Samsung TU700D Review: Is it Worth Buying?

Samsung TU700D: At First Glance

Samsung is a household name when it comes to manufacturing 4K televisions with exceptional performance. Hence, to expand its 4K television collection, the brand released the Samsung TU700D in 2020.

The Samsung TU700D is an entry-level 4K television that offers adequate performance and some high-end features. To mention a few, this television comes with a cable management system and HDR compatibility.

Besides, despite its long list of outstanding features, this television is well-priced. To be more specific, the Samsung TU700D had a price tag of $559.99 when I wrote this review article in March 2022.

Nevertheless, does this television have the capabilities to compete with other 4K television in the market? Reading this review article to the end is one way to find an answer to that question.

Thus, kindly continue reading!

Samsung TU700D: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Design-wise, the Samsung TU700D comes with an elegant, stylish, and modern design. To start with, the display of this television is surrounded by some of the slimmest bezels that I have ever come across.

To give more details, these bezels measure just 0.35-inch. Furthermore, they are entirely made out of plastic and feature a sleek matte-black finish.

Sadly, due to the extreme slimness of these bezels, there was not enough space for Samsung to include its logo for brand recognition. On the plus side, just like the bezels, the entire build of the Samsung TU700D is very slim and minimalist.

Specifically, this television measures 1386.8 x 60.9 x 843.2 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 13879.9 g. Compared to the LG 55SK8000PVA, this Samsung television is lighter and slimmer.

To be more specific, the LG 55SK8000PVA weighs 17599.3 g and measures 1237 x 248.4 x 794 mm (W x D x H). That aside, due to its slim and minimalist build, the Samsung TU700D shouldn’t bulge out when wall-mounted.

Speaking of which, there are four 200 x 200 mm VESA-compatible holes on the television’s back panel for mounting it on the wall. However, if you don’t wish to wall-mount this television, it comes with a pair of V-shaped feet.

Like the bezels, these feet have a matte-black finish and are made of plastic. However, the feet are fragile and don’t support the television very well.

As a matter of fact, the Samsung TU700D will wobble if slightly nudged. On a positive note, these television’s feet have clips on their backs which serves as a cable management system.

That’s not all; there are tracks on the matte-black plastic back panel of the television, which also serves as a cable management system.

In conclusion, apart from its fragile feet, the Samsung TU700D’s design is almost flawless, with a sleek and minimalist build. Besides, the television comes with two forms of a cable management system – one on its back panel and the other on the back of its feet.

Hence, in this design review section, I will offer the Samsung TU700D a rating of nine out of ten.

Samsung TU700D: Display Features and Picture Quality

Display-wise, the Samsung TU700D comes with a 55-inch LED display that offers a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution. This implies that the display has 3840 horizontal pixels and 2160 vertical pixels, meaning sharper and more vivid picture quality.

Besides, a 4K UHD resolution display has about four times the amount of pixels found on an FHD resolution display. Hence, the Samsung TU700D’s display should offer far better picture quality than an FHD display.

Having said that, it would interest you to know that this television’s display features a remarkable contrast ratio. To be more specific, the display has a native contrast ratio of 5,110:1.

In brief, contrast ratio refers to the ratio between the darkest black and the most luminous white a display can produce. Furthermore, the contrast ratio is the most essential factor that determines the black level of a display.

Basically, a contrast ratio of 3000:1 or more indicates that the display will be able to render deep blacks. Meanwhile, a contrast ratio of less than 3000:1 means blacks on the display will look more like gray.

Apparently, the contrast ratio of the Samsung TU700D’s display is way more than 3000:1. Hence, it should be able to render deep blacks.

Thus, movies with lots of dark/shadowy scenes, like Pan’s Labyrinth, will be enjoyable to watch on the Samsung TU700D. Also, the television is appropriate for dark room viewing due to its high contrast ratio.

