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In the ever-evolving world of premium televisions, two titans stand out in 2025: the cutting-edge Samsung 65" Neo QLED QN990F 8K Smart TV ($5,499.99) and the cinema-lover's dream Sony BRAVIA 8 65" 4K OLED TV ($1,537.29). These flagship models represent fundamentally different approaches to creating the ultimate viewing experience, with each offering distinct advantages for different types of viewers.
Let's dive deep into what makes these TVs special, how their technologies differ, and which one might be the better investment for your specific needs.
Premium televisions in 2025 have evolved dramatically from just a few years ago. The battle between different display technologies has intensified, with OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) and Mini LED-backed QLED (Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode) emerging as the two dominant premium options.
Meanwhile, the industry continues to push resolution boundaries, with 8K entering the mainstream despite limited native content. This creates interesting decisions for consumers: is it better to invest in the best possible 4K technology, where content is abundant, or future-proof with 8K, anticipating tomorrow's media landscape?
When evaluating these high-end displays, several factors become crucial:
The Samsung QN990F 8K Neo QLED hit the market in early 2025, representing the pinnacle of Samsung's display technology. It builds upon the foundations laid by previous Neo QLED models but introduces the new NQ8 AI Gen3 processor, which significantly enhances the TV's 8K upscaling capabilities. This is crucial because native 8K content remains limited, making the quality of upscaling a key factor in the TV's real-world performance.
The Mini LED backlight system in the QN990F has also evolved from earlier generations, now featuring more dimming zones and better light control, addressing previous criticisms about blooming (the halo effect around bright objects on dark backgrounds).
The Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED was released in spring 2025 as part of Sony's latest premium lineup. While Sony has been in the OLED market for several years, the BRAVIA 8 represents a significant step forward in brightness—historically a limitation for OLED technology. Sony has managed to extract more luminance from the OLED panel while maintaining the perfect blacks that make OLED famous.
Sony has also refined its Cognitive Processor XR, which analyzes content in a way that mimics human perception, focusing processing power on the elements that matter most to viewers.
The Samsung QN990F uses what's called Mini LED backlighting to power its QLED display. To understand this technology, let's break it down:
Traditional LED TVs use relatively large light-emitting diodes to create brightness, with limited zones that can be dimmed independently. Mini LEDs, as the name suggests, are much smaller—sometimes 1/40th the size of conventional LEDs. This allows Samsung to pack thousands of them behind the display, creating many more independently controllable dimming zones.
The "QLED" part refers to the quantum dot layer that sits in front of these Mini LEDs. Quantum dots are tiny semiconductor particles that, when hit with light, emit extremely pure colors. This technology enables the TV to produce exceptionally vibrant, accurate colors with tremendous brightness.
The result? A TV that can reach peak brightness levels of 2,000+ nits (a measure of light output), far exceeding what OLED technology can achieve. This makes the QN990F particularly impressive in bright rooms and when displaying HDR (High Dynamic Range) content, where those brightness peaks create a sense of realism in highlights like sunlight reflecting off water or metal.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED takes a fundamentally different approach to creating an image. Rather than using a backlight system, OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays have pixels that generate their own light when electricity passes through organic compounds.
The most significant advantage of this technology is that each pixel can be turned completely off, creating perfect, absolute blacks with no light leakage whatsoever. This ability to render true black is why many videophiles and film enthusiasts prefer OLED—it creates infinite contrast ratio, with no blooming or haloing effects around bright objects.
OLED displays also offer superior viewing angles, with virtually no color shifting or brightness drop when viewed from the side. This makes them ideal for wide seating arrangements where not everyone sits directly in front of the TV.
The traditional limitation of OLED has been brightness, with most models topping out around 700-900 nits. While this is sufficient for most viewing environments, it can be a disadvantage in very bright rooms. The BRAVIA 8 pushes these limits further than previous generations, but still can't match the raw brightness output of Mini LED technology.
