Latest news with #homecinema
Digital Trends
7 days ago
- Business
- Digital Trends
Save $100 when you get these top Bose home theater upgrades
If you're like most people, when you buy a TV upgrade you'll also want to upgrade your sound equipment. While some TVs are now equipped with an internal soundbar, most aren't, and you'll need to get your own equipment to get your home cinema the robust sound and deep rumbling bass that it deserves. Bose, a leading speaker brand, currently has both one of their leading soundbars and one of their leading subwoofers discounted by $100 for a limited time. The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is marked down to $799 from $899, and the Bose Bass Module 700 is marked down to $749 from $849. With the exception of the black coloration of the soundbar (they each have a modern white and classic black color), all of these products have a glowing red 'Only a few left!' button on the side, so be sure to order yours via one of the buttons below before someone else snatches it from your hands. But, it's okay to slow down and see our take before leaping into a purchase. Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar — $799 $899 11% off Bose Bass Module 700 — $749 $849 12% off Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar — $799 $899 11% off The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is meant to be a quick and easy addition to your setup. In fact, maybe 'setup' is a bad word for it — the soundbar uses smart audio calibration to fit your room, has an A.I. dialogue mode that boosts dialogue clarity on its own, and has simple controls via voice activation, a remote, or an app. Another smart feature of the soundbar (it has to earn its name somehow) is Bose TrueSpace technology. The bar uses Dolby Atmos to separate music, dialogue, and sound effects before 'placing' them about your room, and uses Bose's TrueSpace for things without Dolby Atmos, improving immersion beyond conventional stereo sound. Pair the soundbar with the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds for an even more interesting experience. Bose Bass Module 700 — $749 $849 12% off The above soundbar is often sold as part of a larger kit with this subwoofer. And it's good. So good, in fact, that it made our list of the best soundbars with subwoofers in the 'premium' category. There, we said the Bass module 'brings booming sound,' and that fits. Of course, the gorgeous glass-topped box of boom also uses Bose's QuietPort tech (in laymen's terms, 'ports' are the holes and vents where sound comes out) to eliminate distortion. This subwoofer looks quite charming in both its white and black variations.
Telegraph
16-05-2025
- Telegraph
Samsung S95F review: The best OLED TV for bright rooms
This article contains affiliate links. The products or services listed have been selected independently by journalists after hands-on testing or sourcing expert opinions. We may earn a commission when you click a link, buy a product or subscribe to a service. What is the Samsung S95F? Samsung pushed QLED as the top technology for TVs until it abruptly changed direction in 2022. When it did so, it took everything it had learnt about Quantum Dots – which bring colour and vibrancy to its TVs – and put it into its considerable expertise with OLED panels, with jaw-dropping results. In 2024, Samsung made a bold move with the Samsung S95D, by introducing a glare-free panel. The Samsung S95F – the F indicating that it's a 2025 model – updates its precursor, boosting the display skills further as it vies to be the best OLED TV you can buy. This is a high-end QD-OLED that's designed to compete with the LG G5, to win the hearts of home cinema fans. That anti-gloss display, combined with high brightness, aims to address OLED's biggest drawback, which is peak brightness when compared to Mini-LED TVs. It sits alongside a slightly lesser sibling, the Samsung S90F, which (amongst other things) doesn't offer the One Connect Box, has a lower spec sound system and doesn't have the glare free finish to the screen, but comes in at a slightly lower price. JUMP TO: How we test TVs I tested the Samsung S95F at home over the course of three weeks, using it to watch a full range of content, from regular broadcast TV, to Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. I tested most of the major streaming services, gaming features and hooked-up a range of external devices. I was interested in the design and build quality, how easy the TV was to set up and get started with, as well as how easy it was to change the settings on the fly to tweak the picture. I looked at how Samsung's technology made the TV better and how that came through in the picture and the sound. I tested the connections and how it fitted into a wider ecosystem of Samsung devices to test the extensive feature set that it offers. I also tested it with and without a Samsung soundbar. Why you can trust Telegraph Recommended Our tech experts continuously conduct in-depth, independent, real-world tests, scoring devices against pre-set testing metrics and industry benchmarks, so we can deliver definitive and comprehensive buying advice. Telegraph Recommended reviews are never shared with product manufacturers before publication, we don't accept payment in exchange for positive reviews, nor do we allow brands to pay for placement in our articles. