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Hey it's Stacey with HDTV News. Here we have Samsung's 55-inch F8000 LED Smart TV.
This comes from Samsung's latest 2013 flagship smart TV series.
Although we will be reviewing the 55-inch model, this TV also is available 46, 60, 65,
and 75-inch versions.
It has an extremely thin bezel, and near borderless design, and features a quad core processor
running Samsung's latest 2013 Smart TV platform with voice and gesture control.
Along with a very thin bezel of just 5mm, the F8000 is wrapped with a single piece of
metal which runs all the way around edge of the TV, giving it that highend look you would
expect from Samsung's flagship series.
It also features a "Clean Back" design, where Samsung has gone as far as to cleanly finish
the back of the TV, rather than leaving it looking rather industrial, like the rest of
their lineup.
All of the F8000's ports are hidden away behind a neat magnetic cover. There are 4 HDMI ports,
three USB ports, along with legacy inputs, and an Evolution kit port for upgrading the
Smart TV's features in the future.
There are also dual tuners for both terrestrial and satellite signals. You can also connect
a USB memory stick to the TV, and use it as a fully capable DVR.
Samsung has improved the camera integration from last years models. You can now popup
and hide the camera away with a single press. This is great for anyone who might have privacy
concerns. You can also change the angle of the camera by moving a toggle at the back.
The camera is used for apps such as Skype, workout programmes, and also for gesture control.
The F8000 makes use of an attractive new Arc stand design, which unlike last years version
is solid metal, and has a stylish chrome finish. This means you can barely notice the stand
when watching the TV. The only negative is that obviously it doesn't swivel.
The 1080p LCD screen is LED edge lit, and is the only model to feature Cinema black,
a feature which can dim the brightness of the LEDs at the top and bottom of the screen
for deeper black bars on super widescreen movies.
It comes with active shutter glasses and two remote controls. A standard one, and a "Smart"
one with a touch pad for easy navigation of the smart hub, and a microphone for voice
control.
It also features an IR blaster, which allows you to control other devices which can be
hidden away.
The Smart features of the F8000 are by far the best we have seen on any Smart TV, and
much improved over the already impressive 2012 version. It's nice and fast to use thanks
to it's powerful quad core processor, and has a vast selections of apps.
Voice and gesture control worked very well, but the gesture control sometimes struggled
in some lighting conditions.
There are also a number of free games which you can play using gesture control.
We were very impressed with the image quality and performance of the F8000 series.
The colours were very bright, rich and natural, with very good contrast, no doubt thanks to
its Micro Dimming Ultimate feature, which is exclusive to the F8000 series.
It also came very well calibrated out of the box, with very few adjustments needed. There
was very little to no light leakage around the edges of the screen, and much improved
over last years models.
Its 3D mode worked very well, producing a clear image with impressive depth. We were
With Samsung's highest Clear Motion rate of 1200, the images were always sharp and maintained
its image resolution during fast moving scenes. We didn't notice any annoying "Soap Opera"
effects during movies, but it can easily be disabled if desired.
If you're thinking of using the Samsung F8000 series for gaming, then you're in luck, as
it features a dedicated gaming mode, that once enabled reduces the lag down to just
42ms.
We were also impressed with the audio performance of the F8000 series, and found it to have
more punch than most of the recent super slim HDTVs, thanks to its stereo speakers and twin
subs.
The settings menu is very easy to understand and use, and also provides powerful customizations.
Over all we were very impressed with the Samsung F8000 series, and have awarded it 5 out of
5 stars.
Please make sure to click the link below to read the full written review, and please be
sure to subscribe!