For the first time in close to a decade, Samsung has announced a new consumer OLED TV, the Samsung S95B OLED TV. The company says the new set will go "well beyond what has been available from OLED TVs to date".
The S95B will be available in two screen sizes – 55 and 65 inches – and will use the Neural Quantum Processor 4K that we've seen in the company's flagship QLED TVs like the Samsung QN95A and Samsung QN90A from last year.
According to information sent to TechRadar, the S95B also features "an OLED brightness booster and perceptional color mapping to deliver brighter, more accurate highlights and the most realistic, lifelike colors". That sounds similar to the language LG has been using to promote its upcoming C2 OLED and G2 OLED models.
The S95B runs Samsung's Tizen smart platform, which has received a massive overhaul for 2022, and Samsung's key audio technologies, Object Tracking Sound and Q-Symphony, along with Dolby Atmos.
Is this the Samsung QD-OLED we've heard so much about?
At CES 2022, selected members of the media were treated to a behind-closed-doors look at Samsung Display's QD-OLED panel which was, according to rumors, sourced from LG Display. We haven't been able to confirm those reports, but neither company has outright denied them, either.
The chances are very good then that these are the QD-OLED TVs we've been hearing so much about from Samsung, especially when you take into consideration the claims that they'll be brighter, and offer better color accuracy, than other OLED TVs.
That said, some may see this as an about-face by the company, which for years has argued that its QLED models were superior to OLED.
From Samsung's standpoint, however, the company says it wants to offer customers more choice – an idea that allows Samsung to stick to its stalwart defense of QLED while also branching into the burgeoning OLED TV market.
So how much is it going to cost?
Pre-orders for the Samsung S95B have already gone live on the company's US website. It appears that the 65-inch QN65S95BAFXZA will go on sale for $3,499, while the 55-inch QN55S95BAFXZA will cost $2,399.
Samsung has since corrected that pricing to $2,199.99 ($200 less than before) while the 65-inch will be priced at $2,999.99 ($500 less than before).
Unfortunately, neither set has a release date or even a release window yet.
Compared to TVs from its competitors, the Samsung S95B is a bit more expensive, at least in the US. The LG C1 OLED, for example, can be found for $1,245 for the 55-inch model on Amazon, while the 65-inch model can be found for $1,999 on Best Buy.
We've yet to hear official UK and AU pricing and release dates, but based on current conversion rates you'd be looking at around £1,825 / AU$3,245 for the 55-inch model, and £2,660 / AU$4,735 for the 65-inch TV.
As for how well the Samsung S95B stands up to current OLED TVs, we'll have to wait until we're able to get one in for review – watch this space.
Correction: March 18, 2022
Samsung has posted a correction to the pricing announced in the press release sent to TechRadar. The updated price for the 55-inch S95B is $2,199.99 ($200 less than before) while the 65-inch will be priced at $2,999.99 ($500 less than before).
- Looking for the best TVs of 2022? We can help!
