The Samsung M80H is an entry-level TV released in 2026, sitting above the Samsung M70H. The M Series TVs are a new entry in Samsung's TV lineup that combines the entry-level picture quality found on the U series with the gaming features found on the higher-end QLED lineup, and it unofficially replaces the Samsung Q8F 2025. It features HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, a high 144Hz refresh rate, and a great selection of extra features. It's powered by the slightly older NQ4 AI Gen2 Processor, and despite Samsung's marketing around it, there's no local dimming. We bought and tested the 65-inch model, but it's also available in a 55-, 75-, and 85-inch size.
Our Verdict
The Samsung M80H is a mediocre TV overall. It doesn't really excel at any specific usage, as its low contrast makes it unsuitable for a dark room, but it's not bright enough to handle glare in a bright room, either. It's feature-packed, though, with a fully-loaded smart interface that makes it easy to watch your favorite shows and movies in a moderately-lit room just fine. It has a slow response time, though, so despite its wide selection of gaming features its not well-suited for gamers, as motion is incredibly blurry.
Great color accuracy in SDR out of the box.
Can't reduce the intensity of direct, mirror-like reflections.
Sub-par screen uniformity.
Not bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room.
The Samsung M80H is unremarkable for use in a home theater. It has low contrast and no local dimming feature, so dark scenes look washed out in a dark room. It has okay colors, but it can't get very bright in HDR, so highlight details in bright parts of the scene fall flat and look dull overall. It also has limited format support, as it can't pass through DTS audio formats, and it doesn't support Dolby Vision, which may disappoint some physical media collectors.
Great gradient handling.
Great color accuracy in SDR out of the box.
Sub-par screen uniformity.
Can't smooth out macro blocking or pixelization in low quality content.
Too dim to deliver an impactful HDR experience.
Dark scenes look washed out.
The Samsung M80H is a passable TV for watching TV in a bright room. It gets bright enough to handle a bit of glare during the day, as long as you don't have too many open windows or overhead lights. Its anti-reflective coating does very little to reduce glare, though, so any bright lights or windows opposite the screen are very distracting.
Ambient light has barely any impact on colors or black levels.
Can't reduce the intensity of direct, mirror-like reflections.
Not bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room.
The Samsung M80H is a mediocre TV for watching sports. The image degrades quickly when you move to the sides, so it's not a good choice for a wide seating arrangement. It also doesn't handle motion well, with a slow response time that results in blurry motion. Its upscaling is a bit soft, and it can't do much to clean up low-quality streams, so you'll instantly notice compression artifacts from most streaming sports. Finally, it has sub-par uniformity, and the sides of the screen are noticeably darker than the center.
Great color accuracy in SDR out of the box.
Can't reduce the intensity of direct, mirror-like reflections.
Sub-par screen uniformity.
Very blurry motion.
Can't smooth out macro blocking or pixelization in low quality content.
The Samsung M80H is mediocre for gaming. It has low input lag and a wide selection of gaming features like VRR and a fast refresh rate. Despite its low input lag, though, games don't feel responsive, as it has a very high CAD, resulting in very blurry motion in all games. Switching to Game Mode has no significant impact on picture quality.
Game Mode has no impact on picture quality.
Very low input lag.
High refresh rate and wide VRR range.
Very blurry motion.
The Samsung M80H has disappointing peak brightness. It can handle light in a moderately-lit room, but it's not bright enough to overcome daytime glare if you have a lot of windows or lights. In HDR, it struggles to bring out the creator's intent in bright scenes, and with its low contrast ratio, bright highlight details don't stand out at all, so most content looks flat.
Too dim to deliver an impactful HDR experience.
Not bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room.
The Samsung M80H has disappointing black levels. The native contrast ratio of the panel is good, and it has great black uniformity. Blacks are washed out by the complete lack of local dimming, though.
Dark scenes look washed out.
The Samsung M80H has just okay colors. It has great accuracy in SDR out of the box, but there are significant luminance mapping issues in HDR. It has decent color volume, but colors are slightly washed out in very bright scenes.
Great color accuracy in SDR out of the box.
The Samsung M80H has good motion handling when watching content. It's judder-free with most content from most external sources, and there's no micro judder. There's also relatively little stutter thanks to the TV's slow response time. Its motion interpolation feature is limited, though, and can't do much to reduce stutter consistently. Transitions are fairly even, but there are some slight unwanted intermediate colors, though most people won't notice them.
