Samsung has launched 2024 with a new line of TVs, spearheaded by the S95D OLED, the company's flagship model. This new screen features a third-generation QD-OLED panel, promising enhanced picture quality with rich, accurate colors. The highlight, however, is the "Glare Free" technology, which tackles OLED's major drawback: reflections. We reviewed the 77-inch model and reached a very clear conclusion.
Design
Samsung continues this year with the lightweight TV design, this time weighing about 28 kg (77 inches), giving a floating-in-air picture feel. The screen shares a design similar to last year's OLED S95C model, with an exceptionally thin 1 cm body, no protrusions, and ultra-narrow bezels adding to the premium feel.
The clean, minimalist design line continues with the One Connect Box, a flat black box reminiscent of the PlayStation 2, housing all the TV connections: four HDMI ports, three USB ports, a network connection, an optical audio output, an antenna/cable connection, and a 3.5 mm jack for custom home theater systems. Thus, the screen remains clean from connections and highlights at the back.
The beloved Eco Remote returns with the new model, offering a clean and simple design featuring a circular navigation pad, option buttons, power, and voice command, alongside a built-in microphone. Below the navigation pad are volume and channel buttons, along with return, home, play/pause, and dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Netflix. The remote’s highlight is the solar panel on its back, allowing the built-in battery to be charged via light, and it also has a USB-C port for direct charging.
End of Reflections
Let's talk about light, or more precisely, the challenge it poses for TV viewing. Most of us don't watch in complete darkness, and light from windows, lamps, or any other source creates reflections that can impair the experience. In recent years, LED TVs have tried to solve the problem by boosting the backlight intensity to crazy levels, so even in the darkest scenes, the screen's light overcomes the reflections.
OLED TVs have also improved in brightness, but still struggle to compete with the strongest LED screens. Here comes the S95D, introducing a new standard to the OLED world with a peak brightness of about 1,700 nits, making it one of the brightest OLED screens on the market. But, this is just a small part of the technology solving the reflection issue.
The new screen boasts Samsung's dedicated technology - OLED Glare Free, an innovative anti-glare material that diffuses even direct light and maintains high color accuracy and image sharpness while reducing reflections. Get ready, because this is likely how our home screens will look in the coming years.
During our review, the difference between a regular OLED screen and Samsung's S95D was simply astounding. At night, when the screen is off, it disappears into the wall as if it were part of it, thanks to the perfect black and lack of reflections with the matte coating. But what really surprised me was watching during the day - even under the Israeli sun, there was no need to close blinds or darken the room.
Picture Quality
As expected, Samsung’s S95D is a feast for the eyes, providing the excellent viewing angle and uniformity we expect from an OLED TV. The images are sharp, the colors rich, and the motion incredibly smooth. This TV doesn’t just display content; it reveals the finest details, whether it’s a bird’s feather or a sparkling drop of water. In short, nature scenes come to life on the screen, with every nuance and texture displayed in stunning clarity.
Compared to other OLED TVs in a dark room, the S95D was the best TV we tested. Our test included a variety of content in different formats - series, movies, streaming, old content, and 4K. The results were stunning every time. In terms of picture quality, it can be said that this TV is designed and ready for the limits of OLED screens in 4K - until 8K enters our lives in the next decade (and yes, it’s very hard to find movies or series that support this resolution currently).
And what about screen burn-in? Samsung has embedded a dedicated system that moves the pixels to address this phenomenon. The technology works by gently shifting the image displayed on the screen at regular intervals. The shift is so small that it is not noticeable to the human eye, but it is enough to prevent the pixels from staying in one position for too long.
By the way, the S95 also offers a great experience for gaming enthusiasts. Its game menu, displaying picture modes, resolution, refresh rate, and more, is well-designed and easy to use. In gaming on Xbox or PlayStation 5, the games look great as well. Although the consoles don’t support a refresh rate of 144 Hz (which the screen can display, meaning forward compatibility), every pixel still comes to life and the gameplay flows incredibly smoothly.
Smart Screen
Like all Samsung TVs, the S95D comes with the company's familiar and convenient operating system, Tizen Smart TV. The system includes all the well-known apps, including Israeli apps like Cellcom tv and NEXT TV and popular streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, and Apple TV. Additionally, you can find browsers for internet browsing directly from the TV.
Moreover, the screen allows seamless connection to your smart devices via the built-in SmartThings hub on the TV. For example, you can connect smart devices compatible with Matter and HCA standards and control them smoothly, without needing any additional device. You can also receive notifications about the status of your smart devices directly from the TV screen.
Conclusion
Let's start with the bottom line: the S95D is a significant investment, even after its price will likely drop later this year - NIS 19,990 for 77 inches, NIS 13,099 for 65 inches, and NIS 10,099 for 55 inches. The price is not for every pocket, of course, but if you have the means to invest and are looking for the pinnacle of TV screens with the most advanced technology in the category, the return is definitely worth it: this screen is the brightest we’ve ever seen in OLED TVs, the only model that comes with a special coating that prevents reflections, picture and color accuracy is simply sharp and exceptional, and Samsung’s external connection box makes installation easier and more convenient - without unnecessary cables behind the TV.