LG 65UF950 review

Definitive proof that looks aren't everything...

LG 65UF950
Definitive proof that looks aren't everything

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Thanks to LG's inspired webOS 2.0 smart platform the 65UF950V is for the most part a dream to use.

No other smart platform is savvier about getting you quickly and easily to the content you most want to watch. Even initial set up is about as much fun as it is ever likely to be thanks to the cartoon antics of LG's 'Bean Bird' character and the simple, well-explained way you're guided through all the key steps.

The addition of an exceptionally easy to establish favourite TV channels shortcut menu is a welcome touch, and LG's 'Magic' remote continues to impress for the most part with its point and click and menu 'wheel' combination - except that I do think the point and click element can expect a bit too much precision from the user at times.

LG 65UF950

LG has also listened to last year's reviews and attempted to better incorporate the TV's picture, sound and network set up menus into the WebOS menu environment. However, the way it goes about this feels a bit longwinded, so maybe one more tweak could be ushered into WebOS 3.0.

Overall, though, the 65UF950V is just about the state of the art where smart TV usability is concerned.

Sound

The best way to sum the 65UF950V's audio up is remarkably good by the standards of the truly super-skinny TV, though only middling to good when considered against some of the best TVs around today.

The Harman Kardon-designed speaker system and Auditorium stand design do a clever job of hiding the fact that the sound is coming from down-firing rather than forward facing speakers, particularly in the way sounds appear well placed on the screen and there's lots of treble detail clarity.

Vocals generally sound clear yet also reasonably naturally placed within their wider audio context, and there's remarkably little of the sort of mid-range cramping that I'd normally expect from such a 'barely there' chassis design.

LG has taken care, too, to ensure that the speakers can't be driven to the point where they start to phut or flat-out distort.

The one real pity is that the 65UF950V compounds its odd 3D picture problems with some equally odd 3D audio problems, as 3D movies sometimes appear suffer with distracting lip-synch problems that I couldn't completely remove via any of the provided audio tools.

Value

In a year where we've got Samsung asking you to hand over £6,000 or so for its flagship 65-inch TV and LG asking roughly the same for its 65-inch 4K OLED TVs, I guess £3,800 might not seem too much of an ask for a TV as gorgeously designed and feature-rich as the 65UF950V.

But the sad reality is that it's simply not a TV I would be happy buying for any money.

In fact, if you really don't want to give up on buying a webOS TV then I wouldn't be surprised if some of LG's cheaper, less spectacularly thin LCD TVs actually turned out to be much better all-rounders.

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John Archer
AV Technology Contributor

John has been writing about home entertainment technology for more than two decades - an especially impressive feat considering he still claims to only be 35 years old (yeah, right). In that time he’s reviewed hundreds if not thousands of TVs, projectors and speakers, and spent frankly far too long sitting by himself in a dark room.