I saw every Samsung QLED TV releasing in 2025 – these standout features had me hooked

The TV launch season is upon us, and Samsung is among the first brands to put out its 2025 lineup of visual goodness. I recently had the opportunity to scope out some new TVs at one of Samsung’s satellite laboratories in New Jersey, putting every upcoming model through the ringer and seeing just how well they stack up to the company’s early-year claims. 

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Below are my initial takeaways (read: this isn’t a review) on the company’s Neo QLED 4K and 8K models, which are up for preorder now, as well as the new Vision AI features that underpin the 2025 viewing experience. 

Samsung’s ‘Vision AI’ is hard to deny

Unsurprisingly, a major emphasis at the workshop was Samsung’s latest artificial intelligence tech, Vision AI, which is integrated into all the company’s new TVs. While Vision AI’s capabilities span the user experience, from browsing and searching to watching foreign movies, the following caught my attention the most.

Real-time subtitle translations

Are you a fan of foreign films? Sometimes, the most obscure (and best) international movies lack English subtitles. Vision AI is a near-instant translator for seven different languages on new Samsung TVs. While this isn’t necessarily a new feature in tech — several Android smartphones, including Samsung’s own, already support live transcriptions — the ability to do this from the comfort of your couch or bed is very useful.

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We have good reason to believe that number will expand after future updates since Samsung’s latest mobile devices already support translation of 13 languages through its “Live Translate” feature.

Onscreen ‘Click to Search’

I often find myself pausing a show to look up information on my iPhone to identify an actor, a set’s filming location, or a song playing in the background. Samsung’s Vision AI can do all that at the touch of a button, without even pausing what you’re watching. 

But purportedly, it’s also doing next-level things, like naming the designers of one of Carrie Bradshaw’s outfits or the make and model of James Bond’s car in the original Goldfinger. I’ll have to further test Click to Search at ZDNET’s TV lab to evaluate its reliability. If it can name The Dude’s rug that tied the room together, I’ll be really impressed.

Control your TV with ‘Universal Gestures’

Generative art for slideshow wallpaper and smart home insights are becoming almost standard features in TVs of a certain price point, so I’m just mentioning here that these features are included in all new Samsungs. But how many TVs can you control just by pinching your fingers together or making a fist? 

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If you have a Galaxy Watch, then this can be your reality, thanks to the feature known as Universal Gestures, which detects the motions of your fingers, hand, and wrist to perform certain functions. We’ve seen this kind of thing in futuristic movies and scenes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Is Samsung driving our interactions with devices in that direction?

Neo QLED 4K & 8K: What else is new?

Both flagship models (QN90F and QN990F) offer Glare-Free technology, which utilizes a matte screen finish that absorbs and scatters light instead of reflecting it. Ideally, this minimizes reflections from windows and overhead lights, and I can attest that this was the case when I moved off-axis during the demo. Until recently, this light-refracting tech was limited to Samsung’s top-notch (i.e., most expensive) OLED screens like the S95F. 

Neo QLED 4K (QN90F)

The Neo QLED 4K (QN90F) has an upgraded NQ4 Gen3 processor, powerful enough to run the TV’s “Vision AI” feature, upscale older content into 4K, and improve overall picture and sound quality. Its Neo Quantum HDR+11 is said to boost contrast, color accuracy, and dynamic range, surpassing even that of standard OLED TVs. 

These enhancements, like the smoother 165Hz refresh rate ideal for console gamers, make the QN90F the premium product we should expect from a Samsung flagship.

Also: The best Samsung TVs of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed

Also noteworthy is the array of sizes the QN90F comes in — from a modest 43 inches to a gargantuan 115 inches. And if you go that big, Samsung offers its Supersize Picture Enhancer. This feature aims to mitigate the inherent problems with super-large screens by reducing pixelation, deepening black levels, and tightening noise reduction.

While the enhanced crispness was there when I looked at the larger-sized TVs, I also noticed a more intense blooming and motion blur. Some modifications in the settings should greatly alleviate those issues, but they’re still worth mentioning if you’re planning to splurge on one of these sets.

Speaking of which, the Neo QLED 4K QN90F is available now for the following prices:

Neo QLED 8K (QN990F) 

The Neo QLED 8K (QN990F) essentially comes with the above upgrades on its own graduated scale (for example, an NQ8 Gen2 processor to drive its Vision AI). The major difference is that the Neo QLED 8K can handle the wizardry behind Samsung’s Wireless One Connect Box, which allows for cable-free transmission of 8K content at 120Hz.

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Set-top boxes, multiple game consoles, Blu-ray players, soundbars, and all manner of peripherals can run through the One Connect as long as the box is situated within ten feet of the TV. Moving all the IO away from the 8K set gives it a cleaner aesthetic, with minimal cabling required. The big question to answer now is latency and exactly how response times will fare when gaming or requiring quick inputs.

At Samsung’s workshop, I sampled the Neo QLED 8K by watching videos of vibrant neon signage, firework spectaculars, and entrancing aerial drone cityscapes. Its imaging is superb, almost painfully perfect. 

The new Metal Frame design adds a nice touch of premium, but more practically, the metal frame encases a built-in speaker system with a crazily potent 6.2.4-channel setup that includes Object Tracking Sound. 

OTS is one of my favorite Samsung inventions because it follows the movement of onscreen objects, creating a convincingly lifelike, three-dimensional soundscape, all without an accompanying soundbar or speaker system. (But if you want to make the most of the visual fidelity of an 8K screen, you absolutely should pair it with expanded audio gear.)

The Neo QLED 8K QN990F is available now for $3,299 (65-inch) and $4,299 (75-inch).

Stay tuned for our full analysis and breakdown of the new Samsung TVs as we get them into our lab for review. 

(By the way, it was a 1964 Aston Martin DB5.)