Samsung The Terrace outdoor TV review

Fans of outdoor entertaining know that nothing kills a party like half your guests flocking back inside to watch the game. That’s where outdoor TVs come in. In 2020, just when the pandemic was prompting homeowners across the world to find ways to entertain outdoors, Samsung became the first major TV manufacturer to bring its sleek design, proprietary displays and smart TV operating system to an outdoor-optimized TV, The Terrace.

No longer would those seeking simple outdoor entertainment options have to settle for weatherproofed offerings from companies — or farm the task out to companies and installers — with costly and awkward-looking aftermarket weatherproof solutions. The Terrace, which comes in multiple sizes, is essentially a premium Samsung 4K QLED TV with weather-resistant housing, an anti-glare matte screen, superlative brightness and outdoor-optimized video processing. And it even has an optional weather-resistant soundbar.

I was able to test-drive The Terrace 65-inch Partial Sun QLED 4K LST7T ($5,000) in July and August on an enclosed porch in the extremely hot, humid and rainy backwoods of rural Delaware. In the process, I was able to explore such fundamental questions that many people ask when presented with the concept of an outdoor TV. Namely, what on earth is an outdoor TV and do I need one? Here’s what I discovered.

While Samsung cites The Terrace’s 2,000 nits of brightness and optimized backlighting that make movie night — or watching anything outdoors — a little less glare-prone, the TV’s most impactful outdoor-ready quality is its rugged build.

The entire unit is encased in a sturdy metallic frame designed to withstand the elements. Audio, video and other cables — the Terrace’s power cord is also water-resistant — run to the outside through rubber-coated holes that further keep moisture out. Inside, cooling technology and fans ensure the unit can withstand hot days up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, but the TV is also built to handle cold weather down to 22 degrees Fahrenheit, making it ideal for mid-century modern desert patios and hot tub-equipped ski chalet decks alike. The entire unit is IP55 certified, which means it can handle dust, soot, pollen and other air detritus, as well as rain and even a modest garden hosing, not to mention general humidity over time.

The TV comes with metal Samsung One Remotes that are IP56 certified, which boils down to being able to withstand higher-pressure streams of water. All in all, The Terrace and its accessories offer a weather-worry-free package right out of the box.

Now back to those nits, which are essentially units of measurement for brightness. At 2,000 nits, The Terrace’s brightness capability is twice that of any other outdoor TV and more than the vast majority of indoor TVs, which average around 450 nits. (For example, Samsung only just unveiled QD-OLED TVs with 2,000-nit capability this year.) With 2,000 nits and a souped-up backlight, The Terrace is unmatched in terms of its ability to deliver brightness, and discernible contrast, on sunny days. There’s also an anti-glare coating on the non-shiny matte screen that’s formulated to minimize reflections from the sun.

The Terrace offers various sound modes that allow you to isolate dialogue or other channels that might otherwise be drowned out in the ambient noise of an outdoor setting. If the TV’s built-in 20W, two-channel Dolby Digital Plus speakers don’t do the trick for you, you can also connect the optional matching IP55-certified Terrace Soundbar ($1,200), which not only delivers clear dialogue, atmospheric surround sound and punchy bass but also comes with a kit enabling it to be mounted directly to a wall or hung from the TV.

Complete with a Consumer Technology Association (CTA) 4K Ultra HD Connected certification, The Terrace doesn’t skimp on the cutting-edge features, circa 2020, of Samsung 4K QLED TVs. These include Quantum HDR 32X for extra detail and popping color and a wide-viewing angle optimized for outdoor watch parties where people are seated everywhere. Gamers will benefit from Samsung’s proprietary Real Game Enhancer+ feature, which automatically detects gaming consoles connected via HDMI and helps kick up the color and contrast of games. All this is powered by a Quantum Processor 4K.

The TV also offers Samsung’s Intelligent Mode, which automatically adjusts picture settings depending on lighting and content, as well as traditional picture modes such as Dynamic, Natural and Standard and cinephile modes such as Movie and Filmmaker.

