Samsung TU8000 Review: A Large-Screen TV for Gamers

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Samsung TU8000: At First Glance

Samsung is one of the best brands you can think of when it comes to high-performing televisions. Moreover, the brand’s high-performing televisions don’t stop with its overly-expensive QLED TVs but include its mid-range and budget TVs.

Speaking of mid-range, one of Samsung’s mid-range TVs that has stood out in recent years is the Samsung TU8000. To give more details, this television was released in 2020 and comes packed with a lot of great features.

To mention a few, the Samsung TU8000 offers a sleek design, excellent picture quality, and an outstanding low input lag. However, this television is a bit too expensive.

To be more specific, when this review was written in March 2022, the Samsung TU8000 has a starting price of $1,647.95. With such an expensive price tag, will this Samsung television offer the performance and features that users demand?

How about you continue reading to find an answer to that question?

Samsung TU8000: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Samsung televisions are known to feature attractive and sleek designs and the Samsung TU8000 isn’t an exception. To begin with, the television has thin bezels that surround its 85-inch display screen.

Furthermore, these bezels are made up of plastic with an appealing matte-black finish. To make things interesting, despite being so thin, Samsung was able to include its logo in the center of the bottom bezel.

Digressing to the TV’s back, the Samsung TU8000 features a plain plastic back panel. In addition to that, this back panel comes with a black textured finish.

Also, the back panel has four holes that can accommodate a 400 x 400 VESA mount for mounting the Samsung TU8000 on the wall. Moreover, just like the bezels, the television’s plastic back panel is very thin.

As a result, when mounted on the wall, the television won’t protrude or have any awkward lumps. Impressively, to ensure an organized setup, the Samsung TU8000 includes four horizontal lines at its back panel that serves as a cable management system.

That’s not all, there are clips at the back of the television’s legs that also serve as a cable management system.

Speaking of the legs, the Samsung TU8000 comes with a pair of thin V-shaped plastic legs that features a black finish. However, these legs are situated at the edges of the 85-inch television.

As a result, a large table would be required to place the Samsung TU8000 on if it isn’t mounted on the wall. On a positive note, despite the fact that they are thin and made of plastic, this television’s legs are very sturdy.

Therefore, the TV should be able to stand firmly without wobbling.

That said, let us now consider the dimension and weight of this Samsung TV. To start with, the Samsung TU8000 measures 1894.8 x 63.5 x 1084.5 mm (W x D x H) and has a weight of 31978.2 g.

Honestly, for an 85-inch television, this Samsung television is far from heavy. As a matter of fact, the television weighs less than most 85-inch televisions in the market.

For example, the Sony XBR – 85X950G measures 1910 x 73 x 1099 mm (W x D x H) and weighs a massive 46000 g.

In summary, the Samsung TU8000 comes with an attractive design most users would surely appreciate. Also, unlike most mid-range televisions, this TV features cable management systems on its back and legs.

Thus, the Samsung TU8000 deserves a rating of nine out of ten in this design review section.

Samsung TU8000: Display Features and Picture Quality

Samsung has been consistent in delivering TVs with outstanding pictures quality. Fortunately, the Samsung TU8000 isn’t exempted as it features an 85-inch LED display that offers great pictures quality.

To give more details, this display has a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution that allows it to deliver vivid and realistic pictures. Also, as a 4K resolution display, the television’s display has a picture quality that is 4x better than a typical HD resolution display.

Aside from that, the Samsung TU8000’s display comes with a brilliant contrast ratio of 6421:1. For context, contrast ratio refers to the difference between the whitest whites and the deepest black that a display produces.

It is worth mentioning that the reason behind the display’s impressive contrast ratio is that it is made with a VA panel. Well, as a result of its impressive contrast ratio, this television’s display will be able to render deep blacks.

Thus, you’ll enjoy watching content with lots of dark scenes on the Samsung TU8000. Also, thanks to its good contrast ratio, the television is suitable for dark room viewing.

However, as with most TVs nowadays, the Samsung TU8000’s display does not support local dimming. Just to be clear, local dimming is a technique that enriches the contrast ratio of a display by dimming backlights zones.

