Samsung UE32H6400 review

Samsung's UE32H6400 is the 32-inch member of its thoroughly good value H6400 models, part of its Series 6 line-up for 2014. This TV follows its brethren by offering a packed features list and a cracking performance for a price that's a notch above competitive - just £399.

Most 32-inch LED TVs have a features count that can be written on the back of a postage stamp, and that's understandble. Once lauded as the future of your living room, the 32-inch LED TV has long since shuffled from centrepiece to sideline, and it's now often found in bedrooms, studies and games rooms.

But the UE32H6400 isn't just any 32-incher. Incredibly it's graced by Samsung's smart TV platform, Smart Hub, which certainly isn't expected on small TVs. It's 3D-ready, too, which is something of a first for a 32-inch TV.

Although Samsung obviously knows that, by now, no-one really cares about the third dimension as there are no 3D specs in the box.

Still, it's good to have 3D there as an option since your next Blu-ray player will almost certainly be 3D-ready. There's even a choice of two remote controls, which is arguably even more surprising than the inclusion of Smart Hub. Though it's the presence of smart TV apps that makes the UE32H6400 such a standout screen.

With catch-up TV apps for all UK terrestrial TV channels included (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and Demand Five) as well as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and YouTube, the UE32H6400, which also boasts a Freeview HD tuner and four HDMI inputs, is hard to criticise on features.

Other apps include STV Player, BBC Sport, Vimeo, PictureBox, Eurosport, USA Today, Tune In radio, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Skype, AccuWeather and Wuaki.tv.

Best of all, this is powered not only by Wi-Fi, but from a quad core processor, which should make it all a pain-free experience.

Design

Not that it's a standout screen in terms of looks; a depth of 49mm is not especially slim while the box-like bezel around all sides is 11mm wide, with a further 3mm of transparent plastic. The spider-style desktop stand won't appeal to all, though its silver styling adds some contrast to a simple, yet attractive design.

Ins and outs

While most 32-inch TVs offer just a couple of HDMI inputs and, therefore, lack flexibility, Samsung recognises that the UE32H6400 will likely be used in bedrooms that often have just as much AV gear as a living room.

A total of four HDMI inputs are supplied, two on a rear-facing panel alongside an RGB Scart alongside a set of component video inputs, an optical digital audio input, an Ethernet LAN slot (though the UE32H6400 has Wi-Fi, too), and some left/right phono inputs.

The side-panel adds those two other HDMI inputs, a stunning three USB slots, and a feed for a Freeview HD TV tuner. Forget the price-tag of this TV; that's an unbeatable haul on any TV of any price, and it adds a lot of versatility.

Hardware

Somewhat surprisingly the UE32H6400 comes with Samsung's palm-sized, touch-sensitive remote control as well as the standard version. I'm not a huge fan of this 'smart' controller, its braille-like buttons that rise from the brushed aluminium-look plastic look good, but many of the other buttons are far too small. With inconsistently sized buttons I can imagine many users quickly discarding the smart version, largely because it has a learning curve, while the regular version is, for the most part, easier to use.

Unfortunately, Samsung has seen fit to shrink the 'old' remote to the kind of size you might expect to find with a DVD or Blu-ray player. That's a shame, and means that for anyone after a remote that offers big buttons and no nonsense, a Panasonic TV still makes the most sense.

Also available

The UE32H6400 is accompanied by the 40-inch UE40H6400, 55-inch UE55H6400, 65-inch UE65H6400 and whopping 75-inch UE75H6400. The difference between the H6400 and the H6700 variants of Series 6 is that the latter possesses both micro dimming and a more powerful clear motion rate (CMR 600 versus the UE32H6400's CMR 400), which means better contrast/deeper blacks and smoother images.