The Samsung S90C is a high-end 4k TV in Samsung's 2023 lineup, sitting below the Samsung S95C OLED. It has a QD-OLED panel, promising some of the brightest and most vibrant colors available on a TV. It has Samsung's LaserSlim Design, Neural Quantum Processor 4k AI upscaling with Quantum HDR OLED technology, and Motion Xcelerator Turbo Pro for enhanced motion processing. This TV officially supports 4k @ 144Hz, or 4k @ 120Hz on the 83-inch model, so it's a gaming powerhouse, especially with its full HDMI 2.1 Bandwidth support on all four HDMI ports. Like other Samsung TVs, it uses Samsung's proprietary Tizen OS smart interface, which offers a large selection of apps and games. It's available in four sizes: 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch, and a WOLED-equipped 83-inch size.
Our Verdict
The Samsung S90C is a fantastic TV for every usage. It has good SDR peak brightness, so it's great for watching TV shows or sports in a bright room, especially with its superb reflection handling. It truly shines for HDR movies and games, especially in a dark room where its OLED panel, with its deep inky blacks, truly performs at its best. The very low input lag makes it fantastic for gamers, as your inputs are translated almost instantaneously to the screen. Its superb response time makes it a great choice for fans of fast-moving content, whether sports or games, as action stays clear and crisp throughout. Sadly it doesn't support any DTS audio formats, making it tricky for a home entertainment center, and it only has adequate low-quality content smoothing, which isn't optimal for streaming services with low bitrates.
- Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks.
- Superb reflection handling.
- Incredibly bright colors.
- Aggressive ABL can get distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90C is excellent for watching TV shows in a bright room. It has good SDR peak brightness and incredible reflection handling, so it can easily overcome glare in a bright room. It has a truly exceptional viewing angle, which is great for a wide seating area or for moving around the TV while watching it, as the image remains consistent. It also upscales lower-resolution content well, and the smart interface has a great selection of streaming apps, so you're sure to find your favorite shows. Unfortunately, its low-quality content smoothing is only adequate, so low-resolution or low-bitrate TV shows will have macro-blocking, even if upscaled well.
- Superb reflection handling.
- Exceptionally wide viewing angle.
- Good peak brightness in SDR.
- Aggressive ABL can get distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90C is an incredible TV for watching sports. It has exceptional reflection handling, which is great when watching shows in a room with glare, and the TV has good SDR brightness, so it handles bright rooms well. The TV's viewing angle is superb, so the image remains consistent even when viewing the TV from the side, so those sitting off-center will have a pleasant viewing experience. It has an incredible response time, so motion, like fast-moving players, is crisp and sharp, with no blurring. The TV has spectacular color uniformity, so when watching sports with large areas of uniform color, like hockey, you won't be distracted by annoying smudges or color variations in the image. Finally, the very good low-resolution upscaling means that sports are upscaled well without any weird artifacts.
- Superb reflection handling.
- Exceptionally wide viewing angle.
- Good peak brightness in SDR.
- Aggressive ABL can get distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90C is a fantastic TV for immersing your evenings in virtual gaming worlds. Enabling Game Mode doesn't noticeably affect image quality, so your games look great and feel super responsive due to the TV's incredibly low input lag. The TV has fantastic reflection handling and good peak brightness in SDR, making it a good choice for bright rooms or rooms with glare. The response time is exceptionally low, so you won't have any blur or ghosting when the action gets hectic. It also officially supports 4k @ 144Hz (120Hz on the 83-inch model), making this a standout TV for gamers.
- Superb reflection handling.
- HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four ports.
- Good peak brightness in SDR.
- Incredibly low input lag.
The Samsung S90C is an excellent TV for watching the latest hit movies. Like all OLEDs, it has incredible contrast, with deep inky blacks and no blooming around bright highlights. And that's good, as its highlights get quite bright due to its very good HDR peak brightness. It also has excellent low-resolution upscaling, so your legacy DVD movies will look great. This TV has an incredible color gamut, truly excellent accuracy, and barely any HDR gradient banding, so HDR looks vibrant without any real calibration. Unfortunately, the TV has low-quality content smoothing; it's alright and preserves details well, but content like low-bitrate streaming services have macro blocking in dark scenes. It also doesn't support any DTS audio formats, so Blu-rays and DVDs don't sound their best as they tend to use DTS for their audio tracks.
- Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks.
- Removes 24p judder from any source.
- Incredibly bright colors.
- Amazing color gamut in HDR.
- Doesn't support DTS passthrough or Dolby Vision.
- Fast response time results in noticeable stutter.
- Aggressive ABL can get distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90C is an outstanding TV for playing HDR titles. Enabling Game Mode slightly increases overall HDR brightness, making the TV less accurate but making games look bright and punchy. The TV has remarkably low input lag with Game Mode on, so games feel super responsive. The TV can handle all commonly used resolutions and officially supports 4k @ 144Hz (120Hz on the 83-inch model). It has fantastic reflection handling and great HDR brightness in Game Mode, so you'll enjoy gaming on this TV even on a bright, sunny day, although, like most OLEDs, it truly shines in a dark room. The response time is exceptionally low, so you won't have any blur or ghosting even when playing through the most intense scenes.
- Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks.
- HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four ports.
- Incredibly bright colors.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Amazing color gamut in HDR.
- Over brightened in HDR Game Mode.
- Doesn't support DTS passthrough or Dolby Vision.
