What Hi-Fi? Verdict
Big-screen thrills on a budget – the very definition of a supermarket special
Pros
- +
Big and cheap
- +
Lots of connections
- +
Impressive picture performance
- +
Decent sound
Cons
- -
No HD tuner or smart TV functions
Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.
NB: There are several versions of this TV with very similar model numbers on the Sainsbury's website. We tested the LCD (not LED) version of the 40S913FHD.
It would be easy to dismiss a large supermarket TV at a bargain price as a second-rate option. But in the case of this Celcus from Sainsbury’s, that would be a mistake.
Why? Because in the case of the Celcus LCD40S913FHD, you get an awful lot of TV for your cash. At just over 20cm deep, the chassis is no CRT but it’s a bigger chunk of telly than we’re used to. At 15kg, it’s a good 50 per cent heavier than the average 40in.
The Celcus' menu has big, clear icons and responsive controls. There isn’t a huge selection of features to get through so a few tweaks of the picture via the THX Optimizer disc and we’re away.
Celcus LCD40S913FHD review: Performance
The standard-definition tuner gets us off to a solid start. There’s some blocking, especially on lower-quality channels, but colours are balanced and contrast levels are decent with clean whites and solid black levels.
Play a DVD or Blu-ray and results are arguably more impressive. Let your player do the upscaling and then you can enjoy good pictures, with which it’s simply hard to find too much by way of obvious fault. Even the speakers, given a larger chassis to work with, sound fine.
Comparative testing finds our eyes drawn to the bigger screen: it’s a solid all-rounder with smooth motion, good colours, decent contrast and a level of insight with which we wouldn’t grumble for this sort of money.
A £250 40in TV doesn’t need to set the world alight to be something of a steal, and that’s just what we have here.