The Samsung QN990F boasts an 8K resolution, meaning it has 7,680 × 4,320 pixels—a total of over 33 million pixels. That's four times the resolution of a 4K display and 16 times that of a standard Full HD (1080p) screen.
The benefits of 8K resolution are most noticeable on larger screens viewed from closer distances. At typical viewing distances on a 65-inch display, the human eye can struggle to discern the difference between 4K and 8K. However, as you move closer to the screen or increase the screen size, those extra pixels begin to matter more.
The challenge with 8K in 2025 is the scarcity of native content. While some streaming platforms are beginning to offer limited 8K content, and some high-end cameras can capture in 8K, the vast majority of content remains 4K or lower. This is where Samsung's NQ8 AI Gen3 processor becomes crucial, using artificial intelligence to intelligently upscale lower-resolution content to match the 8K display. The results are impressive, with noticeable improvements in detail and clarity compared to 4K displays, even when viewing non-8K content.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 takes a more practical approach with its 4K (3,840 × 2,160) resolution. With 8.3 million pixels, 4K offers exceptional clarity that, for most viewers in most situations, provides all the detail the human eye can perceive at typical viewing distances.
The advantage of Sony's approach is that there's abundant native 4K content available from streaming services, UHD Blu-rays, and gaming consoles. This means the TV doesn't have to rely as heavily on upscaling to deliver its best performance.
Sony's Cognitive Processor XR still provides excellent upscaling for 1080p and lower-resolution content, but it can dedicate more processing power to other enhancements since it doesn't need to bridge the massive gap to 8K.
In bright room environments, the Samsung QN990F has a clear advantage. Its Mini LED system can push peak brightness levels far beyond what OLED technology can achieve, making it ideal for rooms with lots of windows or bright ambient lighting. The anti-glare technology further enhances this advantage, reducing reflections that might otherwise wash out the image.
The QN990F excels with HDR content, which relies on brightness extremes to create a more dynamic image. When a sunbeam breaks through clouds or a flashlight illuminates a dark scene, the Samsung can make those highlights truly pop in a way that's closer to how our eyes perceive such contrasts in real life.
The Sony BRAVIA 8, while not as bright overall, still delivers exceptional HDR performance thanks to its perfect black levels. The infinite contrast ratio means that even with lower peak brightness, HDR content still looks dramatic and impactful, especially in controlled lighting environments.
Sony also supports Dolby Vision, an advanced HDR format that provides dynamic scene-by-scene data to optimize the image. Samsung, by contrast, supports HDR10+ but not Dolby Vision. For movie enthusiasts, this might be a consideration as more premium streaming content uses Dolby Vision.
This category showcases the fundamental difference between these display technologies. The Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED simply can't be beaten when it comes to black levels and contrast. Because each pixel can turn completely off, dark scenes in movies look genuinely dark, with no backlight bleed or grayish blacks. This creates a sense of depth and dimensionality that LED-based displays struggle to match.
In a dark room home theater setting, the BRAVIA 8's perfect blacks make movie watching a truly immersive experience, particularly with films that feature a lot of dark scenes, like horror movies or space epics.
The Samsung QN990F comes impressively close with its thousands of Mini LED dimming zones, producing very deep blacks for an LED-based display. However, some blooming around bright objects on dark backgrounds is inevitable, though it's been significantly reduced compared to earlier generations.
Both TVs excel in color reproduction, but in slightly different ways. The Samsung QN990F uses Quantum Dot technology to produce a wide color gamut with exceptional color volume—meaning it can maintain color saturation even at high brightness levels. This makes HDR content look particularly vibrant and punchy.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 is renowned for its color accuracy rather than outright vibrancy. Sony's processing aims to reproduce colors exactly as creators intended, with a focus on natural, true-to-life tones rather than eye-catching saturation. For purists who want to see content exactly as filmmakers envisioned, this approach has significant appeal.
The Samsung QN990F's NQ8 AI Gen3 Processor represents the cutting edge of Samsung's image processing technology. It leverages artificial intelligence trained on hundreds of thousands of images to identify objects on screen and enhance them appropriately. This is particularly evident in its 8K upscaling, which can make 4K (and even HD) content look remarkably close to native 8K quality.
