Earlier this year, I tested the LG B6 — the brand’s 2026 entry-level OLED — and while I was still impressed by its performance, it wasn’t quite the upgrade I’d hoped for over last year’s model.
The step-up LG C6 was a huge step forward from its own predecessor, so I’d hoped the same would be true for the B6 — but even though it wasn’t the big upgrade over the B5 I’d anticipated, it’s still a great TV.
Samsung has its own entry-level OLEDs, the S85 range, and the 2026 model, the S85H, has just landed in our testing lab, so I decided to compare them side-by-side.
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Something to note is that I’ll be using the LG B6E, which is the same as the LG B6 minus a couple of AI features and a back panel design — the general processing and panel is the same.
So can the Samsung S85H de-throne the LG B6 as the best budget OLED? And which of these TVs will be the best Black Friday buy?
Colors and detail
Color reproduction is excellent from both TVs in Filmmaker Mode, and they perform lot more closely than I anticipated. While Samsung’s TVs have traditionally had bolder, brighter colors, I found the B6E’s actually looked more vibrant in the scenes I tested.
Watching The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, reds in the movie, such as Mario’s overalls and the red of Toad’s spots, were punchier on the B6E than the S85H. Whenever the Lumas were on screen, their bodies were brighter on the S85H, but this gave them a paler look, whereas on the B6E their body colors were more saturated and looked richer.
For the most part though, colors were great on both TVs, and they both did a fantastic job rendering the movie’s candy-colored cartoon world.
Switching to a real-world movie in The Sound of Music, it was a similar story once again. The B6E’s colors were slightly bolder, seen during the Do Re Mi scene with the green fields looking more vibrant.
The same was true of the fruits in the market scene, with the reds, oranges and yellows looking more dynamic on the B6E. Skin tones also had more color and life to them on the B6E, which made the picture feel more realistic.
In The Sound of Music though, I noticed that the S85H has crisper textures, giving the picture more depth, giving people and objects a more 3D-like look. Details appeared slightly more refined on the S85H too, in the overall shape and definition of objects such as the creases in people’s clothing and the texture of the mountain in the background.
Brightness
For brightness, both the S85H and B6E delivered very similar test results. The S85H clocked 833 nits peak HDR brightness in a 10% window in Filmmaker Mode, while the B6E hit 808 nits peak HDR brightness (10%) in its own Filmmaker Mode. HDR fullscreen (100%) brightness was similar too, with the S85H hitting 158 nits to the B6E’s 143 nits, again both measured in Filmmaker Mode.
On paper then, the S85H is ever so slightly brighter than the B6E. In practice, using a desert scene from Lawrence of Arabia, this wasn’t the case. The white sands of the desert were a brighter white on the B6E compared to the S85H. The same was true with the blue sky, which looked brighter on the B6E despite the S85H’s higher brightness in fullscreen areas. I suspect this is to do with the B6E’s processor.
As I said above in the color section, sometimes colors looked brighter on the S85H, giving the perception of higher brightness. Again, this seems to be down to the S85H’s processing of certain scenes.
One thing these TVs have in common however is that both had a reflective screen, which made dark scene viewing more challenging. Neither could match the likes of the mid-range Samsung S90H OLED, which has an effective anti-glare screen perfect for bright rooms. If you pick up one of these TVs, you’ll need to think about how bright your room is.
Contrast and dark scenes
Both TVs deliver very similar contrast. Watching The Batman, there are plenty of high contrast scenes that show both the S85H and B6E to be capable OLEDs. The B6 arguably demonstrates stronger perceived contrast thanks to its punchier HDR highlights.
As Batman explores the crime scene at Mayor Mitchell’s house, torches, lamps and flash bulbs from cameras have more punch on the B6E, which creates stronger contrast with the dark tones of the environment. The S85H still looks great however.
The shadow detail from both TVs is excellent too, with both preserving details such as the textures in Batman’s armor during the subway scene, or the finish of the furniture in the Batcave or Mayor Mitchell’s house.
Watching Project Hail Mary, both TVs again deliver powerful contrast, with the B6E showing slightly stronger contrast, again thanks to the HDR highlights such as the lights from the ship’s console or the light from stars in space having more punch on the B6E.
However, watching in dimmed conditions, the S85H actually delivers inkier black tones, which suit the shots of space throughout. Again, the S85H demonstrates crisper textures, which gives the movie a more lifelike appearance.
Which is the best Black Friday buy?
Both TVs demonstrate brilliant picture quality, with each having an advantage over the other (the S85H’s textures and black levels vs the B6E’s brightness and contrast) and they both have very similar feature sets, especially for gaming. Both carry four HDMI 2.1 ports supporting 4K 120Hz, full variable refresh rate support, and ultra-low input lag, meaning they could rival the best gaming TVs.
In terms of price, the 55-inch models are priced very similarly too, with some current price variations in regions. The 55-inch S85H costs $999 / £999 / AU$1,899, while the 55-inch B6E costs $799 / £999 / AU$1,699, meaning the B6 55-inch is cheaper in the US and Australia right now. Black Friday deals have already started at some retailers and the star pick is the 48-inch B6 at Best Buy for $599 and I expect that to be the blockbuster deal out of these two models. But, as we approach Black Friday, the S85H’s price will drop, especially in larger sizes than the 48-inch.
Honestly, there’s very little difference between these TVs from a picture perspective, so my pick would be whichever has the best deal available. Right now that’s the B6/B6E, especially in the 48-inch size. I do expect the S85H’s prices to drop and start matching the B6 in other sizes across all regions, but right now the best Black Friday buy is the B6/B6E.
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
