I saw Samsung's new mid-range OLED TV and its controversial Glare Free screen — and based on my first look, it could be a real challenger to the LG C6 | Tech Radar

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I saw Samsung's new mid-range OLED TV and its controversial Glare Free screen — and based on my first look, it could be a real challenger to the LG C6

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I recently got to try out the Samsung S90H, which is the brand’s mid-range OLED for 2026. It has been the subject of rumors that have caused concern for some Samsung fans; that the brand has opted to fit all its S90H models with Tandem WOLED (standard OLED) panels.

Over the past couple of years, there has been somewhat of a panel lottery in the S90 OLEDs where it was never a guarantee what panel you would get: WOLED or QD-OLED. We actually tested the 65-inch Samsung S90F, the S90H’s predecessor, last year and awarded five-stars. But due to this panel lottery, we couldn’t add it to our list of the best OLED TVs, despite it being a fantastic TV.

So where does this leave S90H? I asked Samsung about what panel the 65-inch and 83-inch models I saw had. As usual, Samsung wouldn’t confirm what panels are being used in the S90H line-up. We can't say for certain, but I do know that the 83-inch model I saw was a standard WOLED (thanks to Vincent Teoh of HDTVTest for helping out here), and I believe the 65-inch version was as well.

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All that aside, I was still keen to try out the S90H and to see whether it could be a worthy rival to the excellent LG C6, my review of which is imminent.

The Samsung S90H's new Glare Free screen is effective at limiting mirror-like reflections even in really bright conditions(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future )

The Glare Free screen means even dark scenes from movies like The Revenant (pictured) are legible(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future )

I tested out the S90H in a very bright room. Right next to the 65-inch S90H I tested was a large glass door and while it was a lovely day outside, it meant light was flooding in. For most OLEDs, this would be a major issue. OLEDs typically use a glossy screen which can really suffer from mirror-like reflections in brighter rooms. However, that wasn’t a big issue for the S90H.

The S90H is fitted with Samsung’s OLED Glare Free screen, a matte screen designed to reduce reflections to a haze. It was first introduced in 2024’s flagship Samsung S95D OLED and then carried over to the 2025 flagship OLED Samsung S95F, as well as other Neo QLED models such as the Samsung QN90F. This is the first time Glare Free has been introduced in the mid-range OLED lineup.

I wondered how the S90H, which would likely have lower brightness than flagship OLEDs (though we’ll confirm this when we get it into our own testing labs) would handle the big large light source. The answer: very well. Even watching dark scenes in the TV’s dimmest Filmmaker Mode, I could see the whole picture throughout. A nighttime scene from The Revenant was still legible despite the bright sunlight to the left. Black tones also appeared pretty strong and rich, crucially not taking on a lifted gray tone.

A mild spoiler for my LG C6 review: it has a reflective, glossy screen that can hamper darker scenes in brighter conditions. Had it been in this room, I doubt I would’ve been able to watch without closing all curtains. For the S90H, that was unnecessary: a very useful feature for those with bright rooms.

Movie mode gave Blade Runner: 2049 (pictured) some extra pop in its colorful neon signs (Image credit: Warner Bros / Future)

My preferred picture mode for testing TVs, and my own viewing at home, is Filmmaker Mode. While its brightness may be a bit limited compared to other modes, I find it the most accurate in terms of contrast and color reproduction. Naturally, I chose this for the S90H.

In its default, Filmmaker Mode on the S90H was very dim. Watching scenes from The Revenant, as Glass walks the snowy landscapes, the vibrant whites of the snow I expected were lacking. A quick trip to the settings and I found switching Tone Mapping from Static to Active added a nice hit of brightness which also created stronger perceived contrast. Again though, I felt like there could be more.

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I decided to switch to Movie mode and found myself enjoying it more. The same scenes from The Revenant still looked great with bright whites and highlights (such as torches) and deep black tones, but the accuracy wasn’t sacrificed for the sake of the brightness. Switching to Blade Runner: 2049, as K stands in the neon-clad market, the colors of the numerous adverts really popped on screen but again looked accurate.

Movie mode also had its Tone Mapping set to Active and if switched to Static, it looked like a marginally brighter Filmmaker Mode so it was best left to Active. I switched between the two modes and found myself favoring Movie mode more, drawn in by the boost in brightness. Filmmaker Mode had some deeper blacks when set to Active but they occasionally showed black crush, whereas this didn’t seem to happen in Movie.

The Samsung S90H's picture is very good from what I saw, with The Revenant showing off its rich detail and bright whites (Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future)

While I got some good time to test the S90H, I didn’t get to test it using all my usual reference discs so I’m looking forward to getting it into our testing labs. This is where we’ll really see how it can compare to the LG C6.

Specs-wise, the S90H delivers most of the best parts of the C6. It has a lot of the features of the best gaming TVs including four HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K 165 Hz, Free Sync and G-Sync, HGi G and ALLM: the same as the LG C6 (though the latter supports Dolby Vision). The Tizen smart platform looks to have been streamlined and it’s got a sleek physical design.

It really does look like it’s going to come down to picture quality between the S90H and C6 in the battle for best mid-range OLED. Based on my first impressions with the S90H, the C6 has a fight on its hands.

➡️ Read our full guide to the best TVs

Best overall: LG C5
Best under 1000: US: Hisense U8QG UK: TCL C7K
Best under 500: US: Roku Plus Series UK: TCL C6K

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James is the TV Hardware Staff Writer at Tech Radar. Before joining the team, he worked at a major UK based AV retailer selling TV and audio equipment, where he was either telling customers the difference between OLED and QLED or being wowed by watching a PS5 run on the LG 65G2. When not writing about the latest TV tech, James can be found gaming, reading, watching rugby or coming up with another idea for a novel.

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