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Samsung Premiere 9 Review
A super-bright and vibrant ultra short-throw 4K beamer
In This Article
Verdict
The Samsung Premiere 9 ultra short-throw DLP 4K projector delivers incredibly bright, vibrant and punchy HDR images thanks to its triple-laser light source. Once you add in impressive accuracy, a genuinely immersiveDolby Atmossound system, extensive gaming features and a comprehensive smart platform, you have a capable, convenient and affordable alternative to large screen TVs.
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Samsung Premiere 9 is the brand’s latest ultra short-throw (UST) 4K HDR projector, and employs a triple-laser light source.
The use of red, green and blue lasers delivers a claimed brightness of 3,450 ISO lumens and a lifespan of 20,000 hours, and also promises an incredibly wide colour gamut. When combined with single-chip DLP display technology and specialised optics it can deliver huge and sharply-defined images at minimal distances from the wall.
The Premiere 9 also sounds great thanks to a built-in 2.2.2-channel audio system with Dolby Atmos decoding. There’s a sophisticated smart platform with a full choice of streamers, extensive gaming features, and support forHDR10+. About the only features missing are Dolby Vision and built-in tuners, but otherwise this impressively-specified beamer may be a genuine alternative to large screen TVs.
Availability
The Samsung Premiere 9 will be available soon and has a recommended price of £5,999 in the UK. While that might seem expensive compared to most other ultra short-throw projectors, these probably don’t use a triple-laser with all its attendant benefits. The Premiere 9 is also more practical and cost-effective when compared to large screen TVs that get very expensive above 100-inches.
If you’re looking for alternatives there’s the Epson EH-LS650, which doesn’t support HDR10+ or Dolby Vision, but is even brighter at 3,600 lumens and costs £1,749. There’s also theHisense PL1, which only delivers 2,100 lumens but offers support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and can be purchased for £1,999. However, neither has an immersive audio system as good as the Premiere 9, nor do they offer as many gaming features or an extensive smart platform.
Design
The Samsung Premiere 9 uses a design that’s best described as lifestyle friendly, with elegantly curved styling, solid build quality and a neutral white finish. The front is completely covered in grey fabric, and there are air vents on either side for cooling. Despite being relatively large, this projector is surprisingly discreet, and from the front it looks more like a soundbar on steroids.
The Premier 9 offers better connectivity than most UST projectors, with three HDMI 2.0 inputs, one of which supportseARC. There’s also a USB port for multimedia playback and powering dongle-style streaming devices; an optical digital output; and an Ethernet port. The wireless connectivity includes built-in Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, and support for Apple’sAirPlay 2.
The provided zapper is a variation of the Solar Cell remote Samsung includes with its current TVs, but has white styling to match the projector itself. The controller is well-designed, intuitive to use, and comfortable to hold. There’s also a far-field microphone for the built-in voice assistants, although you can switch this off at the back of the projector if you prefer a degree of privacy.
Features
The Samsung Premiere 9 is an ultra short-throw projector that’s able to project 100-inches from only 11cm, and can fill a 130-inch screen at just 24cm. You change the image size by physically moving the projector towards or away from the wall, centre it by moving to the left or right, and level it using the adjustable feet. There are also manual controls for focusing the image.
The remaining setup is exactly the same as aSamsung TV, with the SmartThings app taking you through the entire process. Simply follow the instructions, and before you know it you’ll have the Wi-Fi connected and all the streaming apps installed. There’s even a Vision Boost feature that uses a built-in light sensor to adjust the image brightness based on ambient light in the room.
The triple-laser light source uses red, green and blue lasers for an increased brightness of 3,450 ISO lumens, a much wider colour gamut, and a 20,000-hour lifespan. Any projector will benefit from making the room darker, but the Premiere 9 has sufficient luminance to deal with white walls or ambient light. While you can just project onto a white wall, you’ll get better results with a dedicated screen.
The Premiere 9 is a single-chip DLP projector with a claimed resolution of 4K – although this is achieved using pixel shifting. It also supports most high dynamic range formats including HDR10,HLG (hybrid log-gamma), and HDR10+. Unsurprisingly for Samsung there’s no support forDolby Vision, but the triple-laser ensures HDR has impact thanks to its brightness and vibrant colours.
This projector sports a built-in sound system based on a 2.2.2-channel speaker layout and 40W of amplification. There’s support for Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound (OTS) AI-enhanced audio processing, along with Dolby Atmos decoding. The results are genuinely immersive, with clear dialogue, a wide front soundstage, some low-end presence, and well-defined overhead effects.
There’s also support for music casting, as well as various proprietary audio features such as AI-powered Adaptive Sound Pro enhancements, Adaptive Voice Amplifier Pro for making dialogue clearer, and Q Symphony for synching the Premiere 9 with a compatible Samsung soundbar. The latter would definitely provide benefits, especially if there’s a separate sub for those who like really deep bass.
The Premiere 9 uses exactly the same Tizen-powered operating system found in the brand’s TVs, and has sufficient processing power to ensure the platform is responsive. There’s smart assistance in the form of built-in Bixby andAmazon Alexa, along with a comprehensive choice of video streaming services. These all offer 4K, HDR, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos where available.