Most content is judder-free.
Inconsistent motion interpolation feature.
The Samsung M80H has just okay responsiveness in Game Mode. It has low input lag and great format support, with a high refresh rate, especially if you switch to a lower resolution from a PC. It has an incredibly high CAD, though, so motion is very blurry in any supported format.
Game Mode has no impact on picture quality.
Very low input lag.
High refresh rate and wide VRR range.
Very blurry motion.
Note: We're in the process of improving our tests related to image processing, but this score should give you a general idea of how a TV performs overall with its image processing capabilities.
The Samsung M80H has okay processing. It handles HDR content well, with great gradient handling and decent PQ EOTF tracking. It doesn't do much to clean up low-quality streams, though, and its upscaling is a bit soft overall.
Great gradient handling.
Can't smooth out macro blocking or pixelization in low quality content.
Performance Usages
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the 65-inch Samsung M80H, and these results also apply to the 55-, 75-, and 85-inch sizes.
Note that with all Samsung TVs, the last four digits of the model code (FXZA in this case) vary between regions.
| Size | US Model |
|---|---|
| 55" | QN55M80HAFXZA |
| 65" | QN65M80HAFXZA |
| 75" | QN75M80HAFXZA |
| 85" | QN85M80HAFXZA |
Our unit was manufactured in Mexico in February 2026.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung M80H is a very basic, entry-level TV, with a great selection of features but poor performance overall, and it's not a good buy for most people. The marketing around it is also incredibly misleading, as Samsung uses the term "Mini LED" to advertise this TV despite its complete lack of local dimming. It's vastly outclassed by even cheaper competing models like the TCL QM6K and the Hisense U65QF.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best TVs under $1,000, the best 65-inch TVs, and the best TVs for gaming.
The Samsung Q8F 2025 and the Samsung M80H offer nearly identical performance. The M80H supports a higher refresh rate if you decrease the resolution to 1080p from a PC. The M80H also uses a different panel structure with an RGB subpixel layout, which helps improve text clarity when used with a PC.
The TCL QM6K is a significantly better TV than the Samsung M80H. The TCL delivers much better picture quality, with high peak brightness, much better contrast, and much better accuracy in HDR. The TCL also delivers a better gaming experience, as there's significantly less blur around fast-moving objects.
The Samsung M80H is a bit better than the Samsung U8000F. The M80H delivers slightly better picture quality, as it's brighter in both SDR and HDR, so most scenes are more vibrant overall, but still not great. The M80H also has much better colors. Finally, the M80H has a much better selection of gaming features, including a very high refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all of its inputs.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has poor peak brightness in HDR. It's not bright enough to deliver an impactful HDR experience in bright scenes. Combined with its low contrast ratio, small highlight details don't stand out at all, so most HDR content looks dull and flat.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
There's no significant difference in HDR brightness when you switch to Game Mode. It's still too dim to deliver an impactful HDR experience, and most games look flat and dull, with no punch and dim highlights.
The peak brightness in SDR is disappointing. It's bright enough to handle moderate amounts of glare during the day, but it's not a good choice for an overly bright room. Near black scenes are dimmed considerably by the TV's global dimming feature, which is known as CE Dimming on Samsung TVs.
for pictures & test results
Unfortunately, this TV has poor contrast. The native contrast of the panel is quite good, but it lacks local dimming, so blacks look gray.
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H doesn't have a local dimming feature, so there's no haloing around bright objects or subtitles during dark scenes, but the entire screen is washed out.
for videos & test results
This TV doesn't have a local dimming feature, so it can't adjust the backlight of individual zones to brighten up highlights without impacting the rest of the image. This means that there's no distracting flicker or brightness changes as bright highlights move between dimming zones.
