Our Verdict
Very good TV for mixed usage. It has good picture quality and good motion handling, which is important in sports, gaming and PC usage. The image, however, deteriorates when viewed at an angle. The TV can handle reflections as it can get bright to overcome glare and can produce deep blacks in dark rooms. HDR content is rich in detail but local dimming is disappointing. Sports fans might notice some uniformity issues, but in most other usages this will not be an issue.
- Great at handling motion
- Supports FreeSync VRR for use with a PC or Xbox
- Great brightness
- Image degrades when viewed at an angle
Good for watching movies in a dark room. Picture quality is good, with a high contrast ratio and good black uniformity. The Samsung NU8500 can play content without judder and with ok out-of-the-box colors. Although the local dimming isn't improving dark scenes, the TV provides a pleasant experience.
Very good for watching TV in a bright room. The TV gets bright and can counteract glare. Reflection handling is good, but image degrades at an angle. The smart interface works well for casual TV watching and upscaling cable 720p content to 4k is good.
The Samsung NU8500 is a decent TV for watching sports. Motion handling is great, so fast-moving objects appear clear. Picture quality is good but deteriorates when viewed at an angle. The TV gets bright enough to overcome the glare of bright ambiances, and the semi-gloss finish works well at diffusing direct lights off the screen.
Great TV for gamers. Input lag is low, and the TV feels very responsive. Motion handling is great and the TV can clear up blur by flickering the image. The picture quality is good and, especially in a dark room, the high native contrast ratio produces deep blacks. The good gray uniformity will allow for a free from DSE gaming experience.
Decent TV for watching HDR movies. The picture quality is good the and the NU8500 can produce bright and vivid HDR highlights in a dark room due to wide color gamut and high peak brightness. The TV plays content without judder, but its poor local dimming affects its overall performance.
Impressive HDR gaming with an Xbox One S or PS4 Pro with the NU8500. The good picture quality and great motion handling with fast response times are omens for a great gaming experience. The support of HDR features like a wide color gamut and the support of motion interpolation in game mode in association with the very low input lag and the slight curvature of the panel, enhance the immersive gaming experience.
Great TV for PC use. The low input lag makes and the great motion handling make the TV feel very responsive. The text is clear due to the support of chroma 4:4:4 and gray uniformity is good for internet browsing. The viewing angle is poor, so the edges of the screen darken when viewed from up-close, although the slight curvature minimizes this effect.
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 mode, and the backlight does flicker at 120 Hz when displaying a 120 Hz signal. Scores have been updated.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" (UN55NU8500) version FA01. For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 65" (UN65NU8500) as well.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Samsung NU8500 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.
| Size | Model | US | UK | AU |
| 55" | UN55NU8500 | UN55NU8500FXZA | UE55NU8500TXXU | UA55NU8500WXXY |
| 65" | UN65NU8500 | UN65NU8500FXZA | UE65NU8500TXXU | UA65NU8500WXXY |
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung MU9000 is somewhat better than the Samsung NU8500. The Samsung MU9000 has better reflection handling, which is good for a room with many small windows and better native contrast ratio that produces deeper blacks in dark rooms. The Samsung NU8500, on the other hand, has a curvy profile, a lower input lag and supports FreeSync which is great if you play video games.
The Sony X900F is much better than the curved Samsung NU8500. The Sony X900F has better local dimming and better native contrast ratio. Along with the better black uniformity and better brightness, it can deliver better dark room movie and HDR movie watching experiences. Also, the Sony X900F has better reflection handling and faster response time, so it's a better choice if you watch a lot of sports or TV shows in a room with many light sources. On the other hand, the Samsung NU8500 has FreeSync support, and lower input lag to please gamers.
The Samsung NU8500 is slightly better than the Samsung MU8500. The Samsung NU8500 is a better choice for video games and HDR gaming because of better input lag and support for the AMD FreeSync variable refresh rate. Also, the NU8500 has a faster response time that leaves a smaller image trail in fast action scenes like sports. Finally, black uniformity is slightly worse on the older Samsung MU8500, and that might be noticeable when watching movies in a dark room.
The Samsung NU8500 is the curved version of the Samsung NU8000. The overall performance of both TVs is very similar, and measured differences may be due to panel variance.
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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