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- Samsung’s S95B 4K TV delivers a nearly unmatched combination of high-end color, contrast, and value.
- Its smart TV interface is also solid, and it has some cool extra features like Xbox Game Pass support.
- Newer OLED TVs with even brighter panels are on the way, but the S95B’s price is hard to beat.
Samsung’s S95B is easily one of the best high-end 4K TVs on the market. Though released in 2022, it still delivers exceptional picture quality, and it’s often on sale for less than competing models from Sony and LG.
The premium OLED TV uses quantum dots, an advanced color tech that Samsung also uses in its QLED TVs. With quantum dots, the S95B is able to achieve industry-leading color performance and a brighter screen than typical OLEDs.
The S95B is missing some perks found on flagship sets from Sony and LG, like Dolby Vision support, but it has a few extra features of its own, including the ability to stream Xbox games.
New 2023 Samsung OLED TVs are just starting to hit the market, but they’re considerably more expensive than the S95B. Here’s why the S95B is still a top pick for anyone in the market for a high-end OLED.
The TV’s quantum dot tech delivers a new benchmark for OLED color performance
One of the S95B’s most buzzworthy features is its use of quantum dot technology. This tech has been used in LCD TVs, branded as QLED, for years, but the S95B is one of the first OLED TVs to implement it.
Thanks to their self-illuminating pixels, OLED TVs are known for delivering better contrast and black levels than QLED sets. However, QLEDs traditionally have an edge when it comes to brightness and color volume. By adding quantum dots into the mix, the S95B aims to close this gap.
Quantum dots are nanoparticles that enable a panel to produce a wider and brighter range of colors. When paired with the infinite contrast ratio of the S95B’s OLED screen, the results are simply gorgeous. In fact, the display’s OLED color coverage is nearly in a class of its own (only other quantum dot OLED models from Samsung and Sony can match it).
Though brightness still can’t match the 2,000+ nits that the best QLED TVs deliver, the S95B’s brightness is very impressive for an OLED, with a peak of about 1,050 nits using the Filmmaker Mode preset. That’s slightly higher than other top OLEDs from last year, like the LG G2 and Sony A95K. Color volume is also better than the G2, which means brightness is maintained better across different colors. This enables HDR movies and shows to really pop and appear closer to how the creators intended.
HDR10+ content looks especially stunning. Prime Video shows like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and “The Wheel of Time” wow with rich saturation, intense highlights, deep shadows, and intricate detail. The combination of the panel’s quantum dot color and OLED contrast really come together to deliver a genuinely high-end image.
4K Blu-ray discs look even better, though it’s still disappointing that Samsung doesn’t support Dolby Vision, which is an advanced HDR format used on many discs and streaming services that tells the TV how to properly handle colors and brightness.
Instead, the S95B plays Dolby Vision content in the more widely-supported HDR10 format. HDR10 has a slightly lesser quality, but it’s subtle and the S95B’s HDR10 support is so good, most people wouldn’t notice. The TV also supports HDR10+, which offers similar quality as Dolby Vision, but it’s far less common.
HD content from cable and YouTube also scales nicely on the set. Sure, you’ll still notice imperfections in lower quality material, but these issues are all native to the source and not caused by the display itself.
Like all OLEDs, the TV delivers exceptional viewing angles, so you can watch off to the side with only negligible loss in contrast and color quality. Vertical banding is also minimal, and the TV handles tricky gradients well. While other OLED TVs I’ve tested produce false contouring in the test scene I use from the movie “Ex Machina,” the S95B maintains smooth background colors without any major issues.
On the downside, the S95B is technically susceptible to burn-in, and long-term testing done by Rtings indicates that its quantum dot panel might make it more prone to this issue than LG’s OLEDs. Burn-in occurs when you leave a static image on the screen for too long, causing a faint shadow image to get permanently stuck on the screen. Thankfully, tests like Rtings’ indicate that burn-in only occurs in extreme situations and isn’t a big concern under normal viewing conditions.
An elegant design with a super-thin profile
The S95B is a beautiful TV, even when it’s off. The display has a pleasing, minimalist design with nearly bezel-less borders and an impressively thin profile.
The TV’s OLED panel is just 3.9mm (0.15 inches) wide at its thinnest point, which gives the screen a razor slim look. The panel’s thickness does protrude in its bottom half in order to house the TV’s processing hardware and inputs, which gives the lower portion a thicker 1.6-inch profile. But even so, the display’s thin upper half is eye-catching.
A sturdy pedestal stand is included so you can easily rest the display on an entertainment console. And of course, the TV supports wall mounting if you’d rather hang it up. The stand’s footprint is relatively small as well, which makes it easy to place a soundbar in front.