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has great black uniformity. It lacks local dimming, so blacks are always raised and look gray, but they're uniform, with just a few warm spots but no significant flashlighting in the corners.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has decent color volume. It has good coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, but it struggles to display the full range of greens and reds. It also struggles with lighter scenes, especially in the BT.2020 color space where colors are noticeably washed out in light scenes.
| Volume ΔE³ | DCI-P3 Coverage |
BT.2020 Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| L10 | 94.79% | 71.39% |
| L20 | 94.49% | 70.79% |
| L30 | 92.66% | 68.63% |
| L40 | 89.47% | 67.29% |
| L50 | 87.84% | 67.21% |
| L60 | 86.16% | 64.72% |
| L70 | 84.88% | 56.86% |
| L80 | 83.86% | 53.89% |
| L90 | 83.77% | 54.00% |
| L100 | 86.34% | 62.40% |
| Total | 86.78% | 61.48% |
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The color volume in HDR is mediocre. It can't display dim colors well due to its low contrast ratio. Bright colors are slightly washed out, but it's mainly limited by its incomplete color gamut and low peak brightness.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has great accuracy before calibration. The white balance is the most noticeable issue, as mid and bright shades are a bit off. Reds and blues are a bit too strong, resulting in a slight pink tint. The overall color accuracy is great, though, and the color temperature is fantastic. Gamma tracking is a bit low on average, but it's unbalanced, so dark parts of the scene are crushed slightly and everything else is slightly raised.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
After calibration, this TV has fantastic accuracy. The white balance, color temperature, and overall color accuracy are nearly perfect. Gamma is much better, but dark parts of the scene are still slightly crushed.
Unfortunately, although it's fairly easy to calibrate overall, the white balance changes significantly as the brightness increases. This makes it nearly impossible to calibrate it for different viewing conditions, such as if you need to adjust the backlight for daytime or evening viewing.
See our full calibration settings.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has mediocre accuracy in HDR before calibration. The white balance is okay overall, but there's too much blue and bright shades and dark and mid gray tones are noticeably off. The color mapping is quite good, but there are significant luminance tracking errors, resulting in sub-par overall color accuracy. The overall color temperature is noticeably cold.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
This TV has good accuracy in HDR after calibration. The white balance is much better, but dark shades of gray are still a bit off and there's slightly too much red in midtones. Color mapping barely changed, but the luminance errors are less noticeable after calibration and the overall color temperature is much better.
for pictures & test results
The PQ EOTF tracking on this TV is decent. Near black shadow details are raised by the TV's low contrast ratio, but most midtones are displayed well. Content mastered at 600 or 1,000 nits, which is most HDR content, cuts off rapidly at the TV's peak brightness. This lets the TV get as bright as it can, but there's less gradation in bright parts of the scene, so highlights can seem to blend together. Content mastered at 4,000 nits rolls off more gradually, which limits how bright small highlights can get but preserves some gradation.
for pictures & test results
Unfortunately, this TV has disappointing low-quality content smoothing. The TV's processing does very little to reduce macro blocking and pixelization from low-quality streams, but there's very little loss of fine details.
for pictures & test results
This TV has decent upscaling. Text is a bit soft and blurry, so fine details can be hard to make out.
for pictures & test results
The gradient handling on this TV is great. It struggles a bit in dark shades of blue and green, but everything else looks great.
The input lag is excellent. There's very little delay when gaming at 120Hz at any resolution. This TV also supports a higher 240Hz refresh rate when gaming at 1080p from a PC, and the input lag in that mode is extremely low.
Like other Samsung TVs, this model offers a low latency motion interpolation feature in Game Mode. This allows you to increase the frame rate from any external source, improving the fluidity of motion without adding excessive input lag. There are multiple settings to this mode; the posted results are in 'Level 2', with it set to 'Level 1' the input lag increases to 67.3ms.
This TV supports most common formats, up to a maximum of 4k @ 144Hz or 1080p @ 240Hz. The higher 240Hz refresh rate is only supported with 1080p signals, it doesn't work with 1440p or 4k inputs. Chroma 4:4:4 signals are displayed properly across all supported formats, which is important for clear text from a PC.
The TV supports FreeSync, HDMI Forum VRR, and G-SYNC Compatible, ensuring a nearly tear-free gaming experience from any VRR-enabled source. It works well across the TV's entire refresh rate range and supports sources with Low Framerate Compensation (LFC), which ensures your games remain nearly tear-free even when your frame rate drops very low.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
Unfortunately, this TV has extremely high CAD on average at the maximum 4k refresh rate of 144Hz. There's almost not overshoot, which is great, but most transitions are very slow to complete, resulting in blurry motion. It looks a bit better in midtones and bright shades, but it struggles to change from dark to bright shades or vice-versa.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
Dropping down to 120Hz actually improves the CAD a bit, but motion is still blurry and it's disappointing overall. There's no overshoot, but most transitions are noticeably slow.
