Reviews Samsung - 65 Class - Led - Nu8000 Series - 2160p - Smart - 4k Uhd Tv With Hdr
Our Verdict
Samsung's NU8000 Series offers seriously brilliant, colorful images – if you don't mind tweaking some settings. That said, while the prepare encroaches on must-buy territory, the edge-lit LED panel and movement bug keep information technology from breaking into this twelvemonth's best TVs.
For
- Bright, beautiful colors
- Frame-less trim
- HDR+ Mode
Against
- Edge-lit LED
- Movement issues
- Bixby hurts more than than helps
TechRadar Verdict
Samsung's NU8000 Series offers seriously brilliant, colorful images – if you don't mind tweaking some settings. That said, while the set up encroaches on must-buy territory, the border-lit LED panel and motion issues go on it from breaking into this year's best TVs.
Pros
- +
Vivid, beautiful colors
- +
Frame-less trim
- +
HDR+ Mode
Cons
- -
Edge-lit LED
- -
Motion issues
- -
Bixby hurts more than helps
The Samsung NU8000 (UN55NU8000, UE55NU8000) may non be the best TV money tin buy right now, but this is a dandy mid-range set from Samsung if you need to stick to a budget. It's not exactly inexpensive, merely it has a more than affordable price tag than the truly high-end models.
The skillful news is this screen from the Samsung NU8000 Series doesn't look like a upkeep Tv. It's bright, colorful, and comes stocked with the latest version of Samsung's Smart TV Bone. We've also found it'due south great for gaming thanks to its wonderfully low input lag, and is capable of producing breathtaking HDR images to kicking.
[Update: Be sure to read our Samsung Q95T 4K QLED TV review – we awarded this stunning flagship 4K TV iv.5 out of v stars, thank you to its excellent pic quality, nifty sound, and cool gaming features.]
- Looking for the best 4K TVs on the market place right now?
Merely it isn't all good news. Nosotros accept two problems with this screen.
The commencement is that the Samsung NU8000 is an edge-lit LED-LCD panel. Because it's not full assortment, this ways its control over where calorie-free is dispersed isn't e'er spot-on.
The second, is that its movement settings tin can be a challenge to configure. At full blast, you might be subject to the lather opera event (this is when the epitome looks artificial and plastic-y like a bad soap opera set) but, turn them off, and yous might get motion artifacting. There's a happy medium in the advanced settings, but ultimately these issues are what stops this screen from topping the midsize screen league.
If you're looking for something a bit brighter with a few more than control zones? Don't miss out on the first-class TCL half dozen-Serial Roku TV (R617, R615). You can cheque out some new Samsung TVs in our relevant guide too.
- QLED: Samsung'southward console applied science explained
Pattern
We accept some qualms well-nigh the NU8000 serial, but none of them concern the design itself: out of the box, this is an incredibly visually appealing Tv set.
The shining design feature of the NU8000 – and the attribute that sets it apart from other TVs in its grade – is its lack of a plastic frame around the summit and sides of the screen. Without the frame, the Tv set is ultra-minimalist, clearly taking a folio from Samsung'due south mobile partition.
To preclude whatever damage to the screen while unboxing it, Samsung provides cardboard guards that stick to the sides and protect the screen – showing that the designers have thought through the setup procedure from start to finish.
To further maximize this minimalist aesthetic is Samsung's T-shaped stand with removable back cover that hides wires. It takes seconds to unclip the dorsum roofing, weave cables through the stand itself, and come out with a clean install each and every fourth dimension.
Around the back of the TV you'll detect a overnice brushed aluminum cease, plus four HDMI ports, two USB ports, an ethernet port and an RF cable tuner jack - which is perfect if yous use an indoor antenna and plan on using Samsung'south neat Goggle box Plus channel directory.
If there's any nitpick to be fabricated about the Goggle box's pattern, it'southward that the screen uses a VA panel with border-lit LED lighting. Despite its all-time efforts, local screen dimming isn't excellent and nowhere near equally proficient as OLED panels in a similar price range - but more on that in the performance sections downwardly below.
