| Design | 8.5 |
| Picture Quality | 7.4 |
| Motion | 6.3 |
| Inputs | 9.7 |
| Sound Quality | 6.5 |
| Smart Features | 7.4 |
- Produces deep, uniform blacks.
- Excellent low input lag.
- Disappointing viewing angles.
- Limited HDR performance.
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Market Context
The RU7300 is a budget 4k TV, and is the only curved TV that has been announced for Samsung's 2019 lineup so far. It is very similar to the Samsung RU7100, and replaces last year's Samsung NU7300. Except for the curved screen, it is mainly comparable to other budget TVs, like the LG UM7300 and the Sony X800G.
Design
The RU7300 has a decent design, nearly identical to last year's NU7300, and very similar to the RU7100, but with a curved screen. It has decent build quality and a simple stand that supports the TV well but wobbles a bit. The back of the TV is made of plastic and has only very basic cable management. Due to the curvature of the screen, the TV is quite a bit thicker than non-curved models, so it stands out a bit more if wall-mounted.
The stand of the RU7300 supports the TV well but does wobble a bit if nudged. The feet are placed far apart, so it does require a larger table if it isn't wall-mounted. This leaves enough room to place a moderately sized soundbar in front of the TV.
Footprint of the 55" stand: 38.3" x 10.4"
The back is very plain and is identical to most 2019 Samsung TVs. Like the RU7100, there isn't much to help you with cable management, but there are clips that attach to the legs, and grooves just above the stand that can be used to run cables along the back of the TV.
The RU7300 can also be VESA mounted, but requires special spacers (included in the box) due to the curvature of the back.
The borders of the RU7300 are a bit thicker than premium Samsung TVs, but still thin enough that they aren't very distracting.
The RU7300 is quite a bit thicker than the RU7100, due to the curvature of the screen, so it stands out a bit more when VESA mounted.
The TV has decent overall build quality, very similar to the RU7100 and the 2018 NU7100 and NU7300. Although it doesn't seem to be made from premium materials, there didn't appear to be any issues with the build quality.
There is a stuck pixel in the bottom left side of the screen; it can be seen in our Black Uniformity image. This can occur with any TV and is not necessarily indicative of any quality control issues with the RU7300.
Picture Quality
The Samsung RU7300 delivers decent overall picture quality, very similar to the NU7300 and RU7100. It has an excellent native contrast ratio that delivers deep blacks and excellent black uniformity, but it does not have a local dimming feature. It has decent peak brightness in SDR, but can't get bright enough in HDR to show off small highlights in some scenes. Unfortunately, like most VA panels, the image degrades when viewed at an angle, and it can't display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung RU7300 has an excellent native contrast ratio, great for watching movies in a completely dark room. Unfortunately, there is no local dimming feature that could improve dark room viewing.
The TV does not support local dimming. The above video is provided for reference only.
Decent peak brightness, with almost no variation in brightness with different window sizes, which is great. Very small, bright highlights are dimmed by the TV's frame dimming (also known as CE dimming) feature. Unfortunately, this cannot be disabled. The peak brightness is very similar to the RU7100, but not as good as the higher-end Samsung TVs, like the Q60R.
SDR Peak Brightness was measured after calibration, using the 'movie' Picture Mode, with the Color Tone set to 'Warm 2,' and Gamma set to '2.2.' Different settings may be brighter.
Disappointing HDR Peak Brightness. Small highlights in some scenes aren't as bright as they should be. Small highlights in dark scenes are dimmed by the TV's frame dimming (CE dimming) feature, which unfortunately can't be disabled.
We measured HDR Peak Brightness in the 'Movie' Picture Mode, with our pre-calibration settings.
Decent gray uniformity, very similar to the RU7100. The edges of the screen are a bit darker than the center, and there is some noticeable dirty screen effect (DSE) around the center, which may disappoint some sports fans. The uniformity is much better in very dark scenes.
The TV has disappointing viewing angles, like the majority of VA TVs. The image becomes washed out even slightly off-angle, and the image gets gradually darker the further away you are from center. Colors remain accurate to a wider angle, but gradually lose accuracy.
The TV has outstanding black uniformity, despite the lack of a local dimming feature. Some clouding is noticeable, especially in the top right corner of our unit, but this may vary between individual units.
There is a stuck pixel noticeable in the black uniformity image. This wasn't very noticeable in normal content, and we don't expect it to have any impact on our test results.
The RU7300 has decent reflection handling, but the curved screen causes reflections to smear across the screen, which can be more distracting than non-curved TVs.
The RU7300 has good accuracy with our pre-calibration settings. Colors have good accuracy, and most people won't notice any issues. White Balance dE is a bit higher, and gamma doesn't follow our target of 2.2 very well, so most scenes are over-brightened a bit.
Outstanding accuracy after calibration. The white balance is extremely accurate, and gamma follows our target of 2.2 perfectly. Overall, colors are accurate, but saturated reds and blues still have inaccuracies that might be noticeable. The color temperature is almost exactly on our calibration target of 6500K.
Changing the Color Space Settings from 'Auto' to 'Custom' caused a noticeable reduction in the color gamut, same as the RU7100. We recommend leaving this set to 'Auto.'
See our recommended settings here.
The TV has a decent color gamut, but falls short of being able to display a wide color gamut. It can't display the wide range of greens and reds needed for HDR content to really stand out. Unfortunately, in both 'Movie' and 'Game' mode, the RU7300 does not follow the PQ curve very well, and most scenes appear dimmer than the content creator intended.