for pictures & test results
The TV is fully compatible with everything the PS5 offers, like 1440p @ 120Hz and 4k @ 120Hz, as well as HDMI Forum VRR. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about manually switching to Game Mode to get the lowest input lag.
for pictures & test results
The TV is fully compatible with almost everything the Xbox Series X|S offers, including 1440p @ 120Hz, 4k @ 120Hz, HDMI Forum VRR, and FreeSync Premium Pro. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to manually switch to Game Mode to get the lowest input lag. Unfortunately, Dolby Vision isn't supported on the TV, so gaming in Dolby Vision isn't possible.
for videos & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
There's just a bit of stutter on this TV when watching content. It's mainly noticeable in very slow, panning shots, but it's not as bad as most other TVs on the market.
for videos & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The motion interpolation feature does a mediocre job improving stutter at low levels. While it reduces the average frame hold time a bit, the feature is very inconsistent, leading to an uneven frame time.
for pictures & test results
The TV removes judder automatically from the vast majority of content and sources. There's a very minor frame pacing issue with 25p content sent from a 60p source like an older cable TV box or a streaming device that can't match the content frame rate.
for pictures & test results
The TV uses a combination of pulse-width modulation (PWM) and direct dimming to adjust the backlight intensity. The flicker pattern changes depending on the picture settings used. It flickers at 960Hz in FILMMAKER and Game Mode, but all other picture modes flicker at 120Hz instead. It's flicker-free at max brightness in all modes. Turning on the Picture Clarity settings, even with everything else turned off, changes the flicker frequency to 120Hz.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
This TV has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion. Unfortunately, the pulse timing is very bad, causing a very noticeable double image.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The total amount of reflected light from this TV is sub-par. There are noticeable diffraction artifacts around bright lights, and light from windows and indirect light sources is spread across the screen.
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has decent color saturation in a bright room. Ambient light has barely any impact on color saturation.
for videos & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
This TV has a mediocre viewing angle. Colors fade and wash out as you move to the sides, and reds and blues shift noticeably, causing a noticeable color shift. This makes it a poor choice for a wide seating arrangement.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has sub-par uniformity. The sides of the screen are considerably darker than the center, which is very distracting when watching anything with uniform colors, especially sports. It looks a lot better in dark scenes, though.
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
The TV uses an RGB subpixel layout, which helps deliver clear text when used with a PC.
The TV uses a KSF phosphor coating to produce red light, with high peaks on reds and blues. This model does have good separation between colors, giving it solid color purity and a wide color gamut.
The TV has eARC support, which allows it to pass uncompressed high-quality audio from a connected source to your home theater system or soundbar. Unfortunately, it doesn't support any DTS formats that are commonly used on many Blu-rays.
Unfortunately, LPCM only supports 7.1 when forced, so if you're watching movies on an external device like a Blu-ray player or playing games on a Switch 2, it'll be limited to 5.1 channels instead.
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has an okay design, but it's not as premium as higher-end Samsung TVs like the Samsung QN80H. The bezels are relatively thin on all four sides, but there's a bit of a dead space between the panel and the sides of the screen.
for pictures & test results
The two blade style feet support the TV well enough, but they can't be adjusted to accomodate different cabinet sizes.
Footprint of the 65-inch stand: 39.4" x 8.7" x 2.8"
for pictures & test results
The inputs are housed in an electronics box near the center of the screen. Two of the inputs face straight out the back of the TV, so you'll need angled adapters if you plan on wall-mounting the TV. Unfortunately, those inputs are rotated 90°, so simple HDMI angle brackets won't work.
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H has mediocre build quality. It's mostly made of cheap plastic, and there's a lot of flex all over the back of the TV. While there are no obvious issues with the unit we bought and tested, it's a cheap build overall.
for pictures & test results
The Samsung M80H ships with the 2026 version of Samsung's proprietary Tizen smart interface. It's quick and easy to use for the most part, but the system does lag occasionally while navigating the menus.
for pictures & test results
Like most TVs, there are ads on the home screen. You can't disable them completely, although you can turn off targeted ads.
This TV was originally tested on firmware version 1122.
for pictures & test results
The frequency response on this TV is mediocre. It has a well-balanced sound profile, with little deep bass but an even mid and treble response, with a good downward slope. It doesn't get very loud, though, and there's noticeable compression at max volume.