Samsung TU7000 TV Review

The Samsung 7 Series is an entry-level, budget 4k TV, sitting at the bottom of Samsung's 4k TV lineup. It replaces the Samsung RU7100, and its competitors are the Vizio V Series 2020, the Sony X750H, and the LG UN7300. The closest 2021 model is the Samsung AU7000, but it hasn't been confirmed for release in North America yet.

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. The stand is very basic and doesn't prevent the TV from wobbling.

The stand is plastic and supports the TV well, but it still wobbles a bit when nudged. Instead of being screwed on, the stand is simply inserted into the TV, which makes the installation process a bit easier.

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 not very accessible 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 thin and aren't distracting.

The TV is fairly thin and shouldn't stick out when wall-mounted.

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 7 Series has an excellent contrast ratio. As expected for a VA panel, blacks are deep and look good in a dark room. Unfortunately, there's no local dimming to further improve the contrast. Note that the contrast may vary between units.

This TV has disappointing SDR peak brightness. 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, with the exception of 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.

If you want the TV the brightest possible, set Contrast Enhancer to 'High' and Gamma 2.2 to '+3' while in the 'Vivid' Picture Mode. We got 252 nits in the 10% window.

This TV doesn't have a local dimming feature. The videos are for reference only, 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 for reference only, 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 has poor 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 also doesn't track the EOTF properly, as all scenes are displayed darker than they should be. Brightness start to roll off well before the TV's peak brightness, so there's no loss of fine details.

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 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 gray uniformity is okay, but this may vary between units. The edges of the screen are visibly darker, and there's some dirty screen effect in the center. Black uniformity is significantly better in near-dark scenes, with almost no dirty screen effect.

Our unit has outstanding black uniformity, but this may vary between units. There's only some faint clouding as well as some blooming around the test cross, but it's otherwise very uniform.

Like most VA panels, the Samsung TU7000 has narrow viewing angles. The image quickly loses accuracy and washes out as you move off-center. If you want a similar TV with better viewing angles, a TV with an IPS panel, like the LG UP8000, might be a better choice.

This TV has okay reflection handling. It performs best in moderately-lit rooms, but 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 target 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. You can read about it here.

The Samsung TU7000 has an okay color gamut, but it's not considered a wide color gamut for HDR content. It has decent coverage of the most common DCI P3 color space, so most current HDR content is displayed well. Coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space is disappointing, so it's not very future-proof.

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.

This TV has great gradient handling. There's some banding in darker shades of gray and green, but it's not that noticeable in regular content. Enabling Noise Reduction doesn't do much to improve the performance on our test pattern, but it can help in certain content. That said, enabling it may cause the loss of some fine details in some scenes, so we don't recommend leaving it enabled.

This TV doesn't exhibit any signs of temporary image retention, but this may vary between units.

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

The Samsung TU7000 has an okay response time. It overshoots a bit in dark transitions, which results in some motion artifacts and inverse ghosting. Dark scenes in general have a slower response time, which is a common issue with VA panels commonly known as black smearing. Unfortunately, the 120Hz backlight flicker in most modes causes duplications in motion, as seen in our moving logo photo.

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 black frame insertion feature 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, known as the 'Soap Opera Effect'. 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.

Due to the TV's slightly slower response time, there isn't much stutter in lower frame rate content. It can still happen from time to time, and if you're bothered by it, enabling Picture Clarity can help.

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 incredibly 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 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 new consoles. There's an 'Auto Low Latency Mode' mode, though, which triggers 'Game' mode automatically when the TV detects a game being launched from a compatible device.

Update 07/09/2020: We had previously indicated that the TV has a composite input. It doesn't, and it has been corrected.

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 allows you to send high-quality audio to a compatible receiver using an HDMI connection. For it to work, set HDMI eARC to 'Auto' or 'Passthrough'.

This TV has a decent frequency response. It's quite 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. It's a version with reduced features and there are fewer animations overall. It's easy to navigate and it runs fairly smoothly.

Like the vast majority of 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
• Power cord
• 2x AAA batteries
• User guide