After watching all sorts of content, I noticed that edge definition is also handled well, so edges are drawn confidently and with real positivity. Only when combined with properly testing on-screen motion are edges anything less than smooth, and only when on-screen motion gets properly complex does the Samsung do anything except grip movement with real determination. Only in extremis does the AU9000’s Crystal Processor 4K give the slightest hint of how hard it’s working. Would you be staggered to learn the Samsung is quite a bit less impressive in sonic terms than it is in picture quality terms? I doubt it – that’s usually the case with mid-market TVs. There are limits to the amount of ‘designing’ that can be done to a TV at the best of times, and ‘the best of times’ most certainly does not include a mainstream range of aggressively priced televisions designed to appeal to as many folk as possible. So the BU8500 is an unremarkable looker. The Samsung AU9000 is a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) HDR smart TV that comes in screen sizes ranging from 43in to 75in. It’s part of Samsung’s Crystal UHD series, which is its cheapest range of 4K TVs, sitting below its various QLED sets.

Step down to some 1080p content and the Samsung remains a composed and convincing watch. Inevitably, there are drop-offs in pretty much every area: detail levels aren’t quite so high; skin-tones aren’t quite so naturalistic; colours aren’t quite so wide-ranging; motion isn’t quite so stable. But given the amount of work the 50AU9000’s Crystal Processor 4K is getting through, these shortcomings are minor in the extreme.No, the AU9000 is not the dullest, or the vaguest, or the most volume-adverse, television I've ever heard – but then neither is it all that interesting or engaging to listen to. From the front, the Samsung AU9000 TV looks clean enough. The bezel is minimal around the top and sides – and even if the bottom portion is both a bit heftier and doesn’t join the main frame seamlessly at either end, that’s the sort of thing you notice while installing the screen and then never give another thought to. The plastics feel nice enough, even on the rear panel, and as is usual with Samsung there’s an impression of quality construction.

While white tones hardly pop from the screen, they’re clean and equally detailed – so while contrasts are far from the widest you’ve ever seen (even at this unremarkable price-point), they’re convincing nevertheless. The Samsung AU9000 is weakest when it comes to sound, and that’s as much because of the slime-line chassis as its price point. The reality is that it’s nearly impossible to cram a decent set of speakers into a chassis only 26mm deep and to do so would be prohibitively expensive. It’s going to come as no great surprise to learn that the Samsung does its verybest work when given the very best content to work with. And, in light of its specification, the very best content turns out to be some native 4K material with HDR10+ as the cherry on top. The AU9000 supports HDR10, HLG and HDR10+, but not Dolby Vision. However, the absence of the latter has nothing to do with the TV’s mid-range status – none of Samsung’s models support the format, with the company instead opting for the royalty-free HDR10+. HDR10+ performance was good in testing, and while not as prevalent as Dolby Vision, is a format used by Prime Video and some 4K Blu-rays. The bezel across the bottom is a little wider, and stands proud of the screen just a little, but I wouldn’t call it unsightly. ‘Inoffensive’ is sometimes a put-down, but not in this instance. Look directly at it when the TV isn’t switched on, and this Samsung is the best sort of inoffensive.

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One thing that’s not new, on the basis that upgrading it would be difficult in the extreme, is the Tizen smart TV interface. It’s long been close to ideal and, though every other manufacturer has undeniably upped their smart TV game to compete, Tizen continues to be a pleasure to use. Nevertheless, the Samsung UE50AU9000 is a very capable gaming monitor,. Its response times are well below 10ms and almost all the picture-quality positives already discussed hold true for games, too. And the ability to mimic the super-wide 32:9 aspect ratio beloved of some PC games is handy – even if the resulting image is more letterboxing than actual picture. Sound quality Looked at in profile, though, the AU9000 is a fair bit more interesting. Somehow Samsung has managed to keep the depth down to a super-svelte 26mm – and that’s a consistent depth, too. Unlike that OLED TV you’ve had your eye on, there’s no swelling or protuberance housing all the electronic odds and sods here. If you decide to wall-mount your new TV, you can be sure that it will sit as flush to the rear surface as any screen that doesn’t cost maybe five times as much. During setup, the adjustment to color balance is on a bit of a hair-trigger – it’ll tip from ‘just slightly understated’ to ‘rather too lively’ in no time. But play around a bit to find the optimum balance and the color palette is naturalistic, convincing and wide-ranging. Skin-tones, in particular, are detailed and varied. Viewed head-on, the AU9000 is an unremarkable-looking device – and I mean that entirely positively. A narrow bezel and some minimal feet is all anyone really wants from their new TV no matter how much or how little they’re paying, right?

