Samsung UE46ES6800U Pro Reviews

We had mixed feelings about the silver/black design of the Samsung ES6800 but here's not doubting its totally contemporary although we'd actually prefer it to be in one camp, rather than two. The remote control is unusual for Samsung, and rather swish but, again, we're in two minds and we like to be able to feel our way around a controller but the provision of a backlight goes some way to mitigating this lack of tactility. Connections are more than adequate, save for the lack of a fourth HDMI port; we'll never turn our noses up a built in WiFi, however Menus are nearly as comprehensive as the feature-set but we were slightly dismayed that the 10 point white balance controls didn't quite function 100% as we'd like. That's not to say we couldn't achieve an excellent calibration but it left us with that nagging feeling we could have done better. Once calibration was complete, the sense of accuracy was palpable and a far cry from the over-lit and excessively blue tinted pictures out of the box, Standard mode provides.

The Samsung UE46ES6800 is a decent enough alternative for those who can’t stretch their budget to the ES7000 or ES8000 series, even though its HD picture quality – particularly from the inbuilt Freeview and Freesat tuners – is a touch off compared to its higher-end siblings. What prompted us to qualify our recommendation was the backlight uniformity issues found on our review sample: if you’re able to obtain a clouding-free set, or are going to use the TV mainly in a brighter room during the day, then the ES6800 is worth your consideration.

A step down from the peak reference level sets in may be, but this gorgeous, feature-packed Samsung Edge LED TV is steeped in value. Smart Hub sees some great new apps and helps integrate disparate functions, but it can feel cluttered. After some tweaks live TV gets treated well, as does 2D and 3D Blu-ray discs.