Essentially, with the help of local dimming, blacks on the display tend to look deeper than they would without local dimming. Nevertheless, the Samsung TU8000’s display not supporting local dimming isn’t something you should be worried about.

This is because the display already has a high contrast ratio that allows it to deliver deep and darker blacks.

That said, the Samsung TU8000’s display might not support local dimming, but it supports HDR. Specifically, this display supports numerous HDR effects such as HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG.

For clarity, the full meaning of HDR is High Dynamic Range. Furthermore, it is a picture technique that enhances a display’s color accuracy, color production, and brightness.

Thus, the display will be able to render realistic and lifelike picture quality when viewing HDR-supported content. In case you are curious, where you can find HDR-supported content includes streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.

Sadly, despite supporting HDR, the Samsung TU8000’s display has a mediocre peak brightness. To be more precise, the display offers a peak brightness of 271 nits.

Therefore, viewing the Samsung TU8000 in a well-lit or extremely bright room may not be the best thing to do. Nevertheless, the display’s peak brightness is adequate to comfortably view the television in a moderately-lit room.

As mentioned earlier, the Samsung TU8000’s display is made with VA (Vertical Alignment) panel. A major shortcoming of VA panel displays is that they tend to have bad viewing angles.

Thus, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Samsung TU8000’s display offers disappointing viewing angles. Therefore, viewing the television off-center will result in its display’s image quality and color accuracy reducing drastically.

On a bright note, the Samsung TU8000’s display is capable of handling reflection decently. This is due to the semi-gloss coating on its surface that reduces the density of sun glares and retract reflections.

Aside from its decent reflection handling, this television’s display offers an outstandingly low input lag. To be more specific, the display has an input lag of 9.7 milliseconds.

Just in case you are wondering, input lag refers to the time that a display takes to register signal inputs. Furthermore, the display input lag is a very crucial factor when determining whether or not a television is good for gaming.

Basically, the lower the input lag the television’s display has, the better the gaming experience. Thus, with an input lag of as low as 9.7 milliseconds, the Samsung TU8000 is a great choice for gamers.

In addition to its low input lag, the Samsung TU8000’s display offers a response time of 17.8 milliseconds. Thus, this Samsung television is very good for watching fast-motion content like sports and action movies.

In other words, there will be minimal blur trails when the television is viewing such content. For the record, response time is the time it a display takes to transition from one color to another.

In summary, the Samsung TU8000 delivers an above-average display performance that one would expect from a $1500+ television. However, the television’s display features some major drawbacks which include average peak brightness and bad viewing angles.

Therefore, rating the Samsung TU8000 an eight out of ten in this display review section is ideal.

Samsung TU8000: Sound Features

For the sound department, the Samsung TU8000 features a pair of 2 CH 20-watts speakers. Sadly, these speakers produce average audio quality which is quite disappointing for a giant 85-inch television.

To make things worse, the speakers are not loud enough. As a matter of fact, they are not capable of filling a typical large room with sound.

However, they should be able to comfortably fill a mid-sized or small room with sound. To add to the woes, the Samsung TU8000 lacks a subwoofer.

As a result, its speakers won’t have enough power to generate adequate bass to enjoy the rumbling and thumping sounds in movies. Thus, this Samsung television isn’t the best choice for watching bass-heavy movies.

However, you can always purchase a soundbar alongside the television if you are really into bass-heavy movies or music.

In addition to its poor bass production, the Samsung TU8000 offers a terrible distortion performance. This isn’t just a claim though, it has been verified through the television’s THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) test result.

In case you are wondering, the THD test is a sound assessment that is used to measure the amount of distortion an audio device can produce. Additionally, on the THD test, a score of 1% or below indicates that the audio device produces less distortion.

On the contrary, scoring above 1% on the test implies that the audio device produces a significant amount of distortion that is very audible. Sadly, the Samsung TU8000 delivered a disappointing score of 1.5% on the THD test.

