48″ Samsung S90H OLED Smart TV and S90H Soundbar Review: Gorgeous Picture, Big Sound

The 48″ Samsung S90H OLED Smart TV and S90 soundbar bring Samsung’s living-room ambitions into sharp focus. TVs may no longer be our only source of entertainment, but they’re still often the room’s centerpiece, and Samsung remains a major force in that space. I know Samsung’s mobile products well, so I was curious to see how its home entertainment gear stacked up.

After about 45 days with the Samsung S90H OLED and S90 soundbar, watching everything from Cubs games to movies, I came away impressed by the gorgeous picture, excellent sound, and especially the TV’s glare-cutting anti-reflective coating.

Setting It All Up

Setting up the Samsung S90H OLED Smart TV is pretty straightforward. You can mount the TV to the wall, or attach two metal legs to the bottom and set it up on its table/stand. A plastic cover for the legs is included, but it feels optional and isn’t particularly well constructed — I had trouble attaching it firmly, and the slightest jostle popped it off.

Power connects to the left side of the TV while the other connectors are on the right. The TV had four HDMI 2.1 4K inputs, three USB-A ports, an optical digital audio output, and an Ethernet port. It also has Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. In my case, I only needed to connect the S90H soundbar to the eARC port.

That soundbar is just a hair over four feet long and delivers 7.1.2 channels of sound from its 13 speakers. We’ll talk more about the sound later, but suffice it to say, it’s loud.

Smart, but Not As Smart As I’d Like

The Samsung S90H OLED Smart TV uses the brand’s smart operating system, which is…fine. I personally use Google TV or Roku as my normal operating systems. Samsung’s is easy enough to navigate. It offers you a list of your services — you can add, remove, or reorder them as you want. It also suggests content based on your watch history and lets you resume shows/movies you have been watching elsewhere. It’s very similar to Google TV in that respect.

There’s also something of a live TV element through Samsung TV Plus. I haven’t watched linear TV in quite some time, but it’s there if you want it. Samsung TV Plus is also a nifty free service that has lots of movies, TV shows, and even some sports included for no additional charge.

This is also a Samsung product, so it has AI built in, though I confess I tried a number of different activities and never really found an AI function worth having. By far, the biggest AI feature I want is to be able to ask, “Who is that actor on the screen now?” Spoiler alert: that doesn’t work. I asked about several functions on the TV—changing the color mode, for example — and I was constantly answered with “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” It did turn up the volume and turn on subtitles for me, so there’s that.

I’m not a huge AI person, so maybe that’s my failing, but I found the AI built into this TV cute, though not terribly useful. I’m sure the TV could help me find recipes, but that’s not really something I would do in the living room.

One really nice part about the Samsung S90H OLED Smart TV is SmartThings integration. While reviewing this TV, I used the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, so I mostly controlled the TV with my phone. That’s handy because the remote tended to disappear. It’s a smaller remote, which is very sleek and slim, so it was easy to misplace.

Any smartphone with Samsung SmartThings can control the TV. I installed SmartThings on a Google Pixel and could still control the TV. The fun part is you can do it remotely. You can turn the TV on and start a movie even when you’re not home, which I definitely did once or twice to scare my daughter.

Lights and Sound

The combination of the OLED panel and the soundbar is very good. The OLED panel gives you excellent picture quality. You get really deep blacks and excellent color reproduction. I watched a great number of movies, videos, and TV shows that I’m very familiar with, and they all looked stellar — if small. Don’t forget this is a 48″ TV in a world where 65″ is becoming the norm.

Viewing angles on the TV are also excellent. You can stand to the side of the TV with very little loss of color depth. Speaking of which, this panel is exceptionally thin from the side and has minimal bezels. You can choose from several color modes, depending on what you are watching.

Meanwhile, the anti-reflective coating is excellent. The coating’s main benefit is minimizing glare from open windows while you watch. My living room has large windows, so glare can occasionally be a problem with other TVs. I barely noticed it here. Anti-glare should be standard on TVs, but alas.

As for the Samsung S90H soundbar, it’s also very good; I liked using it. I typically use a Sony Bravia surround sound setup, so I was curious to see what the simulated 7.1.2 setup would sound like. For a soundbar, it’s excellent, but let’s remember this is a soundbar.

When you first set up the soundbar, it automatically detects the room’s acoustics. 13 directional speakers give you a decent approximation of the full surround-sound experience, but it is just that. The sound is very clear — there’s not as much bass as I’d normally like for a title like “Top Gun: Maverick,” but unless you’re really looking for it, you won’t miss it. The soundbar gets very loud with minimal distortion, which is another great characteristic to look for.

Samsung TV and Soundbar Verdict

Overall, this is a solid system, but it will cost you. The 48″ Samsung S90H OLED Smart TV checks in at $1,199.99, and the S90H soundbar costs another $849. In a world where Walmart sells bigger TVs for half the price, that’s hard to justify, but those TVs come with their own compromises.

This TV is part of Samsung’s midrange lineup, which is remarkable considering the lack of corners cut on this device. My main concern with this system is the software and the promised AI features that are there, but why are they there? Basically, I sat down and tried to do a large number of tasks that I would want AI on my TV to do, and it accomplished almost none of them. Sure, if I want to know how to code in JavaScript, the TV can tell you, but I would never ask my TV that question.

The rest of the experience is quite good. The picture is excellent, and the soundbar is great for what it is. There are cheaper options out there, of course. But you don’t shop Samsung if you want cheap. You shop Samsung because Samsung is very, very good at this.

The Samsung S90H 48″ OLED Smart TV (QN48S90HAEXZA) retails for $1,299.99; it is available directly from the manufacturer and other retailers, including Best Buy. The Samsung S90H Soundbar (HW-QS90H) retails for $849; it is available at Best Buy.

Source: Manufacturer-supplied review sample on loan

What I Like: Excellent OLED picture quality with deep blacks and rich color; Outstanding anti-reflective coating; Wide viewing angles; Exceptionally thin panel with minimal bezels; Straightforward setup and plenty of connectivity; Useful SmartThings integration, including remote control from a phone; Samsung TV Plus adds free movies, shows, and sports; S90H soundbar delivers clear, powerful audio with minimal distortion; Automatic room calibration; Convincing simulated 7.1.2-channel surround sound

What Needs Improvement: AI features are limited and often unable to perform useful TV-related tasks; Samsung’s smart TV software is merely adequate compared with Google TV or Roku; The small remote is easy to lose; Plastic leg covers feel flimsy and can pop off; The soundbar could use stronger bass; Simulated surround sound can’t fully replace a dedicated speaker system; 48″ may feel small compared with today’s typical larger TVs; The TV and soundbar combination is expensive