Samsung's AI-based processing is aggressive but effective, enhancing details, reducing noise, and optimizing contrast scene by scene. Some purists might find it occasionally over-processes content, but most viewers will be impressed by the clarity and punch it brings to everything from old DVDs to the latest 4K streams.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 approaches processing differently with its Cognitive Processor XR. Rather than simply enhancing traditional aspects of the image like sharpness and color, this processor analyzes content the way humans perceive it, identifying focal points and enhancing the elements that viewers naturally focus on.
Sony's approach is generally more subtle and naturalistic, preserving the filmmaker's intent while still improving the viewing experience. This makes the BRAVIA 8 a favorite among cinema enthusiasts who want enhancements that don't call attention to themselves.
The Samsung QN990F runs on the latest version of Samsung's Tizen OS, a comprehensive smart platform with support for all major streaming services. The standout feature is the Wireless One Connect Box, which allows you to connect all your devices to an external box that communicates wirelessly with the TV. This enables an exceptionally clean installation with just a single power cable going to the TV itself.
Samsung's gaming features are also top-notch, with support for 4K at 240Hz (with compatible devices), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and extremely low input lag. For serious gamers, these features provide a competitive edge and smoother gameplay.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 uses Google TV as its smart platform, offering excellent content recommendations that aggregate across streaming services. Voice search via Google Assistant works exceptionally well, making it easy to find content without tedious typing.
Sony has also improved its gaming credentials with this generation, offering 4K at 120Hz support, VRR, and ALLM. While not quite as gaming-focused as Samsung, the BRAVIA 8 still provides an excellent experience for PS5 and Xbox Series X owners.
The Samsung QN990F features an ultra-slim design with an almost non-existent bezel, creating a striking floating screen effect. The premium metal frame adds a touch of luxury, while the Wireless One Connect Box eliminates cable clutter for a clean installation.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 opts for a more understated, professional aesthetic with a minimalist stand and thin profile. While it doesn't offer the wireless connection options of the Samsung, its design is timeless and blends well with most décor styles.
For home theater enthusiasts, both TVs offer excellent performance, but the Sony's perfect blacks and filmmaker-focused processing make it particularly well-suited to dedicated viewing rooms where lighting can be controlled. The Samsung, with its higher brightness and anti-glare properties, adapts better to multi-purpose living spaces where ambient light can't always be eliminated.
At $5,499.99, the Samsung QN990F 8K Neo QLED represents a significant investment. You're paying for cutting-edge technology, class-leading brightness, and future-proofing with 8K resolution. For early adopters who want the absolute pinnacle of what's technically possible in 2025, it delivers unprecedented performance and features.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 4K OLED costs substantially less at $1,537.29, while still delivering reference-quality picture performance in many respects. For viewers who prioritize movie watching in controlled environments, the perfect blacks and filmmaker-focused processing may actually be preferable to the Samsung's approach, regardless of price.
The decision ultimately comes down to your specific viewing habits, environment, and budget. The Samsung QN990F offers technological superiority and future-proofing at a premium price, while the Sony BRAVIA 8 delivers exceptional core picture performance focused on what matters most to cinephiles at a more reasonable cost.
Both represent the pinnacle of their respective technologies in 2025, and either would provide a remarkable upgrade to most existing home entertainment setups. Your choice should reflect not just the objective technical specifications, but how you personally watch TV and what aspects of performance matter most in your specific viewing environment.
