PICTURE QUALITY Picture quality was very good, overall. Reproduction of fine image detail was excellent. Color accuracy was excellent, so colors, especially flesh tones, look very natural and lifelike. Contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—in dark scenes was okay, so images had some depth, but it was not the best. Black levels were OK and maintained some contrast in darker scenes, but they fell short of the better TVs. There may be a subtle halo visible around bright objects on a dark background. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images was generally excellent and free of "jaggies" (jagged edges). Deinterlacing of 1080i video was excellent. Its frame-rate compensation for 1080i film-based content was excellent.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE HDR performance was generally effective. In our tests, the display's high peak brightness capability was very good, and helped reproduce the realism of our HDR 4K content. It revealed very well the contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights —while the brightness levels in the mid-to-lower tones, like those in an indoor scene, were preserved. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail, from black to white, with no obvious banding within the gradually shaded areas. We noted some loss of detail within the highlights of the brightest areas.
VIEWING ANGLE This Samsung model has a wide viewing angle overall. It should provide fairly consistent picture quality for typical viewing setups—say, if seated in a chair off to one side. Our examination at various angles saw reasonably good consistency. In our tests, the picture did show moderate dimming from the sides. When we viewed the TV from the sides the image had some loss of quality. Halo effects around objects in darker scenes (a side effect of the local dimming feature) also become more prominent at off angles. Lastly, we viewed the image from above and below center screen, and saw excellent vertical viewing angle performance, with no significant changes in color, contrast, and black level.
MOTION BLUR In our motion tests, this Samsung LCD (LED) had generally excellent motion performance, with only slight blurring.
SOUND QUALITY We got excellent sound quality, among the best we've tested. Whether you're watching a blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it can deliver a top quality listening experience. In our listening evaluations, we found the bass (low frequency sound) was very deep and provided a strong sense of fullness and lacking some definition. Treble (high frequency sound) was very good. The treble was generally neutral. This TV should be OK in rooms large or small, noisy or quiet—we found the speakers could play at a fairly loud volume level. You can get better quality from a high performing soundbar or separate home theater system but you should give this model a good listen before making that choice.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is 16 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on. The remote controls doesn't need to be pointed at the TV. It has a simplified design with a reduced set of buttons. The remote has a microphone use to issue voice commands.
INTERNET FEATURES This TV provides internet functionality via its "Tizen" portal, with access to a library of applications. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney Plus, Hulu, Max/HBO Max, Netflix, YouTube. It includes built-in Samsung Bixby, Amazon Alexa virtual assistants, which allow you to use natural speech to ask questions, launch applications, and search programming by talking to the TV.
CONNECTIONS This model has 4 HDMI inputs 2 USB ports, and an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port, 802.11ac/WiFi 5 wireless networking, and AirPlay—for sharing videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to the TV.
WHAT'S INCLUDED A remote control.
