The $700 off Samsung S95C OLED is my pick for the best Black Friday TV deal – Narender Ghoghar

What is a Black Friday deal?

Samsung’s flagship OLED model is on sale at several retailers, including Amazon And Best buy, with a $700 discount bringing its price to an all-time low. You’ll save less with the downsizing, but these are great deals on one of the best OLED TVs you can buy this year.

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Why is this deal recommended by ZDNET?

Samsung makes a lot of TVs. There’s a display for practically every display type, size, and visual preference. But what always stands out to me is OLED model.

You see, OLED panels on TVs, like the displays on high-end phones and tablets, are known for delivering deep blacks and high-contrast visuals. Naturally, those dimly lit scenes in movies and games are more realistic, have truer colors and are very immersive to watch.

Also: The best early Black Friday deals

On the other hand, there is also a common problem with OLED panels, which is brightness (or lack thereof). Sunlight, overhead lights, and any other external source of illumination can easily spoil the vibrancy displayed on an OLED panel.

But all this changes with… New Samsung S95C. This, from what I’ve seen, may be the best (and brightest) OLED TV on the market yet.

How is the design?

What jumped out at me when I first unboxed the S95C was its display, or lack thereof. The Infinity One design, as Samsung calls it, consists of a panel that’s just 0.4 inches thick and the company’s new One Connect box, which accepts multiple HDMI ports, USB-A, and even Dolby Atmos via eArc, which is now on the device. The TV itself stands opposite the back of the screen.

Together, you look at a stylish and modern centerpiece that instantly updates the environment it’s in.

The unfortunate thing is that with the included 14.2 x 11.7 x 11.1-inch stand, it almost defeats the purpose of the TV’s thin display because you’ll have to accommodate furnishing space for the stand and not the screen itself. Therefore, I recommend mounting the S95C instead and extending the One Connect Box down to the tray, for which Samsung provides a cable.

I’ll give Samsung some points for leaving enough space between the base of the stand and the bottom of the TV for the soundbar. For all the visuals you get with the S95C OLED, the rear speakers simply won’t cut it if you’re hoping to be overwhelmed by bass and the sounds of car explosions; You’ll need a high-quality amplifier that works for you. Ideally, a Samsung device that supports Q-Symphony-like surround sound technology.

Viewing experience

As I mentioned earlier, the S95C OLED screen impressed me the most with its remarkably accurate perception of dim scenes, especially in some parts of Avatar: Water Road. Throughout the film, there are many scenes set in forests and dark environments, yet I had no trouble distinguishing between the Na’vi (the blue people, for the unfamiliar) and the alien props of Pandora.

also: The best Samsung TVs you can buy: 8K, OLED, and more

Most of this is attributed to the “QD” portion of the S95C’s QD-OLED display. Samsung has combined self-illuminating Quantum Dot technology with OLED in order to produce more accurate colors at different levels of contrast. This is a weird way of saying that whether you’re watching a brightly lit scene or a darker scene, you’ll be able to see most, if not all, of the colors that the director wanted you to see.

The amount of detail preserved in the dark and little to no blooming is a major achievement, but it’s also the TV’s understanding of when to turn off pixels rather than automatically boosting exposure or brightness that puts the S95C at the top of my list.

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Overall, I found the S95C’s native color profile a little more jarring than I’m used to. My first reaction when playing a 4K sample was both positive and negative; I loved how sharp the images were, but the saturation overload prompted me to head straight to the display settings to tone things down.

Adjusting your TV settings is mostly easy thanks to the array of presets for audio output, picture mode, Bluetooth devices, and more. I say “mostly” because you still have to dig into the Expert Settings tab to adjust aspects like sharpness, color, and tint.

And if you’re not a fan of Samsung’s motion smoothing and AI-based noise cancellation, which can work against static action movies at 24 frames per second (fps), you can adjust both in the same tab.

ZDNET Buying Advice

The bottom line for the Samsung S95C (2023) is that it’s the company’s best OLED TV yet, and it fixes most of the issues that plagued last year’s model, including brightness issues and a low refresh rate.

There’s also a good chance you’ll be shopping between the S95C and LG G3 OLED. If you value the flexibility of mounting and mounting your TV independently, with multiple input sources in a tidy compartment hidden from view, and consider yourself a gamer, the Samsung is the better choice.

Samsung sells the S95C starting at $2,299 for the 55-inch modelWith more options available. At the time of writing, there are Black Friday sales going on that are taking a long time Up to $700 discount. So, if you’re looking for one of the best OLED TVs on the market, now might be the best time to invest.