A month with Samsung’s new F series TV...

I was fortunate to spend a month with Samsung’s latest television the UA55F8000 or the F series to you and me.

This 55 inch LED behemoth has been proclaimed to include the very best tech that Samsung has to offer for 2013, so I decided to put it through its paces.

The TV’s RRP is $5499.95, so you would expect it to live up to the hype that Samsung has been telling us about.

The set comes with 2 remotes one for the TV controls and one for the ‘SMART TV’ features, my pack also included a keyboard from Samsung that could perform the functions of both remote controls and includes a full QWERTY keyboard layout.

Once out of the box the TV is relatively easy to assemble and the new chrome half-moon shaped stand gives the TV a premium feel while adding extra stability.

When you turn the TV on there is a built in tutorial that will guide you through the setup and help you configure voice and motion controls.

The voice and motion controls are a great feature with this TV and definitely Samsung’s most responsive and intuitive yet.

The only problem I found was if you were having a conversation with somebody in another room and you raised your voice above normal speaking level the TV would thing you are trying to give it a command and cover half of the screen with alternative commands – this became annoying if somebody else was watching something and had their viewing interrupted by lists of alternative commands.

Another annoyance I found was with the built in camera. If the camera was not activated whilst the TV was in use, I would get messages displayed across the screen to remind me of this (even though the TV tells you to store the camera when not in use to preserve it).

The F8000 series is Samsung’s flagship LED TV, so you would expect the level of features to go beyond that of your average ‘smart TV’.

In this respect Samsung out did themselves, they have included Smart Interaction 2.0 which means the voice and motion controls are more responsive and refined in the ‘F’ series.

There is a redesigned Smart Hub which provides three dynamic menu titles to help you manage and navigate different content.

The TV boasts a quad-core CPU which enables quick app launching, web browsing and multi-tasking.

The ‘screen mirroring’ function enables content to be displayed on the TV from a compatible smartphone or tablet. Meaning you can beam photos, videos and even play games and use the smart phone as the controller.

The TV uses ‘content sharing’ to create a wireless network in your home to share content between compatible devices. It can also access cloud storage so you can access content while you’re away from home.

All these features are great but the main function of a TV is to provide excellent picture and sound quality. The F8000 series delivers brighter and more vibrant colours than previous Samsung models while maintaining smooth and sharp 1080p playback.

I tested my full Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray collection on this TV and I was blown away by the quality. For a LED TV the blacks are deep and pictures razor sharp, which helps you to become immersed in your movie.

The two pairs of 3D glasses that came with the F8000 are comfortable and easy to configure. 3D movie play-back is also faultless on this unit, with great vibrant colours, contrasts and bright picture quality - my friends were equally amazed by the quality.

All of these features are contained within an ultra-thin profile and with a bezel under 6mm, this gives the illusion of the F8000 simply floating in mid-air. This TV is not only stunning from the front but also great from the back thanks to the new 360 degree design. All connections are hid behind a detachable plate for added discretion.

The Samsung F8000 series of TV’s is available in 55” 60” 65” and a whopping 75”. This TV is a quality addition to any living room, the style and elegance of the TV hides the complex array of hardware and features contained within.

This unit delivers quality pictures and sound whilst the quad core CPU – the first of its kind in a TV enables apps and games to load a lot faster than previous models.

The F8000 series still has its problems, most notably with distinguishing between commands and people conversing with each other. This could just me being picky, but it is a great TV and I am already looking forward to what a possible ‘G series’ will offer consumers.