Mô tả sản phẩm: Samsung UNES8000
The Samsung UNES8000 LED TV boasts stunning design and more features than any TV on the market. For that you'll pay dearly, but if you can afford it and want the cutting edge of TV technology in your living room -- pre-OLED , at least -- then stop reading now and buy an ES8000.
But maybe you're wondering about how its picture stacks up against the competition, or about how much further your TV experience will be taken by spending the extra dough. OK, fine, keep reading. The Samsung UNES8000 isn't a bad performer by any means, but it's not much better than many LCDs and plasmas, and worse than you might expect from Samsung's highest-end LED TV. It's also more expensive than just about any TV available today, with the exception of a few models with full-array local dimming. Finally its standout feature, which allows you to control the TV with a wave or a word, just doesn't work all that well . Few TVs can approach the Samsung UNES8000's "wow" factor, but few also come with such significant caveats.
Series information: I performed a hands-on evaluation of the 55-inch Samsung UN55ES8000, but this review also applies to the other screen sizes in the series. All sizes have identical specs and according to the manufacturer should provide very similar picture quality.
| Models in series ( details ) | |
| Samsung UN46ES8000 | 46 inches |
| Samsung UN55ES8000 (reviewed) | 55 inches |
| Samsung UN60ES8000 | 60 inches |
| Samsung UN65ES8000 | 65 inches |
Design
The UNES8000 is one of the most beautiful television designs you can buy, and earns the same 10 in design I awarded the LG LM9600 -- although I do like the LG a bit better.
Samsung's daring U-shaped stand requires a wider tabletop than some of its pedestal-supported competitors, and seems less stable to the eye than Samsung's trademark four-legged spider, but in person it looks great, lending a smooth, organic flow to the sharp rectangular panel while providing plenty of support (but no swivel). I do prefer LG's more compact 2012 stand, though.
As with the UND8000 last year, this flagship Samsung's real design strength takes the form of a vanishingly thin bezel, which makes the TV almost all picture. Both measure a half-inch from the edge of the picture to the edge of the frame. The LG LM9600's frame around the image is similarly thin, and both seem to disappear against pretty much any background. If you're counting, I expect the final designs of LG's and Samsung's OLEDs to both boast thinner bezels still.
The little camera/speakerphone module along the top edge is matched by an illuminated logo bulge along the bottom. Like many Samsung sets, the external controls consist of a hidden joystick on the back panel that works well to access major functions.
Samsung's 2012 TV menus look the same as they did last year and remain among the easiest to use. They're bright opaque blue with rounded edges and good-size text. Each major menu item gets a text explanation, and I noticed really snappy response time despite constant animations.
In addition to a standard clicker, there's another that omits numerous buttons in favor of a touch pad that's supposed to ease navigation of the menus and Smart TV functions, especially the Web browser. It's a great idea in theory, and I loved that its Bluetooth connectivity meant I didn't need a line of sight to the TV.
In practice the touch pad is frustrating to use, alternating between too twitchy and unresponsive. The clicker is denuded of most buttons, relegating the number pad to a kludgy onscreen version and eliminating the Menu key altogether. The lack of buttons also made it necessary to select from annoying onscreen mini menus for functions as basic as Pause, Menu, and Chapter Skip. For using the browser, the pad is better than gesture control, but not by much.
I ended up using the normal remote whenever possible, although it's still not very good. The grid of buttons lacks sufficient differentiation, there are too many promotional keys (such as Family Story and Camera), and the central Smart Hub button is annoyingly just a logo. At least there's full backlighting, a feature absent from the Touch remote.
I also tested a preproduction version of Samsung's optional wireless keyboard with touch pad, which ships soon, according to Samsung. Its touch pad was much more responsive than the one on the remote, and the full-size QWERTY keyboard makes data input a cinch (but not in the dark; again, there's no backlight). Unless you're intending to use the browser extensively, however, it's not worth getting. Check out the video for more on Samsung's remote and keyboard.
