SAMSUNG NU6900 Review
SAMSUNG NU6900 – Complete Review
The Samsung NU6900 Smart 4K TV offers ultra-HD resolution and a strong smart TV at a reasonable price, but it could benefit from more connectors. So here we give you a complete review of SAMSUNG NU6900.
The Samsung NU6900 65-inch LED TV has a lot of the same features as the finest TVs, but at a lower price. Although the LCD TV lacks Samsung’s quantum-dot QLED display, everything else about it is designed to compete with any entry-level TV on the market. You can get 4K resolution, HDR compatibility, and Samsung’s superb smart TV platform for under $500, but the reduced price comes with some trade-offs.
Samsung NU6900 review: Price and availability
The UN65NU6900, a 65-inch model from Samsung’s NU6900 family, is the subject of our testing and review. The 65-inch UN6900 costs $479 at Best Buy as of this writing (opens in new tab). However, the NU6900 model line contains various models with the same feature set and overall performance that come in a variety of screen sizes, ranging from 43 inches to 75 inches.
While the screen size and dimensions vary by model, the NU6900 series as a whole shares the same aesthetic design, port options, and smart features. The picture quality and audio performance of each model may differ. At the moment, we’re only testing the 65-inch model.
Samsung NU6900 review: Design
The NU6900 looks surprisingly stylish for a basic 4K LCD TV. The plastic chassis is basic black, but it has a textured finish that makes it stand out from other plain back panels. The attachable feet are similarly made of black plastic, but they are solid enough to prevent the TV from wobbling or being pushed over by your child.
Without the stand, the TV measures 57.4 x 33 x 2.4 inches and weighs 55.1 pounds, making it enormous and heavy enough that you’ll need a second person to help you set it up and move it. The TV is raised another 3.4 inches by the attachable stand, which has a footprint of 6.7 x 12.5 inches. The chassis will support a 400mm x 400mm VESA mount if you want to install the TV on the wall.
A strip of grooves runs the length of the TV on the rear of the set. When you look closer, you’ll notice that these grooves aren’t just for looks; they also act as cable management, allowing you to hide the wires for power, HDMI, and coaxial connections.
Samsung NU6900 review: Port selection
A panel of connectors runs along the right-hand side of the chassis on the back of the TV. The ports’ side-facing position makes it simple to install and remove devices, especially when contrasted to TVs with a downward-facing panel.
Only two HDMI ports (one with ARC for soundbars and other speaker systems) and a single USB port are available on the set. Although this isn’t a lot — we recommend at least four — it will allow you to connect two external sources, such as a game console and a cable box. You’ll need an HDMI switch if you want more connectivity and don’t want to transfer cables in and out by hand.
The rest of the port choices is limited, and it’s surprising what you won’t find, such as a 3.5mm headphone connection, RCA audio connectors, or any component or composite video outputs. This TV only has HDMI inputs, which may be inconvenient for some customers.
An antenna can be connected via coaxial connector, and an optical audio port can be used to connect outdated surround sound systems. For network connectivity, the set features built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet, but there is no additional wireless functionality, so don’t bother with Bluetooth headphones or speakers for this TV.
Samsung NU6900 review: Performance
With 3840 x 2160 Ultra HD resolution and HDR compatibility, including HDR10+, Samsung’s own high-dynamic range standard, the NU6900 is a respectable performer. The TV’s color and contrast handling amazed me, and it provides good picture quality for everything from movies and TV shows to games in 4K.
The costumed hero ascended the Washington Monument to see a scene from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Bright blue skies, abundant green flora on the ground, and the glistening memorial stone made for a beautiful image. While the colors were vibrant, they weren’t as lifelike as they had been on previous TVs. While the NU6900’s 60Hz refresh rate is sufficient for normal TV viewing, we did note that fast motion was a little choppy.