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more. Design and technology Score: 9/10 Samsung has a significant trick up its sleeve when it comes to designing TVs. On its top models it uses the One Connect Box. This is a separate box that handles the power and all the connections for the TV, leaving just one cable to run to the TV itself, which is great for those wall-mounting it. The result is that the TV is just 11mm thick, a real statement design with eight speakers aligned across the rear, which looks great. The central stand makes it look like the TV is floating and you can attach the One Connect Box to this stand if you choose, but otherwise, that One Connect Box can go elsewhere, like in a cupboard. There's no shortage of premium design in that sense: this model looks smarter than the Samsung QN900F, the 8K model that I recently reviewed. The central pedestal stand means that you don't need a huge piece of furniture to accommodate it (if you're not wall-mounting it), although unlike the Panasonic Z95A, it doesn't offer any swivel to adjust the angle once placed on a stand. The bezel around the exterior of the display is minimal, while there are two remotes in the box, as is standard for Samsung. One is an old-fashioned remote with lots of buttons, the other a slimline remote offering solar charging, with just the basic controls. The Samsung S95F features a new processor for 2025, the NQ4 AI Gen3. This is an uptick over the 2024 model, offering more power across the board, including a jump in the AI (artificial intelligence) power available. This AI is used to enhance the picture in real-time, with an AI Mode available as a catch-all enhancement for both picture and sound, and a couple of other features. The Samsung S95F has a 4K QD-OLED display. That means that the colours are boosted by Quantum Dots, while the illumination is coming from organic light emitting diodes. The advantage that OLED offers over LED technologies is that each individual pixel can be turned off, so control of the light is incredibly precise. This is the reason that OLED is famed for delivering absolute blacks and stunning contrast, because it can turn off elements when no light is needed. That means huge dynamic range, expert delivery of dark scenes and when called upon, piercing highlights. The brightness (nits) of the Samsung S95F has increased over the S95D meaning that it's capable of even punchier highlights. This works in tandem with the anti-reflection screen, so watching this television in a room with windows when the sunlight is streaming in, presents no problem. Under strong light the display will look more grey than black, but most glossy-finished rivals would look more like a mirror in such situations. It's also true that some will prefer the conventional glossy finish, especially when viewing in a light controlled room – but in a bright room, the S95F is the master. I watched The Batman – a notoriously dark film – and found that the S95F presented it very nicely, taking full advantage of that amazing contrast. Not only that, but I was watching in HD, so it was upscaled to make those highlights sharper and ensure dark areas didn't just turn into mush. Switching to No Time To Die on Ultra HD Blu-ray, the screen really showed off its skills, rewarding me with rich immersive scenes, dazzling colours and a chance to present adept motion handling. While most motion is expertly handled, I think it's enhanced by switching the picture clarity settings to custom and taking things down a notch. Again, personal preference, but Samsung gives you the power to make these minor adjustments. There's an AI Mode that's designed to enhance the viewing experience. Typically it makes things brighter and for some content that's fine, but in some cases you'll lose a lot of detail. An early evening supper in Andor Season 2 sees the sky brightened and losing all definition with AI Mode on, so if you do use it, be aware you might be missing the bigger picture, literally. There's no support for Dolby Vision as is standard for a Samsung TV, but there's more HDR10+ content appearing all the time (Netflix is now full of it), so you won't feel like you're missing out too much. Purists might find themselves turning to the LG G5 instead (the biggest next-gen OLED rival to the Samsung S95F), but we're talking about two exceptionally capable TVs here. Sound Score: 9/10 The Samsung S95F is equipped with a 70W sound system, with eight visible speakers running across the rear of the TV. Visually, these are a delight, but for many people, their primary task will be to reflect off whatever is behind the TV, namely the wall. They are arranged in a 4.2.2 channel configuration, meaning that you have four channels for the main sound, two for bass and two for height. Aside from the visible speakers on the back of the TV, there are also speakers set in the sides and towards the top of the rear of the TV to add width and height. That all works rather well, with some immersion coming from that configuration as well as successful positioning of sounds on the screen so they appear to come from where you'd expect. There's respectable bass, but when I fired up the wedding party scene in Andor Season 2 (The Harvest), I found myself wishing for a little more oomph. The S95F supports Samsung's Q-Symphony system where it will work in tandem with a connected Samsung soundbar. I tested it with the Samsung Q990F and found it to be a delight – I can't recommend that pairing enough. One interesting feature is the option to have 'standard sound' or 'amplify'. Amplify clearly sounds richer, so it's hard to see why 'standard' even remains an option. As a TV without a pronounced soundbar it's rather good, but for any home cinema fan, adding a more comprehensive sound system would be advised. Operating system The Samsung S95F runs Tizen OS, which is Samsung's TV operating system. Like other parts of the Samsung ecosystem, it's backed by 7-years of software updates, which beats LG's commitment by 2 years. Tizen is all encompassing and absolutely loaded with features, but there's a couple of things it could do better. I found that opening the Disney+ app was always slow and I also don't think the UI handles recommendations and resumption very well. As you scroll down the page there are many rows of content, but it's not what you've been watching, it's just stuff. There's a 'now playing' window which potentially hooks you back in, but more often than not I'd be navigating to the app to continue watching. Sometimes the interface gets a little confused too: if you've been watching something in HDR, it's nice and bright, but when you scroll off the 'now playing' window, it will drop back to SDR, which is a little jarring. I wish it would just be consistent. I also found it would occasionally switch to my Blu-ray player and play the disc, often when I'd just finished watching something else, which feels a little like a bug. The streaming apps work well enough however and although the best streaming devices also offer great performance, native apps tend to handle things like frame rate matching better from the TV directly. Setting up the software side of the TV is a breeze thanks to the SmartThings app. If you're a Samsung phone user this will be familiar, but it makes it really easy to sign in and get connected, without using an on-screen keyboard. You can also then control the TV and tweak the settings from your phone if you want to. Access to Alexa (or Bixby, but that's not worth using) is on board too, although the Alexa experience isn't as comprehensive as it is on an Amazon Fire TV. Gaming Score: 9/10 Samsung is serious about gaming and having a huge OLED display to do it on is a pleasure. There are four HDMI 2.1 connections, meaning you have support for 4K 120Hz gaming from the latest consoles, while it offers features like low latency mode and variable refresh rate to support PC gamers too, who can also benefit from 4K 165Hz support for super-smooth action. Samsung's Game Mode can automatically turn on when you power up your console with low lag input so you feel like you're part of the action and not a fraction behind. This is all supported by a Game Bar, which you can pop-up to make tweaks on the fly, as well as checking that you're getting the settings you expect. This also supports the Game Hub, which is well specified, offering access to the Xbox app (for console-free gaming), as well as services like Nvidia GeForce Now and Amazon's Luna. The Game Mode screen settings are a little overwrought, but once I started playing, I found myself addicted to its rich and vibrant visuals. Technical specifications The closest practical rival to the Samsung S95F is the LG G5, the company's 2025 flagship models and one of the best 4K TVs you can buy. Samsung and LG go head-to-head offering two different approaches to OLED, with Samsung choosing QD-OLED and LG using what's called W-OLED. LG's evolution in 2025 is to stack the OLED panels for increased brightness, in what's called a Primary RGB Tandem OLED display. Should you buy the Samsung S95F? The Samsung S95F is a flagship television by any measure. It offers a premium design and build, a connected and fully-featured user experience and sound that's better than many TVs. But it's the picture quality – especially when using it in brighter conditions – that really comes through. The anti-glare display is unique and while it might divide opinion, it doesn't take away from the great performance you'll get. It's an expensive TV and there are some areas of the user experience that could be better, like updating the home screen experience with integration into streaming services for better resumption. Yes, if: No, if: Samsung S95F FAQs What are the main improvements in the Samsung S95F compared to the previous S95D model? The Samsung S95F offers a brighter display than the S95D so it can deliver better highlights in HDR. The new glare-free screen is designed to maintain colour better in bright conditions. It also increases the frame rate support to 165Hz over 144Hz of the previous model. There's been a slight change to the user interface too, with the introduction of an AI Mode designed to boost the appearance of content and the redesign of how the settings are displayed on-screen. How bright is the Samsung S95F's QD-OLED panel? Samsung has said that the S95F is its brightest TV ever, brighter than the S95D from 2024. Samsung told me that the peak brightness of the S95F is 2,000 nits. Is the price of the Samsung S95F in line with other high-end 4K TVs? Yes, the Samsung S95F sits in the same ballpark as other premium 4K OLED TVs. It's priced close to the LG G5. If you're budget is incredibly tight, then finding a TV for under £500 might be better for you. Does the S95F come with the One Connect Box? Yes it does. The One Connect Box is separated from the screen itself, which allows for great flexibility when installing. This option is only available on Samsung's top TV models, with those screens lower down the price ladder losing this particular feature – like the S90F for example.