In terms of connection inputs, there are three for HDMI (including an HDMI ARC, or audio return channel, for high-resolution audio pass-through scenarios to soundbars or home theater receivers), one optical port and an Ethernet port. For outdoor connections, the built-in 802.11AC Wi-Fi connection is preferred — it’s just one less cable that needs to be shielded from the weather. Built-in Bluetooth can be used to connect external devices directly to The Terrace Soundbar, though optical is better for connecting to the TV in terms of getting any Dolby Digital or DTS audio processing.

The TV is also Apple AirPlay compatible and able to easily toggle among videos on the YouTube mobile app. The feature worked seamlessly when I tried it.

Like all Samsung TVs, The Terrace doesn’t support Dolby Vision, but it is fully compatible with HDR10+, a similarly souped-up HDR standard that optimizes video quality on specific content streamed by Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Hulu and YouTube, as well as UHD 4K Blu-ray discs from Warner Bros. and 20th-Century Fox.

The truth is that this is already a smart TV, and unless you need or want to connect a Blu-ray player, A/V receiver, cable box, streaming stick or preferred streaming over-the-top (OTT) device, you’re better off not connecting anything to the Terrace’s three HDMI ports. With Samsung’s open-source Tizen OS and its hundreds of apps, you’ll want for nothing on the content streaming availability front. I easily signed into Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock, BritBox, Mubi, The Criterion Collection, Vudu, Max, Showtime, Starz, DIRECTV STREAM, Sling TV, Pluto TV, Philo, Disney Plus and Hulu.

The SmartThings app can also be used for initial TV step-by-step setup and management — you can easily sign in to apps via QR codes or passwords, as well as remote control. Want to use voice control? The Terrace TV can also be controlled by either Samsung’s Bixby or Amazon’s Alexa voice assistants.

I spent about a month overall with the TV, watching everything from 4K streaming shows such as “Emily in Paris” and “Elite” on Netflix; “Jack Reacher” and “Deadloch” on Prime Video; “Severance” and “Silo” on Apple TV+; and “Insecure,” “Succession” and “The Other Two” on Max. I also watched “Dune” on Max. To get a sense of the content that looks at home in Dynamic and motion-smoothing modes, as well as in bright settings when the sun was shining into the porch and even onto the screen, I also consumed a steady diet of news (mostly CNN International on DIRECTV STREAM) and talk shows, as well as some sports — very little of which is in native 4K (most sports broadcasts billed as 4K are actually native 1080p upscaled to 4K).

I watched “Deadpool,” “Blade Runner: The Final Cut” and “1917.” That last movie, Sam Mendes’ 2020 Academy Award-nominee, which features a simulated one-take shot for its entire length of 110 minutes (minus the credits), was chosen specifically because it was mastered in HDR10+.

Not surprisingly, I found that movies with plenty of contrast and varying shades of darkness, and which lend themselves best to cinematic video modes such as Movie and Filmmaker, were best watched at night and in the dark. In “1917,” varying shades of brown uniforms and underground bunker environments were differentiated well, distinct textures on background walls were easy to discern and a scene in which a silhouette of two soldiers fighting against a backdrop of fire was nuanced enough to show minor details on each body. Watching this film in Dynamic or Adaptive mode, in the dark at least, was a nonstarter.

In 4K TV shows such as “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” (in HDR10+) and Netflix’s “Elite” (plain old UHD and HDR), I toggled among the different video modes, and as was the case with films, they were best viewed in either Filmmaker or Movie mode at night due to their cinematic nature and preponderance of dark scenes and contrast, which make it hard to avoid glare from the sun, even with an anti-glare screen. That said, the TV’s brightness features meant that scenes and action were still more than discernible, even in daylight. On the other hand, sports, news and talk shows displayed best in the daytime.

I remember the work and effort involved in moving around my 2007 112-pound Pioneer Kuros plasma TV back in the day and have been so pleasantly relieved at the relative lightness of today’s OLED and LED TVs. While a similarly sized Samsung 65-inch QLED TV these days weighs around 43 pounds and is around an inch thick, The Terrace TV’s added heavy-duty body and weatherproofing build adds significant weight. At 81.8 pounds and 2.4 inches thick, this is not an easy TV to get out of the box, move around or mount without the help of at least two other people.

