Samsung 77 Inch S90C QE77S90CATXXU Smart TV

I recommend this TV If you are somewhat tech savvy and want the latest OLED picture technology at a now more affordable price .
• The picture is AMAZING
• The TV can handle any input you throw at it, but broadcast channels give the best picture.
• A manual (custom) set-up could be complicated for an average user.
• The home screen is cluttered with items you might not use.
• The remote is intuitive, but has some hidden functions.

For details read on:

UNPACKING – It’s fragile out of the box. Assembly is not very Intuitive so follow the directions and be very careful to not handle by the TV by the corners, especially the upper corners which are very thin and fragile. It’s an 1/8 inch thin on the upper half and 1 inch thick on the lower.

CONNECTIONS – I plugged the TV directly into my router using an ethernet cable and oddly, it only asked me for a zip code. I have been using it three weeks including most streaming services and it never asked for my network password. Could it just roam on ATT public Wi-Fi network via my router through some sort of partnership agreement?

I also connected my over-the-air roof antennae to the RF input. This is a must-have input because broadcast channels in large metro areas are high bandwidth / quality.

At start-up the TV offers an automatic or manual set-up option. I opted into manual set-up.

For sound, I connected a competitive Sony 2.1 soundbar to the optical output and it plays nice with no issues.

REMOTE- Overall, the remote is great. It requires a bit of “discovery learning” and works and feels like an Apple TV remote with a four-direction navigation wheel and a center ‘select’ button. Separate toggles handle both volume and channel. Pressing the ‘channel’ toggle reveals the broadcast TV schedule. You can allow it to control the Apple TV, but the voice feature only works if you sign up for Amazon Alexa.

HOME SCREEN- First setup screen provides lots of terms/conditions. You can read the T&Cs but you can’t proceed without agreeing to them all, mostly about your rights and the data Samsung collects and uses (sells to marketers) to target advertising and programming.

Then it asks for a reboot and takes about ½ hour to download and install a software update.

There a few apps preloaded and you need to create a Samsung profile to be able to add more, but they weren’t worth adding, so I didn’t create a profile. Instead, I just pugged in my Apple TV into an HDMI port and use it as the primary apps interface, selectable form the home screen.

The home screen is a confusing mess, After some trial and error, I discovered I should just ignore it.

Broadcast (over-the-air antennae – where you get the best picture…for free) channel setup took a while to find. Like many functions, it’s hidden in the ‘advanced menu” which is the last selection on the ‘set-up’ submenu.

CASTING /SCREEN MIRRORING – A great feature for me is that the TV itself is Bluetooth discoverable….so you just cast directly to it WITHOUT ANY OTHER DONGLES or SERVICES (no need to add Roku, Apple TV, or Chromecast. Just select the TV from your phone’s Bluetooth menu and cast to it). This also works great for screen mirroring if you want to use it as a huge monitor for work, gaming or whatnot.

THE PICTURE/SCREEN- This TV picture is AMAZING when connected to inputs that support the hi-res UHD formats. You’re able to watch Blu-ray movies and, with a TV antennae, broadcasts in all their OLED glory right out of the box. I also love the screen coating that reduces reflections.

STREAMING – I stream a basic $10 Netflix sub over a 50MPS home network and the picture looks a lot like my $300 Visio with occasional buffering. Netflix seemed to sense the OLED’s capabilities and immediately offered a UHD feed for an upcharge. So basically, with the streamers, you’ll likely have to pony up for an upgraded subscription if want to get the premium picture on this TV. (You may also need to upgrade your network speed to avoid buffering).

OVERALL – I’m still getting accustomed to all this TV has to offer but the more I watch it, the more I like it.