Samsung TU7000 TV Review

The Samsung TU7000 has a surprisingly modern and clean design for a budget model. The bezels are extremely thin on all four sides and aren't at all distracting. On the other hand, the stand is very basic and doesn't prevent the TV from wobbling.

The stand is plastic and feels pretty cheap. It doesn't support the TV very well, as it wobbles quite a bit. Instead of being screwed on, the stand is simply inserted into the TV, which makes the installation process a bit easier, but possibly contributes to the lack of stability.

Footprint of the 55 inch TV stand: 39.8" x 10.1"

The back of the TV is plastic and has the same etched horizontal texture as other recent Samsung TVs, like the Samsung TU8000. The inputs are side-facing, but they're set into the back of the TV, so they're tough to access when wall-mounted. There are tracks on the back of the TV for cable management, and clips on the feet to hold them in place.

The bezels are surprisingly thin for a budget model and aren't distracting at all.

The Samsung TU7000 seems decently built, similar to the Samsung TU8000 and the Samsung Q60/Q60T QLED. There are no significant issues, but it wobbles a bit when nudged.

The Samsung TU7000 has an excellent contrast ratio, resulting in deep blacks in a dark room. The exact contrast ratio can vary a bit between units, but these results are in line with other VA panels we've tested. Unfortunately, there's no local dimming feature to improve contrast.

This TV has sub-par peak brightness in SDR. It's best-suited for a dark to moderately-lit room, as it doesn't get bright enough to overcome glare in well-lit environments. There's very little variation in brightness with different content, except for the 2% window, which is dimmer due to the TV's CE dimming (frame dimming). If you want something that gets brighter, then check out the Hisense U6G.

We measured the SDR peak brightness after calibration, using the 'Movie' mode. Brightness was set to max, Gamma was set to 2.2, and Contrast was left at its default value. This is about as bright as the TV can get, as other picture modes have approximately the same peak brightness.

This TV doesn't have a local dimming feature. The videos are still filmed, so you can see how the backlight on this display performs and compare it to a similar product with local dimming.

This TV doesn't have a local dimming feature. The videos are still filmed, so you can see how the backlight on this display performs and compare it to a similar product with local dimming.

Unfortunately, the Samsung TU7000 2020 has bad peak brightness in HDR. Small highlights don't stand out at all, and it doesn't deliver anything close to a cinematic HDR experience. It can't display an accurate image, either, as everything is darker than it should be, even in dark scenes. It tone maps well near the TVs peak brightness, resulting in a slow roll-off, with no loss of fine details in bright scenes.

We measured the HDR peak brightness before calibration, using the 'Movie HDR' mode. Brightness and Contrast were set to max, and ST. 2084 was left at '0'.

If you want a slightly brighter HDR image, we achieved a peak brightness of 282 nits in the 10% window in the 'Movie HDR' Picture Mode with Contrast Enhancer set to 'High', ST.2048 to '+3' and Brightness and Contrast at their max. This results in a brighter HDR image for darker content, as shown in this EOTF, but brighter content isn't any brighter, due to the TV's low peak brightness and early roll off.

There's a very slight difference in HDR peak brightness in Game Mode. Most scenes are a bit brighter than out of Game Mode, although this isn't really a noticeable difference.

The Samsung TU7000 we bought has okay gray uniformity. The sides of the screen are a bit darker than the center, though, and there's some dirty screen effect, which can be distracting when watching sports. Near dark scenes look much better, but there are still some noticeable issues. Note that gray uniformity can vary between individual units.

Our unit has superb black uniformity, but this can vary between individual units. There's only some faint clouding throughout the screen, as well as some slight blooming around the test cross, but it's otherwise very uniform. It doesn't have a local dimming feature, so it can't remove the remaining cloudiness or reduce blooming.

Update 01/24/2021: We reprocessed our viewing angle video from the original footage, as the processed file was incorrectly scaled.

Like most VA panels, the Samsung TU7000 has narrow viewing angles. The image quickly loses accuracy and washes out as you move off-center, so it's not a good choice for a wide seating arrangement. If you want a similar TV with better viewing angles, a TV with an IPS panel, like the LG UP8000, is a better choice overall.

This TV has just alright reflection handling. It's not very bright, either, so it looks best in a moderately-lit or dark room. It's best to avoid placing it in direct sunlight or opposite a bright source of light. If reflection handling is important to you, look into the LG UN7000.

This TV has decent out-of-the-box accuracy, but this may vary between units. Most colors and shades of gray are slightly inaccurate, and the warm color temperature results in a red/yellow tint. Gamma follows the 2.2 target we use for a dark room fairly well, but dark scenes are too dark, and other scenes are slightly over-brightened. If you don't plan on getting your TV calibrated and want amazing color accuracy, check out the TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020.

After calibration, the color accuracy is outstanding. There are still some inaccuracies with reds and blues, but white balance is nearly perfect, and so is the gamma, though dark scenes are still too dark. The color temperature is much closer to our target of 6500K.

You can see our recommended settings here.

480p content like DVDs is upscaled well without any issues.

The Samsung TU7000 can upscale 720p content like cable TV well.

1080p content looks good, and there aren't any signs of upscaling artifacts.

Native 4k content is displayed perfectly, without any issues.

The Samsung TU7000 can't display an 8k signal.