The Premiere 9 includes support forALLM(auto low latency mode), although in the game mode the input lag is a rather slow 53ms, and due to the HDMI 2.0 inputs the frame rate is capped at 4K/60Hz and there’s noVRR. However, the motion handling is excellent, resulting in smooth game play that also benefits from immersive big screen images that are bright, detailed and colourful.
There’s a host of other features including Samsung’s Game Hub for gaming without a console, plus a Game Bar that curates all the main settings and technical data in one place, and provides access to gaming related settings for a more personalised gaming experience. Finally the AI Auto Game Mode allows the projector to automatically optimise settings for specific gaming genres.
The Premiere 9 capably blurs the lines between projector and TV with the exception of not having built-in terrestrial and satellite tuners. While you can use the TV catch-up apps to enjoy most shows, if you really want to watch live linear broadcasts from the more obscure channels you’ll need aset-top boxof some kind.
Performance
The Samsung Premiere 9 delivers impressive images with both SDR and HDR content. The use of a single DLP chipset ensures crisp, sharply defined definition with no alignment issues, while the use of lasers should minimise possible rainbow artefacts, it can’t be guaranteed. The accuracy is also excellent, especially inFilmmaker mode, which is my preferred choice of picture preset.
At 3,450 ISO lumens this is a seriously bright ultra short-throw projector, so you don’t need to pull the curtains when watching the big match. However I would make the room darker when watching movies, especially HDR where you want to get the full impact. The tone mapping is excellent, ensuring the shadows retain detail, while the bright specular highlights don’t lose detail due to clipping.
The blacks are pretty standard for a DLP projector, more of a dark grey really, and I actually measured it at 1,700:1. The dynamic contrast ratio is a claimed 2,000,000:1, but this is basically achieved by turning the lasers off on a black screen, so it doesn’t really reflect real world content. There’s also a Real Depth Contrast Enhancer for added depth and punch.
The triple-laser light source isn’t just bright, it generates a much wider colour gamut that not only covers 100% of the DCI-P3 standard used for HDR, but also 92% of the even larger BT.2020 standard – meaning the Premiere 9 enjoys a degree of future proofing. It also means that when watching HDR the colours really pop thanks to richly saturated and nuanced shades.
As you’d expect from a DLP beamer motion handling is superb, with the lightning fast response times of the technology delivering smooth movement. Samsung includes its Motion Xcelerator technology, along with a film mode to ensure that film-based content looks natural but is also free of judder, while fast-paced sports can enjoy smoother motion without introducing artefacts.
The Premiere 9 is a capable performer with SDR, producing sharply delineated images, well-defined dynamic range, and very accurate colour reproduction. The HDR picture is an obvious step-up, with content graded in HDR10 enjoying punchy highlights, better defined shadows, and vibrant but natural-looking colours that give images a realistic sheen that often bursts off the screen.
The Premiere 9 certainly has sufficient brightness to project up to 130 inches without any difficulties, and the result is an incredibly immersive big screen experience. WatchingFuriosaon4K Blu-ray, the colours of the desert really pop, and there’s an almost three-dimensional aspect to the image, with plenty of depth in the frame as the camera weaves through the vehicular mayhem.
The Batmanis a dark film that reveals the Premiere 9’s one major weakness – black levels. To be fair this is simply a limitation of DLP, but it does mean the Gotham nights aren’t quite as inky as they should be. However the tone mapping brings out details in the shadows, and the frenetic action demonstrates one of DLP’s other strengths, which is very smooth motion handling.
Finally,1917allows the Premiere 9 to bring all of imaging prowess together, from the sharply detailed picture to the natural and realistic colours of the Filmmaker mode. The HDR10+ provides additional metadata for the tone mapping, ensuring the projector gets the most out of the content with dark scenes free of crush, and bright scenes that avoid clipping in the highlights.
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Should you buy it?
You want bright and vibrant HDR
The Premiere 9 is among the few projectors to use a triple laser (red, green and blue) light source, which allows it to deliver super-bright images and an incredibly wide colour gamut. Combine this with accurate tone mapping and you have seriously punchy HDR.
You want to game at higher frame rates
The Premiere 9 can handle 4K/60Hz but due to its HDMI 2.0 inputs it can’t deal with higher frame rates up to 120Hz, nor does it support VRR. The input lag is also a bit high at 53ms, even in game mode, so it’s not the ideal beamer for demanding gamers.
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Premiere 9 delivers crisp and detailed 4K images, with excellent accuracy in both SDR and HDR. In the case of the latter it’s not only very bright but also delivers saturated colours, and when combined with effective tone mapping the result is a vibrant HDR experience.
It also sounds as good as it looks thanks to an immersive audio system with Dolby Atmos. There’s great connectivity, it’s easy to setup, the smart platform is comprehensive, and there’s also extensive gaming features. Aside from the lack of a tuner the Premiere 9 makes for a genuine alternative to a large screen TV that’s not only more practical, but probably a lot cheaper.
How we test
We test every projector we review thoroughly over an extended period of time.
We usePortrait Displays Calman colour calibration softwareand industry standards to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
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Tested across several weeks
Tested with real world use
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FAQs
Much like Samsung’s TVs, there’s no support for Dolby Vision with the Premiere 9.
Full specs
Steve Withers is a professional calibrator and freelance journalist who regularly contributes to Trusted Reviews, reviewing audio and video products, and writing articles. Steve has been writing about…
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
