Samsung The Terrace QN65LST9DAFXZA 65"

The Samsung Terrace 65" is the best full sun outdoor TV you can buy, with stunning anti glare brightness, surprisingly great audio, and full gaming chops. But with prices bouncing between $4,135 and $11,918, it's a serious investment. It's heavy, the smart interface feels dated, and the protective coating needs babying. If your heart is set on a permanent outdoor cinema that can handle direct sun, this is the one, otherwise cheaper options exist.

The picture on The Terrace is a specific kind of excellent: it's engineered to look brilliant in environments that would wash out any normal display. Our display benchmarking puts it in the 85th percentile overall, with picture quality landing well above average. The 100% color volume via quantum dots and the Mini LED dimming zones keep colors vivid and blacks deep enough to avoid that milky gray look outdoor TVs often suffer from. Motion Xcelerator and the NQ4 AI Gen2 processor handle fast sports and gaming smoothly, and 4K AI upscaling means your old 1080p streaming content gets a respectable polish.

Gaming is a pleasant surprise. With HDMI 2.1, 120Hz, VRR, and ALLM, you can hook up a PS5 or Xbox and get solid, low-lag performance in the backyard. Our gaming metrics put it in the 75th percentile, which is strong for an outdoor focused set. The only real performance sore spot is the smart platform itself. Tizen is functional but feels a generation behind the snappier interfaces from LG or Roku, and our smart TV benchmarks place it right around average, the 60th percentile. It's not disastrous, but for this kind of money you'd expect a zippier UI.

Stacked against the typical indoor competitors, The Terrace is a different animal. Take the Sony BRAVIA 5 K55XR50 or the TCL QM8K Series 75QM8K. Both deliver fantastic 4K HDR and better smart platforms for far less money, but neither would survive a rainstorm or direct sun glare for more than a few minutes. The Terrace's IP56 rating and anti reflection panel are what you're really buying. In a screened in, shaded porch scenario, an indoor QLED with an outdoor cover might get you 80% of the experience at a third of the cost, but the moment sunlight hits that screen, the difference becomes night and day.

Against other outdoor specific TVs, the Terrace Full Sun model stands out for its audio chops and gaming features. SunBrite's lineup has a similar ruggedness but often lacks the mini LED contrast or the 120Hz VRR support. The Terrace also has the advantage of Samsung's broader smart ecosystem, even if Tizen itself isn't the fastest. But if you're just looking for a casual outdoor screen to watch the news or occasional sports, a smaller, far cheaper Roku Plus Series with a weatherproof enclosure might be the more sensible, if less glamorous, path.

There's no sugarcoating it: The Terrace is expensive, and the spread in pricing across vendors is wild. We saw listings from $4,135 up to $11,918, a difference that could buy you a very nice indoor OLED. Refurbished units occasionally pop up at the lower end of that range and are worth a look if you're trying to save some cash. For the best new pricing, smaller specialty retailers sometimes undercut the big box stores, so it pays to call around rather than just clicking the first link.

Compared to standard indoor 65 inch QLEDs, which often go for well under $2,000, you're paying a massive premium for the weatherproofing and anti glare tech. But if you're in the market for a true outdoor television that can handle full sun, there aren't many direct alternatives. SunBrite's Veranda 2 series is one, and it also commands a high price. The value proposition hinges entirely on whether you'll actually use it outdoors in bright conditions. If the answer is yes, this set earns its keep. If it's going under a covered porch where a cheaper weather resistant TV would do, the Terrace is overkill.

Samsung built The Terrace for one specific person: someone who wants a real home theater experience on a sunny patio, not a dim, washed-out compromise. This 65-inch QLED isn't just a TV with a weather resistant coat of paint, it's a full sun outdoor display with an IP56 rating against dust and water, a specialized anti reflection panel, and enough Mini LED backlight muscle to punch through direct sunlight. If you've ever squinted at an outdoor screen during a barbecue and wondered why it can't look as good as your living room set, this is the answer.

Under the hood it's a proper 4K smart TV with all the trimmings: 120Hz refresh, VRR, ALLM, HDMI 2.1, Dolby Atmos sound, and Samsung's Neo Quantum HDR+ processing. The 40W four channel audio setup is a standout, actually landing in the 91st percentile across our entire TV database, so you might skip the outdoor soundbar. But the real magic is how it handles glare. The anti reflection coating combined with high brightness and Mini LED local dimming keeps the picture contrasty and colorful even when the sun is directly overhead.

Now, all that outdoor engineering comes at a cost, and the price tag is all over the place depending on where you look, from $4,135 to nearly $12,000. It's heavy too, tipping the scales at 85 pounds without the stand. The Terrace isn't for everyone, but if you're committed to a permanent outdoor theater and you don't want to drag a TV in and out of the garage every time, it's in a class of its own.

Budget conscious shoppers should look the other way without a second thought. You can build a nice shade structure and buy a top tier indoor 65 inch for less than half the entry price of The Terrace. If your outdoor space is fully covered, screened in, or only used after dark, the anti glare and full sun engineering are wasted on you, grab a TCL QM8K and a decent cover instead. Hardcore cinephiles who swear by Dolby Vision will also want to pass, as HDR10+ alone doesn't offer the same dynamic metadata perk on certain streaming services. And if you need something you can move around the yard or take camping, the portable score is abysmal, look at smaller, battery powered outdoor projectors instead.

For the diehard outdoor entertainer who wants a permanent, gorgeous screen that laughs at sunlight, The Terrace 65" is the top pick. It pulls off the rare trick of being both rugged and reference quality, and the built in audio is good enough to skip an outdoor sound system if you're not trying to rattle the neighbors. Sports fans will love the motion handling and brightness, and gamers get a legitimate 120Hz VRR experience under the sky.

But if your outdoor TV dreams are more modest, there are smarter ways to spend your money. A well placed indoor set on a rolling stand that you bring out only on movie nights, or a midrange weatherproof TV under a covered space, will leave thousands in your pocket for patio furniture and a good grill. The Terrace is for the no compromises crowd who want the backyard to feel like a high end lounge, not a compromise. If that's you, just be prepared to shop around for the best price and call in a pro for the mount.