Samsung UE55D8000 review

The super-stylish Samsung UE55D8000 is a clever feat of engineering Tested at £2500

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

Not quite the state of the art, but a feat of engineering nonetheless

Pros

  • +

    Slim and desirable

  • +

    lengthy specification

  • +

    punchy, vibrant pictures from all sources

Cons

  • -

    Never gets fully to grips with motion

  • -

    mediocre sound

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.

In purely aesthetic terms, the Samsung UE55D8000 takes some beating. Forget, briefly, its full-fat specification (Freeview HD and Freesat tuners, 3D with glasses included, Smart TV online functionality, Skype) and just look at it.

Somehow Samsung has squeezed LED backlighting behind a bezel less than 5mm deep, and this on a screen of less than 3cm depth. It’s proportioned like a gigantic credit card.

High-def satellite TV pictures are vibrant, with decent detail levels, natural skin-tones and convincing contrasts. Switch to some upscaled DVD content and the news is similar, any slight softness mitigated by smooth edges and nice black-tone detail.

Fanatical detail levels
Displaying a (2D) Blu-ray of Hereafter, the Samsung steps up its detail retrieval
to fanatical levels, gives punchy contrasts with clean, bright white tones and describes textures well.

And in 3D (improved in terms of crosstalk and stability over Samsung’s 2010 offerings) it’s impressively immersive, delivering ample depth of field and proving solid even off-axis.

Motion is vexatious from any source though, each of the D8000’s settings establishing its own particular shortcoming even as it clears up that of the previous preset. And sound, unsurprisingly given the cabinet dimensions, is on the weedy side.

But there’s no doubt that this is an attractive large TV, and for some folk that
will be more than enough.

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What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.

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