Samsung Series 8 UA55D8000 - Not Worth It

Samsung’s new Series 8 range of LED-backlit, LCD TVs are finally here. Now, the Series 8 line from Samsung isn’t designed for every day users, but specifically for those who are looking for the ultimate TV they can get their hands on. The new UA55D8000 is a TV complete with everything from 3D to smart TV features bundled in a very pretty package. With every brand out there to prove that they’re the best, the new UA55D8000 has to show that it has the mettle to stand amongst best.

Design and Build Quality
The first thing that strikes you about the UA55D8000 is its size and how slim it really is. The thickness of the screen is as thin as it gets, but the more impressive bit is the bezel surrounding the display. The chrome bezel is just more than a centimeter in thickness and it adds to the elegant design of the entire package. It’s so slim that Samsung had to add a small section to the bezel to include their branding. Even the LED indicator on the display is tiny. The controls for the TV aren’t positioned at the front, it’s placed along the sides and Samsung has used touch sensitive buttons instead of the standard physical buttons.

Slim and sleek design

The stand is sturdy but takes up quite some space. If you buy this TV, you should ideally wallmount it instead of using the stand. Either way, the stand’s design goes well with the delicate look of the TV. The remote control is very chunky and has large buttons and is comfortable to hold in the hand and easy to use, as well. The bundled glasses are less bulkier, but sturdier than the usual set of 3D glasses that you get in the theatres.

Features
The UA55D8000 is a 55-inch LED-backlit LCD panel that supports the standard HD resolution of 1920 x 1080. In terms of connectivity, its got three USB ports and four HDMI ports on it. The remote control looks like any other remote, but unlike most other remotes, this one is backlit so using it in the dark is a little easier.

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The smart TV component of the TV is really exhaustive. The TV comes with a bunch of preloaded apps and users can choose to install more from the app store. While there are media players today that offer similar widgets and features, one of the things missing is a proper web browser with tabbed browsing. The Samsung UA55D8000 has one, but browsing and making text entries can be a hassle. You are forced to use the remote as a primary input device and with no support for QWERTY, things can get hectic when it comes to entering long URLs. The delay in response also makes things worse.

While all of the features such as Vimeo and Picasa worked flawlessly on the TV, we faced some problems playing Youtube videos on it. There are a whole bunch of games and apps that you can spend hours playing around with. Google Maps for example is pretty functional and easily controlled using the remote. There is also a list of featured content that is displayed in a very interesting manner. The content on it is excellent and so is the quality.

Bezel has a chrome finish and gives it an attractive look

One of the key features of the TV is the 3D capability. Samsung uses active 3D glasses whereas their competition LG, has recently switched to passive 3D glass technology. A pair of glasses are provided free with the TV and they use a cell battery to operate. There is no USB port to charge it, so you’re expected to replace it everytime it drains out. Support for media playback from external sources is present and so is Wi-Fi support.

Gives a detail on various movies

Performance
The Samsung UA55D8000 performs beautifully. Colours on the TV are brilliant and there is no delay or blurring. Colours look oversaturated, but with a little tweaking, you can achieve the desired results. Viewing angles are excellent and there is little sign of darkening or colours going for a toss. We used the TV’s internal video playback feature and faced no issues whatsoever with performance. All the videos played flawlessly including our HD1080 60 fps test clip. There was no problem faced with formats either.

Streaming HD videos over the internet was really good, but the performance depends on the internet speed of the user, too.

Browsing is quick and easy

3D support is one of the key features of this TV. The 2D to 3D conversion isn’t as effective as it was with the LG TV we recently reviewed. The active glasses have some flicker which is bound to irritate some users after a while. The screen also tends to be dimmed down once you wear the glasses. Audio quality was below par, as well. One of the drawbacks of ultra slim TVs is that the speakers on them are of poor quality and same is the case with the Samsung Series 8. Speakers were loud, but not very clear and there was some distortion in the audio.

Has a plethora of input ports

The remote control itself isn’t too great. While the design is intuitive, the remote has to be pointed out accurately for it to work. Even then, there is a slight delay noticed.

Verdict
We were highly impressed by the UA55D8000’s performance across all HD videos that we watched. The smart TV functions were mainly overshadowed by the poor response time from the remote control. Playing games, browsing and using the controls can be really annoying. Having used passive glasses and seen equally impressive 3D immersion, an active pair of glasses with some flicker is also annoying, especially for a TV that’s priced at Rs. 2,49,990. The UA55D8000 is one of the most expensive TVs we’ve reviewed and we’re not very impressed by the 3D performance. But if you keep that aside, the conventional HD content it can churn is an absolute treat to the eyes. The screen area, the uber slim bezel and the smart TV features make it a good TV to buy if budget is no constraint.

Expensive and average