Samsung F8000 Smart LED TV review

For this review we tested the 55in model of the Samsung F8000 Smart LED TV (UE55F8000), but it’s also available in 40in (UE40F8000) and 46in (UE46F8000) sizes here in the UK. 60in (UE60F8000) and 75in (UE75F8000) models are available in other regions, but aren’t yet confirmed as coming to the UK. As each model has identical specifications, excluding dimensions and power usage, we’re confident that image quality will be practically identical across the range.

If January’s CES show taught us anything, it’s that 2013 will be the year of the smart TV. The Samsung F8000 Smart LED TV is the company’s flagship Full HD model and one of the first released, with more features squeezed inside than ever before – including a redesigned interface that puts catch-up services, on-demand movies and web shortcuts on the same screen as your broadcast TV.

This in-depth review covers all the features you’ll find in the UE55F8000, but if you just want to know what we thought about picture quality, be sure to check out page four.

SAMSUNG F8000 SMART TV FEATURES
When you turn on the set, the first thing you see is the new five-screen Smart Hub interface. It has a large, icon-based layout that’s easy to navigate, with plenty of information in easy reach thanks to the redesigned touchpad remote control. The main screen displays the currently playing TV channel, along with upcoming shows and recommended programs based on what you regularly watch. Samsung’s S-Recommend algorithms work quickly to discover your viewing habits, and after a week’s worth of viewing should have built up a fairly accurate idea of what you like to watch.

The TV screen is the first thing you see by default, but you can set another if you prefer

The Movies & TV Shows tab combines all the installed on-demand video services in one place, letting you search by film title, genre or actors. AceTrax, PictureBox and Samsung’s own Video Hub are all included, with subscription-based services LoveFilm and NetFlix built into the set as well.

There’s a wide selection of films, from several different content providers

The Friends tab collects recommendations from your Twitter and Facebook friends, letting you jump straight into YouTube videos or view pictures right on the TV. It also stores your Skype contacts, so you can use the the pop-up webcam to make video calls while sat on your sofa. It uses a higher resolution sensor than last year’s model, and adjusts gamma dynamically based on ambient light in the room. This means you can always be seen by the person you’re talking to, even when there’s no light in the room. We extinguished the lights in our test room and could still see ourselves.

You can pop the integrated Skype camera down if you don’t like the idea of it watching you

The Multimedia tab lets you play any files stored on a USB stick or networked PC. We played all our video files, including native DivX, MOV and MKV, meaning you should be able to play just about anything without having to re-encode your footage.

The multimedia screen fills up depending on what PCs or hard disks are connected to your wireless network

Finally, the Apps tab contains miscellaneous apps, including catch-up TV. Samsung’s 2013 TV range is the first we’ve seen to come with ITV player, the catch-up service for the UK’s third TV channel. It also has BBC iPlayer preinstalled, with promises of 4oD and Demand 5 coming in the summer. There’s also a web browser, Spotify music streaming, Facebook and Twitter clients and a store from which you can download more. With so many on-demand, catch-up services and apps, you’ll never be stuck for something to do or watch.

The traditional app screen is still there for anyone that prefers to keep everything in one place

SAMSUNG F8000 VOICE AND MOTION CONTROL

To make the most of all these features, the F8000 comes with a redesigned remote control that replaces the traditional directional controls with a touchpad. This makes it much easier to swipe between screens and apps, and move the mouse when using the web browser. It also has an integrated microphone that lets you make the most of the improved voice recognition features.

The redesigned remote control is simple enough to use, but you can still use the traditional one if you prefer

Last year’s TVs were only capable of understanding basic commands, but the F8000 now recognises more natural language. If you want to see all films available to stream starring Matt Damon, for example, you only have to hold down the voice button and talk into the microphone. It’s much quicker and surprisingly accurate, even when spoken by someone with a regional accent, but the TV must be connected to the internet in order for it to work.

It also has motion control, with improved detection that can pick up both hands simultaneously. This means you can rotate or zoom digital photos using gestures, but it still feels like a novelty rather than something we’d use on a regular basis.

With high-definition icons, sharp text and a superbly responsive interface, we’re in little doubt that this is the best version of Samsung Smart TV we’ve ever seen. We’ll have to wait until other manufacturers launch their 2013 sets to know which is best, but this is sure to be one of the main contenders.

SAMSUNG F8000 CONNECTIVITY

The F8000 is equally pretty when switched off. The set has an incredibly slim stand that’s finished in silver. The stand’s curved design arcs backwards, which gives you the impression the screen is floating above it.

The F8000 has all the connections you’d want, including four HDMI inputs, component and composite video via adaptors, twin satellite and Freeview HD inputs, digital optical and 3.5mm audio outputs, three USB ports, an Ethernet port, integrated Wi-Fi and a Common Interface slot. There’s also an IR blaster output and a hole for the Samsung Evolution Kit upgrade, which will let you upgrade your TV in years to come, so you can keep up with the latest features.

All the ports are contained in one corner, which should help tame unruly cables

If you have an external hard disk, you can turn the TV into a simple PVR. We used a USB3 2.5in portable drive, which could draw power directly from the USB port without requiring an external power supply. Once formatted, you’ll be able to pause live TV, schedule recordings and rewind live TV, which is handy if you need to take a call in the middle of your favourite TV programme.