However, this television doesn’t support local dimming. Local dimming is a picture enhancement technique that boosts the black level and contrast ratio of a display by dimming backlight zones.

Therefore, had it been the Samsung TU700D supported local dimming, the blacks on its display would have looked extremely darker. Nevertheless, because the television’s display already has a high contrast ratio, the lack of local dimming isn’t a major flaw.

However, what’s a major flaw is the display’s poor viewing angles which is a result of its VA (Vertical Alignment) panel. Thus, when watching the Samsung TU700D off-center, colors and pictures on the display will lose accuracy and look washed out.

As a result, this Samsung television isn’t good for a large room setting. In addition to its poor viewing angles, this television’s display also offers a subpar maximum brightness.

To be more specific, the display has a maximum brightness of 248 cd/m², which is extremely disappointing. Well, the consequence of its poor maximum brightness is that the television won’t be ideal for usage in bright rooms.

As a matter of fact, the television is also not ideal for usage in moderately-lit areas. Thus, to get the best viewing experience, I advise you to use the television in a dimly lit or dark room.

Looking on the brighter side of things, the Samsung TU700D supports HDR (High Dynamic Range). HDR is a picture technology that enhances the brightness and color presentation of a display when viewing HDR-supported content.

Thus, when watching HDR-supported content on the Samsung TU700D, the picture quality will be more natural and realistic. Just so you know, HDR-supported content is usually found on streaming apps like Netflix.

Having said all that, let us discuss the motion-handling performance of the television’s display. To start with, the Samsung TU700D’s display offers an outstanding low input lag.

Briefly, input lag is the time it takes a display to react or respond to signal inputs. Moreover, signal inputs are mostly from remote controls and wireless gamepads.

Besides, input lag primarily determines the gaming capability of a television. Basically, if the display has an input lag of 15 milliseconds or less, that means the television is ideal for gaming.

Thankfully, the Samsung TU700D’s display has an input lag of 10.3 milliseconds. Hence, the television is adequate for gamers.

Apart from being adequate for gamers, this television is also good for watching fast-moving content like sports. This is due to the fact that its display offers a good response time of 18.5 milliseconds.

Hence, with such a fast response time, there will be minimal blur trails when the display is rendering fast-moving content. For the curious ones, response time is how fast a display can transition from one color to another.

In conclusion, the Samsung TU700D has a decent 4K UHD display with adequate performance and HDR support. However, the television’s display has poor viewing angles and a disappointing maximum brightness.

Hence, I will offer the Samsung TU700D a rating of eight out of ten in this display features review section.

Samsung TU700D: Sound Features

The Samsung TU700D comes with a pair of 2 CH 20-watt speakers. These speakers are not just loud enough to fill a large room with sound, but they also deliver amazing sound quality.

That’s not all; the speakers are capable of producing clear and understandable dialogue. For your information, dialogue is the conversation between two or more individuals in a movie or TV show.

Unfortunately, Samsung didn’t include a subwoofer with the TU700D. On a quick note, a subwoofer is a type of loudspeaker that produces low-frequency sound waves called bass.

Hence, with the lack of a subwoofer, the Samsung TU700D might not be able to generate an adequate amount of bass. Thus, bass-heavy movies aren’t a good choice to watch on the television.

Nevertheless, you can always purchase a soundbar with the television to get an adequate amount of bass. On a positive note, for the speakers to be able to create an immersive sound quality, the Samsung TU700D comes with Dolby Audio.

Besides, Dolby Audio enhances the loudness of the television’s speakers, allowing them to deliver a cinema-like sound quality.

Sadly, the Samsung TU700D offers a poor distortion performance which is evident via its THD test score. For clarity, THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) is an audio test that measures the total amount of distortion that a sound device can generate.

Furthermore, on this test, a sound device is said to generate a significant amount of distortion if it scores above 1%. However, if the score is exactly 1% or less, that means the sound device produces minimal distortion.

