CES 2026: New Samsung TV models go big on sizes, nits and AI

Surprising absolutely nobody, Samsung stormed CES once again this year with a wide range of new TV models for 2026 – maybe the widest ever in terms of display technologies used, as QD-OLED, RGB LED, MicroLED and traditional LED LCD were all present and accounted for. As is often the case with these yearly announcements, the focus was on the more advanced and impressive Samsung TV models right now: more – targeting mainstream consumers at lower prices – will appear later in the year to complete its various product lines accordingly.

What Samsung tried to make a big splash with – to the point of publishing a separate press release just for that – is “the world’s first 130-inch Micro RGB TV, the imposing R95H that comes with its own special redesigned “Timeless Frame” stand (which incorporates a complete sound system to boot). It certainly seems like a statement piece, so naturally no price for it was announced… but one can bet that it will be one of the most expensive TV sets of 2026 based on size and bragging rights alone, regardless of specifications or picture quality.

Speaking of specs, it’s worth noting that Samsung did not mention whether this model uses a 4K or 8K panel, which could be somewhat of an issue at that big a screen size (yours truly is betting on the former). Whatever the case may be, the same Micro RGB display tech will be used in much more manageable TV sizes – of 65, 75 and 85 inches in diagonal – which will most definitely be of 4K resolution and of much lower cost.

More Micro RGB TV options, more XXL TV models down the line

Samsung claims that this flagship Micro RGB TV line, the R95H, can achieve 100% BT.2020 color coverage in HDR – which, if true, is certainly noteworthy but not necessarily indicative of the picture quality provided. That’s still to be determined, as Micro RGB is but Samsung’s version of RGB LED, in other words an LED LCD TV based on backlight and dimming zones highly dependent on software control and image processing.

The company, as one would expect, did not comment on the number of dimming zones expected in each model, but the fact that they all incorporate a specialized processor “tuned” for RGB LED panels – aptly named “Micro RGB AI Engine Pro” – is a definite plus. All models’ screens feature the anti-glare coating Samsung used on many of its other TVs over the last couple of years in order to reduce reflections in bright rooms, the latest version of the company’s Tizen OS, as well as support for Dolby Atmos and Eclipsa Audio too.

Samsung will be bringing its Micro RGB tech to a step-down line of LED LCD TVs, the R85H, which will be available at 98, 85, 75, 65 and 55 inches. These 4K TVs will not feature the glare-free coating of the flagship R95H – and they will probably employ fewer dimming zones – but they are also expected to cost much less, especially later in the year. There was a vague mention about an R90H Samsung TV line too, but no details on that were shared yet.

Keeping up with consumer interest and the major trend of XXL TV sets, the company will be offering additional 98- and 100- models, such as the 98-inch The Frame, the 100-inch M90H and the 98-inch U900H. They will all be offered at different price points depending on each consumer’s budget and image quality demands.

Three different Samsung OLED options for 2026

Since QD-OLED proved to be quite successful for the Samsung TV business over the past few years, new models based on the latest version of these panels were naturally announced too. The company will be offering two product lines based on them in 2026, the flagship one among them being the S99H at 55, 65, 77 and 83 inches. Since Samsung Display does not produce panels larger than 77 inches, the 83-inch S99H will be based on LG’s Tandem OLED panels instead, a choice that was already somewhat confusing and thus controversial.

The matte screen coating that caused no less controversy last year – it reduced environmental light reflections but at considerable cost to black level performance in bright rooms – will return too, but Samsung claims it will do an even better job without hurting deep blacks as much this time around. We’ll obviously have to see. It will also be interesting to see what consumers will think of the one truly new design element of the S99H: the huge, by today’s standards, metal bezels surrounding the screen. It is a highly unusual choice: some will think it looks premium and different, others will find it aesthetically unnecessary and distracting.

In any case, the S99H promises to be “up to 35% brighter” than last year’s equivalent flagship model. That could easily put its brightness level beyond 2500 nits in a 10% window and at almost 450 nits full-screen, in a calibrated mode, in real-world content. That would definitely be an impressive year-to-year jump, but – again – we’ll see. It will come with the latest version of the Wireless One Connect Box and the Tizen operating system.

The more affordable S95H will not sport the metal bezel design or the Wireless One Connect Box (the latter can be added as an extra at a later date), but it will sport the same matte screen coating and possibly the same panel (Samsung claims the same 35% jump in brightness). Whether Samsung will be mixing QD-OLED and WOLED panels in this second-best TV line as it did back in 2024 is unknown at this time.

The most affordable of the three new Samsung OLED TV lines, the S90H, is based on WOLED panels only but will still be 15% brighter than last year’s S90F while sporting the same matte screen coating as the more expensive models. Not bad at all, even if it’s not based on the brighter Tandem OLED LG panels.

Samsung TVs in 2026: some risky choices, more AI, less 8K

Based on the above, it’s fair to say that Samsung is definitely not playing it safe this year – not in terms of true innovation, though, but rather in terms of consumer wishes or preferences. The company will offer three different OLED TV lines in 2026, for instance, all of which sport its matte screen coating despite the indisputable fact that many demanding consumers will only choose glossy screens for their TVs and monitors.

If anything, many reviewers pointed out last year that Samsung could have offered at least one glossy OLED TV option for those consumers… but the company seems highly determined – for some reason – to stick to matte screens as the only high-end OLED option going forward. Risky.

Then it’s the whole AI thing. Going through Samsung’s CES 2026 press material one can clearly see the company adopting artificial intelligence in many aspects of these new sets’ operation even more aggressively than last year, despite many consumers (especially purists and privacy-conscious ones) objecting to that. This is not just AI-assisted image or sound processing we’re talking about anymore: it’s AI-this and AI-that in common, everyday functionality now, which nobody asked for. Samsung’s Vision AI suite even includes Perplexity (!) along with Bixby and Copilot, as if consumers need no less than three AI assistants on the same device. Just… wild.

On a different note, it seems Samsung has accepted the fact that consumers are not really interested in 8K, as it only confirmed one such model at CES, the QN990H Neo QLED at 98 inches (more sizes are likely to follow later in the year). Since all other TV manufacturers have already abandoned 8K – including LG with its own 8K OLED models – it’s safe to say that if Samsung, the only one still supporting this highest of resolutions, takes a step back, it will be a long while before 8K re-emerges as a meaningful part of the TV conversation.

Then again, the way things are going with the enthusiastic adoption of XXL TV sets worldwide, it may be that demanding consumers will eventually realize that 4K just can’t cut it on a digital 150-inch screen, in which case an 8K comeback would make a lot of sense. Let’s circle back to that in, say, 2028?