A sense of value is absolutely critical to the Samsung BU8500. It exists to make sure that you can get lots of the latest features for a low price, or to give you the chance to upgrade to a larger screen while still keeping within your budget. There’s an impressive choice of apps for a TV at this price point too, with Netflix, Prime Video, Now TV, Disney+, Apple TV+, Rakuten, YouTube, and all the UK TV catch-up services; plus there’s the Universal Guide to help you sift through the extensive selection of content. The remainder of the colour palette the Samsung can call on impressed me both with its extensiveness and its naturalness. Skin-tones are always a stern test of a TV’s abilities, and the AU9000 handled the complexities and subtleties of complexions well in my tests across a range of content, and it also does good work describing textures of skin, too. And while Samsung can’t claim HDMI 2.1 specification, all three of the HDMI inputs here go further towards accommodating next-gen consoles than the model the AU9000 replaces. Auto Low Latency Mode and AMD FreeSync are catered for, and PC gamers will be pleased to learn there’s a facility to replicate the ultra-wide 32:9 aspect ratio some games can run at, too. It’s fair to say this last part is a red herring. The point-source of sound from the Samsung is hazy, certainly, but that’s not the same as delivering an impression of height – not at all. And as far as tonality goes, the 50AU9000 sounds tentative and rather flat. It’s game, certainly – wind the volume upwards and it resists hardening or coarsening quite commendably. But really, it’s as far removed from the standard of the images the Samsung produces as these things ever are.The chassis itself is only 26mm deep, with the 43in version measuring 966 x 188 x 624mm (WDH) and weighing 8.6kg with its feet attached. These slot into grooves at the rear and provide 80mm of clearance beneath the image. A section of plastic can be used to connect the two feet, which stand 640mm apart, but you’ll want to leave this off if you’re planning to slot a soundbar under the screen. The Samsung AU9000 includes the full Tizen-powered smart platform and it’s responsive, intuitive and easy to navigate. There’s a launcher bar along the bottom and a second layer that provides faster access to the various streaming services. To give the Samsung 50AU9000 some credit, at least it doesn’t become unlistenable at serious volumes – which is a trait that afflicts plenty of its rivals. It just gets louder. But the tonal quality of its sound is nothing to write home about.

What it does do quite comprehensively, though, is make the source point of sound vague and hazy. And while there are worse-sounding TVs out there, there aren’t that many that sound as resolutely matter of fact and unengaged as the 50AU9000. For quite a while, Samsung’s Tizen smart TV interface was obviously and unarguably the best around. In fact, it’s a measure of just how good it is that it remains one of the best interfaces currently available, despite everyone from LG to Hisense upping their smart TV game in response. The Tizen interface incorporated into the AU9000 is clean, logical, comprehensive and a straightforward pleasure to use. Elsewhere, the 4K HDR10+ news is equally good. Detail levels are high across the board, and the amount of information the Samsung loads into skin-tones in particular is impressive. Colours are natural and convincing, with a degree of vibrancy when required but never over-driven. Plus, they’re wide-ranging enough to give expression to even subtle differences in shade or tone. If you’re intending to see the Samsung AU9000 TV perform at its best, then you’ll need to serve it some native 4K content with HDR10+ augmentation – because, as is always the case (and as is always galling) with Samsung, there’s no Dolby Vision dynamic metadata HDR standard on the spec-sheet.

The Samsung BU8500 is on sale now, though at the time of writing this particular model is available in Europe and some other countries, but hasn't been announced for North America or Australia (though it is available in New Zealand). That’s unless you want to use Samsung’s Smart Things control app, at least. It’s a clean interface, and performs stably – but it’s quite nosy. Short of inside leg measurement, there’s very little it doesn’t want to know about you, which some folks are guaranteed to find off-putting.