Samsung really seems to have gone out of its way to make its TV lineup as confusing as possible this year, especially where its flagship OLEDs are concerned.
In the UK, Samsung’s top OLED is the S99H. It’s a glorious TV that takes OLED performance to new heights, wrapped in a fancy, somewhat divisive frame design.
Elsewhere in the world, though, this TV is known as the S95H.
Not too confusing yet, right? But get this: in the UK, we also get an S95H, and it’s different to the S95H found elsewhere in the world.
So, what is the UK S95H? Prevailing wisdom says that it’s essentially the S99H with a wired One Connect box and the large metal frame removed.
We were excited about this prospect: we like the S99H’s frame when the TV is wall-mounted, but it looks rather awkward when the TV is set on the – let’s face it – rather cheap, plastic feet.
If we could get a version of the TV with the same performance, a more typical design and a lower price, that would be a winner, right?
Well, it would, but that isn’t what the UK S95H is.
With both models set up side by side in our test room, there’s an instantly appreciable difference in brightness and vibrancy, with the S99H being clearly better in both regards.
Samsung is always (infuriatingly) coy about which of its models feature what panel tech, but we do know that the S99H is a QD-OLED model. Given that the UK S95H is less vibrant and less bright, you might assume that it’s a WOLED, but while I can’t be 100 per cent sure, I don’t think that’s the case.
The S95H’s screen has a very similar matte coating to the S99H, and while it’s less bright and vibrant than the S99H, it looks more ‘step-down QD-OLED’ than ‘WOLED’ to me. In fact, it looks remarkably similar to Samsung’s 2025 OLED flagship, the S95F.
To be clear, the S95H looks like a very good TV, and, having tested all of the brand’s OLEDs and several of its backlit models as part of our Awards process, I think it’s probably the second-best Samsung TV you can buy this year.
It isn’t, though, in the same league as the awesome S99H.
Frankly, no TV we’ve seen so far this year is in the same league as the S99H, but our Awards testing isn’t quite finished yet. Could anything else knock it off the top spot? Find out when we announce the What Hi-Fi? Awards on 13th October.
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Here's our Samsung S99H review
