# Samsung TV 37 Hacker News commenters recommended Samsung TV and 134 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (14 owners). **Verdict:** Recommended for picture quality, simple remotes and long life, especially used offline as a dumb display. Common caveat: ads, data collection and forced updates. ## Why people recommend it - Works well offline as a dumb display (4 comments): "Their TV's are still good as long as you don't connect them to the internet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45867405)) "I am so very happy to have a 2010s Samsung TV with no Wi-Fi" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030260)) "My two year old Samsung still works as a dumb display." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49623016)) - Lasts many years without problems (4 comments): "had a Samsung fridge, AC and TV for about 7 years without any issues whatsoever" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49816611)) "This works pretty well on my several year old Samsung (most of the time [1])." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46593748)) "Immediately worked for me on a simple Samsung bought 15+ years ago." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48966215)) - Picture looks good, especially HDR10+ (3 comments): "Samsung scored highest on https://www.rtings.com/ for my criteria, and I'm happy with the purchase." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49001926)) "HDR does not look good at all, way too dark, but HDR10+ is just amazing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50213491)) "with the goofy bullshit turned off it looks amazing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46433537)) - Cheap, simple remote and quick startup (3 comments): "The simplicity of the remote was also a factor. So a cheap 32" Samsung TV it was. Turned out great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46589374)) "things mostly just work, and it cost me next to nothing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45866816)) "It turns on quickly and right to the selected source" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50164124)) ## What people warn about - Ads and promo pop-ups on screen (5 comments): "I had to pi-hole my entire network to get rid of the ads in my "switch source" menu on my Samsung TV that did not have ads when I bought it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47438981)) "I hate 2 things about my samsung tv's (I have 4 only samsung): the simplistic remote and ads on home screen." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50223090)) "repeatedly opens a pop-up info window about their AI features while my AppleTV is playing movies and shows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46220979)) - Sends viewing data to Samsung (2 comments): "started getting ads. Inspected the traffic and it connects to at least a dozen different Samsung domains on startup and then periodically." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48370205)) "screenshots everything shown on their televisions at regular intervals and sends these to their South Korean data centres" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47225539)) - Confusing menus and naming (3 comments): "the obnoxious need to check if antenna-based broadcasting is available, every single time you open the settings menu" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46593274)) "Just try to make sense of the naming strategy of Samsung TVs, and you'll either eventually give up or go insane." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281610)) "We are talking about a company where if I press the exit button there's a 50% chance I get the menu or not." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45867912)) - Consent pop-ups with many decline options (2 comments): "They'd provided a single button to accept but literally 200+ decline buttons, one for every partner" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49106757)) "It's way too frequent and runs at random times in the middle of a movie so I always choose Accept." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45867096)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [LG smart TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lg-smart-tv.md): 57 recommend - [Sony Bravia TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sony-bravia-tv.md): 19 recommend - [TCL TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tcl-tv.md): 17 recommend - [Roku TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/roku-tv.md): 14 recommend - [Samsung Frame TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/samsung-frame-tv.md): 10 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Samsung+smart+TV&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.samsung.com/us/tvs/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Samsung TV", https://hackerapproved.com/p/samsung-tv/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).