Samsung Curved LED HD TV

Meet the Samsung UE65H8000 LED HD TV, one of Samsung's latest monstrous television sets that measures up at a huge 65-inches and also boasts an unusual curved display - something Michael Bay struggled to comment on when he fumbled away on stage at this year's CES. Samsung is promising top notch image quality, extra immersion thanks to the curve and plenty of bang for your wallet-crunching buck. At £2,799, it's an expensive set - but with 4K on the rise, is it worth splashing the cash on Samsung's huge set or waiting it out for ultra high definition to become standard? We took one for a spin to find out.

The good

Samsung's latest UE65H8000 is a monster of a TV, and that's not just because of its 65-inch screen size. It's also a curved beast, which takes a little bit more space than your typical flat telly, but we're not totally convinced by the usefulness of having a curved screen. Imagine having a bunch of friends around to watch a movie on the screen, each of them dotted around the room, looking at the TV at different angles - that will diminish the viewing experience that Samsung's trying to create with the curve, which is best viewed straight ahead. It definitely looks the business though, and is sure to be conversation starter when you have company around.

The image quality itself though is brilliant. Samsung has stuffed in a full HD LCD panel backlit by edge LEDs, and while we wish it was a 4K display, it still looks brilliant at 1080p. Black levels are deep, it’s punchy in the fine details and the colours are bright and on-point. The result looks like a much more mature and sophisticated display from Samsung than you'd find on its overly saturated smartphone screens, and the LCD can compare to the rich deeps of plasma too. There's still a few years to go before 4K becomes the next big standard, and while we wait for the rest of the tech industry to play catch up, it's not a total deal breaker. Happily, the set sounds great too, and even though it's a thin design, its speakers are still capable of providing top-notch sound. There are downward firing speakers packed in which are helped out by a subwoofer, and they'll do the job until you'll want to spring for something punchier.

Blasting through the TV's option menus are a breeze all thanks to its peppy speed. We've played with televisions before that are woefully slow to adjust even the volume, let alone smart TV features, but Samsung's UE65H8000 is a speed machine, letting us adjust plenty of settings with just a few taps. There are plenty of features loaded in too, all courtesy of Samsung's Smart Hub, which is jam-packed full of apps and a few games that could make your Roku box jealous, including the likes of a web browser, Demand 5, Plex, YouTube and 4oD. 3D playback is also included, and there are a couple of specs in the box to let you enjoy 3D - it's a nice feature to have, but not one we're too fussed with. You'll also find connections aplenty, thanks to four HDMI inputs, three USB, and wired and wireless internet connections.

The bad

Samsung's 65-inch wonder is a top-notch set, but we have a few minor problems with it. For starters, we found a little bit of lag in the default viewing options when playing games, but it's not a total deal breaker for the untrained eye. Samsung has included a Game mode to switch to when you’re playing your favourite titles, but the lag is still noticeable. You'll find two different remotes in the box: one is a traditional wand-style remote, while the other looks like a space-age phone with fewer buttons and more gimmicks. It offers fewer options, while giving you touch and gesture based controls, but we felt it was an unnecessary addition and may just end up confusing you if you're looking for a specific button.

Once we set up the TV, we found we couldn't swivel it around as the base locks the TV into a single position, and we were also alarmed at how much the TV itself wobbles too. It gave us the impression that it's a fragile piece of kit, and not something you'd want to move around a lot.

The bottom line

The Samsung UE65H8000 is a gorgeous television set that will no doubt look the business in your living room and is jam-packed full of top-notch features that work a treat. We're not totally convinced by the curved screen, and at its £2,799 price point we'd have expected to see 4K to future proof you for the next few years, but it's still a brilliant set. Samsung's latest TV represents the bleeding edge for full HD sets, and it'd be a stretch to find much better.

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