Samsung S95D QD-OLED TV Review

Tom's Guide

Tom's Guide takes a look at the Samsung S95D QD-OLED TV and what it has to offer.

Transcript

00:00Should you buy or skip the Samsung S95D OLED TV?

00:03Let's talk about the biggest pros and cons you should know.

00:06Behind me is the Samsung S95D OLED TV.

00:11This is the Samsung TV that I think most people

00:14are gonna be excited about in 2024

00:16because it takes what was a great cutie OLED TV

00:19and adds a matte treatment to the display

00:21that Samsung calls glare-free OLED

00:23to make the screen look less reflective

00:25in rooms with lots of natural lighting.

00:27The S95D OLED is available in 55, 65, and 77-inch sizes,

00:33and it sits among the most premium TVs

00:35that are gonna come out this year.

00:37So the first reason I think you should buy

00:39the Samsung S95D OLED is because it offers

00:42true OLED innovation in that glare-free technology.

00:46Samsung has seriously raised the bar

00:48for self-emitting technology

00:49with the world's first glare-free OLED TV

00:51that doesn't seem to come at the cost of picture quality.

00:54The reason manufacturers haven't tried this before

00:56is because too thick of a glare-reducing filter

00:58could impact panel brightness,

01:00which is already often a setback for OLED.

01:03But on the S95D, it seriously works,

01:05dispersing what would be clear reflections of light

01:08from, say, windows or nearby light fixtures

01:10into more muted shapes.

01:12It's far from foolproof, but it is impressive.

01:14And while you can still see

01:15that there's a light coming from that way,

01:17it looks very diffused, not very defined at all,

01:20and that's the glare-free technology in effect.

01:23The second reason I think you should get

01:25the Samsung S95D is because it's a great-looking TV

01:28for any entertainment setup.

01:29Build-wise, the S95D doesn't reinvent the wheel.

01:32In fact, it's pretty identical to last year's model,

01:35right down to the thin 11-millimeter frame.

01:37But more importantly,

01:38it has Samsung's One Connect box attachment

01:40for convenient cable management.

01:42This feature used to be reserved

01:44for the company's top-of-the-line mini-LED TVs,

01:46but it lends itself very well to OLED

01:48since it allows the panel to stay thin throughout,

01:51which is especially convenient for wall mounting.

01:53All the ports are offloaded into a separate box

01:55that can be stored inside a cabinet

01:57or somewhere else where it's easy to access.

01:59You should also get the Samsung S95D

02:01if you care a lot about the actual content quality.

02:04It has great test scores across the board.

02:06We had the chance to run

02:07some of our preliminary benchmark tests on the S95D,

02:11and the results are promising.

02:12I know peak HDR brightness is a big concern.

02:15Well, this set measured nearly 1,800 nits in a 10% window.

02:19Last year's S95C topped out at around 1,400 nits,

02:22so that's a significant improvement.

02:24The S95D offered near-perfect coverage

02:26of the Rec. 709 color spectrum

02:28and impressively low input lag,

02:30but I'll get to that in a moment.

02:32Lastly, the S95D OLED would be a good pick for gamers.

02:35In our testing, the S95D measured

02:37just 2.9 milliseconds of input lag,

02:40which is pretty much as low of a response rate

02:42we've ever tested for a TV.

02:44Also, with features like a 144 hertz refresh rate,

02:47Samsung Gaming Hub built-in,

02:48and the new AI Auto Genre Detection mode

02:51available through the Game Bar,

02:53this is probably the best option for gaming

02:54in Samsung's entire 2024 TV lineup.

02:57On the other hand, a lack of Dolby Vision support

03:00could be a reason to skip the Samsung S95D.

03:03Like all Samsung TVs, the S95D doesn't have Dolby Vision,

03:06so there could possibly be a slight disconnect

03:08between the creator's intent

03:10and the color of the picture that's ultimately reproduced.

03:12That's only because Dolby Vision

03:14is quite popular in the film industry,

03:16though Samsung has never taken the leap to license it

03:18like most of its competitors.

03:20It's not a major drawback

03:21if you're not someone who really knows

03:23the difference between HDR formats,

03:25but it's still important to be aware of.

03:27I also think you should skip the S95D

03:29if you are hoping to avoid buying a soundbar.

03:32Look, if you're getting a premium OLED TV,

03:34you should expect to package it with a soundbar

03:36for the best sound performance possible.

03:38Sound can be an afterthought for some shoppers,

03:40so know that for the S95D,

03:41you'll really wanna find a great soundbar

03:43since the built-in audio is just okay.

03:46OLED TVs in general struggle with sound performance

03:48because the panels are so thin,

03:50so this isn't a setback that's specific

03:52to the Samsung S95D.

03:54A matching Samsung soundbar is a good bet,

03:56but you can use one from a third-party brand

03:58like Sonos or Bose just as well.

04:00Coming from someone who reviews TVs for a living,

04:02Samsung's flagship OLED looks better than ever this year.

04:06Although it's too soon to say

04:07whether this glare-free treatment

04:08will have a lasting impact in the OLED market,

04:11I have to say for right now, it looks great.

04:14Plus, Samsung still manages to undercut

04:16a lot of the competition when it comes to OLED TV costs.

04:20Would you buy or skip the Samsung S95D?

04:23Is there another TV you have your eye on?

04:25Be sure to let me know in the comments below,

04:27and you can also see more thoughts on the S95D

04:30and all of Samsung's 2024 TVs on tomsguide.com.

04:34Also check out what we're doing

04:35on social everywhere at Tom's Guide,

04:37and as always, I'm at Kate Kozich.

04:40Thanks for watching.

04:40I'll catch you next time.

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