| Samsung 65" Neo QLED QN990F 8K Smart TV ($5,499.99) | Sony BRAVIA 8 65" 4K OLED TV ($1,537.29) |
|---|---|
| Display Technology - Fundamentally different approaches that affect picture quality | |
| Neo QLED with Mini LED backlight (exceptional brightness, very good blacks) | OLED (perfect blacks, infinite contrast, moderate brightness) |
| Resolution - Affects image detail and future-proofing | |
| 8K (7680 × 4320) - Future-proofed but limited native content | 4K (3840 × 2160) - Abundant native content available now |
| Peak Brightness - Critical for HDR performance and bright room viewing | |
| 2,000+ nits (excellent for bright rooms and vivid HDR highlights) | 800-900 nits (good for moderate lighting, excellent in dark rooms) |
| Black Levels - Impacts contrast and image depth | |
| Very deep blacks with minimal blooming (small halos possible) | Perfect, absolute blacks with no blooming (OLED's biggest advantage) |
| Processor - Determines upscaling quality and overall performance | |
| NQ8 AI Gen3 (industry-leading 8K upscaling, aggressive enhancement) | Cognitive Processor XR (naturalistic processing focused on creator intent) |
| HDR Support - Affects compatibility with premium content | |
| HDR10, HDR10+, HLG (no Dolby Vision support) | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG (Dolby Vision is preferred for movies) |
| Viewing Angle - Important for wide seating arrangements | |
| Very good with Ultra Viewing Angle technology | Excellent with no color shift or brightness drop-off |
| Gaming Features - Critical for console and PC gamers | |
| 4K@240Hz, VRR, ALLM, FreeSync Premium Pro, <10ms input lag | 4K@120Hz, VRR, ALLM, ~15ms input lag |
| Smart Platform - Determines app availability and user experience | |
| Tizen OS with comprehensive app support and ads | Google TV with excellent content aggregation and voice search |
| Unique Features - Special capabilities that set each model apart | |
| Wireless One Connect Box, exceptional anti-glare coating | Acoustic Surface Audio+ (screen creates sound), superior built-in audio |
| Value Proposition - What justifies the price difference | |
| Premium pricing for cutting-edge technology and 8K resolution | Significantly better value while still delivering reference-quality pictures |
| Best Suited For - Helps match the TV to your specific needs | |
| Bright rooms, future-proofing enthusiasts, no-compromise tech buyers | Movie enthusiasts, dark/controlled rooms, value-conscious premium buyers |
The main difference is in the display technology. The Samsung 65" Neo QLED QN990F 8K Smart TV ($5,499.99) uses Mini LED backlighting with quantum dots for exceptional brightness and vibrant colors, while the Sony BRAVIA 8 65" 4K OLED TV ($1,537.29) uses self-emitting pixels that can turn completely off for perfect blacks and infinite contrast. This fundamental difference means the Samsung excels in bright rooms with its high brightness levels, while the Sony delivers superior dark room performance with its perfect black levels.
For most viewers, 8K resolution in the Samsung QN990F 8K Smart TV isn't necessarily worth the significant price premium over the 4K Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED TV. Native 8K content remains limited in 2025, and at typical viewing distances on a 65" screen, the difference between 4K and 8K is subtle to most eyes. The Samsung does offer excellent AI upscaling to make the most of current content, but the Sony delivers outstanding picture quality with abundant native 4K content at less than one-third the price.
For dedicated movie watching, especially in a controlled lighting environment, the Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED TV generally offers a more cinematic experience than the Samsung Neo QLED QN990F. The Sony's perfect blacks, infinite contrast, and filmmaker-focused processing create a more authentic cinematic presentation. Sony also supports Dolby Vision HDR, which is widely used for premium movie content. That said, the Samsung still delivers excellent movie performance with superior brightness for HDR highlights in bright room environments.
The Samsung 65" Neo QLED QN990F ($5,499.99) significantly outperforms the Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED ($1,537.29) in bright rooms. With its Mini LED technology pushing brightness levels above 2,000 nits and advanced anti-glare coating, the Samsung maintains picture quality even with sunlight or bright indoor lighting. While OLED technology has improved its brightness capabilities, the Sony still maxes out around 800-900 nits, making it better suited for moderate to controlled lighting environments.
For serious gamers, the Samsung Neo QLED QN990F offers more advanced gaming features than the Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED. The Samsung supports 4K gaming at up to 240Hz (with compatible devices), has extremely low input lag (<10ms), and features comprehensive VRR support including FreeSync Premium Pro. The Sony is still excellent for gaming with 4K@120Hz support, VRR, and ALLM, but with slightly higher input lag. Both TVs deliver outstanding picture quality for games, with the Sony having a slight edge in dark scenes and the Samsung in bright, colorful content.
