Xbox Series X is the official partner of Samsung TVs – here’s why

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Two giants unite

Xbox Series X
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Samsung has revealed it will remain the official TV partner of the Xbox Series X in the US and Canada.

As part of the multi-year agreement, announced at Samsung’s Unbox and Discover event, Samsung Neo QLED is now the official TV partner of the Xbox Series X, and both companies are set to continue working together to offer what they describe as “an unbeatable gaming experience.”

We first saw Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs at CES 2021, where the company revealed the new display technology packs in 10 times more LEDs into a screen than has been previously possible to radically increase brightness, reduce blooming and widen viewing angles.

Samsung says its Neo QLED and QLED displays will offer the best TV companions to next-gen gaming with the Xbox Series X, thanks to 4K resolution, 120fps and impressively-low 5.8ms response times.

The event also marked the announcement of further gaming news for the TV giant. The latest Samsung TVs (that’s the Q70A 4K and up, as well as The Frame) will be the first to offer AMD FreeSync Premium Pro – technology which enables brighter HDR gaming – for PC and console games.

Not choosing sides

It’s worth clarifying that, despite the partnership, Xbox is reluctant to choose sides when it comes to which TVs are best suited to its new hardware.

While it’s undoubtedly true that Samsung’s Neo QLED and QLED displays will offer some of the best gaming experiences money can buy right now, other TV giants have thrown their hats in the ring to claim that they provide the best gaming TVs for the Xbox Series X.

At the end of 2020, we reported on a similar partnership between Xbox and LG, with the latter claiming that its OLED TVs offered the best next-gen gaming experience.

The point being, official partnerships between brands are merely marketing tools to mutually showcase the products involved – it’s abundantly clear that both Samsung and LG offer market-leading OLED screens that suit the Xbox Series X’s capabilities down to the ground.

The same can be said for misconstruing that these TV giants are favouring one console-maker over another. While we’ve previously highlighted a PS5-specific HDR issue on Samsung TVs, it won’t be long before Sony’s flagship console (March, according to Samsung) plays equally well on both Samsung and LG hardware. 

Naturally, Sony chooses to market its games consoles through its own TV products, so a partnership between PlayStation and a rival TV brand is always unlikely, but that’s not to say this comes at the expense of the PS5’s performance on the biggest and best displays on the market right now. 

In any case, if you’re after the best gaming TVs to enjoy your new console in all its next-gen glory, you’ll have to fork out the big bucks – regardless of the brand you choose.

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Axel Metz
Axel Metz
Phones Editor

Axel is TechRadar's UK-based Phones Editor, reporting on everything from the latest Apple developments to newest AI breakthroughs as part of the site's Mobile Computing vertical. Having previously written for publications including Esquire and FourFourTwo, Axel is well-versed in the applications of technology beyond the desktop, and his coverage extends from general reporting and analysis to in-depth interviews and opinion.  Axel studied for a degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick before joining TechRadar in 2020, where he then earned an NCTJ qualification as part of the company’s inaugural digital training scheme.