Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Some Samsung smart TVs won’t be compatible with Netflix starting in December

Allison Matyus
By

Netflix subscribers with certain Samsung smart TVs won’t be able to watch their favorite binge-worthy shows on the streaming service beginning December 1. 

Samsung attributed the removal of Netflix from specific devices to “technical limitations.” Older Samsung smart TVs will no longer have the ability to connect to Netflix’s latest updates and features. 

Recommended Videos

“In the future, Netflix can be viewed from many other devices capable of connecting to your TV,” Samsung said in its announcement. 

Related

Digital Trends reached out to Samsung for further comment, as well as to specify what exact Samsung TV models will be affected by the change, but we haven’t heard back from them yet.

But even if you do have one of the Samsung smart TVs that isn’t capable of streaming Netflix, you’ll still be able to watch the streaming service via game consoles, media players, or streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV and Roku. 

However, if you do have a Roku device, specifically an older generation model, you’ll also lose your ability to access Netflix next month. 

A Roku spokesperson previously told Digital Trends, “Due to technical limitations, Netflix will no longer be available on select older Roku players after December 1, 2019. These devices include models Roku 2050X, Roku 2100X, Roku 2000C, Roku HD Player, Roku SD Player, Roku XR Player, Roku XD Player.” 

Those who have the affected Samsung TVs or Roku devices will receive a message before December 1 notifying them of the change. You can also check to see if your device is compatible through Netflix’s list of supported devices. 

With the streaming service market getting more crowded than ever, additions like Apple TV+ and Disney+ might have the same effects on more smart TV devices in the future. The benefits of streaming services have always been the ability to watch them whenever, wherever, and with whatever — unlike DVD or Blu-ray players — but Roku and Samsung’s cases are proving to cause a shift in the flexibility of streaming services.

We reached out to Netflix to comment on if other smart TV users can expect these kind of limitations in the future, and we’ll update this story once we hear back. 

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Allison Matyus
Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
Netflix’s ad tier won’t let you download content for offline viewing
The Netflix logo is displayed on a TV screen while red lights illuminate the wall behind.

Netflix’s ad-supported tier is likely to land early next year, and snippets of information about the offering are continuing to drop.

The latest is that subscribers to Netflix’s ad tier will not be able to download content to their devices for offline viewing, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday, August 17.

Read more
Netflix said to be considering ads by end of 2022
netflix composite

Ads are coming to Netflix, and it's possible they'll be here sooner than first thought. Per a report from The New York Times, Netflix executives reportedly have told employees that an ad-supported tier of the streaming service is being planned for a rollout sometime in the last three months of 2022. That’s a lot quicker than what investors were told in the company's earnings call on April 19.

Netflix co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings told investors that the company would take the “next year or two” to figure out the possibility of ads on Netflix. The other Netflix executives during the company’s recent earnings calls also didn’t rule out the possibility of an ad-supported tier, but there was no hint that the dramatic business shift could happen as early as this year.

Read more
What is a smart TV? Everything you need to know
vizio 65inch oled 4ktv deal best buy december 2020 tv 768x768

Smart TVs are everywhere. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a TV on a store shelf these days that doesn't do clever things like play movies and TV shows from the latest streaming services while you ask it to do so with (gasp!) your voice through an intelligent voice assistant. Widgets and apps open up possibilities like gaming, weather, video calling, and smart home features that would make your old TV fear for the curb. 

But what makes a TV smart, and why should you care? Is it as simple as an internet connection and an operating system? If it's just a more direct route to streamers like Netflix and Disney+, then is that better or worse than my trusty Apple TV or Roku set-top box? Who makes smart TVs, and does it matter which I choose? We decided to weigh in on the matter.

Read more