Samsung Premiere 9 review: A first-class ultra-short throw 4K HDR projector

The Samsung Premiere 9 is the Korean brand’s latest ultra-short throw (UST) 4K HDR projector and is based around a single-chip DLP design with a triple-laser light source. Its use of red, green and blue lasers enables it to generate higher brightness and a wider colour gamut than single-laser options. Its 20,000-hour lifespan is considerably longer than projectors that use regular ultra-high-performance lamps. 

This well-specified beamer also includes a built-in spatial audio sound system that supports Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound technology and Dolby Atmos, along with a fully functioning and comprehensive smart platform, voice assistants and several useful gaming features.

The Premiere 9 is an impressive performer in most viewing conditions, is a piece of cake to set up, has an attractive, lifestyle-friendly design and offers a comprehensive selection of connectivity options and controls. Despite the lack of a built-in tuner and the absence of support for Dolby Vision or 4K/120Hz gaming, the Samsung Premiere 9 is one of the best alternatives to a large-screen TV that I’ve tested.

Samsung Premiere 9 review: What do you get for the money?

The Samsung Premiere 9 retails for £5,999, a price that looks rather expensive compared to other UST projectors on the market. However, few are using a triple-laser light source with individual lasers for red, green and blue. If you compare its cost to getting a TV which can produce an equivalent 130in image, then the Premiere 9 works out much cheaper.

While the projector isn’t strictly native 4K, it can accept a 4K signal and uses pixel-shifting tech to create an image with a resolution that’s imperceptible from 4K. There’s also support for high dynamic range – specifically HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ – and Filmmaker mode. 

However, this beamer isn’t just about big, bright and colourful pictures, because as an alternative to a TV, it also needs to deliver good sound. To help it do this, the Premiere 9 has a built-in 2.2.2-channel sound system with 40W of built-in amplification that supports Dolby Atmos decoding and Samsung’s proprietary Object Tracking Sound (OTS) AI-enhanced processing.

It also supports the same Tizen-powered smart platform as Samsung’s TVs. You get all of the features found on televisions like the Samsung S95D and Samsung QN95D, including built-in Bixby and Amazon Alexa, along with a comprehensive choice of video streaming services that offer 4K, HDR, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos where available.

The control options also mirror Samsung’s TV lineup, with a variation of the brand’s Solar Cell remote styled in white to match the projector. The remote is well-designed, intuitive to use and comfortable to hold. There’s also a far-field microphone for the built-in voice assistants, although the more privacy-minded can switch this off at the back of the projector if they prefer.

Connectivity is impressive, with three HDMI 2.0 inputs (one with eARC), a USB port for multimedia playback and powering dongle-style streaming sticks, an optical digital output and an Ethernet port. There’s also built-in Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, and support for Apple’s AirPlay 2.

The Premiere 9 includes Samsung’s Gaming Hub, allowing you to enjoy gaming without a console, while the Game Bar curates all the main settings and technical data in one place, and provides access to gaming-related settings for a more personalised gaming experience. Finally, the AI Auto Game Mode allows the projector to automatically optimise settings for specific gaming genres.

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Samsung Premiere 9 review: What do we like about it?

The Samsung Premiere 9 is elegantly styled and solidly built, with a curved chassis finished in a neutral white. The speakers are covered in grey fabric, there are air vents at the sides, and from the front, it looks more like a soundbar. This discreet appearance means you can place the beamer against a wall in your lounge without drawing attention to itself.

The main benefit of ultra short-throw projectors is their ability to produce big images from minimal distances. The Premiere 9 can project 100in images from only 11cm and can fill a 130in screen at just 24cm. Importantly the beamer can do so without introducing optical aberrations or hot-spotting, and the resulting image is uniformly well-defined right to the edges.

The Premiere 9 is very easy to install; all you need to do is move it nearer or farther from the wall to change image size, left or right to centre it, level it using the adjustable feet and manually adjust the focus. The rest of the setup process is identical to a Samsung TV, with the SmartThings app taking you through connecting to your Wi-Fi and installing your favourite streaming apps.