Design TL;DR: The NU8000 is a seriously gorgeous Idiot box. The lack of a frame around the meridian and side, plus the elegant T-shape stand, all help to make the pattern aesthetic friction match the picture performance.
Smart Telly (Tizen with Samsung SmartThings)
One of Samsung's large talking points for its 2018 TVs is how easy they are to setup. Download the Samsung SmartThings app, they say, and you'll be up and running in no fourth dimension.
While this generally holds true, it does mean creating a login for Samsung's SmartThings or remembering a password that you made ages ago. If it saves you fourth dimension in the long run will ultimately depend how rapidly you can sign up for the service or remember said password - any delay, and information technology might only be that Samsung's new-and-improved setup takes longer than it did concluding year.
That said, what yous are treated to once you go past the login screen is a phenomenally robust, blazing fast interface. Navigating the nooks and crannies of Tizen feels similar an heady treasure hunt as you never quite know what goodie y'all're going to uncover next.
You might try your hand at using Samsung'south TV Plus mode that piles in costless streaming channels on top of your existing line-up from your cablevision provider or OTA antenna. You lot might wander into the app shop, shop effectually the universal guide or setup a new smart home device with Samsung SmartThings. There'southward a gallery mode and a tedious-only-tolerable web browser.
Overall, there's plenty on offer here without feeling hopelessly overwhelming, all while providing the key essential streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in 4K Ultra HD.
Where the operating system falters is through its dependence on Samsung's smart assistant, Bixby. While it'due south imbued with the ability to track downwards shows, command the smart dwelling and answer queries it rarely does whatever of the above phenomenally well. Search for "Thor", for example, and Bixby volition insist it heard "Four" – no matter how emphatically you say the name of the god of thunder.
Barring some issues with Bixby that will undoubtedly exist fixed in the months to come, overall Tizen with Samsung SmartThings is a supremely smart, comprehensive operating arrangement.
Smart TV TL;DR: Tizen is perfectly packed with content - there'due south not too much or likewise little. At present if but Samsung would've used Google Banana instead of Bixby...
- Want to know more nearly Samsung's Goggle box OS? Check out the best smart TV apps for your Samsung TV
HD/SDR Operation
When information technology comes to taking old Hd and SD content and transforming it into fantastic-looking 4K, you need a groovy upscaling engine. Thankfully, Samsung is no slouch in that loonshit. To that end, Samsung's NU8000 does surprisingly well with 1080p - fifty-fifty if information technology's a tinge darker and a scrap less detailed than similar content played in 4K/HDR.
For example, nosotros played the original Fe Man through FXNow and Chromecast, and it looked surprisingly good for a film that came out 10-plus years ago. Even though dark scenes lacked a bit of detail they weren't very grainy – which speaks volumes nigh the TV's ability to clean up quondam content.
Some other scene, though, proves at that place'south still some room to meliorate: In Iron Man 2, Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark interrogates Mickey Rourke's Whiplash and the colour gradation is super obvious – a problem that might be worse if you're watching it via Apple TV as the NU8000 automatically changes information technology to Game Mode.
Things are better when there is less motility and much more color on the screen, but realize that there might be moments where yous'll wonder where everything went incorrect.
- Editor's Notation: If you're prone to seeing the soap opera upshot and want to plough it off, go into Settings->Picture->Advanced Settings->Auto Motion Plus and then turn Mistiness Reduction up to x, while cranking the Judder down to 0.
Thankfully, the NU8000 does a spectacular job when it comes to color and dissimilarity. The key weapon in the NU8000'due south arsenal is Samsung's HDR+ upconversion algorithm that takes SDR content and expands its colors and opens up the contrast of the screen. With it, HD/SDR content won't await half its age and yous'll get more of a dramatic contrast when watching older films that weren't shot in HDR.
The issue with HDR+ (and something you lot'll want to immediately correct in the settings) is that it automatically changes the color tone to warm - calculation a sepia-like filter to the content. If you desire to remove the warm hue, you'll need to become into the settings and fix the Colour Tone back to standard.
Thankfully, Samsung allows a fair bit of customization to the image. Y'all tin modify the color tone for each of the inputs, turn motion smoothing on/off and affect local contrast by altering how much local dimming the TV is doing.
