The Samsung DU6900 is an entry-level model in Samsung's 2024 lineup and sits just below the Samsung DU7200. It's a versatile TV with fully adjustable feet and comes with Samsung's proprietary Tizen OS. It has some optional features like Motion Xcelerator to help smooth out motion, Mega Contrast to automatically adjust the brightness and contrast of the image, and a VRR feature to provide a mostly tear-free 4k @ 60Hz gaming experience on its two HDMI 2.0 ports. The TV has a 20W 2.0 channel speaker system built-in and is available in a wide variety of sizes, from a small 43-inch model to a large 85-inch model. We bought and tested the 65-inch model.
Our Verdict
The Samsung DU6900 is okay for mixed usage. It's best suited for gaming or to use as a PC monitor, as it's a very responsive TV with good enough SDR brightness and reflection handling to overcome some glare from moderately lit rooms. It falters a bit for watching HDR movies, as its HDR brightness is disappointing, and its contrast is quite poor, providing a muted HDR viewing experience. The TV is also very inaccurate in SDR out of the box, so SDR content doesn't respect the content creator's intent. The TV's low-quality content smoothing is also poor, so any low-bitrate content ends up with noticeable macro-blocking. Finally, it's a sub-par choice for any wide seating arrangement due to its narrow viewing angle.
Good response time.
Easy to use interface and smart features.
Handles glare well.
No local dimming to improve contrast.
Narrow viewing angle.
Poor low-quality content smoothing with noticeable artifacts present.
The Samsung DU6900 is okay for watching TV shows. Its SDR brightness is alright, and it handles reflections well, so it overcomes glare from moderately lit rooms. Still, its viewing angle is narrow, so the image degrades quickly when viewed from the sides. It also has poor low-quality content smoothing, so low-bitrate streams have noticeable macro-blocking in them. Fortunately, Samsung's app store is loaded with all of the most popular streaming apps, so it's easy to find your favorite shows.
Easy to use interface and smart features.
Handles glare well.
Narrow viewing angle.
Poor low-quality content smoothing with noticeable artifacts present.
The Samsung DU6900 is just decent for watching sports, as it's bright enough to overcome glare when watched in moderately lit rooms, especially with its satisfactory reflection handling. Its response time is also good, so there's minimal blur behind quick-moving players and objects. Unfortunately, its viewing angle is pretty narrow, so anyone watching the game from the side ends up seeing a degraded image. Its uniformity is okay, but there's some noticeable dirty screen effect when watching sports with large areas of uniform color, like hockey or soccer.
Good response time.
Easy to use interface and smart features.
Handles glare well.
Narrow viewing angle.
Poor low-quality content smoothing with noticeable artifacts present.
The Samsung DU6900 is satisfactory for playing video games. It has incredibly low input lag, so there's little delay between your controller inputs and what happens on screen. The TV also has a good response time, which means there's minimal blur behind quick motion. If you like to play games in moderately lit rooms, then the TV`s SDR brightness and reflection handling are good enough to provide a pleasant gaming experience. But, if you regularly game in a dark room, blacks become raised when bright highlights are on screen due to the TV's poor contrast.
Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
Good response time.
Basic VRR feature for nearly tear-free gaming.
Handles glare well.
No local dimming to improve contrast.
Limited to 60Hz on all ports.
Only two HDMI ports.
The Samsung DU6900 is barely acceptable for watching movies in a dark room. Its contrast just isn't good enough to provide an impactful HDR experience due to not having a local dimming feature; blacks become raised and washed out when bright highlights are on screen. HDR content further lacks impact due to the TV's disappointing HDR brightness, so highlights don't stand out much at all. The TV's SDR calibration is quite poor out of the box, so purists who like to watch movies in SDR need to get it calibrated for the best image quality. Finally, the TV has poor low-quality content smoothing, which means low-bitrate content is soft, with noticeable artifacts present.
Removes judder from 24p sources.
Easy to use interface and smart features.
Stutter isn't very noticeable when watching movies.
No local dimming to improve contrast.
No Dolby Vision or DTS audio support.
Poor low-quality content smoothing with noticeable artifacts present.
Hard to calibrate.
The Samsung DU6900 is decent for playing games in HDR, but that's mostly due to its SDR gaming capabilities, as HDR adds very little. Switching the TV to Game Mode makes no difference in dark scene performance, although the TV does set itself to max brightness when VRR is enabled. Still, you get incredibly low input lag with no noticeable delay between controller inputs and what happens on screen without sacrificing picture quality. The TV also has a good response time, so there's minimal blur behind fast motion. Unfortunately, the TV just doesn't get bright enough in HDR to make highlights stand out, and its contrast is unremarkable, so HDR content lacks impact.
Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
Good response time.
Basic VRR feature for nearly tear-free gaming.
Handles glare well.
No local dimming to improve contrast.
Limited to 60Hz on all ports.
Only two HDMI ports.
The Samsung DU6900 is good for use as a PC monitor, as it has extremely low input lag and a good response time; this means that the TV is responsive enough to provide a good user experience, as your inputs register quickly, and there's minimal blur behind fast cursor movements. The TV is also bright enough in SDR to overcome some glare in moderately lit rooms, especially with its effective reflection handling. On the other hand, the TV has a narrow viewing angle, so the sides of the screen don't stay uniform with the center when sitting close to the screen. It displays chroma 4:4:4 properly, but since it uses a BGR subpixel layout, there are some readability issues with text that can bother some people.
Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
Good response time.
Handles glare well.
No local dimming to improve contrast.
Narrow viewing angle.
Limited to 60Hz on all ports.
Only two HDMI ports.
Changelog
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Updated Nov 12, 2024:
We clarified that the similarly-named DU6950 doesn't perform the same in the Differences Between Sizes And Variants section.
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Updated Nov 07, 2024:
Mentioned the newly-reviewed Samsung DU7200/DU7200D in the Contrast section.
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Updated Nov 05, 2024:
We retested the TV's reflection handling and updated the scoring and text in the Reflections section.
- Updated Nov 04, 2024: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the 65-inch Samsung DU6900 (UN65DU6900FXZC), but our results are also valid for all other model sizes. In the US market, only four sizes are available: the 50-inch (UN50DU6900FXZA), 55-inch (UN55DU6900FXZA), 60-inch (UN60DU6900FXZA), and 75-inch (UN75DU6900FXZA) models. Note that the last four letters in the model number (FXZA and FXZC in this case) vary between retailers and individual regions, but there's no difference in performance.
Best Buy and Costco sell a similarly-named 75-inch model known as the DU6950. However, that model performs differently since it's direct-lit, so our results aren't valid for it. Costco and Sam's Club also sell a 50-inch (UN50DU6900DXZA) variant of the DU6900 that comes with an extended warranty, and it performs the same.
| Size | US Model | Canadian Model | Short Model Code | Costco Variant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43" | - | UN43DU6900FXZC | UN43DU6900 | |
| 50" | UN50DU6900FXZA | UN50DU6900FXZC | UN50DU6900 | UN50DU6900DXZA |
| 55" | UN55DU6900FXZA | UN55DU6900FXZC | UN55DU6900 | |
| 60" | UN60DU6900FXZA | UN60DU6900FXZC | UN60DU6900 | |
| 65" | - | UN65DU6900FXZC | UN65DU6900 | |
| 70" | - | UN70DU6900FXZC | UN70DU6900 | |
| 75" | UN75DU6900FXZA | UN75DU6900FXZC | UN75DU6900 | |
| 85" | - | UN85DU6900FXZC | UN85DU6900 |
Our unit was manufactured in August 2024, as shown on the label.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung DU6900 is not a great performer, as its contrast and HDR brightness aren't good enough to provide an impactful HDR experience. Still, it performs well when compared to other entry-level products, such as the Hisense A6N and the Samsung DU8000, as its reflection handling is quite good overall, and the TV is bright enough in SDR to overcome some glare when used in moderately lit rooms. Still, you shouldn't buy the DU6900 while the similarly priced Hisense A7N is available, as the A7N outperforms it in almost every way.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best budget TVs, the best TVs under $1,000, and the best 4k TVs.
The Samsung DU7200 and the Samsung DU6900 are very similar overall. The DU7200 has better contrast, so it displays deeper blacks. The DU7200 also has much better pre-calibration accuracy, so colors in SDR are more accurate. However, the DU6900 has a slight edge with SDR brightness and reflection handling, meaning it's a bit better for bright rooms.
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.
The Samsung DU8000 and the Samsung DU6900 are very similar TVs but with a twist. The DU8000 is better suited for dark rooms due to its improved contrast, wider color gamut, and better out-of-the-box accuracy. Inversely, the DU6900 is the brighter TV of the two and has slightly better reflection handling, making it the superior choice for moderately lit rooms. The DU6900 also has a VRR feature, even if only in the narrow 48–60Hz range, giving it a slight edge when used for gaming.
The Samsung CU8000 and Samsung DU6900 trade blows, but the latter is definitely the better option for gamers due to its noticeably faster response time, and inclusion of a barebones VRR feature. The DU6900 is also slightly brighter in HDR, with better reflection handling, making it a bit easier to use in rooms with a few lights. Inversely the CU8000 has slightly better contrast and a far wider color gamut, so HDR movies watched in dark rooms are a bit more impactful than on the DU6900.
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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