Our Verdict
Decent TV for a mixed usage. The MU6500 doesn't excel at anything, but it provides a good experience for most usages. Its picture quality is good, but it might have issues if placed in a bright living room with wide seating arrangements because of its limited viewing angle and brightness.
- Low input lag
- High contrast and uniform blacks
- Picture quality deteriorates at an angle
- Could be a bit brighter
Passable TV for movies in a dark room. The MU6500's contrast and black uniformity are good, but it lacks a local dimming feature to enhance them even further. It also cannot playback 24p content without minor judder, but not everybody is sensitive to this problem.
The MU6500 does a decent job with TV shows, it has a decent soap opera effect, and it's smart platform makes it easy to access content from apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime video. Unfortunately, though, it could be a bit brighter, and its handling of reflections isn't the best.
Decent TV for watching sports. The MU6500's screen uniformity is good, so fields and ice rinks look even and free of blotches. Its viewing angle is quite narrow though, so it's not a great choice for viewing parties where people are going to be sitting to the side of the TV.
Great TV for video games, the MU6500 has a low input lag making inputs responsive. Its handling of motion is also decent, so fast moving objects show limited trailing.
Average TV for HDR movies. While the MU6500 does support HDR10, it lacks a wide color gamut and doesn't get very bright. Because of this, HDR movies will show a limited effect.
The MU6500 maintains its gaming performance well with HDR games since its input lag isn't affected.
Passable PC monitor. While decent for normal use, the MU6500's motion blur might be a bit high for PC use. moving text and mouse interaction will show a longer than usual trail which can be distracting.
Changelog
- Updated Mar 12, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Jul 24, 2017: Review published.
- Updated Jul 22, 2017: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" (UN55MU6500), version FA01. For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the other sizes.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Samsung MU6500 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.
| Size | Model | Warehouse Model |
| 49" | UN49MU6500 | UN49MU650DFXZA |
| 55" | UN55MU6500 | UN55MU650DFXZA |
| 65" | UN65MU6500 | UN65MU650DFXZA |
Black Friday models
For Black Friday, some retailers use alternative forms of the product name. For example, Walmart has the 65" variant on sale with product codes 65MU6500 and UN65MU6500FXZA.
There is also the 55 inch MU6490 (55MU6490, UN55MU6490, UN55MU6490FXZA) which can be found at B&H and a few other retailers. We expect this variant to share the performance of the variant we've reviewed, with the only difference being the lack of Bluetooth connectivity and the basic remote which lacks voice control (Same remote as the Samsung MU6100).
Popular TV Comparisons
The MU6500 is a decent entry-level 4k TV, and its curved design makes it a rare breed. It's tough to justify its price though, as competing models often offer a lot more value for money.
The Samsung MU7000 and the Samsung MU6500 have very similar performance. The Samsung MU6500 is marginally better for use as a PC monitor due to its curved profile and its marginally better inputs. The Samsung MU6500 also has slightly better black uniformity that becomes apparent when you watch HDR movies. If you play HDR games, the Samsung MU6500 has slightly better input lag on 4k @ 60Hz + hdr signal. On the other hand, the Samsung MU7000 has better contrast that helps blacks in a dark room when watching HDR movies.
The Samsung MU6300 is a slightly better TV than the Samsung MU6500. The Samsung MU6500 is marginally better for use as a PC monitor mainly due to its curved profile. Also, the Samsung MU6300 has slightly better black uniformity which helps to improve picture quality when you are watching HDR movies. On the other hand, the Samsung MU6300 has marginally better reflection handling that becomes more apparent when watching TV shows in a brighter room.
The Samsung MU8500 is a better TV than the Samsung MU6500. The Samsung MU8500 is better for watching movies as it has local dimming to improve blacks, much better motion handling with excellent 24p judder removal and excellent motion interpolation. The Samsung MU8500 also has marginally better SDR peak brightness so you can comfortably watch your favorite TV shows in a brighter room. Finally, the Samsung MU8500 has a slightly better color volume which is important if you play HDR games. On the contrary, the Samsung MU6500 has slightly better black uniformity that can be observed when watching HDR movies.
The Samsung NU7100 is a slightly better TV than the Samsung MU6500. The Samsung NU7100 has better input lag for video games, and a marginally better input lag when sent 4k @ 60Hz + HDR signal for HDR gaming. The Samsung NU7100 also has a slightly better black uniformity which becomes apparent in a dark room when you watch HDR movies. On the contrary, the Samsung MU6500 is slightly better for use as a PC monitor due to its curved profile and has a marginally better response time which is great for video games.
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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