Review of Samsung S95B OLED TV: Samsung's first OLED TV marks a new era in image quality

1. Stunning Design, Infinity Screen

Samsung S95B strikes a balance between OLED TV and Samsung's flagship model. The design is unexpectedly beautiful and enticing. Along the edges, the screen is just over 1/8 inch thick, combined with slim bezels (measuring about 1/16 inch on the top and sides and 1/4 inch on the bottom), giving the TV an exceptionally sleek, stylish look, even when compared to something like the Sony Bravia XR A80J OLED, which is renowned for its ultra-thin profile. The bottom edge slightly protrudes in the center, with the right corner housing the TV's far-field microphone and IR sensor.

Ultra-thin bezels provide a borderless overall screen

Tailored for a TV utilizing the latest panel technology, the Samsung S95B looks very modern and appealing. The ultra-thin screen, seen from an angled view, can be compared to the thickness of a few stacked credit cards. In fact, this is perhaps the thinnest TV after LG's 'Wallpaper' OLED TV. However, this fragility raises concerns about the screen possibly bending during transportation.

S95B boasts an ultra-thin, supremely modern, and stylish appearance

Samsung OLED S95B is placed on a wide 14-inch foldable base, similar to the stands on iMac screens. This stand design not only adds fashion and elegance to the overall look but also allows users to place the device on a narrow surface, which cannot be done with TVs with wide V-shaped stands. Additionally, you can easily install small to medium-sized Soundbars without worrying about space shortage. On the other hand, you can also mount the TV on the wall by attaching it to compatible VESA wall mounts.

Neat stand for narrow spaces

2. Connectivity Ports

The back of the TV is made of sturdy polycarbonate, with a protruding L-shaped section, also known as the 'brain box,' to house all the electronic devices and physical connections. Samsung S95B is equipped with connectivity options that will satisfy home theater enthusiasts as well as gamers. Here, you will find two HDMI 2.1 ports (one eARC) and two USB ports on the right side. The remaining two HDMI 2.1 ports, Ethernet port, digital audio output, 3.5mm EX-LINK port, and an antenna/cable connection are arranged downward.

The back of the TV features a 'brain box'

Plenty of connectivity ports to meet all entertainment and gaming needs

All four HDMI ports support 4K 120Hz. The power cable is offset from the left side of the control box. Additionally, both the 'brain box' and the stand feature integrated channels for cable routing, keeping your setup tidy.

3. Solar-powered Remote Control

Samsung has pulled off a fascinating 'transformation' with its latest generation remote control: It's utilizing solar energy called the Samsung Eco Remote. Simply flip the black SolarCell remote to reveal a solar panel then place it under sunlight, or in a brightly lit room, for longer charging times.

Now you'll never have to worry about your remote running out of battery. This is a commendable innovation both in terms of usability and sustainability, ensuring long-lasting durability and savings on battery replacements compared to conventional remotes. Additionally, you can opt for charging via the convenient USB-C port at the bottom.

Solar-powered remote control eco-friendly 

On the front, the remote features a circular-shaped directional pad. Above are the power, voice, viewing modes, and integrated near-miniature pinhole microphones. Below the circular navigation frame is where the menu, volume adjuster, and channel switch buttons are located. Finally, you'll find four dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime Video, Disney +, Netflix, and Samsung TV Plus below the control panel.

Samsung's remote is quite minimalist, providing a sleek overall appearance, but the simplification of these buttons can be inconvenient for users. For example, the remote lacks dedicated input change, mute, or settings buttons. While you can find these features in the interface menu, it involves multiple steps!

4. Tizen Interface

Samsung's Tizen-based smart TV platform remains the biggest hurdle in delivering a smooth user experience. Like many other smart TV operating systems, Tizen offers a wealth of content, but the presentation of information is somewhat messy, requiring you to spend a lot of time navigating. Accessing different settings can be challenging if you stray from the pre-set settings. Even switching between Tizen inputs can be slow and cumbersome.

