Best overall: Samsung S90C
Pros: Uses quantum dots for expanded color range and volume, around 1,000 nits peak brightness, Xbox Game Pass support, competitive price
Cons: Doesn’t support Dolby Vision, smart TV interface isn’t the best
Samsung’s S90C is the best OLED TV there is for the money. In fact, we think it’s the best TV for most people overall. It uses quantum dots to produce a brighter image with better color performance than a typical OLED.
The S90C is basically a slightly tweaked version of our previous top pick, the 2022 S95B. But while this new 2023 set doesn’t offer a big upgrade over last year’s model, it doesn’t need to. Dollar for dollar, the performance you get here simply beats other OLEDs from LG and Sony that sell for the same price.
Like all OLED displays, the S90C has deep black levels, wide viewing angles, and an infinite contrast ratio. But what makes this model stand out in its price range, is its exceptional brightness, color range, and color volume. Thanks to quantum dot tech, the S90C has a peak brightness of around 1,000 nits, which is a nice step up from the 800-nit max of a typical OLED.
Even better, the TV can maintain rich, vivid colors across different brightness levels better than a standard OLED, like LG’s C3. This means that high dynamic range (HDR) content really pops. HDR10 and HDR10+ videos look stunning through streaming services and 4K Blu-ray discs. On the downside, it’s disappointing that Samsung still doesn’t support Dolby Vision.
Dolby Vision is an advanced HDR format that tells a TV how to properly render contrast and colors. HDR10+, which the S90C does support, has similar capabilities, but it’s not used on as many titles. As a result, the S90C plays most Dolby Vision content using the standard HDR10 format. Though HDR10 isn’t as precise as Dolby Vision, the S90C handles the format so well that most people won’t notice a difference.
Smart TV capabilities are also solid but not the smoothest we’ve seen, with a basic interface that uses a home screen. There’s also a cool Gaming Hub that lets you use services like Xbox Game Pass to stream games without a console. And new for this 2023 model, you can now game at up to 144Hz when paired with a computer.
Though there are better looking OLED TVs on the market, including Samsung’s more expensive S95C, you have to pay a lot more to get better performance than the S90C. When it comes to overall value, the S90C is simply unmatched.
Read our Samsung S90C 4K TV review.
*The 83-inch S90C does not use quantum dots, so that size is not expected to offer the same color performance as smaller models.
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