The Samsung S95D OLED sits among some of the most premium TVs.
Let’s look at reasons to buy or skip the Samsung S95D OLED TV.
Let’s look at reasons to buy or skip the Samsung S95D OLED TV.
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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
01:41for 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.