The Samsung TU8000 is an entry-level budget TV from Samsung's 2020 lineup, also sold as the Samsung TU8200 at Walmart. Despite lacking a local dimming feature, it displays deep blacks thanks to its outstanding contrast ratio and remarkable black uniformity. It can't get very bright and has just decent reflection handling, so it's best suited for a dark or moderately-lit room. While it supports HDR10+, HDR adds very little, as it can't display a wide color gamut, and it's not very bright in HDR, so colors are dull and muted. Unfortunately, it also has narrow viewing angles, so the image looks washed out when viewed from the sides, so it's not a good choice for a wide seating arrangement. On the upside, it has a decent response time that results in relatively clear motion and a remarkably low input lag for a responsive gaming experience. It has limited extra gaming features, though, as it doesn't support variable refresh rate technology to reduce tearing, and it doesn't support 4k @ 120Hz gaming from the Xbox Series X or PS5.
Our Verdict
The Samsung TU8000 is a decent TV. Its high contrast ratio produces deep, uniform blacks, so it's great for watching movies in dark rooms. However, it's just decent for watching sports or TV shows in a bright room, as it doesn't get very bright, and it struggles with glare in bright rooms. On the upside, it has low input lag and a decently fast response time, but it lacks advanced gaming features like variable refresh rate (VRR) support or HDMI 2.1 bandwidth.
- Outstanding contrast ratio.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Doesn't get very bright.
- Fails to display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung TU8000 is decent for watching movies in a dark room. It has an outstanding contrast ratio and remarkable black uniformity, so blacks look deep and uniform, ideal for watching movies in a dark room. However, it doesn't have a local dimming feature to make blacks look deeper. It displays 1080p content like Blu-rays without issue, and it plays movies from 24p sources, like a Blu-ray player, without judder.
- Outstanding contrast ratio.
- Remarkable black uniformity.
- No local dimming.
- Noticeable dirty screen effect in the center.
The Samsung TU8000 is decent for watching TV shows in a bright room. It has decent reflection handling but low peak brightness, so it can't overcome glare in a bright room. Unfortunately, the image degrades when viewed from the side, so it's not ideal if you have a wide seating arrangement or if you like to move around with the TV on. On the other hand, it upscales lower-resolution content from cable boxes well, and the Tizen smart interface has a great selection of streaming apps.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Upscales lower-resolution content well.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Doesn't get very bright.
The Samsung TU8000 is decent for watching sports. It has a fairly quick response time and a backlight-strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion, to help reduce motion blur. Unfortunately, it has just okay gray uniformity, resulting in some noticeable dirty screen effect that's distracting when watching sports. The image fades and loses accuracy if you're viewing the TV at an angle, so it's not ideal for watching the game with a large group, and it's not bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Upscales lower-resolution content well.
- Fairly quick response time.
- Noticeable dirty screen effect in the center.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Doesn't get very bright.
The Samsung TU8000 is a decent TV for playing video games. Its response time is decent, so motion looks relatively clear, and it has remarkably low input lag that results in a responsive gaming experience. Its outstanding contrast ratio makes blacks look deep and uniform, which is great for gaming in the dark. Unfortunately, it doesn't support any advanced gaming features, like variable refresh rates, and it doesn't support 4k @ 120Hz gaming from the Xbox Series X or PS5.
- Outstanding contrast ratio.
- Fairly quick response time.
- Remarkably low input lag.
- No local dimming.
- No advanced gaming features.
The Samsung TU8000 is just okay for watching movies in HDR. While it has an outstanding contrast ratio that produces deep, uniform blacks, it's simply not bright enough to make highlights pop in HDR. It can't display a wide color gamut, either, and it has mediocre HDR color volume, so vivid colors in HDR look flat and dull. Finally, it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve contrast.
- Outstanding contrast ratio.
- Remarkable black uniformity.
- No local dimming.
- Doesn't get very bright.
- Fails to display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung TU8000 is a decent TV for HDR gaming due to its remarkably low input lag and decent response time. Unfortunately, it doesn't get very bright and doesn't have a wide color gamut in HDR, so highlights and colors don't pop as the content creator intended. On the upside, it has an outstanding contrast ratio, resulting in deep blacks, but it lacks local dimming. Unfortunately, it doesn't support any advanced gaming features, like variable refresh rates, and it doesn't support 4k @ 120Hz gaming from the Xbox Series X or PS5.
- Outstanding contrast ratio.
- Fairly quick response time.
- Remarkably low input lag.
- Doesn't get very bright.
- No advanced gaming features.
- Fails to display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung TU8000 is a good TV to use as a PC monitor. It displays chroma 4:4:4 properly in most supported resolutions, resulting in clear text. It has a low input lag, providing a responsive desktop experience, and it has a decent response time, resulting in clear motion. Unfortunately, it has narrow viewing angles, so the sides of the screen fade and appear non-uniform if you're sitting too close to the screen.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Remarkably low input lag.
- Displays chroma 4:4:4 properly.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Doesn't get very bright.
Changelog
- Updated Sep 26, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Jul 08, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Apr 17, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Feb 11, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55 inch model (UN55TU8000FXZA), but these results are also valid for the 43 inch, 50 inch, 65 inch, 75 inch, and 85 inch models. Walmart sells this TV as the Samsung TU8200, but it's only available in 50, 55, and 65 inch sizes.
| Size | US Model | Short Model Code |
| 43" | UN43TU8000FXZA | UN43TU8000 |
| 50" | UN50TU8000FXZA | UN50TU8000 |
| 55" | UN55TU8000FXZA | UN55TU8000 |
| 65" | UN65TU8000FXZA | UN65TU8000 |
| 75" | UN75TU8000FXZA | UN75TU8000 |
| 85" | UN85TU8000FXZA | UN85TU8000 |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or their Samsung TU8000 or TU8200 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update the review.
Our Samsung TU8000 was manufactured in February 2020; you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
Compared to other budget VA panel TVs, the Samsung TU8000 offers good gaming performance but is lacking in terms of HDR. It performs incredibly well in dark rooms but doesn't have the same features competitors have, like the wide color gamut and great peak brightness on the Hisense H8G.
For more options, see our recommendations for the best TVs, the best budget TVs, and the best 4k gaming TVs.
The Samsung TU8000 performs a bit better overall than the Samsung TU7000. It has a slightly higher contrast ratio, gets a little brighter, and can remove 24p judder from any source, unlike the TU7000, which can't remove any judder. The only area where the TU7000 significantly outperforms the TU8000 is gradient handling, as it has much less banding.
The Samsung AU8000 replaced the Samsung TU8000 in 2021 and is a slight improvement over its predecessor. The AU8000 is better in a few areas, like reflection handling and improved gradient handling, but it doesn't have frame dimming with small highlights like the TU8000. The newer model even has an upgraded version of Tizen that feels smoother. However, the TU8000 still has better motion handling, and it has a much better contrast ratio, but this can vary between units.
The Samsung TU8000 replaces the Samsung RU8000 in Samsung's 2020 lineup. They perform similarly, but despite being succeeded by the TU8000, the RU8000 has a slight edge. The TU8000 performs a touch better in dark rooms because it has a slightly higher contrast and better black uniformity, but the RU8000 has VRR support and a much faster response time, so it's much more suited to gaming and offers similar or better performance in other uses as well.
The Samsung TU8000 and the LG NANO81 are two very similar-performing TVs with different panel types. The Samsung has a VA panel that displays deeper blacks and has much better black uniformity. The Samsung also supports HDR10+ and has better built-in speakers. On the other hand, the LG has wider viewing angles, handles reflections better, and because of its IPS panel, has wider viewing angles.
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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