The price difference is substantial. The Samsung 65" Neo QLED QN990F 8K Smart TV costs $5,499.99, while the Sony BRAVIA 8 65" 4K OLED TV is priced at $1,537.29. This means the Samsung costs nearly $4,000 more—or about 3.5 times the price of the Sony. This significant price gap reflects the Samsung's cutting-edge 8K resolution, newer Mini LED technology, and premium features like the Wireless One Connect Box, but represents a major consideration for value-conscious buyers.
Both TVs offer excellent smart features but with different approaches. The Samsung Neo QLED QN990F uses Tizen OS with comprehensive app support and a sleek interface, though some users find the presence of ads distracting. The Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED uses Google TV, which excels at content aggregation across services and has powerful voice search via Google Assistant. The Sony's platform is generally considered more intuitive and ad-free, while Samsung's offers some unique features like Multi-View for displaying multiple content sources simultaneously.
While the Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED TV still has some theoretical burn-in risk (where static images can leave permanent marks), modern OLED TVs have significantly mitigated this issue through various technologies and protections. For typical viewing with varied content, burn-in is unlikely to be a problem. The Samsung Neo QLED QN990F uses Mini LED technology that has no risk of burn-in whatsoever, which may be a consideration for those who frequently display static content like news tickers, channel logos, or use the TV as a PC monitor.
For most consumers, the Sony BRAVIA 8 65" 4K OLED ($1,537.29) offers significantly better value than the Samsung 65" Neo QLED QN990F 8K ($5,499.99). The Sony delivers reference-quality picture performance for movie watching, excellent smart features, and very good gaming capabilities at less than one-third the price of the Samsung. While the Samsung offers cutting-edge technology and future-proofing with 8K resolution, the current lack of native 8K content makes it difficult to justify the substantial premium for most buyers.
In a dedicated home theater with controlled lighting, the Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED generally outperforms the Samsung Neo QLED QN990F despite its lower price. The Sony's perfect blacks, infinite contrast ratio, accurate colors, and Dolby Vision support create a truly cinematic experience that closely matches the filmmaker's intent. The Samsung still delivers excellent performance with superior brightness for HDR highlights, but in a darkened room, the Sony's OLED technology shows its strengths. For the ultimate home theater setup, the Sony represents better value while delivering reference-quality images.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED TV typically offers superior built-in sound compared to the Samsung Neo QLED QN990F. Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology vibrates the actual screen to produce sound, creating more immersive audio with better dialog clarity and spatial positioning. The Samsung's built-in audio system is adequate but generally less impressive given its premium price point. For the best experience with either TV, an external sound system or soundbar is recommended, though the Sony performs better if you're relying solely on the TV's speakers.
Both the Samsung 65" Neo QLED QN990F 8K Smart TV and Sony BRAVIA 8 65" 4K OLED TV should remain relevant for many years, but in different ways. The Samsung's 8K resolution provides more future-proofing as 8K content gradually becomes more available over the next 5-10 years. The Sony, while "only" 4K, delivers exceptional picture quality that will remain impressive for years to come, as 4K content is now standard and will be for the foreseeable future. Both TVs support the latest gaming standards and have powerful processors that should handle software updates for several years.
We've done our best to create useful and informative comparisons to help you decide what product to buy. Our research uses advanced automated methods to create this comparison and perfection is not possible - please contact us for corrections or questions. These are the sites we've researched in the creation of this article: samsung.com - abt.com - bestbuy.com - pcnation.com - samsung.com - videoandaudiocenter.com - exertisalmo.com - displayspecifications.com - theapplianceplug.com - news.samsung.com - bestbuy.com - bestbuy.com - crutchfield.com - avsforum.com - electronics.sony.com - sony.com - store.sony.co.nz - sony.com - displayspecifications.com
