Samsung S90C 4K TV review: A top OLED for less than the competition

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Samsung’s new S90C 4K OLED TV sits a step below the company’s latest flagship model, and is designed to take on other value-forward OLEDs like LG’s C3. But when it comes to performance for your money, it may just be the best TV on the Samsung lot right now. 

The S90C is essentially a slightly tweaked version of our favorite TV of 2022, last year’s S95B. The 55-, 65-, and 77-inch models carry over the same quantum dot OLED tech used on that TV, helping to make it brighter than OLEDs from a few years back. While it may not be as blazingly bright as Samsung’s top-tier S95C, the S90C offers impressive pop, especially with HDR (High Dynamic Range) content, alongside fabulous colors and perfect black levels.

It’s also packed with features, including four full-bandwidth HDMI inputs to benefit the latest gaming consoles and PCs, Samsung’s excellent Gaming Hub, all the streaming apps you’ll need, and a design that feels nearly as lavish as top high-end TVs. Put it all together and you’ve got some of the best value you’ll find in the premium TV marketplace.

The picture is beautiful, bright, and natural-looking

It’s hard not to start with the best part of the S90C: its fantastic picture quality. For reference, we did most of our testing with the TV in Filmmaker Mode making only minimal adjustments, including raising the Shadow Detail for HDR and changing HDR Tone Mapping to Static. In a testament to its performance, this set looks incredible right out of the box, especially when compared to more finicky LED displays.

The QD-OLED screen provides sterling contrast thanks to its deep, inky black levels and quantum dot technology, letting the TV’s brilliant color reproduction and sparkling HDR highlights really sing on top. Colors are vibrant, but what really draws you in are the shading nuances, swirling across an immersive canvas. Cueing up nature content in 4K HDR, like Netflix’s “Our Planet,” reveals mesmerizing shading alongside crystalline definition. The neon tropical fish in the show’s many coral reef scenes burst to life as the light glitters across their scales in sapphire-blue water.

Moving on to some of our go-to test films, like “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume II,” the S90C leans into every scene, moving gracefully from dim corridors to luminous lasers and explosions. Again, it’s the little details that rise above what you’ll get in more budget options, especially on the LED front. The swirling gilded textures of Queen Ayesha’s ostentatious throne are utterly distracting as the lustrous backdrop draws your eyes.

With a peak brightness just above 1,000 nits by most measurements, the S90C doesn’t get as bright as pricier OLED models, like the S95C or LG’s G3, let alone blistering QLED TVs from Samsung, TCL, or Hisense. But it still gets plenty fiery in HDR highlights and even SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) content when called upon. If you prefer some extra rev and brightness over a more laid back look, you can also pick your poison to some degree by moving the HDR Tone Mapping between Active (the brighter version) and Static.

The TV tends to crush shadow detail a tad with the murkiest HDR content when watching in a brightly lit room, even though the panel does a fine job reducing reflections. But even in these moments, the fantastic colors and rich blacks shine through with impressive depth thanks to OLED’s self-emissive technology that lets each individual pixel turn on and off independently. 

The S90C also offers excellent motion response thanks to its 120Hz panel that can rise to 144Hz with supported PC gaming content. This 144Hz capability is one of the key upgrades that you’ll find on this model versus last year’s very similar S95B. The screen manages to look brilliant from any angle as well — a trait nearly all LED TVs struggle to match.

The only drawback we encountered was a notable amount of jolting in especially hard-panned shots, though this is something you’ll see in virtually all OLED displays. You can correct it with granular motion smoothing under the TV’s Picture Clarity Settings at the cost of some minor “soap opera effect.”

This is really nitpicking, though. From broadcast HD content to the best 4K HDR films and TV shows, the S90C simply looks fabulous, with enough beauty and brawn to satisfy the most discerning videophiles and make OLED novices into instant converts.

The display is easy to set up and looks great on a stand

Speaking of OLED novices, if you haven’t seen the ultra-slim displays of today’s OLED TVs, prepare to be wowed as you pull the S90C from the box. Thinner than a pencil (or your smartphone) at the top, the TV only gets a few inches deeper at its thickest point toward the bottom, where you’ll find the inputs and general circuitry. Unlike Samsung’s more expensive TVs that house their inputs in a separate One Connect Box, the S90C has all of its ports built right into the display.