As a result, you’ll notice some distortion whenever the television is at a mid-volume level. However, the situation will get worse at the maximum volume level as distortion would become more obvious that everyone could hear.

For clarity, distortion is the alteration of original audio frequencies, resulting in an audio device producing unpleasant sound quality.

On a positive note, the Samsung TU8000 features a sound technology called Dolby Audio. This sound technology enhances the TV’s speakers, allowing them to create an immersive and cinema-style audio quality.

Also, thanks to Dolby Audio, the Samsung TU8000’s speakers can deliver clear and audible dialogue. For context, dialogue is the conversation between multiple characters in a movie or TV show.

To conclude this sound review section, I will be rating the Samsung TU8000 a seven for its average performance.

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Samsung TU8000: Ports and Connectivity Features

When it comes to ports, the Samsung TU8000 features a decent amount of ports that are all located on its back panel. As a result, users might find it difficult to access any of the ports when the TV is wall-mounted.

That said, the Samsung TU8000 comes with three HDMI ports. It is important to note that one of these HDMI ports supports ARC (Audio Return Channel).

Hence, with that specific ARC-HDMI port, you should be able to connect a soundbar to the Samsung TU8000. Apart from the HDMI ports, this television also features two USB ports that can be used for charging devices or connecting a flash drive.

In addition to that, you’ll find other ports such as an RF connector, digital audio output, and composite video input on the TV. That’s not all, this Samsung television also comes with an Ethernet port for wired internet connection.

However, for wireless internet connection, the television features a built-in (802.11ac) WiFi. Also, this television has Bluetooth 4.2.

Moving on, when it comes to the included remote control, the Samsung TU8000 features a OneRemote. Design-wise, this remote control is very sleek with a plastic body, curved edges, and a matte-black finish.

However, the remote lacks a lot of buttons including a full number pad. The few buttons that you will find on the remote include a round-shaped navigation button.

In addition to that, the remote comes with three dedicated buttons for quick access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Samsung TV Plus. Also, the OneRemote features a built-in microphone.

As a result, you will be able to control the Samsung TU8000 with your voice via Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Besides, you’ll find a gray-colored “SAMSUNG” logo at the bottom of the remote control.

In conclusion, the Samsung TU8000 comes with a good number of ports like most modern TVs. Also, the television comes with a remote control that supports voice input.

Therefore, I will be rating the Samsung TU8000 an eight out of ten in this ports and connectivity features review section.

Samsung TU8000: Smart Features

The Samsung TU8000 runs on the Tizen operating system, like most Samsung TVs. This OS comes with a smooth, easy-to-use, and straightforward interface that makes navigation seamless.

In addition to that, unlike most operating systems nowadays, the Tizen operating system is ad-free. Asides from that, the OS offers lots of popular streaming services and applications pre-installed.

To mention a few, you’ll find YouTube, Disney+, HBO, Netflix, Sling TV, Hulu, Vudu, and Amazon Prime Video on this OS. Just in case these apps aren’t enough, you can easily download more from the Samsung Store.

Besides, users can also cast/share content from their smartphones or PCs to the Samsung TU8000 via the SmartThings app. Moreover, you can also control the television using the SmartThings app.

Amazingly, this application is free for download on the App Store and Google Play Store.

To sum it all up, the Samsung TU8000 comes with a brilliant operating system that has a straightforward interface. In addition to that, the OS offers users a wide range of pre-installed streaming services and apps.

Thus, the Samsung TU8000 deserves a rating of nine out of ten in this smart features review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Samsung TU8000 is a smart TV that offers above-average performance and features that would meet most users’ demands. To give more details, this television has a 4K display that delivers a low input lag and a good contrast ratio.

In addition to that, with this television, users will get access to numerous streaming services due to its brilliant OS. That’s not all, the Samsung TU8000 also comes with an appealing design that is attention-grabbing.

However, just like other TVs, the Samsung TU8000 comes with some major setbacks. Some of these setbacks include an expensive price tag, poor viewing angles, and mediocre sound performance.

Nonetheless, if you can afford the price and cope with its flaws, the Samsung TU8000 is worth considering.

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