In addition to the aforementioned slippery surface of the TV that makes carrying it around without gloves a precarious endeavor, some cables just didn’t fit perfectly into the differently sized rubberized ports out of the media bay compartment. I couldn’t find the perfect fit for the included optical cable to the soundbar, strangely enough, but HDMI cables fit easily. Either way, getting all the cords to stay in place and then closing and screwing shut the compartment door required one person to keep the cables in place and another person to screw the compartment shut.

None of these setup challenges are deal breakers by any means, and it’s likely that anyone in the market for an outdoor TV will get professionals to do this for them and keep it in a permanent place.

The Terrace was state-of-the-art when it was first released, featuring all the specs mentioned earlier, including Direct Full Array 16X, Quantum HDR 32X, 100% Color Volume with Quantum Dot, Real Game Enhancer+, Motion Rate 2040, HDR10+ capability, Ambient Mode+, built-in Alexa, Filmmaker mode, SmartThings Compatibility, Samsung One Remote capability and Adaptive Picture.

All of this is powered by a Quantum Processor 4K, which is the main spec that screams “2020.” Since then, Samsung has added the Neo Quantum Processor 4K and the Neural Quantum Processor 4K, which can be found on its newer QLED TVs since 2020. However, even with 2020 specs, The Terrace still brings heftier video display chops than any of the 65-inch outdoor partial TV competition, even models that cost considerably more.

The Terrace TV is designed to be mounted onto a wall, and Samsung offers a wall mount kit for that very purpose, but this won’t be much help to those who don’t have an outdoor surface in the right spot (such as a spot that isn’t exposed to the elements or is out of direct on-the-screen sunlight). However, while the Terrace doesn’t come with — nor does Samsung offer — a proprietary stand to put this on a console/credenza of some kind, it does have holes for a standard VESA (400 millimeters by 400 millimeters) mount, which is available via a variety of aftermarket TV stands, not all of which are weatherproof. I opted for the FITUEYES Eiffel, which is designed for short-term outdoor use but looks a little less classroom- or conference room-ready than other stands. With support for a standard VESA (200 millimeters by 200 millimeters) mount on the back, the Samsung Terrace TV is designed to go on a wall, which can be done with the optional 65-inch and 75-inch The Terrace Wall Mount ($199). Given that most people will likely be placing the TV in a strategically chosen outdoor spot in permanent weatherproof installation configurations, it’s not too much of a surprise that Samsung doesn’t offer a tabletop or floor stand for The Terrace.

I didn’t have permission to mount the TV on the patio wall, so as mentioned, I opted for the third-party FITUEYES Eiffel Series Floor TV stand for 43-inch to 75-inch TVs. Indeed, with its optional wheels, the stand is easy to roll around the patio or even out into the open outdoors (say, a backyard or deck) and then back into a covered porch or semi-covered outdoor space. The cable management compartments in the stand’s legs help shield cords from weather, not to mention keep them out of sight, while the wheels’ lockable casters lessen the chance that strong winds will send the TV rolling down to the pool.

This may be one of the reasons why Samsung encourages wall-mounting, but sometimes I could hear a sound reminiscent of a hardworking laptop or computer processor, which was the TV’s internal cooling fan (designed to keep the TV cool in hot temperatures). The function only turns on intermittently, depending on cooling needs. Mounting the TV on the wall would also mitigate any cooling fan sound, but it’s possible that it would be audible with minimal outdoor noise and no birds or bugs, such as in winter, or in mostly walled-in outdoor spaces. This is not a deal breaker either but something to consider as you scout for the best outdoor TV locations at home.

No matter which angle I tried, and in all kinds of light, some glare is nearly impossible to eliminate or unsee when watching movies, TV shows or any other content with a lot of dark scenes and contrast.

It’s safe to say that overall, the Terrace, and any other outdoor TV for that matter, is optimal for sports and news content during the day, with movie and TV show content best saved for the dark evenings. This would be true of both the partial and full-sun models, since that designation is mainly aimed at what the TV can handle in terms of the sun’s rays and heat.

