A fashion statement first and a TV second

Samsung's The Serif lifestyle TV is eye-catching and unique, even if its screen isn't that special.

Samsung’s flagship TVs like the QN90B and S95B stand out from a purely technical standpoint because of their panel technology and resulting picture quality. They aren’t Samsung’s only TVs, though; the company offers an entire category of big screens designed more to suit a location or sense of style than to show off the best image possible. Samsung’s lifestyle TVs include the outdoor-friendly The Terrace and the gallery wall-ready The Frame. But The Serif ($1,499.99 for the 55-inch model we tested) is the most fashion-forward of the three, with a striking design and floor stand that make it the centerpiece of any entertainment room. It doesn’t get very bright, however, and shows only mediocre contrast, meaning it remains expensive compared with more technically sound TVs such as the Editors' Choice-winning Hisense U8G and TCL Google TV 4K 6-Series (both 55-inch models cost $949.99).

Editors' Note: This review is based on testing performed on the 55-inch model in the series. Apart from the screen-size difference, the $1,999.99 65-inch model is identical in features, and we expect similar performance.

The Serif makes more of a design statement than other TVs. It’s instantly identifiable because of its girder-shaped profile, floor stand, and flat top, all of which blend unique style and utilitarian appeal. The center of the girder is quite wide at about 2.8 inches, and the bottom surface flares out to nearly 9 inches. The top of the TV doubles as a shelf and provides an almost 4-inch-deep platform that’s stable enough for decorations, small devices like a Nintendo Switch dock, or simply the remote.

Unlike most TVs, The Serif isn’t designed for wall mounts at all. Instead, it stands on the floor on two pairs of angled, tube-shaped metal legs. With that in mind, it doesn't support VESA mounts.

The power cable connects to a port on the left side of the TV’s rear panel, while all other connections face right from a recess on the right side. They include four HDMI ports (one eARC), two USB ports, an optical audio output, a 3.5mm EX-LINK port, and a cable/antenna connector. A small control stick that doubles as a power button sits on the lower right corner of the back of the TV. A large plastic cover conceals all the ports and a cutout makes space for the control stick. Holes on the rear half of the bottom girder flare let you run cables down from both recesses; you can clip pipe-like guides to the back legs to prevent the wires from dangling.

The Serif comes with the Samsung OneRemote, a simple white wand with a circular navigation pad near the top. Multi-View, power, settings, and voice buttons sit above the pad, with a pinhole microphone between them to enable voice control. Back, home, and play/pause buttons reside directly below the pad. Volume and channel rockers are below those, along with dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, and Samsung TV Plus. It’s a simple, functional remote, but it relies on standard AAA batteries. We prefer the Eco Remote that comes with the QN90B and S95B; it uses a built-in rechargeable battery with a USB-C port and also supports solar power.

The Serif uses Samsung’s Tizen-powered smart TV platform, which is rich in features but annoying in practice. It offers most major video streaming services, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube, along with support for Apple AirPlay 2. It also lets you use Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant by speaking into the remote. It doesn't have the far-field microphone of the QN90B or S95B, so you can’t use these voice assistants hands-free, however.

Unfortunately, the menu layouts across the interface are very overbearing. Pressing the settings button on the remote can pop up a quick bar of simple toggles and mode changes, but accessing individual settings requires navigating some nonintuitive menus and diving at least a layer or two deeper than most other TVs require. It’s simply frustrating, especially without a dedicated input button on the remote for quickly switching between sources—oddly, it has a button for the split-screen Multi-View instead.

The Serif is a 4K LED-backlit LCD TV with a 60Hz refresh rate. It supports high dynamic range (HDR) content in HDR and HDR10+. It doesn't support Dolby Vision or the emerging ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard.

We test TVs using a Klein K-80 colorimeter(Opens in a new window) , a Murideo SIX-G signal generator(Opens in a new window) , and Portrait Displays’ Calman software(Opens in a new window) . As one of Samsung’s lifestyle TVs, The Serif doesn’t reach for the same heights of picture quality like some of Samsung’s flagship TVs do. In fact, its performance is quite modest and it turned in middling contrast results.

