Neo QLED vs. OLED: What's the Difference?

When buying the latest high-end TV, your main two choices are to either buy a Neo QLED or OLED TV. Both offer great features and picture quality, so you can't really go wrong with either choice. However, both offer different pros and cons so it's important to know what you're getting.

We've taken a look at what you need to know, and broken things down accordingly.

Overall Findings

Both Neo QLED and OLED TVs offer significant improvements over previous TVs. They offer better brightness and viewing angles and are so good, that you'll see the benefits even over a 4K TV. And if you are upgrading from HDTV you might not believe your eyes.

However, both offer different pros and cons. For instance, Neo QLED is often regarded as the best for gamers thanks to it offering a higher level of brightness than OLED and no risk of burn-in, as is the case with OLED. However, if you watch many movies with dark scenes or you watch TV in a darkened room, OLED is a better experience, more able to deal with low light conditions. 

Which TV panel is best for you mostly comes down to how you plan on using it. 

Picture Quality: Neo QLED Is Best for Bright Rooms

Whatever your plans are for your TV, both Neo QLED and OLED are going to look great. Neo QLED is generally best when used in a brightly lit room. Thanks to its Mini-LED backlight and its ability to produce a higher level of brightness, it's great for a light and airy TV room setup.

In contrast, OLED is best for darker environments but it provides viewers with better color reproduction when doing so. It also has superior viewing angles although this is unlikely to be a major issue unless you're sitting at an awkward angle from your TV.

For future proofing, there are 8K Neo QLED models out there from Samsung, although don't count on there being much source material to test out just yet.

Movies and Gaming: Similar Experiences With Some Pros and Cons

Playing games or watching a movie tends to require more of a TV and showcases how good (or poor) the panel may be. Both Neo QLED and OLED look great, but there are some fundamental differences. 

Neo QLED offers highly accurate lighting zones so it's great if you play a vibrant and colorful game like Fortnite. In contrast, OLED is best suited to darker-looking games like Elden Ring, or movies such as The Batman with its many dark scenes. 

Fast-moving scenes are best served by OLED thanks to its near non-existent response times. That's not to imply Neo QLED are bad at gaming/movies, but, of the two, QLED is better.

In the past, OLED panels suffered from burn-in which meant if you left your TV on the same scene or menu for many hours, it could be permanently imprinted on the screen. This is much less of an issue than it once was, but some people may still be concerned depending on how they use their TV.

Price: Neo QLED Is Slightly More Affordable

Pricing changes by the day for both Neo QLED and OLED with sales events changing the cost of new TVs further still. Generally, Neo QLED is cheaper on a price-per-inch basis, but when it comes to the highest-end options, OLED works out to be more affordable.

In either case, these aren't impulse-buy TVs, but the price is steadily coming down on both types of technology.

Final Verdict: OLED for Gamers, Neo QLED for 8K

Whichever you go for, you won't lose. OLED offers a better visual experience but mostly when in a darkened room. In a lighter room, Neo QLED will have the edge. Similarly, if you're looking for something with wide viewing angles, OLED is best but Neo QLED will look great when viewed from straight ahead.

For gamers, OLED is the best choice thanks to non-existent response times but they may worry about leaving their game on the same screen for too long, potentially causing image retention. Neo QLED circumvents that issue while also looking great when playing particularly vibrant games. 

8K is Neo QLED's biggest asset right now, but that's slowly changing as OLED is enhanced. Ultimately, whichever you choose, you'll get a superior picture over conventional 4K.