40-43 inch smart TV recommendations?

tempura

Novice Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2017
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Points
35
Age
74
Location
Skara Brae
40-43 inch smart TV recommendations?

I previously had the excellent Toshiba 39L4353D, which had nice picture, acceptable sound, lots of connectivity (even an MHL port), and functional-but-slow Smart TV capabilities. It's display died after 4 years (within the John Lewis warranty period, so I got the full £360 back), so I'm looking for a replacement, from either John Lewis or Richer Sounds.

My shortlist:
LG 43UH603V (£399)
Samsung UE40MU6100 (£439 with pricematch)
Samsung UE40MU6400 (£479 with pricematch)
LG 43UJ635V (£479)

My requirements:
Mainly watching Sky HD TV. A lot of IPlayer, Youtube, Netflix and catch-up services, so the smart services should be good. I don't have much use for 4k but figured "might as well", given their not more expensive than regular FullHD TVs. Although I figure at this size, picture quality differences are not so discernible, right? Problem is, there are only 2 professional reviews of the MU6100 online, and none for the others.

I read that Samsung has better picture quality than LG at this price range, so was almost set to go with one of the Samsungs, but have discovered a firmware update disaster being raged about on the Samsung forums that seems have bricked all the 2017 MU range TVs and has still not been fixed after a week:
TV not working after software update - Samsung Community
They also recently removed Youtube from their pre-2014 TVs. Even my cheap Toshiba had it still working to the day it failed.

Maybe an indicator that Samsung is on the decline? I also browsed around the LG forums, and while they also have problems, they don't seem so severe. I want the TV to last the at least 5/6 years.

Any recommendations from this list (or other similar alternatives)? Thanks!
 
@tempura

Now you have a shortlist and indicate you can buy from either JL, RS or both - time to get out and demo those bad boys and gals!
 
Out of the TVs in the list the best, IMHO, is the Samsung 40MU6400 with its Dynamic Crystal Colour tecnology.

I don't know however if this TV is affected by the cited issue.

.
 
I would look at Panasonic models, in particular the 40DX700 if you can still get hold of one.

40EX700 seems a little overpriced still.

Last years Samsungs are also a good choice if you can find them, like the 40KU6000 or 40KU6400, 40KU6500, 40KU6600

I would not consider LG at all due to their use of inferior contrast/blacks IPS type panels.

The only Sony UHD TV I would recommend would be last years 43XD83xx - this years models use worse quality IPS panels like LG.

Hisense models I'm not so sure about yet, maybe they will be good value as they likely use high contrast VA panels.

Smart TV wise all are good.

Sony and Samsung make FHD models with high contrast panels which you may also consider, such as the Samsung 40K5500/K5510/K5600/K6300 - I have seen these as cheap as £300 in places. They will be equal to a UHD TV at normal viewing distances.

Sony have the 40WD650, 40RE4xx(non smart) and 40WE66x which I know is VA. x denotes a different end digit.

Don't be fooled by integrated smart tv, whilst it may be better than it used to be, its still a hell of a lot better getting an external solution, especially as you have discovered built in smart tv tends to be defunct/slow over time anyway so you will probably end up buying a separate system anyway. If I was a smart (pardon the pun) TV fanatic on a tight budget I would be tempted to go for the Sony 40RE4xx and just use a fire TV/stick.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom