The Samsung CU7000 is one of the entry-level models in Samsung's 2023 lineup, replacing the Samsung AU7000 in North America. It's part of Samsung's Crystal UHD series of TVs, sitting below the Samsung CU8000. It competes with other entry-level models like the Sony X75K, the Hisense U6/U6H, and the TCL 4 Series. It's a very basic model that lacks features like variable refresh rate (VRR) and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth. It uses Samsung's Crystal Processor 4K, first introduced in 2020 and designed to provide powerful 4k upscaling. It runs a simplified version of Samsung's 2023 Tizen OS interface, which offers most of the features of more advanced models. The CU7000 comes with a simple battery-powered remote, which lacks the voice support and solar charging of the CU8000 remote.
Our Verdict
The Samsung CU7000 is okay overall. It's a decent TV for gaming due to its incredibly low input lag and good response time, so you get a responsive gaming experience with minimal blur behind fast movement on screen. Unfortunately, even though it has satisfactory reflection handling, it doesn't get bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room. Inversely, its contrast isn't quite good enough to impress in darker rooms, and its low HDR peak brightness and narrow color gamut lead to an unimpactful HDR presentation.
Decent for gaming due to its fast response time and low input lag.
- Lacks a local dimming feature.
Doesn't get very bright in HDR or SDR.
The Samsung CU7000 is not bad for watching TV shows. It has satisfactory reflection handling, but due to its mediocre SDR peak brightness, it can't overcome glare in a bright room. The TV has an inadequate viewing angle with colors that shift quickly as you move off-center, so it's not a good choice for watching shows in a group, as people sitting to the sides of the screen see a degraded image. It does an alright job upscaling lower-resolution content, so it's a decent choice for watching older shows on DVD or cable boxes.
- Poor low-quality content smoothing.
Doesn't get very bright in HDR or SDR.
- Narrow viewing angle.
The Samsung CU7000 is alright for watching sports. The TV has satisfactory reflection handling but can't overcome glare in a bright room due to its mediocre SDR peak brightness. It has a good response time, so there's very little blur behind quick-moving players. The TV also does an alright job at upscaling lower-resolution content, which is important since most sports are still shown in 720p. Unfortunately, it has a narrow viewing angle that makes it inadequate for watching the game in a group setting since anyone watching from the sides of the screen sees a degraded image.
Good response time.
Doesn't get very bright in HDR or SDR.
- Narrow viewing angle.
The Samsung CU7000 is decent for gaming. It has incredibly low input lag, so there's no delay between the inputs on your controller and the action on the screen. It also has a good response time, so there's minimal blur behind quick movements on screen. The TV supports Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) that switches your TV into Game Mode when launching a game, but it doesn't support any advanced gaming features like variable refresh rate and is limited to HDMI 2.0 bandwidth.
Good response time.
Very low input lag.
Doesn't get very bright in HDR or SDR.
- Limited to 60Hz and has no VRR support.
The Samsung CU7000 is alright for watching movies in a dark room. It has an adequate contrast ratio and great black uniformity that allows for deep blacks in dark scenes, but since it lacks a local dimming feature, blacks are washed out anytime there are brighter highlights on screen. The TV has poor HDR peak brightness and doesn't support a wide color gamut, so highlights don't stand out, and colors aren't as vibrant and lifelike as they should be. The TV also has poor low-quality content smoothing, so lower-bitrate movies from streaming services have noticeable macro-blocking.
- Removes judder from 24p sources.
- Poor low-quality content smoothing.
- Lacks a local dimming feature.
Doesn't get very bright in HDR or SDR.
- Narrow color gamut.
- Terrible pre-calibration color accuracy.
- No DTS audio support.
The Samsung CU7000 is satisfactory for HDR gaming, even if HDR adds little due to the TV's poor HDR peak brightness, narrow color gamut, and lack of local dimming. Still, the TV has incredibly low input lag, so there's no delay between the inputs on your controller and the actions on the screen. It also has a good response time, so there's minimal blur with quick-moving objects, but due to the lack of VRR, you'll have screen tearing. It also lacks HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and is limited to 60Hz, so it's not a good pairing with modern gaming consoles.
Good response time.
Very low input lag.
- Lacks a local dimming feature.
Doesn't get very bright in HDR or SDR.
- Narrow color gamut.
- Limited to 60Hz and has no VRR support.
The Samsung CU7000 is decent for use as a PC monitor. Its incredibly low input lag gives a responsive desktop experience, making your mouse movements smooth. Its good response time also means there's minimal blur behind quick cursor movements. Unfortunately, even though the TV has satisfactory reflection handling, it doesn't get bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room. Plus, the TV has a narrow viewing angle, so the image looks washed out at the sides if you sit too close to the screen. It displays chroma 4:4:4 properly, which is essential for clear text from a PC, but since it uses a BGR subpixel layout, there are still some text clarity issues that affect readability.
- Displays chroma 4:4:4 subsampling.
Good response time.
Very low input lag.
Doesn't get very bright in HDR or SDR.
- Narrow viewing angle.
Changelog
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Updated Nov 18, 2024:
We rewrote sections of the review for clarity to ensure it's up to date.
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Updated Nov 04, 2024:
We mentioned the newly-reviewed Samsung DU6900 in the SDR Brightness section of this review.
- Updated Apr 11, 2024: Mentioned the newly-reviewed Samsung DU8000 in the Black Uniformity section of this review.
- Updated Jan 15, 2024: We've updated the text in the review to reflect our latest test methodology.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the 65-inch Samsung CU7000, and these results are also valid for the 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 58-inch, 70-inch, 75-inch, and 85-inch models. The Samsung CU7000D is a variant sold at Costco and Sam's Club but is otherwise identical to the CU7000. Note that the last four letters in the model number (FXZA in this case) vary between retailers and individual regions, but there's no difference in performance.
| Size | US Model | Short Model Code |
|---|---|---|
| 43" | UN43CU7000FXZA | UN43CU7000 |
| 50" | UN50CU7000FXZA | UN50CU7000 |
| 55" | UN55CU7000FXZA | UN55CU7000 |
| 58" | UN58CU7000FXZA | UN58CU7000 |
| 65" | UN65CU7000FXZA | UN65CU7000 |
| 70" | UN70CU7000FXZA | UN70CU7000 |
| 75" | UN75CU7000FXZA | UN75CU7000 |
| 85" | UN85CU7000FXZA | UN85CU7000 |
Our unit was manufactured in March 2023, as you can see on the label.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung CU7000 is an entry-level budget TV with decent performance. It's comparable to 2020's Samsung TU7000, with each having slight advantages over the other. It's a very basic TV with limited picture quality and few extra features. There are better budget models available from other brands, like the cheaper Hisense U6/U6H, the TCL 4 Series/S455 2022, and the TCL 5 Series/S555 2022 QLED. The Hisense U7H and the Hisense U8/U8H both outperform the Samsung CU7000 and are typically cheaper. Overall, it's probably not worth your money.
For other options, check out our recommendations for the best TVs, the best budget TVs, and the best 4k gaming TVs.
The Samsung CU7000 and Samsung CU8000 are surprisingly comparable TVs, each having particular strengths. The CU8000 has a wider color gamut and slightly higher peak brightness, making it more pleasant to look at. It also has a more premium, slimmer design. However, it's a particularly slow TV; its response time is poor, which makes it ill-suited for watching sports or for playing fast-moving games, but it helps with watching movies as a slow response time reduces perceived stutter. One of the CU7000's primary strengths is its fast response time, especially in bright scene transitions, making it suited to sports and fast games. Ultimately, the CU7000 is likely cheaper and of particular interest to those wanting a cheaper TV to play games on and watch sports, while the CU8000 has a premium look and outputs more impressive images due to its wider color gamut and slightly higher peak brightness.
The Samsung CU7000/CU7000D and Samsung TU7000 are very similar TVs. The TU7000 has better contrast and color accuracy, while the CU7000 has slightly better peak brightness in both SDR and HDR, much better PQ EOTF tracking, and a faster response time. The CU7000's response time makes it the better choice for fast-moving action in games and sports; however, the slower response time of the TU7000 makes it better suited for watching movies as it has less stutter.
The Samsung DU7200 and Samsung CU7000/CU7000D are closely matched, with the older CU7000 having a slight edge when it comes to image quality, but the DU7200 has more features. The DU7200 is a bit brighter in HDR and SDR, but this is hardly noticeable, while the CU7000 has noticeably deeper contrast. Still, the CU7000 has slightly better reflection handling, giving it the edge in brighter rooms. The DU7200 is the most accurate TV of the two out-of-the-box and has a basic VRR feature in the 48-60Hz range, making it a bit more interesting for gamers. Ultimately, these two TVs are similar enough that you should get the cheapest one you can find.
The Samsung CU7000/CU7000D is the better choice for dark rooms due to its noticeably better contrast, but the Samsung DU6900 is the brighter the two TVs, with better reflection handling, giving it the edge in brighter contexts. The DU6900 also has a barebones VRR feature, which is still better than the CU7000's lack of VRR, making the DU6900 the better option for gaming.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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