PICTURE QUALITY Picture quality was excellent. Reproduction of fine image detail was excellent. Color accuracy was excellent, so colors, especially flesh tones, look very natural and lifelike. Excellent contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—in dark scenes gave images great depth and dimension. Black levels were excellent, and delivered very deep blacks that enhanced contrast in dark scenes. There may be a subtle halo visible around bright objects on a dark background. The quality appeared to worsen as we viewed from the sides—see our Viewing Angle results, below. 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 moderate viewing angle—decent—but not as good as the better-performers. The best viewing position for this model is directly in front. When we viewed the TV from the sides, image quality got worse. the picture showed a moderate loss of color, so flesh tones looked a bit washed out. Black levels visibly brightened, and reduced the contrast especially on dark scenes. 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 noticed good vertical viewing angle performance, with only slight 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 very good sound quality, better than most models we've tested. Whether you're watching a blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it can deliver a satisfying listening experience. In our listening evaluations, we found the bass (low frequency sound) was moderately deep and provided some sense of fullness and lacking some definition. Treble (high frequency sound) was very good. The treble was generally neutral. This TV should be OK if the room isn't too noisy—we found the speakers could produce a good volume level. Our bass-heavy music track revealed a slight buzz. Overall, unlike most of our tested models its sound should satisfy the more discerning listeners, so give this a listen before opting for an external sound bar.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is 21 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. It has an ATSC 3.0 tuner for receiving "Next-Gen TV" off-air signals.
WHAT'S INCLUDED A remote control.
