Samsung S95D Series OLED 4K Smart Tizen TV (2024)

I purchased the S95D, as well as a Q-Symphony soundbar. I mention the pair because the integration is supposed to be a selling point, and the pairing introduced additional bugs.

First thing to say is that the picture quality is amazing. I purchased it because of the matte finish, and while I don’t have a bright room, it made the bright light sources like windows much more tolerable. Where this really falls down is the Samsung software. ** The software is truly horrible. **

Using the apps directly on the TV requires a Samsung SmartThings account, even if you just want to use the third party apps directly. It at least prompted for it, I don’t know if there is a way around it. I then had to install the SmartThings app on my phone to get the account working. I had an old account that was unused, and the password could not be reset. After multiple business days without a resolution, I just used another email to sign up again.

There were features of the TV and Soundbar integration that could not be configured directly on the TV or with the tiny display on the soundbar, so there wasn’t an obvious way around using the app.

Next, the picture quality in the Samsung installed apps was bad. This was due to the software, not the hardware. I separately use an Apple TV, and the comparison between the two is night an day. The resolution and sharpness of the external devices are much better than the built in software.

There are quite a few other usability problems. First is that the remote doesn’t have an input switch button. You need to navigate home, then find the device buried in a list of apps. It will detect the device type, which is a cool feature, but then the Apple TV shows up with a logo near an Apple TV+ service that is different, but still takes time to distinguish between the two.

Another constant annoyance is the on screen volume display, which takes up 20% of the screen when you turn the volume up or down. It shows the sound device name in a huge box, with both + and – on the screen, with an indication of which you pushed. Basically, it kills any and all content immersion if you just want to change the volume.

The final regular annoyance using the external devices is that the S95D does a bad job of processing the power up signals from the external devices (both Apple TV and Chromecast/Google). It is inconsistent, and when there are problems, it will pass through the signal to power up to the sound bar. It’s a clear indicator that it’s not the problem with the external devices, it’s the TV, or the soundbar wouldn’t be turning on.

Unless there are immediate bug fixes, look to other TV brands. The hardware is great, but the software experience means I’d recommend against the device. Not only does the Smart TV software stink, it interferes with the experience if you want to use the external devices as your primary video source.

I can’t believe how amazing the picture and sound are on this TV. This TV replaces a 7 year old LG OLED, which still works fine. The difference between the picture on this TV vs the LG is night and day. The anti-glare screen works great. I have only had the TV on the wall for a day but it’s hung in a bright living room. Even with the shades wide open, there is no wash out in colors. I have this paired with a SONOS system. Even the sound is better through the SONOS speakers. I just hope it lasts as long as the LG has lasted. It was expensive but that’s what you get being an early adopter.

The One Connect cables that it comes with are very short (1 foot and 6 foot), so if your equipment is not directly under the TV, good luck. In addition, there is no longer One Connect cable available for this TV.

So, I decided to mount the One Connect box onto the back of the TV (kind of defeats the purpose of the separate box) and run longer ethernet and HDMI cables to the TV. But, when you mount the box, they have you mount it with the connections to the outside which is not only less appealing but forces you to use the 6 foot cable, which would not have been necessary if they simply allowed you to mount the box the other way. One other thing. When you turn the TV on, it defaults to the home screen. Why not just go to the last source used like every other TV out there. It will go to the default source but not until at least 10 seconds of sitting on the home screen.

So, in short, great picture. But, some really bad design/engineering choices.

If you’re looking to pay less for a TV, not this one. It’s a very expensive top of the line flagship TV just for those people who have extra money to pay for amazing image quality.

If for some reason you want to use the smart TV functions, don’t get this TV. The OS is bad. That said, there aren’t any good Smart TV OSes. You should use a real computer, or an Apple TV.

Maybe your TV is in a dark room, or you have curtains, and you don’t need any anti-glare tech. In that case, you can get a high end TV from another brand, and the image quality might technically be a tiny bit better than on this one.

But this TV, the anti-glare coating is legit. It really works. With the previous TV, any amount of sunlight, even with the translucent blinds closed, would make the entire screen white. We couldn’t see anything. With this new TV, and the blinds OPEN yeah, there is glare. The photons have to go somewhere. But we can still see the TV image despite the glare. And if we close the blinds, that only reduce the light (not block it) the glare completely disappears. Did you know that window treatments can cost more than expensive televisions? If you want a TV with top of the line image quality, but you have no choice but to put it in a bright room, this is the TV to get.

Also, this TV has the OneConnect box. Some people don’t care about that. But we hang our TV on the wall. We also can’t cut any holes in the wall to route cables. To avoid having a hideous mess of cables coming down from the TV, the OneConnect box is perfect. It lets us hide everything in the media unit below the TV. It looks great.

We’ve had the TV for a few months so far, and no regrets. It’s perfect for us, but it’s not for everyone.

Our family room is VERY sunny. It’s one of the things that makes it lovely but the downside is that watching TV anytime other than at night is awful. We thought we were just relegated to reserving TV time for after the sun goes down but then we met this TV. Game. Changer. The matte screen means we get a clear, crisp, shine-free viewing experience regardless of how bright our family room is. We love it!

After having an old Vizio for more than a dozen years, it was getting long in the tooth and time for a new TV. After researching the options, I chose the S95D (55 inch) and I couldn’t be happier. Setup and installation was a breeze and from start to finish I had the TV up and running in 30 minutes. The included apps look nice but since I already have an Apple TV box, I generally just use that. It looks like you could to a large degree do without it and just use the TV directly if you were mostly using Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, etc as there are built-in apps for all of these and more in the TV already. The picture quality is gorgeous compared to our 2012-era LED TV. Highly recommend this model and thinking of getting its big brother for our upstairs media room.

First, the screen is freaking wonderful. TVs should be matte finish as a standard. The glare from the windows is gone, but we can have the curtains open again during the day!!! The resolution is crisp, and the colors are great. I also like that there is a solar cell on the back of the remote to charge the battery, as well as a USB C port if you forget to turn it upside down for a long while. I like not needing to hunt down triple-A’s.
The main reason I’m dinging this is the OS. We’ve had the old Samsung OS for a while, and while goofy at times, it at least had a logical flow. This one is slightly overcomplicated by moving inputs to the “game” section only- I can’t just change the input to Xbox (or add an Xbox button) to the “home” menu. It’s a small first world problem, but it was so much easier before. You may need to get new HDMI for your consoles to work, but that’s not too terrible.
Overall, a solid TV, and I recommend the purchase.

The matte black screen works as advertised. It eliminates all glare. Super crisp picture, very user friendly remote. This is a wonderful TV if you have a bright room.

The panel’s matte finish is an absolute game changer if you are using it in a brightly lit or sunny room. We used to watch our own reflections during dark movie scenes, not anymore, this thing is a black hole when it comes to absorbing light. Colors remain vibrant and the picture quality is fantastic. The TV’s speakers produce adequate sound quality but if you’re buying this TV, you’ll probably want to use a better audio set up.

Great TV everything I hoped it would be. I don’t even notice the matte screen and it doesn’t distort color or motion. Once I set up the TV and turned it on I was disappointed, it didn’t seem much better than my previous Samsung 4K. I went into settings, picture, picture mode looking for the different picture modes e.g. standard, movie, eco, but they weren’t there just a couple of picture mode settings I’d never heard of and can’t remember. The next day I decided to calibrate it in the Samsung’s app Smartthings. When completed I went back to picuture settings, picture mode and standard, movie, eco, ect were there. I went to standard and the picture difference was like night and day. I’m verry happy with my purchase. Spectacular color and detail. A hugh upgrade.