As a full-time creative, I’m more appreciative when I consume content using THE better display — AMOLED over LCD, 4K Ultra HD over Full HD, you get the picture.

While I’ve tried and tested a bunch of smartphones with various display types throughout my six years in GadgetMatch, I simply don’t get to try out a lot of TVs.

The first (and last) TV review I did was way back in 2021. Three years later, I’ve been granted an opportunity to try and test out a new Smart TV — a 55-inch Samsung DU8100 Crystal UHD 4K TV.

I consider this a sweet treat for someone who lost his hard-earned TV just after two years.

Slim But Never Flimsy

I grew up in an age where I get to see the transformation and transition of televisions.

From fat CRTs with their static fuzz to flat-screen LCDs and Plasma panels that truly revolutionized the TV industry over the years. This also meant that the thickness of modern-day smart TVs have barely changed.

However, the Samsung DU8100 dared to defy the odds with its revolutionary AirSlim design. This makes the TV as thin at only 25.7mm (around 3cm).

Hear me out! The old Android TV I got a few years back isn’t in the same league. I never actually cared about how thick that was, until I saw how impressively thin the Samsung DU8100 is.

Even though it’s slim, it’s not at all flimsy and still has some heft to it.

Despite its thin chassis, Samsung managed to put in the essential ports — 3x HDMI (one with eARC), 2x USB-A, 1x LAN, Optical, as well as the old RF In.

Also, the thing that’s super thin are its bezels. I barely even notice their existence especially when watching anything and everything in the dark.

At first, I frowned upon how its TV stands looked. But interestingly, those TV legs never needed a screwdriver for installation.

You just have to align and insert them straight onto the display’s bottom and it will automatically lock so once it’s in place.

Lucid and Vivid

Samsung is and will always be known for their glorious visual supremacy. Specification-wise, the Samsung DU8100 has an LED panel.

Subjectively, I get impressively vivid colors with bright whites and sufficiently dark blacks.

But of course, not as excellent as what IPS delivers. Not even close to Samsung’s line of Neo QLED that I only get to see in mall displays and tech conventions.

There are several Picture Mode options for you to choose from depending on your preference. Personally, I chose to stick with Dynamic mode.

That said, whatever mode you choose, you’ll still enjoy its full on picture quality. Its vibrant and popping without going overboard when it comes to scenes that lean more into the cinematic vibe.

Contrast-wise, it’s also well-balanced without getting harsh on the visuals — where human subjects are most likely affected.

Hail 4K Upscale

Even if I don’t have microscopic eyes to be so nitpicky, I can still differentiate a Full HD video versus the clearer 4K UHD.

Fortunately, the Samsung DU8100 has a 4K Upscaling feature.

It uses its built-in Crystal UHD Processor 4K with algorithms to upscale lower-resolution content into something that’s closer to the 4K quality.

To test out this feature, I played two 1080p videos from 2016.

First, GFRIEND’s ‘시간을 달려서’ music video as I wanted to reminisce what 3rd Gen K-Pop was like nine years ago.

Last but not the least, GadgetMatch’s YouTube video about the Galaxy S7 edge — just because Samsung resurrected the “edge” line this 2025 with the Galaxy S25 Edge.

Shockingly, it felt like both videos are natively playing in 4K resolution with around 60fps of frame rate.

This feature not only upscales the content, it fills in the frames to make motion smoother.

Tied to Tizen

Unlike most Smart TVs running Google TV, Samsung sticks to its proprietary Operating System dubbed as “Tizen OS“.

If you’re used to the simplicity of Google’s OS meant for flat screen panels, it will take some learning curve before you get to used to Tizen’s all-round navigation and layout.

For the tech-savvy in me, I honestly didn’t mind the various differences in UI. But, for most users, you may find Tizen a little bit bland, especially with how it displays apps and content.

Whereas Google TV instantly feeds you content you might want to watch regardless of which platform or service it is — just like how convenient I breezed through the Google TV-quipped projector I reviewed last October 2014.

And if I were to nitpick, the only downside for me is going back and forth to the home screen whenever I wanted to change anything and everyhing related to settings (display, audio, network, all of ’em).

There’s not even a dedicated system settings button on its remote control…

…which I’m NGL, oftentimes lags and doesn’t respond to some of my hard presses.

Nevertheless, it still offers all the in-demand apps for TV — YouTube, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV,+, HBO Max, Viu, among others.

There’s even support for music platforms such as Spotify and my all-time fave, Apple Music.

Beats Without Frills

The reason why I enjoy watching on large screens is none other than the audiovisual sufficiency I don’t fully enjoy in smartphone displays.