The triple-laser may be bright – it generates brightness of up to 3,450 ISO lumens – but it’s reasonably quiet, measuring 30dB up close and 26dB at a sensible viewing distance. Those with small children or pets will be glad to know there are built-in sensors that automatically dim the laser if anything blocks the light beam. There’s also Vision Boost, which uses a built-in light sensor to adjust brightness based on environmental conditions.

The Premiere 9’s brightness means you can use this projector in a room with light-coloured walls, but it also delivers seriously punchy HDR. In addition, the red, green and blue lasers generate a much wider colour gamut that not only covers 100% of the DCI-P3 standard used for HDR but also 92% of the even larger BT.2020 standard – providing a degree of handy future-proofing.

Samsung applies some cutting-edge tech to bring the DLP chipset and triple-laser together, with 16-bit colour mapping and state-of-the-art upscaling for lower-resolution content. There are also a couple of features not currently found on many other projectors – specifically support for dynamic metadata HDR10+, and a dedicated Filmmaker Mode to watch films as the director intended.

The Filmmaker mode certainly delivers the goods, producing a highly accurate SDR greyscale with average Delta E errors of only 1.3 and a gamma that tracks around the target of 2.2. The colours aren’t quite as impressive but manage average errors of 2.72, which is still below the visible threshold of three. The HDR greyscale and overall tone mapping are also highly accurate.

This all combines to deliver impressively bright images with both SDR and HDR. When I was watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 in HDR, images really popped, especially all the deeply saturated colours on Ego’s planet. Watching Alita: Battle Angel in HDR10+ also revealed the benefits of all the extra info provided by the dynamic metadata, resulting in vibrant colour rendering and sharper definition.

The use of single-chip DLP display technology results in a sharply defined image with plenty of fine detail, and the motion handling is buttery smooth and free of artefacts. This is a key strength of DLP, and I found the Premiere 9 ideal for watching sporting events. 

Finally, the sound quality is very good. Dialogue is clear, and the built-in speakers spread the audio across the front of the room, while the upfiring speakers bounce sounds off the ceiling to create the overhead channels with Dolby Atmos spatial audio. The bass drivers create some low-frequency energy but if you like serious infrasonic rumble with your movies, maybe invest in a soundbar.

To test the Samsung Premiere 9 I used the Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software

Samsung Premiere 9 review: What could be improved?

The Samsung Premiere 9 might include HDR10+, but just like the brand’s TVs, there’s no support for rival format Dolby Vision. It’s beginning to appear on other ultra-short throw projectors and is more widely supported than HDR10+, so its absence is a shame; the Premiere 9 would undoubtedly benefit from the added info provided by Dolby Vision’s dynamic metadata.

The Premiere 9 also shares the major weakness of all DLP projectors: less-than-ideal black levels. I measured the contrast ratio at just under 1,700:1, which is fairly typical of a projector like this, but the shadowy depths of Gotham City were more of a dark grey than black in The Batman.

It’s also worth noting that some people may be affected by the “rainbow effect” when using the Samsung Premiere 9. This visual phenomenon can cause viewers to perceive flashes of blue, green and red around parts of fast-moving images. It’s an issue unique to DLP projectors so isn’t something that can be improved or avoided if you’re susceptible to it but not everyone is and I didn’t experience it while testing the Premiere 9.

Improvements could be made where current-gen gaming provision is concerned, however. Even though the projector supports ALLM (auto low latency mode), input lag in Game mode is still a fairly high 53ms. The HDMI 2.0 inputs also limit the frame rate to 4K/60Hz and there’s no VRR (variable refresh rate) support. 

The only other features missing are the built-in terrestrial and satellite tuners that were found on Samsung’s previous generation of UST projectors. To be fair none of the UST manufacturers seem to be including tuners these days, and you can still watch TV using the catch-up streaming apps. However, if you want to watch linear broadcasting you’ll need to buy a set-top box or PVR.

Samsung Premiere 9 review: Should you buy it?

The Samsung Premiere 9 is a fantastic 4K HDR projector thanks to its triple-laser light source that delivers incredibly bright and saturated images. There’s a genuinely good sound system with Dolby Atmos decoding, plus plenty of gaming features and a comprehensive smart platform.

There are a couple of minor niggles, but nothing that doesn’t apply to all the other UST projectors out there. So if you’re looking for a capable, affordable and practical alternative to a large-screen premium TV this classy beamer has you covered.