Robust smart TV features, but navigation can be a bit sluggish
Like other Samsung TVs, the S95B uses the Tizen operating system rather than interfaces like Roku, Fire TV, or Android TV. It delivers all the same functions you’d expect from a smart TV system, but the latest interface is a bit different than previous versions. Gone is the pop-up bar that appeared on the bottom of the screen. Instead, the OS now uses a full-screen homepage with easy access to all the major streaming services, along with content recommendations.
Though I like the style of the new interface, the pop-up menu was convenient for easily accessing settings and switching apps. A combination of the two would be ideal, with a homepage you can always return to and a pop-up option to easily jump into other services.
Navigation speed is solid, but lag can pop up here and there. This is especially true when first booting up the TV. Accessing the Gaming Hub can be particularly sluggish at times. Though I do wish apps were a little snappier, the overall experience is similar to most other smart TVs in this class.
When it comes to voice assistants, the TV supports Samsung’s Bixby as well as Alexa or Google Assistant via the included remote. Users can choose between button-activated or hands-free voice control, but I found the hands-free option to be a bit slow to respond to commands.
The remote itself is decent, with a simplified design. It also uses Samsung’s cool SolarCell technology so it doesn’t need batteries. Instead, you can just flip the remote over to charge it via the lights in your room.
However, the remote’s build feels a bit cheap and I miss the more premium metal remotes Samsung used to include with its high-end sets. I also dislike how Samsung took away a dedicated settings button, so you now have to navigate through another menu before you can access picture adjustments.
The new gaming hub lets you play Xbox games without a console, but lag is an issue
In addition to delivering robust gaming features when paired with a PS5 or Xbox Series X (like 120Hz support and variable refresh rate), the Samsung S95B includes a Gaming Hub menu that lets you access cloud services like Xbox Game Pass.
This means you can play Xbox games on the S95B without an Xbox. All you need is a Game Pass Ultimate membership ($15/month) and a wireless controller. After you log into the Xbox app and pair the controller to the TV via Bluetooth, you can start streaming popular games like Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, Assassin’s Creed, and Doom Eternal.
Unfortunately, streaming performance with my internet connection proved to be a bit spotty. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty amazing that this works at all, but there are some clear drawbacks. Video quality appears to be limited to HD without HDR support, and games look noticeably compressed and soft, lacking the sharp quality you’d get when playing directly from a console.
Lag is also an issue, as I ran into pretty consistent frame drops and audio stuttering. Games were still playable, but the experience was far from smooth. This is a cool feature to have, but until Microsoft is able to better optimize the service, I can’t really recommend it as a way to play most games.
If you’re willing to pay more, you can get a brighter and bigger version of this TV
Though the S95B remains available, Samsung just launched a new 2023 version of this TV, called the S95C. I recently tested the S95C (review coming soon), and it delivers a few improvements over the S95B, including an extra 300 nits of brightness, a uniformly thin design, and a 77-inch option.
However, you’re going to have to pay a lot more to get the new model. The 65-inch S95B is often on sale for $1,800, but the 65-inch S95C carries a launch price of $3,300.
If you’re a big home theater enthusiast that can afford the extra $1,500, the new 2023 model will deliver a better picture, but I don’t think the upgrade is worth the premium for most people. With such a big price difference, the S95B remains the better value.
Samsung also has a less expensive 2023 OLED TV on deck for release this year, called the S90C, but it’s not yet clear how its performance will compare to the S95B. Best Buy has the 65-inch S90C listed for $2,600, which is $800 more than the S95B’s current asking price.
Samsung S95B 65-inch OLED 4K TV specs at a glance
Should you buy the Samsung S95B 4K OLED TV?
The Samsung S95B is an excellent buy for anyone who wants a high-end TV under $2,000. At a typical sale price of $1,800, the 65-inch S95B is usually cheaper than similar OLED TVs from LG and Sony. It’s also considerably less expensive than Samsung’s new S95C, though it can’t get quite as bright.
The lack of Dolby Vision support is disappointing, but the TV handles standard HDR10 videos so well, I don’t consider that a dealbreaker. Smart TV capabilities are robust, even if navigation could be snappier. The gaming hub with Xbox Game Pass also shows promise, but you’ll need a strong internet connection to get decent gameplay.
If budget is no concern and you want the absolute best picture quality, the new Samsung S95C, or the upcoming LG G3 and Sony A95L, will provide a brighter image, but you’re going to be paying at least $1,000 more.
If you’re planning to wall mount your TV, another worthwhile option that’s closer in price to the S95B is LG’s 2022 G2 OLED. The G2 doesn’t use quantum dots so color performance isn’t as good as Samsung’s TV, but it does support Dolby Vision and it features a uniformly thin gallery design.
Though the G2 occasionally drops to the same price as the S95B, you have to pay extra for a stand if you don’t want to wall mount it. All things considered, there are few high-end TVs on the market right now that can match the S95B’s overall value.