You’ll need to be careful as you set the TV down to attach its feet, grabbing it from its midpoint to ensure you don’t bend it. (Hint: It also attracts fingerprints that are hard to remove so consider some gloves.) It won’t spend long in this position, though, as the included feet simply snap on, with no need to so much as grab your screwdriver. A small metal panel hides the feet in a pedestal-style design. It’s not quite as fancy (nor as shockingly heavy) as the pedestal stand found in Samsung’s priciest flagships, but it’s also easier to put together.

You’ll also get Samsung’s excellent solar-powered remote, which essentially never needs charging. It’s compact, easy to use, and it feels quite good in your hand, making it perhaps our favorite remote out there.

Samsung’s Tizen interface is serviceable, if slightly clunky

Let’s be clear: Samsung’s Tizen interface is perfectly fine. It supports all the best streaming services, offers some cool extras like an array of ambient modes and SmartThings control, and is responsive enough to be your TV’s daily driver. It’s still behind our favorites, though, including both Roku OS and the ultra-convenient Google TV. 

If you haven’t used newer versions of these other interfaces, you’ll probably think Tizen is fine. It allows you to use your phone to log into most apps, and though it’s rather cluttered (and seems to really enjoy Lifetime movies) it’s aesthetically pleasing. It also lets you search across content with either Bixby or Alexa, the latter of which worked well as our preferred search system.

Still, there are some quirks. For one thing, after you set up Alexa it starts annoyingly suggesting features like “try raising the volume with Alexa,” which takes about twice as long as just using the remote (luckily you can turn these off). In addition, while you can customize the layout to some degree, things like inputs and TV settings are oddly spread out, making functions like accessing all the settings for adjustments something of a pain.

It’s possibly just our luck, but we’ve also had trouble with the latest Tizen version when it comes to setting the software up with your phone, which the TV claims is the fastest way to do it. Each time we’ve tried so far, the TV seems to freeze in the middle, forcing us to start all over again using the TV remote. Again, Tizen is generally fine, and we’d still choose it over adding a secondary streaming box. It’s just not quite as convenient or intuitive as our favorites.

The TV offers excellent gaming support and other features

As mentioned, you’ll get four HDMI inputs that support the latest features, including VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) to match fast-paced gaming, ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) to automatically optimize the TV for quick gaming response, and a refresh rate of up to 144Hz with a supported PC.

The TV goes further with Samsung’s Gaming Hub, which pops up automatically when you fire up your console or PC. Gaming Hub allows for some cool extras, including features like the ability to create your own crosshairs, optimized gaming settings, and the ability to stream games on the TV directly via services like Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now.

As for other home theater features, you’ll get just about everything you’ll need, with the exception of Dolby Vision. The S90C supports all other major HDR flavors, including HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG, but like all Samsung TVs, it eschews Dolby Vision. Preferred for its dynamic metadata, which can tell your TV how to adjust color and contrast on a scene-by-scene basis, Dolby Vision is a favorite among streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus.

HDR10+, which the S90c does support, offers similar dynamic metadata performance, but that format isn’t used by as many services. As a result, the majority of HDR content you watch on the S90c will just default to the standard HDR10 format. Ultimately, the difference between Dolby Vision and standard HDR10 tends to be subtle, so we don’t see the TV’s lack of Dolby Vision as a deal breaker.

On the audio front, if you opt to pair the S90C with one of Samsung’s newer soundbars like the Q990C, they’re fantastically easy to set up together; the TV will even automatically share your network settings with the bar. You can also play both the bar and TV speakers together at once via Samsung’s Q-Symphony system, which can create even better spacing and depth to surround sound and Dolby Atmos content.

Samsung 65-inch S90C TV (QN65S90CAFXZA) specs at a glance

Should you buy the Samsung S90C TV?

Definitely, Samsung’s S90C is one of the best OLED TVs we’ve seen. 

The display does have some competition at its price point, namely LG’s latest version of the beloved C series TVs, the C3. While we haven’t yet reviewed the C3, it’s got its own impressive OLED tech as well as plenty of handy features, though it doesn’t have quantum dots so it can’t quite reach the S90C’s high color volume. It also can’t get as bright in HDR highlights according to most measurements. Speaking of brightness, Sony’s A80L is dimmer still, and it only offers two HDMI 2.1 ports, but we’ll still list it as a contender at this price for its gorgeous picture processing. 

If you’ve been thinking of making the jump to OLED there’s never been a better time, and Samsung’s S90C is about as enticing as they come. For value shoppers looking for a premium experience without paying ultra-premium pricing, this TV’s a ringer.

And if you’re still looking for more TV recommendations, check out our guides to the best 4K TV and best 65-inch TV.