I’m a TV expert and this Samsung S95D offer is the best Black Friday TV deal I’ve seen so far
Our favourite TV of the year to date is the standout buy of Black Friday at its best-ever price
Our team of TV experts has tested many fantastic televisions this year, and there’s not much to choose between the top performers at the premium end of the market as Black Friday approaches.
However, there is one TV that edges ahead of the rest when it comes to balancing performance and price: the Samsung S95D OLED.
A five-star Best Buy award winner and leading contender for our TV of the Year gong, the 55in Samsung S95D has been discounted to just £1,489 on Amazon for Black Friday. That’s the lowest price it’s ever been, a whopping £1,000 cheaper than it cost at launch, and £195 cheaper than its average price on Amazon over the past three months.
If you want the larger 65in model, which is the one we tested, it will set you back £1,989, which is also a best-ever price and over £550 cheaper than its average price since May (£2,537).
Of course, attractive prices are meaningless if a TV doesn’t deliver the goods on the picture and audio front. Here’s why I think the Samsung S95D is the OLED TV to buy at its incredible Black Friday price:
Exceptional colour coverage and image accuracy
In tests conducted using the Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software, the S95D covered 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut and 89% of the BT.2020 gamut. Those are the joint-best results of any TV we’ve tested this year and mean the S95D can reproduce a huge range of colours when delivering HDR content.
It does so extremely accurately, too. In Filmmaker mode, the S95’s quantum dot-powered OLED panel returned Delta E scores of 0.8 for greyscale and 1.2 for colours. Those scores represent the difference between the displayed colours and how they should look if reproduced perfectly. The closer the score is to zero, the better, and at the level the S95D is operating, the untrained eye won’t pick up any difference.
Blazing brightness
With peak brightness figures of 1,700cd/m² on a 10% window and 362cd/m² on a full-field pattern, the Samsung S95D outshines the OLED TV competition.
The Panasonic Z95A achieved marginally higher scores on a 10% window but no other premium OLED has got close where overall panel luminance is concerned. This makes a noticeable impact on your viewing experience and means HDR content graded at 1,000 nits requires minimal tone mapping.
Fantastic gaming features
All four of the S95D’s HDMI ports support 2.1 specifications, meaning you’re able to enjoy up to 4K@144Hz across the quartet, alongside support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). Input lag was recorded at 9.2ms in Game Mode, a very impressive result that ensures buttery smooth visuals.
There’s also Samsung’s Game Bar, which provides quick and easy access to key settings, the Samsung Gaming Hub – a portal for cloud gaming services such as Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now – and a new AI Game Mode that detects the genre of game you’re playing and adjusts picture quality accordingly.
Comprehensive smart system
Samsung’s Tizen OS is one of the best around. It runs smoothly, is sensibly laid out, and provides access to just about every streaming service and app you could ask for. All the big names are present and correct, while Bixby and Amazon Alexa are on hand if you like to control your television with voice commands.
High-quality Atmos sound
The final component of an engrossing TV experience is audio and the S95D hits all the right notes with a 4.2.2-channel setup powered by 70W of amplification. The up-firing drivers help deliver Dolby Atmos height effects convincingly, while Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound + technology moves sound around to match what’s happening on the screen.
Those seeking a truly cinematic experience will still want to splash out on a soundbar system with rear speakers but most people will be more than happy with what the S95D can achieve on its own.
All things considered, the 55in Samsung S95D is an absolute steal at £1,489. It ticks almost every box and looks great while doing so. Unless you simply can’t live without Dolby Vision support, this is the 55in OLED I recommend buying this Black Friday; it simply can’t be beaten for pound-for-pound value.
To keep on top of the television deals flooding in, head on over to my live Black Friday TV deals blog, which is being updated regularly with great offers. For discounts on a wider range of products, our Black Friday hub has got you covered and includes offers on everything from smartphones to mattresses.
