PICTURE QUALITY Picture quality was very good, overall. Reproduction of fine image detail was very good, just shy of 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. The quality appeared to worsen as we viewed from the sides—see our Viewing Angle results, below. Image brightness was moderately low, dimmer than most even with the brightness at max—OK for a dark room but not the best choice for a bright room. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content. Deinterlacing of 1080i video was excellent. Its frame-rate compensation for 1080i film-based content was only mediocre.
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. Lastly, we viewed the image from above and below center screen, and saw fair vertical viewing angle performance, with significant changes in color, contrast, and black level.
MOTION BLUR In our motion tests, this Samsung LCD (LED) had good motion performance, with some blurring.
SOUND QUALITY We got sub-par sound quality, with below average performance. It could be acceptable for typical programming, but its shortcomings would be obvious with movie soundtracks and music. In our listening evaluations, we found the bass (low frequency sound) was absent and very well defined. Treble (high frequency sound) was very good. The treble was neutral though a bit bright, and closed in. This TV should be OK if the room isn't too noisy—we found the speakers could produce a good volume level. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is 24 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on. The remote controls the TV via an IR light beam which must be pointed at the TV. It has a full number keypad for entering channel numbers.
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+, BET+, DirecTV, Disney Plus, Freevee, Fubo TV, Hulu, Max/HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus, Sling TV, Starz, The Roku Channel, Tubi, YouTube, YouTube TV. 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 2 HDMI inputs one USB port, 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.
