Our Verdict
Very good TV for mixed usage. Picture quality is good, but image loses accuracy when viewed at an angle. The TV can get bright to counteract glare in a bright room. Motion handling is great for watching sports, gaming or using it as a PC monitor. Dark scene performance is good, but the local dimming doesn't work well.
- Great motion handling
- Low input lag
- Great SDR peak brightness
- Colors appear washed out at an angle
Good for watching movies in a dark room. Picture quality is good, and colors accuracy is good out-of-the-box. The Samsung NU8000 can play most content without judder, which is great. Unfortunately, the local dimming doesn't work well to improve dark scene performance, as it reduces the brightness of small object significantly.
Very good for watching TV in a bright room. The TV can get bright across the whole screen to counteract glare, and reflection handling is good. The smart interface also works well for casual TV watching. Picture quality is good but degrades when viewed at an angle.
Good TV for sports fans. Motion handling is great, so fast-moving objects appear clear. Picture quality is good from directly in front but degrades when viewed at an angle. The TV can get bright to overcome glare in a bright room, and anti-reflection coating is good at diffusing direct lights on the screen.
Excellent TV for gamers. Picture quality is good when viewed from directly in front. Motion handling is great, so fast-moving objects remain clear. The Samsung NU8000 can also flicker the image to clear up fast motion, and input lag is very low which is excellent.
Good for watching HDR movies in a dark room. Picture quality is good and can produce more bright and vivid HDR highlights due to wide color gamut and high peak brightness. The TV can play most content without judder, which is great. Unfortunately, the local dimming doesn't work as well as some other TVs.
Great TV for HDR gaming on an Xbox One S or PS4 Pro. Picture quality is good, and motion handling is great due to the fast response time. The TV supports HDR features like a wide color gamut. The Samsung NU8000 also has a motion interpolation feature which works in game mode to produce smooth images with very little input lag which is great.
Great TV for PC use. The TV supports chroma 4:4:4 for clear text across all backgrounds. Picture quality is good but degrades when viewed at an angle so the sides of the screen can appear non-uniform from up close. Motion handling is great, and the TV feels responsive thanks to the very low input lag.
Changelog
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Feb 28, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Jan 09, 2019: We have retested the BFI, and can confirm that the NU8000 can flicker at 120 Hz when displaying a 120 Hz signal. Scores updated.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" (UN55NU8000) version FA01. For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 49" version (UN49NU8000), 65" version (UN65NU8000), 75" version (UN75NU8000) and 82" version (UN82NU8000). Note that, like the MU8000, the 49" model has a 60Hz panel instead of the 120Hz panel found on other sizes.
There is an NU8070 variant that is available in the EU only. It is available in 49", 55", and 65". We're not sure what differences there are exactly, but Samsung markets the NU8070 as having "Supreme UHD Dimming", whereas the NU8000 in the E.U. is advertised with "UHD Dimming". It is interesting to note that the NU8000 in the U.S. is marketed with "Supreme UHD Dimming".
Warehouse stores in the U.S., including Sam's Club and Costco, carry the model code NU800D. As far as we know, it is the exact same TV, but there may be some very minor cosmetic differences.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Samsung NU8000 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that the gray uniformity does vary on a unit-by-unit basis.
| Size | Model | US | UK | AU | Warehouse | Refresh Rate |
| 49" | UN49NU8000 | UN49NU8000FXZA | UE49NU8000FXZA | UN49NU800DFXZA | 60Hz | |
| 55" | UN55NU8000 | UN55NU8000FXZA | UE55NU8000FXZA | UA55NU8000WXXY | UN55NU800DFXZA | 120Hz |
| 65" | UN65NU8000 | UN65NU8000FXZA | UE65NU8000FXZA | UA65NU8000WXXY | UN65NU800DFXZA | 120Hz |
| 75" | UN75NU8000 | UN75NU8000FXZA | UE75NU8000FXZA | UA75NU8000WXXY | UN75NU800DFXZA | 120Hz |
| 82" | UN82NU8000 | UN82NU8000FXZA | UE82NU8000FXZA | UA82NU8000WXXY | UN82NU800DFXZA | 120Hz |
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung NU8000 is a very good 4k TV without major flaws, but for different usages, there may be a better choice - especially considering the price premium of this 2018 model over comparable 2017 TVs. See our recommendations for the best 4k TVs, the best 65 inch TVs and the best TVs.
The Samsung Q7FN/Q7/Q7F QLED 2018 is better than the Samsung NU8000. The Samsung Q7FN has much better reflection handling so you can easily place it in a bright room with many windows. The Q7FN performs better in HDR as it can get brighter and has a wider color gamut that allows it to display rich and saturated colors with highlights that pop. Finally, the Samsung Q7FN has a slightly better black frame insertion feature, which helps clear the image from motion blur.
If you've got a room with wide seating and many lights, then the LG SK8000 is a better choice, but for a dark room with seating directly in front, then the Samsung NU8000 is better. The LG SK8000 has better viewing angles and reflection handling, whereas the Samsung NU8000 has better contrast, better black uniformity, and can get brighter. The Samsung NU8000 supports the FreeSync variable refresh rate to prevent tearing when playing video games and if you watch a lot of sports, you'll appreciate the Samsung's better gray uniformity.
The overall performance of the Samsung Q6FN/Q6/Q6F QLED 2018 and the Samsung NU8000 is very similar, but the Q6FN is slightly better across the board. The differences are marginal, though.
The Samsung NU8000 is a bit better than the Samsung RU8000, although it's an older model that may be hard to find. The NU8000 has a local dimming feature that can improve dark room performance, whereas the RU8000 doesn't. The NU8000 can also get brighter in both SDR and HDR. That said, the RU8000 has a lower input lag and a faster response time, so it's better 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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