a major improvement over the S95F. The S95H isn’t substantially brighter, and the differences in the overall image are small. Out-of-the-box picture accuracy is a little better, though that’s the sort of improvement many viewers probably won’t notice.

The S95H runs Samsung’s 2026 Tizen software, with the range of features you’d expect from a premium smart TV. Cloud gaming and smart home functionality are among the useful additions beyond watching TV and movies.

As you would expect, all the major streaming apps are available. You also get Samsung TV Plus, which offers free live channels for movies, news, sports, and more, along with exclusive original content produced for Samsung.

The S95H uses the same processor as the S95F, but its picture processing remains a highlight. Color reproduction is excellent, and color banding is very rare. Gradients look clean, with smooth transitions between shades instead of distracting steps.

Upscaling is very good as well. This is among Samsung’s best TVs for making lower-resolution material look good, and the overall image has a clean, polished appearance.

Samsung’s Vision AI is also part of the package, with features intended to make the TV easier to use day to day.

The built-in speakers are better than we expected, and they’re an improvement over the S95F’s. The S95H has a fuller sound, with a little more bass and better presence in the mids.

The new design may have helped Samsung here, though we can’t say for certain that it’s responsible. Whatever the reason, the S95H is a good option for anyone planning to use the built-in speakers for everyday viewing.

If you’re particular about sound quality, you’ll probably still want a separate sound system. But for anyone planning to stick with the TV’s own speakers, the S95H does a better job than many TVs.

The S95H is an excellent gaming TV. PC gamers can take advantage of refresh rates up to 165Hz on all HDMI ports, matching the S95F.

HDR games look particularly impressive. You get some of the brightest gaming visuals available on a TV, and switching to Game Mode doesn’t bring an obvious drop in picture quality. The qualities that make the S95H so appealing for movies carry over to games.

There is one complaint: Game Motion Plus seems to introduce more latency than it did on Samsung’s TVs in previous years. That’s something we’ve noticed across this year’s Samsung lineup, rather than an issue unique to the S95H.

It probably won’t bother most users, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you use Game Motion Plus. The criticism is specific to that feature; the gaming experience overall is very good.

The S95H is one of the best TVs Samsung makes, and it deserves a place on the shortlist if you’re shopping for a premium OLED. Its bright, colorful picture, excellent processing, and strong gaming performance are easy to appreciate. Better built-in sound is a welcome improvement, too.

It also won this year’s Value Electronics King of TVs shootout. Even so, it’s one of Samsung’s more expensive TVs, and the S95F makes the value question difficult.

The S95H is a small refinement of that TV. Its picture is a little more accurate out of the box and its speakers sound fuller, but neither amounts to a compelling reason to upgrade from the S95F. The new frame-like design may appeal to you, though we’d prefer it on a wall.

If you can still find the S95F for less, that’s the one we’d recommend buying. The S95H is excellent, but its improvements are small enough that we’d happily save the money.