Because it's a smart TV operating system, Samsung's Tizen still comes with full features, unlocking apps for most major streaming services and supporting Apple AirPlay (but not Chromecast). Additionally, the S95B's built-in far-field microphone can even be voice-controlled via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Samsung's Bixby.

Samsung's Tizen interface struggles with menu layout

Tizen would have made more sense when it was released in 2015, when exclusive operating systems like this were more common and less evolved. But now, compared to the ubiquity of Google TV, which is intuitive and logically organized, Tizen seems significantly 'outdated,' struggling to keep up with the times. Initially envisioned as a comprehensive platform, Tizen has since been phased out of Samsung phones and the Galaxy Watch smartwatch lineup, making it more of a 'relic' than an integrated part of the TV experience.

5. New Innovations, New Performance

Samsung S95B OLED stands out as one of the first TVs on the market to combine OLED technology and quantum dots into a single unit, promising impressive performance that won't disappoint consumers. The approach involves using blue OLED elements to self-illuminate each pixel, with the light then passing through separate red and green Quantum Dot layers to produce the final image.

Importantly, this approach means unlike conventional OLED technology, there's no white involved in the color process. This purer RGB distribution helps the S95B 4K deliver richer colors at higher brightness levels than traditional OLEDs can achieve, while maintaining or improving black levels. Additionally, this enhancement also inherits the renowned OLED original's advanced viewing angles and local contrast.

A key point here is that the S95B can be brighter than any other OLED TV on the market. The highest brightness level with SDR signal is 137 nits with full-screen white and 330 nits on an 18% white field with the Maximum Brightness setting at high. With HDR signal, peak brightness reaches 239 nits for full-screen white, still relatively dim, but with an 18% white field, that number rises to 752 nits. Initially capped at 18%, but when tested on a 10% field, the S95B delivers a surprisingly high figure of 1,045 nits, significantly higher than the maximum brightness level of the LG C2.

The S95B delivers incredibly impressive 10% white field brightness, deserving its title as the brightest OLED TV

Fundamentally, OLED TVs typically have 'infinite' contrast because this technology allows for individual pixel on/off control as well as brightness adjustments, thereby creating perfect black levels. However, the S95B is not like that. Because it uses Quantum Dots to enhance color, the black level of the display frame will not be entirely black in all situations.

While the screen parts themselves don't emit light in isolation, the quantum dot layer seems to react to even a bit of ambient light. The dark parts of the screen still look very dark, but not to the extent we'd expect with an OLED panel.

Regarding HDR, the S95B can support the 'standard' HDR10 format, the HLG format friendly to live streaming, and Samsung's self-developed HDR10+ format, which adds scene-by-scene data that compatible TVs can use to deliver better HDR imagery. However, Samsung still continues not to support the premium Dolby Vision HDR format - although much content is available in Dolby Vision over HDR10+.

Not only pure white brightness but also new color brightness truly make a difference for this TV. HDR colors are also excellent, with Samsung's QLED TV covering 99.8% of the UHDA-P3 color gamut, more than Sony's 97.2%.

The color coverage is almost perfect

The charts above show the color levels of the S95B in Movie mode, with SDR signal compared to the Rec.709 broadcast standard and HDR signal compared to the DCI-P3 digital cinema standard. In both cases, they all achieve perfection. All SDR colors are spot-on, as are all basic HDR colors achieving excellent accuracy. Although cyan, magentas, and yellows drift very slightly, overall they're still very accurate.

6. Image Experience

The S95B is the closest TV to achieve the best of both worlds: the astounding contrast of OLED with the captivating highlights of QLED. All of this has helped the Samsung S95B 4K deliver bright, rich, and accurate frames with colors for every scene.

Pure brightness, perfect colors

The dust-filled sands of Arrakis come to life when watching Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. Or the burgeoning Gotham City of Batman shines with powerful, surreal grandeur. Disney's Encanto bursts with warm, characteristic Colombian colors in every magical scene, while Spider-Man: No Way Home enthralls with breathtaking, multi-universe action sequences.