If you find HDR too dim, see our recommended settings here. With these settings, the RU7300 is noticeably brighter in HDR, as shown in this EOTF.
The RU7300 has disappointing color volume and is limited by the TV's lack of a wide color gamut. Like many TVs, it can't produce very bright blues, and also can't produce dark, saturated colors despite the excellent contrast ratio.
Good gradient handling. There is some banding in all dark shades, which may be distracting in dark scenes, but otherwise shouldn't be very noticeable. The Digital Clean View setting, which is effective at removing banding on some other Samsung TVs, is not able to remove banding on the RU7300.
There are no signs of temporary image retention on the RU7300.
We don't expect VA panels to experience permanent image retention, as the VA panel in our long-term test appears immune.
Motion
The Samsung RU7300 has mediocre motion handling. It has a decent response time, but there is a noticeable blur trail in some scenes, and there are noticeable duplications in motion due to the backlight flicker (PWM). It has an optional motion interpolation feature, but can only interpolate up to 60Hz. The TV has a 60Hz panel and does not support any of the advanced gaming motion features, like FreeSync, found on premium Samsung TVs like the Q90R and NU8000.
The RU7300 has a decent response time, similar to the RU7100 and NU7300. In really dark scenes, the transition is very slow and there is a more noticeable blur trail. There are noticeable duplications in the above motion photo due to the TV's backlight flicker.
The RU7300 uses PWM to dim the backlight, except when at 100%. The backlight flickers at 240Hz in 'Movie' mode, which causes some duplications in motion, as seen in the response time motion photo.
Like many other Samsung TVs we've tested, the flicker frequency decreases to 120Hz in other modes, including if Auto Motion Plus is set to 'Custom,' and in 'PC' mode. This fairly low flicker frequency may bother some people.
The Samsung UN55RU7300 has an optional Black Frame Insertion(BFI) feature. When enabled, the backlight always flickers at 60Hz, but like the RU7100, the pulse timing isn't very good, causing some double images like the photo above.
In 'Game' mode, BFI isn't available, and the backlight always flickers at 120Hz.
See here to learn how to enable Black Frame Insertion on the RU7300.
The TV has an optional motion interpolation feature. As it is a 60Hz panel, it can only interpolate up to 60Hz. The TV does a good job interpolating up to 60Hz, and there are very few artifacts. Like most TVs, when it can't keep up with demanding scenes, it will stop interpolating, which can cause a sudden change in frame rate, which may be noticeable. Unlike the higher end Samsung TVs, the RU7300 does not support low latency motion interpolation in 'Game' mode.
Like other Samsung TVs we've tested, the flicker frequency on the RU7300 decreases to 120Hz when Auto Motion Plus is enabled. This fairly low flicker frequency may bother some people.
See here to learn how to enable motion interpolation on the RU7300.
The slower response time of the RU7300 results in less stutter, which is great for watching movies.
The RU7300 cannot remove judder from any source, even with Auto Motion Plus enabled. This is not unexpected, as budget Samsung TVs like the RU7100 and NU7300 usually can't remove judder.
Inputs
The Samsung RU7300 has excellent low input lag and supports most common resolutions at 60Hz. It can also display chroma 4:4:4 content properly, as long as 'PC' mode is enabled. Like the 2018 Samsung TVs, it can only pass Dolby Digital through ARC, not DTS. It supports HDR and HDR10+, but does not support Dolby Vision.
The RU7300 has outstanding low input lag in most modes, as long as either 'Game' or 'PC' mode is used. It also supports auto low latency mode when connected to a supported console, but CEC has to be enabled (Anynet+).
Most common resolutions are supported at 60Hz, and all modes can display proper 4:4:4 chroma, as long as the input label is set to 'PC.' In 'PC' mode, only the 'Standard' and 'Dynamic' picture modes are available.
The RU7300 has a dedicated component input on the back, unlike the NU7300, which required an adapter.
Unlike the NU7300, the RU7300 supports 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
The UN55RU7300 can pass Dolby Digital through ARC and optical, but not DTS, like the 2018 models. It also supports lossy Dolby Atmos when played from Dolby Digital Plus sources, like Netflix.
Sound Quality
The overall sound quality is decent, almost identical to the RU7100. It can get passably loud, but might not be loud enough if you have a large room, or if there is a lot of noise. The bass has decent punch and body, but can't produce any thump or rumble. For a better sound, dedicated speakers or soundbars are recommended.
The frequency response of the Samsung UN55RU7300 is mediocre. The low-frequency extension (LFE) is at 80Hz, which is decent. This results in a bass that has a good punch but lacks any thump or rumble. Above the LFE, the response is relatively flat, which results in clear and intelligible dialog. It can get passably loud, but not loud enough for large or noisy environments. Unlike the Samsung QLEDs, like the Q60R and Q900R, there is no room correction feature.
The distortion performance is decent. The total amount of distortion under normal loads is passable and only increases a bit under max loads.
Smart Features
The Samsung RU7300 has decent smart features. It runs a toned-down version of Samsung's Tizen OS and SmartHub interface, which has almost the same features as the premium Samsung TVs, but lacks the Bixby personal assistant and has fewer animations. The TV comes with Samsung's basic remote control, which requires a direct line of sight to the TV and doesn't have voice control.
The interface is the same as other Samsung TVs but has fewer animations than the more expensive TVs. The interface is easy to use, and it is smooth to navigate, but it did crash on us at least once during testing. Like the Q60R and Q90R, there is an overscan bug in 'PC' mode. To correct the scaling, simply go to the 'Picture Size' menu without changing anything.
