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