If you’re in the market for a new TV, we’ve got some very good news for you…
There are some things that you should never buy cheaply.
The things that you use all the time, that you probably don’t realise you can’t really do without.
It is why you shouldn’t buy a cheap fridge, or a cheap mattress, or a cheap pair of glasses. You’ll likely be using them every single day of your life, years on end, so you should want them to be the best you can possibly afford, right?
The same goes for a television, an obvious big investment, especially if you’re looking to get a top-of-the-range one.
So we’ve got some good news for you in terms of the Samsung S95B OLED 4K TV, which we’ll get to at the very end.
The 65-inch version was provided by Samsung for a few days for this review, and the first thing that is clear is that – unless you happen to live in a particularly cavernous living room – this is about as big as TVs need to be without absolutely devouring the space. This TV comes equipped with a sturdy but well-hidden stand that gives it enough space beneath to place most brands of sound bar… which brings us to the TV’s only real fault.
You really need the volume to be in the upper echelons of its capabilities in order to get the most out of the speakers from the screen. This is obviously to expected from a set that has devoted most of its real estate to developing a near-perfect screen, so it is a small price to pay… or however much you decide to spend on that sound bar.
But in pretty much every other way, this is the best you can hope for from a reasonably-priced TV.
The picture quality is beyond reproach, with some absolutely dazzling colour, pixel reaction time and incredible contrast. The brightness pops off the screen, assisted by a built-in anti-reflection feature (which is perfect if you get a lot of light coming into your room).
It is also one of those screens that doesn’t demand you sit perfectly still, directly in front of the images, as people around the room could see the visuals just as well from their slight angles to the screen as those in line with the TV.
Some other small details also make for a great overall experience, including a new, neatened back-end panel that helps hide away all of the cables snaking in and out of the four-ported HDMI-core of the system.
Additionally, the minimalist remote gives one-push instant access to many of the streaming major streaming services, but also has button shortcuts to open some of the TV’s options. This is great for the more tech-savvy in the home, but for those who don’t want to memorise a particular set of button functions just to turn on Netflix, the regular access route is also available through the same path.
And one last thing – aside from presenting lovely visuals, the set itself is also lovely to look at. A very slim border around the edge ensures that 99% of what you’re looking at is the movie/show you’re watching, but also gives it that crisp, clean cut-off point that those screen-only sets can sometimes feel like they’re lacking.
As mentioned above, the good news: at the time of writing, the 65-inch Samsung S95B OLED 4K TV is marked down from its regular price of €3,999 to €2,499 on the official Samsung website, or slightly cheaper still on other Irish tech sites.
Images via Samsung
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