This TV uses a BGR subpixel layout, which can affect the way text is rendered when using the TV as a PC monitor, but otherwise isn't an issue. You can read about it here.

The Samsung TU7000 has an okay color gamut. A wide color gamut is important for saturated, vibrant colors in HDR, but sadly, this TV can't display a wide color gamut. It has decent coverage of the DCI P3 color space used by most current HDR content, but its coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space is poor.

The Samsung 7 Series has mediocre color volume. It's mostly limited by the lack of a wide color gamut, but it can display dark colors well, thanks to its excellent contrast ratio. Like almost all LCDs on the market, blues aren't as bright as pure white or most other colors, but this isn't very noticeable with regular content.

Update 01/24/2021: We reprocessed the gradient photo, as it was framed and cropped incorrectly.

This TV has great gradient handling overall, but there's some banding in darker shades of gray and green. There's a Noise Reduction feature intended to reduce banding, but it doesn't do much to reduce banding in our test pattern. Note that we don't recommend leaving this feature enabled, as it can cause a loss of fine details in high-quality content.

There are no signs of temporary image retention on this TV, but this can vary between individual units.

We don't expect VA panels to experience burn-in, as the VA panel in our long-term test appears immune.

Unfortunately, this TV has a fairly slow response time, so it's not ideal for fast-paced action or gaming. This results in more noticeable blur behind fast-moving objects. Like most VA panels, dark scenes have significantly slower response times, which causes a black smearing behind dark objects. Unfortunately, this TV's backlight flicker causes duplications in motion.

Unfortunately, this TV uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to dim its backlight. It flickers at 120Hz on all modes unless you set the Brightness to its max in the 'Game' or 'Movie' Picture Mode, at which point it becomes flicker-free. It's also flicker-free if you're in 'PC' mode with the Picture Mode set to 'Dynamic' and Brightness at its max.

The Samsung TU7000 has a backlight-strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion, to help improve the appearance of motion, but it doesn't perform well. The backlight flickers at 60Hz when LED Clear Motion is enabled, but the bad crosstalk results in visible image duplication. It always flickers at 120Hz in 'Game' mode with the backlight set to any level below its maximum, and once again, image duplication is noticeable due to the TV's 60Hz refresh rate.

This TV can interpolate lower-frame rate content up to 60fps. It looks bad on our test pattern because of the backlight's 120Hz flicker; however, it's not as distracting in regular content. There are some minor artifacts, but it works well overall with most content.

See here for the settings that control the motion interpolation feature.

Thanks to this TV's relatively slow response time, there's very little stutter when watching movies or other low frame rate content.

Unfortunately, this TV can't remove judder from any source. If you want a TV that does, consider the Vizio V5 Series 2021.

Unfortunately, the Samsung TU7000 doesn't support any variable refresh rate technologies and has a limited 60Hz refresh rate. For better gaming performance, check out the Hisense U6G.

This TV has fantastic low input lag. It's extremely low when in 'Game' mode, and it's only slightly higher outside of 'Game' mode. To get the lowest input lag when using a PC, the input in use must be labeled 'PC', and you must be in 'Game' mode, as well.

This TV supports most common resolutions and can display proper chroma 4:4:4 at all supported resolutions, which helps with text clarity when using the TV as a PC monitor. To ensure proper chroma 4:4:4 support, the input in use must be labeled 'PC', and for full bandwidth signals like 4k @60Hz + 10-bit HDR, Input Signal Plus must be enabled as well.

As this TV doesn't support any advanced gaming features, it can't take full advantage of the Xbox Series X or PS5. There's an 'Auto Low Latency Mode' mode, though, which triggers 'Game' mode when the TV detects a game being launched from a compatible device.

Unfortunately, this TV has limited connectivity. With no component or composite inputs, users with older devices will need to use an external HDMI converter to use them with this TV.

Even though it doesn't have an HDMI 2.1 input, this TV has eARC support, which is a nice addition to an entry-level TV. This lets you send high-quality audio to a compatible receiver using an HDMI connection.

This TV has a decent frequency response. It's well-balanced overall; however, some may find the bass to be a bit on the lighter side, especially for watching movies or for gaming. It doesn't get that loud, so it's better suited for small and quiet environments.

The distortion performance is okay. It sounds fairly clean at moderate volume levels, but it does distort a bit at max volume. Surprisingly, there's less distortion in the higher frequencies when playing at max volume than at a moderate volume level. That said, distortion depends on content, and not everyone may hear it.

Like all other Samsung TVs, the Samsung TU7000 runs on Tizen OS. As an entry-level model with a slower processor, Samsung has reduced the number of animations in the OS to improve overall performance. The interface is well-organized and easy to use, and we didn't notice any bugs or issues with it during testing.

Like most TVs on the market, there are ads on the home screen and within the app store, and unfortunately, they can't be disabled.

The Samsung app store has most of the popular streaming services available, and they run smoothly for the most part.

The remote control is similar to previous entry-level models, with just a few minor tweaks. Shortcuts to streaming services have been added, but otherwise, it remains unchanged, and there's still no voice control.

There's a single button underneath the branding in the center of the TV. It allows you to control the power, change inputs, volume, and channels.

• Remote control
• 2x AAA batteries
• Power cord
• User guide