Unfortunately, the Samsung TU700D scored 1.2% on the THD test. Hence, when set to the maximum volume level, the television’s speakers will produce a noticeable amount of distortion.

Nevertheless, at a moderate volume level, the distortion may reduce a bit and be less audible. In case you don’t know, distortion in this context is the deformation of the original sound frequencies produced by a sound device.

In doing so, producing unwanted noises and disturbing sound quality.

Based on the facts above, I will offer the Samsung TU700D a rating of seven out of ten in this sound features review section.

Samsung TU700D: Ports and Connectivity Features

Port-wise, the Samsung TU700D offers a small number of ports. To make things worse, the ports are located in a vertical compartment on the television’s back.

Therefore, if the Samsung TU700D is mounted on the wall, users won’t be able to easily access the ports. Having said that, let us now discuss the kind of ports that the television offers.

To begin with, the television comes with only two HDMI ports, one of which supports ARC (Audio Return Channel). Thus, with the aid of that particular ARC-supported HDMI port, you should be able to connect a soundbar to the Samsung TU700D.

In addition to the HDMI ports, this television also comes with an Ethernet port, one USB port, and an RF port. That’s not all; the TV also features digital optical audio output.

Meanwhile, for wireless connectivity, the Samsung TU700D has an in-built 802.11 ac WIFI as well as Bluetooth 4.2.

Moving on, the Samsung TU700D comes with a standard TM1240A remote control. This remote is quite long and features a plastic chassis with a matte-black finish.

Due to the longness of the remote, it accommodates quite a number of rubber buttons including a full number pad. Also, the remote has dedicated buttons for quick access to Netflix, Vudu, and Samsung TV Plus.

That’s not all; you will also find a plus-shape navigation button on the remote control. In addition to that, the remote has a vertical volume and channel rockers.

Not just that, there is also a white “SAMSUNG” inscription at the bottom of the TM1240A remote for brand recognition. However, unlike high-end remote controls, this television’s remote doesn’t feature a built-in mic for voice input.

All things considered, I will offer the Samsung TU700D a rating of seven out of ten in this ports and connectivity review section.

Samsung TU700D: Smart Features

Like most Samsung smart televisions, the Samsung TU700D employs the Tizen operating system. This OS offers an easy-to-use interface that Samsung calls the Smart Hub.

This Smart Hub interface has a smooth navigation system, and applications don’t take long to load when selected. For instance, it takes only 2 seconds for YouTube to start up when selected.

However, the OS’ interface suffers from pesky ads that cannot be disabled. On the bright side, the Tizen operating system has a wide variety of pre-installed streaming services.

To mention a few, there is Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, HBO, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. Besides, the operating system has a built-in app store called the Samsung Store.

Hence, through this app store, users will be able to download additional applications and streaming services.

In summary, the Samsung TU700D comes with a user-friendly OS with lots of pre-installed streaming services. However, the interface of the OS contains pesky ads that cannot be disabled.

As a result, I will offer the Samsung TU700D a rating of eight out of ten in this smart features review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Samsung TU700D is an entry-level 4K television that features a sleek minimalist design and two forms of a cable management system. Moreover, the display of this television offers an impressive contrast ratio and HDR compatibility.

Also, this display has a low input lag, making the television suitable for gamers. However, the Samsung TU700D’s display offers poor viewing angles and mediocre maximum brightness.

That’s not all; the television features a few ports and average sound performance. However, for $599.99, I believe the Samsung TU700D offers overall decent performance.

Hence, if you need a television for casual viewing, the Samsung TU700D is worth considering.

I hope you found this Samsung TU700D review helpful. If you found this article helpful, we would love to hear from you.

Kindly spare 2 minutes to share your experience with our community using the comments form at the bottom of this page.

Alternatively, simply respond to the “Was this page helpful” question below and provide us with your feedback.

For more television reviews, visit our Television Review page. You may also find our Television Specs page very helpful.