With an SDR signal, The Serif showed a peak brightness of 305 nits with a full-screen white field. Results with an 18% white field weren't significantly different. It also showed a black level of 0.09 nits, revealing that it lacks the QN90B’s superlative mini LED backlight system with dimming zones. An HDR signal improved brightness and black level only a little; here, it reached a peak of 379 nits with a full-screen white field and a low black level of 0.075 nits for a 5,055:1 contrast ratio.

The above charts show The Serif’s color levels in Movie mode with an SDR signal compared with Rec.709 broadcast standards, and with an HDR signal compared with DCI-P3 digital cinema standards. SDR colors are nearly ideal, which is always good to see but has become more and more common across TVs of late. HDR colors are also strong; they don't cover the entire DCI-P3 color space, but show an accurate balance with no significant skewing. For reference, the QN90B shows similar color range (though it gets much brighter and almost perfectly dark thanks to its mini LED backlight).

The greens of plants in BBC’s Planet Earth II look well saturated and varied, though they aren’t quite as rich and vivid as they are on Samsung’s quantum dot-equipped TVs like the QN90B. Bark and fur look crisp and detailed both in direct sunlight and in shade, however, so this model is capable of a surprisingly strong picture despite its modest brightness and contrast numbers.

The red of Deadpool’s costume in the overcast opening scene of Deadpool looks vibrant (but not oversaturated) and stands out nicely against the cool lighting. In the burning lab fight, the fire looks bright and rich, though the yellow centers of the flickering flames lose some texture. Shadow details in the scene also occasionally appear slightly muddy.

The problem with high black levels swallowing fine details in darkness is apparent in the party scenes from The Great Gatsby. Here, the contours and cuts of black suits tend to disappear next to the bright whites of balloons and lights in the same frame. Skin tones look natural and any splashes of color in the otherwise nearly monochrome shots particularly stand out.

Although Samsung’s Smart TV platform offers the helpful Game Bar to display what features are currently in use while you game, The Serif has fewer gaming features than other Samsung TV models. Specifically, it lacks any form of variable refresh rate (VRR), which helps keep graphics smooth and judder-free. Despite this, the TV is fairly responsive in terms of input lag.

We couldn’t test the TV’s latency using our usual HDFury Diva HDMI matrix(Opens in a new window) , but we measured it using a Leo Bodnar 1080p video signal input lag test, which tends to display higher numbers than the Diva. The Serif showed a lag of just 9.7 milliseconds in Game mode, just under the 10ms threshold we use to determine if a TV is good for gaming.

The Serif is an eye-catching TV that can stand by itself as a centerpiece in your living room, and we like its utilitarian design touches. It’s pretty pricey considering its middling contrast, but it displays excellent color and its smart TV platform supports top apps and features even if it's awkward to use. But we prioritize picture quality over aesthetics, so the TCL Google TV 4K 6-Series and Hisense U8G remain stronger options with superior brightness, wider color, and more useful features such as hands-free voice control. And, if you can spend more, the LG C2 ($1,799.99 for the 55-inch model) is our high-end Editors’ Choice winner thanks to its superlative colors, infinite contrast, and incredibly slim design that can blend with your decor. If the aesthetics are important to you, however, few other TVs make such a statement as The Serif.

Samsung's The Serif lifestyle TV is eye-catching and unique, even if its screen isn't that special.

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I’ve been PCMag’s home entertainment expert for over 10 years, covering both TVs and everything you might want to connect to them. I’ve reviewed more than a thousand different consumer electronics products including headphones, speakers, TVs, and every major game system and VR headset of the last decade. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and a THX-certified home theater professional, and I’m here to help you understand 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and even 8K (and to reassure you that you don’t need to worry about 8K at all for at least a few more years).

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