All Samsung TVs are HDR10+ compatible, which is the UHD format used by Amazon Prime Video and some UHD 4K DVDs, but a larger chunk of content uses Dolby Vision, with which The Terrace and other Samsung TVs are not compatible. There’s also the emerging IMAX Enhanced, but currently, Disney+ is the only mainstream streaming service that offers content in that standard. That doesn’t mean that movies and TV in Dolby Vision or other 4K standards won’t look good, especially in Filmmaker mode, but they just won’t process any Dolby Vision settings designed to make content pop.

In terms of outdoor TVs, only a handful of companies create models that are built to withstand the elements right out of the box. SunBrite is among the best known and was making outdoor TVs well before The Terrace was released. It also offers a wider range of outdoor-ready TVs in full-shade, partial-sun and full-sun configurations — the common denominator among them being that they are all weatherproof in some way.

The full-shade Veranda 3 Series models come closest to The Terrace in terms of video specs such as Quantum Dot Color capability, as well as durability (IP55 rating), but they aren’t designed to sit in any kind of sun and can only deliver 1,000 nits of brightness. Significantly, they are capable of processing Dolby Vision and IMAX Enhanced (but not HDR10+) standards, as well as Dolby Atmos. These are currently available in 55-inch and 65-inch models, with a 75-inch model coming soon. Other than the need for a fully shaded outdoor environment, the SunBrite 65-inch Veranda 3 Series TV, at $3,649, delivers some premium specs and features for less than The Terrace 65-inch partial-sun model.

Though billed as a full-sun model, the Furrion Aurora 65-inch Full Sun Smart 4K Outdoor TV ($3,700-$4,100) is only IP64 rated, which means it can handle moisture and spray but not anything with much water pressure (like a hose-down). It has an anti-glare, 1,500-nit LED screen made of impact- and scratch-resistant tempered glass. It can process HDR10, but not HDR10+ or Dolby Vision, and is controlled via LG’s WebOS. If you’re okay with just 750 nits of brightness, then the partial-sun Furrion Aurora 65-inch model typically costs almost $1,000 less.

On the budget front, the Element 55-inch 4K UHD Partial-Sun Outdoor Roku TV might have a smaller screen size, but at $1,300, it’s among the most affordable outdoor TVs on the market. It’s also IP55 rated but is not as versatile in the outdoor temperature department, with the capacity to operate at temperatures from -4 degrees Fahrenheit to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. It comes with HDR10 capability, can deliver up to 700 nits of brightness and works with all smart home ecosytems including Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home. It’s also AirPlay compatible and has four HDMI inputs (including one that’s HDMI ARC), but with Roku built-in, the only external connections you may need are to a cable box, external Blu-ray player or soundbar.

Even as it hits its third year of existence, the Samsung Terrace TV remains among the top choices for outdoor TVs, and it’s easy to see why. The availability of an optional companion weatherproof Terrace Soundbar from Samsung just adds to the appeal of a TV that doesn’t require any visual, audio, aesthetic or user-experience sacrifices from consumers and can be set up in a matter of minutes right out of the box. The 65-inch partial-sun model lists for $5,000 but is often on sale.

Given that the outdoor TV market is still fairly niche, it’s not surprising that neither Samsung nor the competition are offering the full coterie of cutting-edge specs. Even the new TVs from competing outdoor TV brands don’t surpass what The Terrace offers overall — and none of them are capable of eliminating glare entirely. But eliminating glare may not be the goal of an outdoor TV; reducing glare is likely the best outcome.

Watching movies and cinematic TV shows on The Terrace at night is a delightful experience, provided it isn’t 90 degrees Fahrenheit with 100% humidity outside. I came to the conclusion that The Terrace delivers a guaranteed good time in late summer and early fall, or in the spring, in areas with four varied seasons. Ultimately, residents of California or any other dependably temperate and dry year-round climates will get the most bang for the buck from The Terrace and outdoor TVs in general.