Samsung 43" TU7100 HDR Smart 4K TV with Tizen OS

Product Information

This frankly unlikely level of fidelity is carried over to most other aspects of picture-making too – give the Samsung a fighting chance with some high-quality 4K content and it’s an eminently watchable TV. The colour palette it draws from is wide and convincing, and it has little trouble differentiating between even very subtle variations in tone, and serves up entirely believable skin-tones. What it does do, though, is show a level of maturity, confidence and understanding of the many elements that go into producing a truly satisfying TV picture that’s comfortably beyond anything else in its class right now. The design isn’t revolutionary, but the tiny bezel and utilitarian stand make it a suitably compact to fit in any second bedroom, kids playroom or small lounge without taking up too much space. The stand also sets it high enough for you to place a small soundbar under the TV, if you so desire. It’s fair to say the AU7100 isn’t exactly groaning under the weight of its spec sheet – but it’s hardly been sold short either. This means if you try and take advantage of the TV’s Dolby Digital Plus support using a soundbar you’d only have room to connect one other device. Considering how many households have multiple devices, I’d liked to see the TU7100 come with at least three HDMIs.

Detail levels are respectably high throughout, which only adds to the impression of realism where skin-tones are concerned, and picture noise stays low even in the most complex scenes. Movement, too, is dealt with intelligently, with the Samsung gripping even rapid or unpredictable motion well. Edges can shimmer a little during the most testing scenes, it’s true, but on the whole the TU7100 is an organised and confident performer. With a set of features and picture quality beyond what you’d normally expect at this price, the Samsung TU7100 is one of the first products in an age to genuinely surprise the team at Trusted Labs. So much so, that as it stands we couldn’t recommend it more to any buyer on a strict budget looking for an affordable, small form-factor TV. The Samsung TU7100 is powered by the Tizen operating system. This is one of the better TV interfaces offering wide app support and smart home functionality. Above and beyond’ isn’t something you automatically associated with an aggressively affordable television, yet Samsung ships the AU7100 with not one but two remote controls. Why? To give you the choice between a fairly cheap-feeling, full-function job with a million tiny buttons – or a nicer ‘just the essentials’ alternative with a manageable number of options. If you temper expectations, the Samsung TU7100 delivers perfectly enjoyable pictures with a high average picture brightness. As long as you don’t come to the TU7100 expecting the performance of a model that sells for twice the price, you won’t be disappointed.

Plan Benefits

Unlike the TU8500, the TU7100 only comes with one standard-looking remote. Though the design is a little old school and full of inputs most younger people won’t use, it does the job and is suitably intuitive. Select the Antenna type that you are using ( Air or Cable) and press the Enter button. Make sure that your aerial is connected to your device before re-tuning.

The 43AU7100 isn’t as accomplished with its audio as it is with its pictures. It still gets the job done, though, without breaking that sense of consistency that makes it so engaging. The UE43AU7100 is built on a Vertical Alignmenttype of LCD panel, with edge LED lighting and a native 4K resolution. It supports the HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ flavours of high dynamic range, but as ever with Samsung, Dolby Vision is not on the menu. Quite often a TV that’s built down to a price betrays itself most obviously where skin-tones are concerned, but the TU7100 gives a poised, balanced account of complexions.

If you want a TV that allows you to catch-up on missed shows, or binge the best of Disney Plus and Now TV (to name but two), then the TU7100 will do the job. Three HDMI inputs should be enough for all but port-hungry power users, plus all three include the Auto Low Latency Mode aspect of HDMI 2.1 specification – though we’d expect committed next-gen gamers to need a bit more than that. Freeview Play is not available on Samsung TVs. But, if your Samsung TV was manufactured in 2016 or earlier, it will most likely have Freeview installed. Picture quality is equally encouraging elsewhere. Motion is confidently handled (the Samsung’s logical setup menus help here), edge definition is smooth and convincing, while picture noise is minimised even in the darkest, most unchanging scenes. While inevitably for its money it’s not without its limitations, the UE43AU7100 delivers an impressively balanced, consistent and immersive picture.