SAMSUNG SMARTVIEW APP

The F8000 has plenty of smartphone-friendly features too. As well as having an MHL-compatible HDMI input, which will let you display the contents of your mobile device on the TV over HDMI, the F8000’s Wi-Fi Direct connection and AllShare Cast let you mirror your smartphone straight to the TV without any cables. The Samsung SmartView app can also turn your phone into a second virtual remote control, or a controller for games you’ve downloaded from the Smart TV App marketplace.

The game controller screen lets you play Smart TV games with your phone

However, SmartView’s defining feature is the ability to turn your smartphone into a second screen using Miracast. When your phone and the F8000 are connected to the same Wireless access point, you can view the same channel on both screens or watch two different programs using the twin tuners. Ideal if you want to watch the football, while others enjoy a drama.

The default SmartView screen lets you control the channel and volume on both the TV and your phone

It also works with any source going into the TV, regardless of copy protection (HDCP), which means you can use it to remotely watch the HDMI input from a set-top box, Blu-ray player or games console. Unfortunately the significant display lag makes it unsuitable for playing games, but we managed to watch a Blu-ray disc smoothly over Wi-Fi. SmartView is free to download from the Google Play store, but only for Samsung smartphones. We were able to throw content from other Android smartphones to the TV, but if you want to watch two channels at once you’ll need a Samsung Galaxy smartphone or tablet.

SmartView even works with HDCP protected content, such as the PS3

SAMSUNG F8000 PICTURE QUALITY (2D)

Once we’d finished playing with the F8000’s gadgets, we turned our attention to picture quality. The 55in model we were sent for review has pretty much every image-enhancing feature you’ll find from a Samsung TV in 2013, but you may not need to make any adjustments as the F8000 produced fantastic looking images from the start.

Standard definition television never looks good stretched across such a big screen, but the F8000 does a great job at scaling and deinterlacing to make the best of a bad situation. Freeview HD fared far better, with sharp images that looked clean and crisp, without any serious block noise.

Despite stretching across a 55in panel, the backlight was superbly uniform with no obvious signs of light bleed at the edges. Samsung’s new Cinema Black mode even disables the upper and lower backlight segments when watching 2.35:1 Blu-rays, completely eliminating any light from the black bars that appear above and below the video. It’s not automatic, so you’ll have to disable it when returning to full-screen sources, but it does a fantastic job when watching dark Blu-ray movies. Shadow detail, contrast and black levels were excellent when we used the Movie preset.

Samsung’s picture options are spread across three main menu screens – here’s where you’ll find the Motion Plus controls

For an LCD TV, the F8000 coped impeccably with motion, even before we’d enabled Samsung’s Motion Plus frame creation system. The only exception was 24p Blu-ray content, which experienced some slight judder, but turning Motion Plus to its lowest setting eliminated it without introducing unrealistic image smoothing or motion artefacts.

There was still room for a little improvement, so we used the Picture menu to make some fine adjustments to the (admittedly very accurate) Movie preset. As well as brightness, colour, contrast, sharpness, backlight and tint control, the Advanced menu contains gamma and 2-point or 10-point white balance controls. It also has colour space options, inside which is hidden a full colour management system (CMS) with control over hue, luminance and saturation of RGB and CMY. Once we’d made some changes using the 2-point white balance controls and CMS, we came away very impressed with the set’s reference-grade picture.

SAMSUNG F8000 3D QUALITY

The F8000 continued to impress us with its 3D performance. Samsung has been working hard to eliminate crosstalk and has, for the most part, succeeded. We could still spot the effect every now and then when watching side-by-side broadcast content, but struggled to see it at all when watching 3D blu-ray discs. There’s a real sense of depth to 3D films, aided by the TV’s ultra-slim bezel, with bright colours and no visible judder or light flicker. There does appear to be some slight frame interpolation happening in the background, but it’s slight and didn’t affect our watching.

Samsung’s 3D glasses are incredibly light and comfortable to wear

Two pairs of 3D glasses are included with the set, which have received a slight redesign from last year. They’re among the lightest and most comfortable pairs of active glasses we’ve used, with only a light tint that largely avoids having a detrimental effect on colour accuracy. They use replaceable batteries and can be bought separately if more than two people want to watch 3D video at once (SSG-4100GB/XC, £18 from www.amazon.co.uk).

SAMSUNG F8000 SOUND QUALITY

Picture quality might be improving year on year, but as TVs get thinner sound quality inevitably suffers. Samsung has made an effort to negate this change with the F8000, by extending the bottom rear of the TV slightly to make room for larger speakers than on last year’s model. Instead of two 10w speakers, the F8000 now has four, comprised of two main drivers and two subwoofers. They help create a wider sense of stereo separation, particularly in the 55in model we reviewed, and do a reasonable job at producing clear dialogue, a low distortion high end and some semblance of bass, although true home cinema fans will still benefit from a good set of speakers.

SAMSUNG F8000 VERDICT

There’s little doubt that Samsung has thrown everything except the kitchen sink at the Samsung F8000 Smart LED TV. It is state of the art in terms of features and it looks cutting-edge too. Picture quality is outstanding for an LCD TV, with accurate colours, sharp images and deep blacks that are verging on those we expect from plasma panels. At £2,500, it’s certainly expensive, and as it’s the first 2013 model we’ve received we have no idea what to expect in terms of quality from other manufacturers, but if you want the best TV, there’s currently little doubt that the Samsung F8000 is it.

For a more in-depth look at Samsung’s 2013 TV user interface and menu system, be sure to click through to our comprehensive image gallery