Samsung debuted its 2022 home entertainment line-up at its annual Unbox & Discover event and we were lucky enough to see the new products up close and personal.
Anchoring the 2022 TVs and soundbars is Samsung’s first OLED TV (starting at $2200) in nearly a decade. And boy, were folks packing in to see the super-thin display anchored by the tech giant’s Neural Quantum Processor 4K. In addition, we were able to check out other highlights, like the upgraded Neo QLED TVs in 4K (starting at $550) and 8K (starting at $3500), and the glare-free display on the new lifestyle The Frame TV (starting at $1000).
The Neo QLED 4K and 8K TVs also come with a slew of new features, including a refresh rate bump up to 144Hz (great for gaming), an increased brightness level and a technology dubbed Shape Adaptive Light, which should give viewers an even more realistic picture.
Most of the new TVs include top-channel speakers which will deliver built-in Dolby Atmos and Object Tracking Sound. The latter works like a low-tech surround sound feature, directing sound through different speakers depending on what you’re watching. But, Samsung also rolled out two new soundbar models, which will be the first-ever to offer wireless Dolby Atmos.
After seeing, touching and listening, here are our first impressions of all the shiny, new Samsung 2022 home entertainment gear.
All of the Samsung’s 2022 TVs can either be ordered or pre-ordered now. The 2022 Q Series and S Series soundbars have no pricing or order info yet but should start shipping late April. You can read all our impressions below on the newest OLED, Neo QLED and lifestyle TVs, which includes The Frame and The Serif, both with anti-glare screens.
- Samsung OLED S95B (available mid-April and can be pre-ordered today starting at $2,200 at Samsung)
- Neo QLED 8K QN900B (available in mid- to late April and can be pre-ordered today starting at $5,000 at Samsung)
- Neo QLED 8K QN800B (available by early April and can be pre-ordered today starting at $3,500 at Samsung)
- Neo QLED 4K QN90B (available now starting at $1,600 at Samsung)
- Neo QLED 4K QN85B (available now starting at $1,500 at Samsung)
- The Frame 2022 (available mid-April starting at $1,000 at Samsung)
Samsung
It was hard for us to believe, but Samsung has not offered an OLED TV for nine years, instead concentrating on its Neo QLED technology. But Samsung’s S95B uses a brand-new hybrid technology known as QD-OLED, which marries the rich, bright colors of QLED’s advanced quantum dot nanocrystals with the deep blacks and stunning contrast of an OLED. So, in its own way, this OLED TV really is the first of its kind.
Though the 65-inch S95B ($3,000) was shown off in a crowded room with perfectly set lighting and specific programming, we were impressed with the initial brightness, richness of the colors, and excellent details as well as the wider viewing angles. We look forward to testing it out to see what it’s capable of. And if you’re looking to buy a new TV, you may want to go ahead and check out Samsung’s best and brightest creation before you pull the trigger (or just pre-order it now).
Tobey Grumet/CNN
Another first for Samsung this year is its Neo QLED 8K series, the QN900B and the QN800B, which you can preorder now. With four times the resolution of the already cutting edge 4K televisions, 8K goes above and beyond with just over 30 million pixels. The problem is, there’s not a whole lot of native 8K content to watch to get the absolute best picture.
We found the 8K picture we saw to be marginally better than the Neo QLED 4K, but it’s also a great way to future-proof if you’re going to plunk down the big bucks. 8K is here and we can only expect to see a whole lot more of it in the future.
Samsung
If you order one of Samsung’s 2022 Neo QLED 4K TVs, including the QN90B series and the QN85B series, you’ll likely be impressed by its updated Quantum Processor, which automatically upscales all content to 4K. The TVs may not be as flashy as their 8K or OLED cousins, but they still offer a super high quality picture, which was obvious even when watching the bright, colorful loops of 4K videos Samsung played for us.
The one thing that impressed us about the new Neo QLED 4K TVs is how thin Samsung has kept them, even with the 85-inch QN90B ($5,000). And though not as matte as the 2022 The Frame (more on that later), the anti-reflection display did help us get a wider viewing angle.
Tobey Grumet/CNN
We have always been a fan of Samsung’s lifestyle TV, The Frame. Created to hang on the wall and look like a picture frame, it comes with swappable bezels and is the perfect way to show off your art.
For 2022, The Frame gets an upgrade with a new, anti-glare display called the Matte Display. And though it may not seem like a big deal, seeing it in person reminded us how reflective the older TV is and what an obvious difference this technology makes. Samsung had the 2021 and 2022 TVs hanging next to each other and you can see how much the newer display creates more of a fine art look. Though we couldn’t tell if the colors were rendered honestly without comparing it to the original work (here it was Claude Monet’s The Garden at Sainte-Adresse), we were amazed at the difference we could see.
The Samsung Sero TV, another lifestyle display, which can rotate to be viewed horizontally or vertically, will also be upgraded with the Matte Display. We didn’t get a chance to see the 2022 version but it will be available to purchase in June (no pricing available yet).
Tobey Grumet/CNN
The two 2022 soundbar lines include the new Q-Symphony technology, which can play Dolby Atmos audio without hooking up to the TV with that unsightly HDMI cable. Samsung is the first in the industry to go totally wireless, though LG does offer the option with an additional accessory. We weren’t able to listen to the soundbars at the event, so can’t be sure if there will be any latency from the Bluetooth connection – but it sure does look nifty.
The Q Series includes Samsung’s flagship soundbar, the HW-Q990B, which offers 11.1.4 channel sound with a multiple speaker set-up. The wireless subwoofer also comes with an updated design dubbed “acoustical lens,” which Samsung says will better disperse sound at lower frequencies. Also available are the 9.1.2 channel HW-Q910B 9.1.2, and the 5.1.2 channels of the HW-Q800B with side-firing speakers.
If keeping your equipment’s footprint to a minimum is a priority, the S Series is sleek and powerful, and we appreciated its low-key design and ability to blend in with the larger and more expensive TVs – especially The Frame and the S95B OLED. The all-in-one HW-S800B Ultra-Slim Soundbar is just 1.6 inches deep and comes packed with Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual:X support, a built-in passive radiator, and a 6.5-inch cubic subwoofer. The HW-S801B is the same soundbar in White, for further lifestyle customization.
No news on pricing yet but Samsung says the new soundbars will start shipping between now and late June.
Samsung’s 2022 TVs and soundbars will have something for everyone. With its jump into OLED after nearly a decade, we will see how the new QD-OLED technology compares with its competitors at LG and Sony. And the 8K TVs, especially in larger sizes, are a high-end way for consumers to future-proof – though with just an incremental upgrade to picture right now.
The anti-glare coating on the 2022 The Frame TVs make them even more optimized to beautifully show off the art and photographs they were created to display. Plus, they offer better viewing for TV and movies from angles and under bright lights.
And finally, we’re excited about the cutting-edge wireless Dolby Atmos audio of the Samsung subwoofer, and hope they sound as good as they look.
Though we were generally impressed with the 2022 line-up, we were only able to see the new products in the well-lit environment of NYC’s Meatpacking location of the Samsung Experience store. We’ll have better information when we’re able to get the products in for testing.