Samsung NU7100 55" (UN55NU7100) vs Samsung NU8500 65" (UN65NU8500)

From games to movies, sports and use as a PC monitor, the NU7100 is a good TV for diverse usage. The balance of low input lag, good picture quality, and decent motion handling make sure of it.

Even though the NU7100 doesn’t have local dimming, watching TV in the dark is not a problem due to amazing black uniformity - the blacks are even and there are no clouding issues.

Contrast is remarkable too – blacks are deep, and whites are bright.

The TV is a great option for a PC monitor. Not only does the NU7100 have ideal low input lag thanks to the “_PC_” and “Game” modes, it also features support for most resolutions, except 1440p.

Another thing to note – Samsung’s app store has the Steam Link app, which lets you connect your PC to your TV and play games without needing to connect the Steam Link hardware.

When you first turn on the TV, it basically walks you through the setup process and you can start properly using it in a matter of minutes.

Regarding picture quality, it’s also quite reasonable right out of the box. White balance (gray color inaccuracy) and color dE (color inaccuracy) could be tweaked down for better quality, but most people won’t notice a sizeable difference.

In case you can’t figure something out when setting up, the TV also has a handy “e-manual” button.

The NU7100 has a smooth, fast, and easy-to-navigate interface with a lot of room for customization, so you can tailor it for easier access to your most-used apps.

Samsung’s app store has a huge and diverse app library, second only to the Google Play Store.

The SmartThings app allows the user to control the TV and other connected devices via their smartphone.

The Samsung NU8500 offers decent picture quality in both HDR and SDR modes. The TV performs on par with the best mid-range options available on the market. The NU8500 can reproduce crisp and colorful bright scenes as well as some inky blacks.

Colors pop and look realistic thanks to the TV's high peak brightness, wide color gamut, and decent color accuracy. In the standard mode, the TV's peak brightness reaches 560 nits which makes the colors look live and vivid. Only a couple of TVs present in this price range can achieve such high peak brightness. The colors are accurate. You'll not be able to spot color inaccuracies as the TV's average color inaccuracy dE measures at just 2.5 - which is too small to be seen by a human eye. It's also worth noting that the NU8500 is capable of reproducing the entire standard color gamut.

The Samsung NU8500 does a reasonably good job when it comes to dark scenes thanks to its high native contrast ratio and good black uniformity. The TV's native contrast ratio measures ar 4478:1, which is a good result for a mid-range TV. That allows the NU8500 to display scenes that have both bright highlights and inky shadows that don't look washed-out thanks to the TV's black uniformity of 1.2% .

This TV makes it feel like the panel is actually surrounding you because of its curvature, which makes you experience the content more immersively. Additionally, the TV's curvature improves the overall uniformity of the corners of the NU8500.