Sharp, smooth frames from every angle

The BBC's Planet Earth II experience is incredibly stunning on the S95B. Colors like the green of trees and the blue of water look very natural, diverse, and vibrant. Even small details like fur and tree bark can be easily seen in both bright and shadowy scenes. Small objects appearing in the dark still maintain enough darkness with clear shapes.

Black levels, while still limited, are quite good compared to other premium TV models

The black levels of the Samsung S95B OLED are still quite good, though not infinite. You can still immerse yourself in the solemn scenes of Dune's opening or be impressed by the vibrant, colorful scenes in Batman.

7. Fast Gaming Performance

In terms of features, the S95B will be extremely attractive to Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC gamers with the latest high-end AMD and Nvidia graphics cards. Samsung brings 4K resolution with 120Hz refresh rate, along with VRR support via AMD FreeSync Premium, and also integrates auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). Additionally, the S95B OLED is equipped with a dedicated gaming control panel called the Game Bar. Here, the current refresh rate and any VRR features being used will be displayed. Similar to LG's Game Optimization Center, the Game Bar also has pre-image settings for different game genres. However, this new Samsung OLED TV will not have LG G2's Nvidia G-Sync compatibility mode.

The Samsung S95B is extremely suitable for gamers

When tested with Leo Bornar 1080p, the TV achieved a latency of 9.4ms in game mode. This number is below the standard 10ms threshold and puts it squarely in contention for one of the best gaming TVs on the market.

Colors, contrast superiority, and by OLED standards, the brightness capabilities that Samsung brings make HDR games look vibrant, colorful, powerful, sharp, and 'alive'. In fact, it surpasses anything even the mighty LG G2 can do.

Feel free to experience the game image modes with the Game Bar

8. Should You Buy the Samsung OLED S95B TV?

Advantages

• Digital cinema-like colors almost perfect
• OLED TV offers the best brightness
• Equipped with various features, including Apple AirPlay 2 and hands-free voice assistant
• Eco-friendly remote control, solar-powered

Disadvantages

• Quantum dots make the black levels of the OLED panel less than perfect
• Tizen smart TV platform not intuitive, difficult to use
• Does not support Dolby Vision

The S95B OLED marks a significant improvement in panel technology delivering impressive performance

Samsung's 65-inch Class S95B 4K OLED Smart TV has made a major stride for the multi-industry consumer electronics company. It's not only Samsung's first OLED set but also the first to combine OLED with quantum dots, resulting in a QD-OLED TV promising the best of both technologies: superior color, brightness, and contrast in one package. It's the brightest OLED model yet based on an ultra-slim overall design, complete with an eco-friendly solar-powered remote control. Additionally, the TV supports useful features like Apple AirPlay 2.

However, the use of quantum dots with an OLED panel leads to some unforeseen issues with black levels. Technically, the blacks may be perfect in isolating from light, but they're overly sensitive to ambient light to the point where sometimes frames don't appear as deep as on the LG C2, which doesn't use quantum dot technology.

Since LG's webOS outperforms Samsung's Tizen smart TV platform, coupled with the fact that the LG C2 is more affordable, LG remains the better choice for the premium TV segment. However, the Samsung S95B OLED is still a great effort, delivering arguably the second-best picture quality on the current TV market.

9. Conclusion

Samsung's S95B TV series, with its ultra-thin design and infinity screen, has showcased the incredible colors possible on an advanced OLED panel with quantum dot technology. Recently, Mytour delved into a detailed review of Samsung's first OLED TV – the impressive S95B. Hopefully, the above information will be useful for your investment!

Currently, Mytour is offering an attractive promotion when purchasing the S95B TV, where customers will receive special pricing, discount vouchers, premium home appliances, and more. Specifically:

• Free 20L Roler RM-3230 Microwave Oven worth 1,490,000đ
• Free 1,500,000đ Voucher
• Extra discount of up to 300,000VNĐ when paying via VNPAYQR. Details here.
• Free 01 Evoucher Set worth up to 3,000,000đ. Details here.
• 20% off Wall Mount Price when purchased with a TV

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