- Aggressive ABL can get distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90C is a fantastic TV for PC gaming. It has a nearly-instantaneous response time and incredibly low input lag, so inputs are fluid and responsive, with almost no distracting motion blur behind fast-moving objects. Its viewing angle is amazing, so even if you sit in front of the TV, you won't notice any discoloration or dimming at the edges. It has good peak brightness in SDR and amazing reflection handling, so it'll look great even if your office setup is in a bright room or in front of some windows. Unfortunately, this TV doesn't use a standard RGB subpixel layout, so text isn't very clear when used as a monitor, and there is color fringing at the edges of bright windows or images due to the subpixel structure of QD-OLED panels. Finally, as with all OLEDs, there's a risk of permanent burn-in when exposed to static elements, like the UI elements of a computer desktop.
- Superb reflection handling.
- Exceptionally wide viewing angle.
- HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four ports.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Noticeable color fringing.
- Risk of permanent burn-in.
- Aggressive ABL can get distracting with large areas of brightness.
Changelog
- Updated May 02, 2024: Changed the score and updated the text in the Upscaling: Sharpness Processing section of this review for consistency with our other reviews.
- Updated Apr 25, 2024: Mentioned the newly-reviewed LG G4 OLED in the SDR Brightness section of this review.
- Updated Apr 18, 2024: Mentioned the newly reviewed Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED in the HDR Brightness section of this review.
- Updated Feb 29, 2024: Added information about the Samsung S92C Canadian variant in the Differences Between Sizes and Variants section of this review.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the 65-inch Samsung S90C, and these results are also valid for the 55-inch and 77-inch models. The 83-inch model uses a WOLED panel instead of the QD-OLED panel found in the smaller sizes, so our results don't apply to it. Note that the last five letters in the model number (AFXZA in this case) vary between retailers and individual regions, but there's no difference in performance. There are also regional models, like the Samsung S92C and the Samsung S93C, but they're identical to the Samsung S90C.
It's also sold as the Samsung S90CD at warehouse stores like Costco and Sam's Club. The S90CD offers the same features, picture quality, and processing capabilities but has more powerful speakers (60W vs. 40W on the S90C) and a longer warranty.
| Size | US Model | Warehouse Model | Short Model Code | Display Technology | Maximum Refresh Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55" | QN55S90CAFXZA | QN55S90CDFXZA | QN55S90C | QD-OLED | 144Hz |
| 65" | QN65S90CAFXZA | QN65S90CDFXZA | QN65S90C | QD-OLED | 144Hz |
| 77" | QN77S90CAFXZA | QN77S90CDFXZA | QN77S90C | QD-OLED | 144Hz |
| 83" | QN83S90CAFXZA | QN83S90CDEXZA | QN83S90C | WOLED | 120Hz |
There's also a similar model to this known as the Samsung S89C. There's a lot of confusing information about this model, as it seems to use different panels in different regions. In North America, it's known as the S89CB, and according to user reports, it uses a QD-OLED panel similar to the S90C. In this case, the main difference between that model and the S90C is that the S89CB doesn't support Filmmaker mode. In Europe, it's advertised as the S89C, without the 'B' at the end, and it appears to use a WOLED panel from LG Display, similar to the LG C3 OLED or the Sony A80L/A80CL OLED. It has worse color volume and a slightly narrower color gamut, and like the North American model, it doesn't support Filmmaker mode; otherwise, it performs about the same as the S90C.
The Samsung S92C is a Canadian variant available in-store exclusively at Best Buy, but you can also purchase it online directly from Samsung. It offers the same picture quality and features as the S90C, but it has a 60W 2.1.2 channel speaker setup as opposed to the 40W 2.1 channel setup on the S90C.
Our unit was manufactured in March 2023; you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung S90C is an incredible OLED TV. It feels and looks like a repackaged Samsung S95B OLED but with official 4k @ 144Hz support. It doesn't get as bright as the Samsung S95C OLED or the LG G3 OLED, but it's still incredibly bright and vibrant, more so than the LG C3 OLED. Overall, it's a very impressive TV and is a better buy for most people than the more expensive S95C.
See our recommendations for the best OLED TVs, the best 4k TVs, and the best TVs for watching movies.
The Samsung S90F is a considerable upgrade over the older generation Samsung S90C. The newer panel is considerably brighter, especially in scenes where more of the screen gets bright at once. Small specular highlights in HDR are also significantly brighter, so it delivers a more impactful HDR experience. Unfortunately, the newer model also has a few downgrades, as it no longer supports ATSC 3.0 in the U.S. This means that it's limited to 1080p for over-the-air broadcasts.
The Samsung S90D OLED is marginally better than the Samsung S90C OLED. The S90D is a bit brighter in HDR, so highlights in HDR content stand out a little bit more, and it has better color volume, so it can display very bright colors a bit better. The S90D also has slightly better processing, so there's less banding in colors, and it does a better job with smoothing out low-quality content.
The LG C3 OLED and the Samsung S90C OLED are similar TVs occupying the same market position. Of the two, the Samsung is the better gaming TV and slightly better overall TV, while the LG is the better TV for movie fans. The Samsung has a wider color gamut and gets brighter than the LG, especially in HDR; not only that, but it also maintains its HDR brightness better in Game Mode. It also supports 4k @ 144Hz (120Hz on the 83-inch model), while the LG is limited to 4k @ 120Hz. However, the LG supports DTS audio formats and Dolby Vision, making it great for Blu-ray fans. It also has better low-quality content smoothing than the Samsung TV, making it better for watching streaming content, especially in low-bitrate situations.
The Samsung S90C OLED and the LG C4 OLED are similar TVs with only a few key differences. They're very similar in peak brightness, although the LG is noticeably dimmer in Game Mode while the Samsung isn't, making the Samsung the better choice for gamers. The LG is the better choice for movie fans, as it supports Dolby Vision HDR and passes through advanced DTS audio formats. The LG also has slightly better image processing than the Samsung, especially when watching low-bitrate content from streaming services due to its superior low-quality content smoothing.
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
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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