Upon firing up the Samsung DU8100, I was with thrilled how loud and strong its speakers are.

No matter what content you watch whether it’s a special video of a song remake from 2000s…

vocal-filled and solemn live performance …

enchanting heavenly concert…

variety show of your favorite idol working in a pizza shop…

or even mukbang of a giant schnitzel in Hungary (while watching it hungrily)…

the sound this TV produces is more than enough for the living space you’ll place it in.

Even in a large room, it fills the space with its powerful sound system — what more if I place it in my smaller room?

Why am I even surprised? It has a 20W audio output.

And just look at those labels when I played The Garfield Movie — there’s 5.1 Surround Sound system.

Although it’s not the most immersive title, I still enjoyed playing the animated movie as it instantly reminded me of my childhood.

Standard audio is already loud but when I switched to Amplify mode, it felt like I was in a surround-sound cinema. Most of the time, I just put the volume range between 20 to 30,

But if manually adjusting volume is a bit of a stretch for you, you can switch to Adaptive Sound that intelligently optimizes sound based on the content that’s being played.

It became handy when I watched the currently trending When The Stars Gossip as the audio design switches between tinny dialogues to the daunting sound of space craft being launched into the orbit.

Smarter Than Ever

One thing unique to Samsung’s ecosystem of products is SmartThings.

Their one-stop app basically lets you control any Samsung device within the perimeter of your home.

As basic as it sounds, I love how I can power on/off the TV with just the Galaxy S24 Ultra. That’s despite the absence of an IR blaster on the said phone.

Using the phone as the remote is even more responsive than the remote bundled in the package itself.

Then again, a “smart” home means you’re devices should be connected to a fast Wi-Fi connection 24/7. And with this in mind, it’s worth mentioning the Samsung DU8100 has Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2 support.

And even without Samsung’s dedicated app, you can still connect your device through Screen Mirroring / Casting.

This may depend on the smartphone / device you are using, but the vivo X200 Pro worked for me.

I even tried playing some Android games through this mode.

Without any hiccups, all worked perfectly fine.

Amazing for Gaming, too

With gaming already mentioned, I also tried to test out what this TV can do in console gaming.

With the dedicated Game Mode turned on, it made me enjoy the gaming experience regardless if I’m playing on an aging gaming console released way back in 2016.

Sure enough, I immediately noticed the difference playing here versus my old Android TV.

Samsung’s Motion Xcelerator feature truly improved the full motion of a gameplay — especially in a speedy racing game like the Remastered WipEout 2048 from 2017.

Granted that I am not the most well-versed team member for gaming, I still truly and fully enjoyed the gameplay experience on this TV.

There’s even ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) that I was able to maximize when I fired some guns in the last DedSec core mission of Watch Dogs: Legion.

Care for the environment

Some of you might have noticed the plain cardboard box that comes when purchasing the TV.

Its packaging isn’t the only thing that makes this friendlier to the environment.

Whenever you consume content with this TV, you can opt out to turn on the AI Energy saving mode as it benefits not just you as a consumer from your electricity bills, it also saves the planet.

JSYK, one small action contributes to a bigger overall effect.

There are even Auto Power Off and Auto Power Saving options baked into the system.

Although it didn’t come in my review unit due to logistics issues, all Samsung DU8100 units are bundled with Samsung’s latest SolarCell Remote with a solar panel behind it for utmost efficiency.

This welcoming change also eliminates the need to purchase non-rechargeable batteries that go into the e-waste dispenser after depletion.

Is the Samsung DU8100 Crystal UHD 4K TV your GadgetMatch?

For the price of PhP 26,779 (discounted from PhP 34,499), the Samsung DU8100 Crystal UHD is a smart TV worth considering the year 2025.

I honestly don’t see any reason to Swipe Left except if you wanted a Google TV that’s priced within this range. Nevertheless, Samsung’s Tizen OS bears what Google TV can with most of the apps available right off the bat — just with a less intuitive UI experience.

Nonetheless, I’m still Super Swiping the Samsung DU8100 Crystal UHD 4K TV and deserves the GadgetMatch Seal of Approval.

It was able to delight me with its harmony of hardware and software features that totally made the product compelling. It’s mid in price but not in performance.

Moreover, the price is justifiable especially for budget-conscious consumers who want to buy a shiny, new Smart TV in 2025 from a Korean tech giant that’s been tried, tested, and trusted for several decades.

That’s also an honest opinion from someone who doesn’t earn that much and is living in an inflation-fested third-world country.

@gadgetmatch

Looking for a shiny new Samsung TV for your home? 🏠

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