The Samsung S95F is our TV of the year – here’s how Samsung beat elite OLED and mini-LED TVs from the likes of LG and Sony
In a year that saw several high-profile TV launches, the Samsung S95F emerges as TechRadar’s pick for the best TV of 2025.
The Samsung S95F began its journey to this recognition by achieving five out of five stars for the first time in our Samsung S95F review. For most TVs, that would be enough, but we weren’t really done with the S95F. Samsung’s OLED flagship then competed in TechRadar’s flagship OLED TV showdown, a side-by-side comparison of four models, where it won in several categories and tied with the LG G5 as the best overall OLED TV – but beat the LG in more categories.
TechRadar readers voted the Samsung S95F as the best OLED TV for the TechRadar Choice Awards, meaning it also beat out the LG G5 in this category. So, the Samsung S95F won its spot as the best OLED TV, but why did it also win the award for best TV of 2025?
Bringing OLED to light
OLED TVs are traditionally considered a good option for watching in dark or dim viewing conditions. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that older OLED TVs had limited brightness compared to the best mini-LED TVs, especially when it came to full-screen brightness.
The second is that a dark, home theater-style viewing environment is necessary to appreciate the deep black levels and detailed shadows you can expect from the best OLED TVs, because reflections in bright rooms will overwhelm dark areas.
These limitations have helped keep OLED TVs in obscurity, but in 2024, Samsung introduced a new Glare Free OLED display with its Samsung S95D model. This matte coating proved to be very effective at eliminating screen reflections, making it possible to view with the S95D in bright rooms without having to deal with distracting reflections.
Even though OLED Glare Free managed to rid the screen of reflections, it also tended to raise black levels in images – something we commented on in our review. But with the S95F, Samsung introduced a second-generation version of Glare Free OLED that improves on the original with its ability to maintain deeper blacks, even in bright rooms.
A new QD-OLED display panel with significantly higher brightness compared to the previous model also contributes to the Samsung S95F’s performance in bright viewing environments, and this was a key factor in our review of the best TV of 2025. The S95F is not only a fantastic OLED TV, but a great all-rounder that can compete with many TVs mini-LED in terms of brightness.
The other best things
A bright, detailed image is just one of the many things to admire about the Samsung S95F. It has an ultra-slim design that uses Samsung’s One Connect Box for external connections, keeping installations clean and tidy. And Samsung’s SolarCell rechargeable remote is about as eco-friendly as remotes come, with solar and USB-C charging capabilities.
Despite its ultra-thin form factor, the S95F features a range of 70W 4.2.2-channel speakers that deliver clear dialogue and surprisingly punchy bass. Dolby Atmos is supported, and the TV’s Object Tracking Sound+ feature accurately maps sound effects to on-screen action.
Samsung’s Tizen 9.0 smart TV platform in the S95F is the company’s best release yet and features content hubs for categories like Gaming, Daily+ (lifestyle and work apps), and Ambient. The latter is for screensavers that can be displayed when the TV is in standby mode, and it also includes the Samsung Art Store, a new addition for 2025.
Samsung TVs have long had an emphasis on gaming, and the S95F is no exception. Its four HDMI ports support 4K 165Hz gaming, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, ALLM, and HDR10+, and the Samsung Gaming Hub offers popular apps like Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Luna. Input lag is an impressive 9.5ms, which is about as low as TVs get.
And these connections can all be found in an external connection box, called One Connect, which transmits power and image to the screen itself with a single cable. This means the screen is thinner and the whole thing is a dream for wall mounting, since the connection box can be hidden.
We’d like to say that the Samsung S95F is also easy on the wallet, but that will never be the case with a high-end, cutting-edge TV like this. But if you have the money, the S95F is the best TV to arrive in 2025, and in a year filled with excellent TV choices, that’s saying a lot.
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