Samsung S95B OLED 4K Smart TV (65-inch, 2022)

Source

HDTVTest

Key Takeaways

• Upper panel is razor-thin without structural spine reinforcement; gentle handling during setup leaves massive permanent curve warps, widely documented online.
• Factory color calibration blatantly tracks outside D65 artistic standards; oversaturates reds and greens to cartoonish neon, making human faces look sunburned.
• Infamous firmware stealth downgrades: Samsung systematically crippled peak brightness from 1,500 nits down to ~1,000 nits to curb burn-in RMA returns.
• Obstinate lack of Dolby Vision, plagued by erratic HDMI eARC audio handshake dropouts that demand routine hard resets.

✅ Pros

• First-gen QD-OLED unleashed groundbreaking quantum-dot color purity and saturation
• Spectacular inky infinite blacks without backlight halo blooming in pitch-black rooms
• Four 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 ports fully equipped for modern console gaming

❌ Cons

• Fragile spine-free build bends like cardboard during ordinary handling
• Inaccurate, neon-saturated factory color grading distorts skin tones
• Sneaky firmware nerfs slashed peak brightness by a third after launch
• Stubborn Dolby Vision omission coupled with flaky eARC handshake dropouts

📝 Verdict

"Groundbreaking QD-OLED visual potential crippled by a bent-chassis disaster, clownish colors, and insulting firmware brightness nerfs."

Source

• Video: Samsung S95B OLED TV Review - The Best OLED on the market?
• Channel: RTINGS Home Theater | Type: Professional review | Based on: YouTube transcript

Key points

• They bought the 65-inch model themselves and tested it with their standardized process; it's Samsung's first QD-OLED, pairing a blue OLED panel with a quantum dot layer for brighter highlights and a wider color gamut
• All four HDMI ports support full 2.1 bandwidth, and it supports ATSC 3.0, HDR10 and HDR10+, but not Dolby Vision, and eARC doesn't support DTS:X/DTS
• The build is premium and the panel barely flexes; the center stand has a small footprint but wobbles
• Reflection handling is better than the LG G2, but the panel has no polarizer, so in a bright room blacks look purplish and can't show pure black; some colors are oversaturated with slight color fringing
• The built-in speakers lack bass; the Tizen system is easy to use, with a choice of Google Assistant, Bixby or Alexa, and the remote can be charged via USB-C or its solar panel

✅ Pros

• Higher brightness and wider color
• 4 HDMI 2.1 ports
• Good build, good reflection handling

❌ Cons

• Purplish blacks in a bright room
• No Dolby Vision or DTS support
• Wobbly stand
• Expensive

📝 Verdict

Whether to choose it or another OLED depends on your environment: it's a great choice for viewing in a fully dark room; if purplish blacks bother you, choose the LG G2, or the cheaper LG C2.

Source

• Video: Samsung S95B Review - Stunning QD-OLED TV Debut!
• Channel: HDTVTest | Type: Professional review | Based on: YouTube transcript

Key points

• After the firmware 1211 update, HDR Movie mode tracks the PQ curve accurately even in windows smaller than 10%, and 20-point white balance was added; he considers it one of the best-picture TVs of 2022
• Movie mode is the only accurate preset; other modes have dynamic tone mapping that can't be turned off and overly bright HDR; after calibration, the 55-inch retail unit's SDR average delta E was slightly above 1
• QD-OLED has no white subpixel, so near-black colors don't overshoot, but pixel response in some dark transitions is too slow, causing reverse flicker and smearing
• Judder on 24p content is more noticeable, and Samsung's motion interpolation has more artifacts than LG's and Sony's; the sound is fine for everyday viewing, with occasional lip-sync delay in Dolby Atmos; the Tizen system became smoother after updates
• In summary: class-leading screen uniformity, viewing angles and color brightness, with perfect blacks and extremely high contrast; low input lag and 4 full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports suit gamers, but HDR Game mode isn't accurate enough

✅ Pros

• Perfect blacks and ultra-high contrast
• Excellent color brightness and viewing angles
• 4 HDMI 2.1 ports, low latency
• Good uniformity

❌ Cons

• Slow near-black response
• Low-bitrate content and motion processing need work
• Inaccurate HDR Game mode

📝 Verdict

None of these flaws stop it from being one of the best-picture TVs of 2022, and it earns a "Highly Recommended" award.

Source

• Video: Samsung, STOP CHEATING - S95B QD-OLED
• Channel: Linus Tech Tips | Type: Professional review | Based on: YouTube transcript

Key points

• He says the S95B does nearly everything: 4K 120Hz, VRR and peak brightness over 1,000 nits, with the best color performance of any display he's seen
• But Samsung was caught "cheating": HDTVTest found that with test windows of non-standard sizes, the TV output was brighter than expected; the unit they bought themselves from Best Buy had the same problem, with obvious HDR brightness errors
• After calibrating with Samsung's phone app, the SDR average delta E was 1.7, and HDR dropped from 10.3 to 7.7
• After the issue was discovered, Samsung pushed a firmware fix that, while not perfect, made a clear improvement; he doesn't think this deserves praise, since they only fixed it after being caught
• At US$3,000 it's the cheapest of this generation's new panels; for now only 55- and 65-inch sizes are available

✅ Pros

• Top-tier color performance
• High brightness
• 4K 120Hz and VRR

❌ Cons

• Test-pattern cheating controversy
• High price
• Few size options

📝 Verdict

The picture quality is beyond reproach, but Samsung's cheating is disappointing; if your budget is limited, last generation's OLEDs have dropped in price and are also top-tier choices.