Without whatsoever tampering the images are fine – most times, they're brilliant and beautiful. But if you lot don't like motion smoothing or are inadvertently put into Game Fashion by fault while watching a movie, nevertheless, image quality can go downhill quickly.
Hd/SDR TL;DR: Information technology's non the best upscaling in the earth, but the NU8000 definitely has the chops to plough old Hard disk drive content into watchable faux-4K HDR.
4K/HDR Performance
A lot of what was said higher up in the HD/SDR section applies here in the 4K/HDR department: About times, images expect outstanding with a few pocket-size exceptions.
One of the test pieces of content we used was Planet Earth II on Netflix. In cute 4K with HDR+ style turned on, Planet Earth II looked only astounding. The colors of the rainforest and the stark contrast-rich areas of the mountains will brighten whatsoever AV enthusiast'southward solar day.
Of course, Planet Earth II plays to the TV's strengths. There's more than colour in rainforests and oceans than your typical football stadium, and fast move is relatively infrequent in the highest mountains in the world. Even when there is motion, it's usually captured in broad shots with irksome pans - rarely is it done by flipping back and along between cameras.
Accept something that the Samsung NU8000 might non be built for - shaky cam footage shot while the cameraman is on foot - and you'll start to see the screen's real issues with motion.
The all-time instance of this tin exist found watching Fastest Auto on Netflix. Many of the scenes shot at the racetrack most the end of each episode are all filmed without tripods creating a minor problem for the NU8000 where information technology builds actress frames making the photographic camera milkshake even harder. You tin turn off move when this happens, but should you lot switch over to sports you'll encounter major artifacting. Sometimes it feels like y'all can't win.
Well, unless y'all're playing games on it. Then yous very much can win.
One of the new features for 2018 was the Automobile Game Style and Game Move Plus - ii technologies that help consoles wait and play even better. What happens here is that the NU8000 recognizes that a game panel has been plugged in and volition purposefully reduce input lag - i.e. the bane of gamers everywhere.
Game Manner, in and of itself would make this TV a gamer's best friend. Just, tack on the effulgence, color reproduction - and relatively low price - we talked well-nigh earlier, and yous truly have one of the best gaming TVs you lot can buy, fifty-fifty two years later.
4K HDR Performance TL;DR: While weird motion handling hurts the overall image quality, 4K HDR images are vivid and cute, with good color reproduction.
Sound
One might think that, with 40-watt speakers, the NU8000 would have some of the all-time audio on a flatpanel TV. Sadly, that isn't the case.
Bass rattles the screen, high book sound crackles and pops, and mids and highs sound confined. And that's but some of the problems here.
Concerned that we were hearing something that didn't exist, we invited friends to try the TV for themselves. Each time, effectually 50% volume they said they could hear audible crackling and rattling bass - bug that merely couldn't exist ignored.
If there's a vivid spot here its that Samsung is attempting to dovetail the groovy work that its sound labs have done in California with its Goggle box manufacturing business concern in Korea.
The result are modes like Audio Optimization that analyzes the blazon of audio content playing on screen and EQs it for y'all. TV shows will have their dialogue-centric mids enhanced while explosion-laden movies volition have their bass emphasized. This software lone doesn't help the TV overcome its bug with audio simply it's definitely a step in the right management toward a solution.
Verdict
The NU8000'southward overall score depends which screen size you're subsequently: many of the prices have changed since we first published this review, merely right now the 55-inch TV is priced at $one,000 (£799 / AU$1460). At those prices, information technology's difficult to give the NU8000 a glowing recommendation. The best deal, in our opinion is the 49-inch model, which has also changed since get-go publication and now comes in at just $850 / £679.
What's skillful here is that Samsung has made a colorful, competent mid-range set - it does decent upscaling with some help from HDR+ Mode, Tizen with Bixby is one of the best operating systems on the market and Game Mode is truly useful for that audience. But unfortunately, all that being said, its many downsides continue the NU8000 from condign a truly stand-out TV in an increasingly crowded section.
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Source: https://www.techradar.com/reviews/samsung-nu8000-un55nu8000
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