This time of year, the amount of news proclaiming the “best deal ever”or, yes, I’ll throw myself in there with “best OLED TV to buy right now,” can be a bit overwhelming. But it would be a disservice to not highlight the incredible pricing on the Samsung S90C. I’ve been living with the S90C for the better part of 2024, and even at it’s regular sale price, it’s worth it. It’s one of my first recommendations to anyone that asks what TV to get. The fact that you can now get a 65-inch OLED for $1,000 is ridiculous.
When the Samsung S90C was originally released, it was in direct competition with the LG C3, the dominant OLED TV series. Year in and year out, the LG C Series was the sensible — and really only — midrange OLED worth talking about. But then QD-OLED came along and LG suddenly had strong competition that could match its black level performance. While their pricing was on par at release, right now the LG C3 is still a few hundred dollars more than the S90C. For even more context, the Hisense U8N, one of our favorite midrange LED TVs, is only $100 less. That Hisense might be brighter than the Samsung, but the S90C beats it in all other ways.
Not only that, but I’d argue the S90C outperforms the C3 in a couple other key areas: it has higher peak brightness, exceeding 1,000 nits in my testing, and better color brightness. The S90C just looks more vibrant than the C3 (while still being accurate). Add in some excellent gaming support with Samsung Gaming Hub and the good integration of cloud gaming, and it’s a better buy.
“Isn’t the S90C already over a year old? Why wouldn’t I want to get the most recent model?” I hear you ask. Valid question, but I again point you to the price, and follow up with this: Year-over-year changes to TVs aren’t as dramatic as they used to be. Is the S90D, or LG C4, a better TV than the S90C? I’d venture to say yes. But the 65-inch C4 is 50% more than the current S90C pricing, and the S90D is 60% more. I don’t think the performance of either of those TVs is 50% better.
It’s not all roses and buttercups, though. The Samsung S90C is still saddled with Tizen OS, which is annoying to navigate and for many basic, constantly used functions (like input selection), it takes too many keystrokes. I find scrolling through the interface to be frustrating. Best to add your streaming platform of choice with a Google TV Streamer, Roku Ultra, or Apple TV (although the latter is in desperate need of a new model).