Due to the set’s narrow color gamut, the vibrance of the colors is a little muted. The NU6900 produced 96.25 percent of the sRGB colorspace when tested with our X-Rite i1 Pro spectrophotometer, which is disappointing when compared to other midrange sets like the TCL 6 Series Roku TV or the Vizio E-Series 65-Inch (E65-F1), which both approached 100 percent, measuring 9.96 and 99.23 percent, respectively. This narrow color gamut is more in line with what we expect from low-cost TVs, such as the Sharp 65-inch 4K Roku TV, which has a similar 97.13 percent color spectrum and costs less than $500.
The NU6900’s color accuracy was also incorrect, with a Delta-E rating of 3.08. (0 is perfect). When viewing the TV alone, the variation from the hue that should be presented may not be extreme enough to look odd in most situations, but it is worse than what we experienced on the Vizio E-Series (1.36). The differences between the set and the TCL 6-Series (1.1) were obvious when compared side by side.
However, the lower you go on the pricing range, the worse the color performance becomes; the Sharp 65-inch 4K Roku TV had a Delta-E rating of 4.06, while the Sceptre 65-inch 4K TV (U650CV-U) had a Delta-E rating of 12.8 – both significantly skewed with unnatural hue.
The 65-inch NU6900 struggles with many of the issues that plague other affordable sets, thanks to its typical edge-lit LCD panel. While bright colors seem amazing, more moderate hues and darker environments lose a lot of their shine.
A night scene situated close to a bonfire in Blade Runner 2049 demonstrated some good and awful performance. Because of its great contrast performance, it performed a good job of highlighting brilliantly lighted things in the dark. However, because there was no dimmable local backlighting, such high-contrast scenes were filled with dazzling halos of unwanted light spilling over into the dark areas of the image. This problem was highlighted by a shot of sparks rising from the fire into a dark sky, which revealed wide swathes of screen that shone brightly despite displaying a mostly black image.
The Samsung supported 4K gaming at 60Hz when connected to an Xbox One X, making it more than capable of console players. The fancier amenities, such as HDR game support, aren’t available. In game mode, the TV has a lag time of 22.7 milliseconds, which is acceptable in terms of responsiveness, but you might not enjoy the choppy motion we witnessed during our testing.
Samsung NU6900 review: Audio
The NU6900 comes with two 20-watt speakers that produced enough music to fill our testing facility and maintained good clarity even at high volumes. As I turned up the level on The Ramones’ “The Blitzkrieg Bop,” the audio remained clear. Even at maximum volume, there was no buzzing, which is a problem with many low-cost televisions.
The only significant issue I had with the audio was the lack of bass; some TVs can produce enough bass levels without a subwoofer, but not the NU6900. Consider choosing a soundbar with a built-in subwoofer if you want a more immersive experience.
Samsung NU6900 review: Remote control
If you’ve seen the sleek, minimalist design of the One Remote, you might be disappointed to see that this is a throwback to earlier, chunkier designs. When similarly priced smart TVs from other manufacturers come with the sleek Roku remote and other more modern controls, it’s hard not to think that Samsung’s old-school remote is a holdover from the days of dumb TVs.
Samsung NU6900 review: Smart TV features
Samsung’s SmartThings interface is included with the NU6900, and it’s one of the better smart TV platforms available. Thanks to Samsung’s pretty extensive app store, you’ll have access to all of your favorite apps, and new additions to the Samsung ecosystem include compatibility for iTunes video content.
However, you don’t get the complete Samsung experience that its higher-end TVs provide. The lack of voice contact is the most glaring deficiency. The remote lacks a built-in microphone, and even the Samsung remote app lacks the ability to use Samsung’s higher-end models’ Bixby voice assistant. The good news is that your Samsung smart TV can still be connected to Alexa, allowing you to add voice commands on your own.
Samsung NU6900 review: Verdict
The Samsung NU6900 is a wonderful choice for anyone looking for a nice 4K smart TV at a reasonable price. It’s a terrific set to pick up on bargain because of its appealing design, excellent contrast, and decent smart TV experience.
But it has some flaws, like a limited port selection, middling picture quality and a less expansive collection of smart TV features than other Samsung sets. The TCL 6-Series Roku TV offers better picture quality and more robust smart TV software, but it also costs about $150 more. So if you want a big screen for less, the Samsung NU6900 is worth a look.