One of Samsung's best TVs just hit an all-time-low price for Black Friday

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

What's the deal?

The Samsung S90C OLED TV is on sale for $999 at Best Buy for the 65-inch in an early Black Friday deal -- the lowest price we've ever seen. It is an open-box model, but that's still a great discount.

Also: The best Black Friday deals so far

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Why this deal is ZDNET recommended

The S90C OLED TV has all the amazing color depth and quality that distinguishes Samsung's QD-OLED TVs. You simply sacrifice a little brightness and the OneConnect box for minimizing wires if you're wall-mounting it. But you can expect to buy this 2023 TV at a great discount this fall. This TV rocks for watching epic movies and TV shows in HDR and it has one of the best remotes of any TVs on the market -- Samsung's Eco Remote -- which is small, very usable, and doesn't need batteries because it draws power from the sun and harvests nearby RF waves. Samsung's built-in smart TV software is fine. But if you want to take advantage of the outstanding picture quality on this TV, connect an Apple TV 4K or another high-end streaming box. 

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If you're in the market for a TV with the best possible picture for watching the latest movies and shows, then you'll have a difficult time finding many TVs better than Samsung's S90C OLED TV from 2023, especially for the price.

The 65-inch version usually retails for $2,599, Amazon usually sells it for $1,997, and currently, the Samsung S90C OLED is on sale for $1,497 -- an all-time low price. This is likely the same price we'll see in November during Black Friday sales.

The S90C OLED is a treat to watch because of its HDR performance, deep colors and contrast, and great off-angle viewing.

There's consensus in the TV industry and among most professional TV reviewers that OLED TVs generally have superior picture quality to the various versions of LCD TVs -- LED, QLED, and Mini LED -- because of their excellent contrast, dynamic range, color intensity, and ability to reproduce the deepest black parts of a picture.

The Samsung S90C OLED TV is last year's model and is in the process of being superseded by 2024's S90D (on sale for $1,697), but there's very little difference between the two models. The 2024 version is a little bit brighter, but that's something you'll only notice if you put the two TVs side by side or if you're putting the TV in a very bright room.

The other thing to keep in mind with the S90C is that it's Samsung's mid-range OLED. The top-of-the-line model from 2023 is the S95C. But again, you're not going to notice much difference between the S90C and the S95C, which retails for $700 more at $3,299 but is also on sale for $1,715.

The biggest benefit of the S95C is that it comes with Samsung's OneConnect Box, which makes the TV thinner and offers an ingenious way of only having to send one wire up to the TV if you're mounting it on a wall and want a clean, minimalist look. The picture quality between the two TVs, however, is nearly identical. Again, the S95C is also a little bit brighter. 

Also: This Sony Bravia is one of the best TVs you've never heard of - and it's on sale

Nevertheless, I've been testing an S90C since the end of 2023, and it is plenty bright enough to enjoy the best content. I've tested it with some of my favorites, such as Dune, Tron: Legacy, and Avengers: End Game, and it offers an incredible picture to immerse you in the most cinematic stories. I have no hesitation in calling the S90C one of the best TVs that Samsung has ever made. 

There are very few drawbacks to the S90C. I don't love Samsung's built-in software and user interface running on its proprietary Tizen platform because it's not very intuitive to navigate, and it doesn't always do justice to the picture quality of the content from streaming services. I'd recommend connecting an Apple TV 4K or a 4K Chromecast with Google TV to get a better user experience and streaming content that's better optimized to take advantage of the S90C's great picture.

Like most TVs, the onboard sound quality of the S90C is mediocre, so it's well worth adding a soundbar to take advantage of the cinematic potential of this TV. I'd recommend the Samsung Q900C or the more affordable Hisense AX5125H. I've tested both of these soundbars, and the Samsung is great for big, booming sound, while the Hisense is a very solid option for the money and a significant upgrade over the built-in sound of virtually any TV. 

Also: The best TVs of 2024: Expert tested

Lastly, I want to mention one other TV, the Samsung S95D. This is the 2024 version of Samsung's flagship OLED. Before you invest in an OLED TV like the S90C, I have to let you know that I consider the S95D to have the best picture quality of any OLED on the market, primarily because of its non-glare screen. Not everyone loves a matte finish, but the one on the S95D is exceptional. It does not detract from the picture but enhances it, making it great to watch in a bright room. That's why I've called the S95D the best TV of the year. That said, the 65-inch version is only on sale for $2,797, $500 off its normal $3,397 price. So you could almost get two S90C TVs for the price of one S95D right now.

If money was no object, the two TVs I would most recommend right now would be either the Samsung S95D or the Sony Bravia 9. That said, I consider the Samsung S90C and the Sony X90L -- which are both 2023 models -- the TVs that offer the best picture and features for the price.