Samsung UN48H6400 Review (UN48H6400AFXZA)

48 inch 1080p 120Hz Smart LED TV

by , Reviewer

48-inches for a TV is not standard, but that gives two more inches of screen space over the 46-inch screen we are so familiar with. We'll take it. The UN48H6400 offers a few extra features over the H6350 series that is just a step down in the lineup. The small step gets you some pretty hefty feature upgrades. 3D functionality is a big one. The redesigned touch remote for 2014 adds voice control and a better way to control the smart TV features. We found voice control to work pretty well last year. LG still has the upper hand in that area though. 3D playback is strong here as it provides a good amount of detail and depth. There is a lot of competition from Panasonic, LG, and Sony.

Strengths

  • Front and center picture quality is excellent
  • Game Mode cuts input lag down to an impressive 30ms
  • 4 HDMI and 3 USB
  • Speedy Wifi connection + Quad Core Processor
  • Active 3D playback with 3D content is great
  • Redesigned Smart Touch Remote makes navigating the Smart Hub a breeze
  • Extra buttons on the Smart Touch Remote are a thoughtful and useful addition
  • 10pt white balance really hones in a strong calibrated image

    Weaknesses

  • Off center viewing see contrast, blacks and color fade very quickly
  • In room lighting reflects off the semi-matte screen
  • Sound/Audio Quality – Especially voice volume and clarity
  • Auto Motion Plus with 2D images (thankfully it can be turned off)
    Samsung UN48H6400 LED TV
    Stunning color reproduction and contrast are seen in this shot of the H6400. A strong display of depth is seen here as well

    Picture Quality Rating: 87/100

    The UN48H6400 implements a semi-matte screen instead of the clear coat screen seen on top tier models. These matte-type screens reflect a lot of in room light. The result is a toned down image that doesn't have the brilliance seen in top tier models. A sense of depth in images is also reduced somewhat. The bright edge LED lighting helps to balance out the downsides of the matte screen by providing more rich colors and a good deal of contrast. The easy to set 10pt white balance really helps get color balance to look just right. Color reproduction is natural and not over saturated. All of that said, from relatively close to front and center we felt the picture displayed was very good with lots of light flow-through to help with depth perception. The picture is remarkably similar to the F6400 from last year.

    Black Levels and Contrast – Solid Performance

    From front and center, black levels on the UN48H6400 are great. Other dark areas of the screen showed just as good performance without too much loss of detail. Blacks are not as stout as the Plasma TVs of the past or top tier LEDs, but excellent for a TV in this price range. Contrast has a great showing here too. Light and dark areas of the screen are separated nicely and don't bleed into each other. This doesn't apply very well to side angle viewing. Contrast fades quickly as the viewer moves further from center.

    120Hz Processing

    The native 120Hz panel on the UN48H6400 used to reduce motion blur during fast action. Even though the screen is 48 inches, this feature is going to make quite the difference. The 120Hz upgrade is going to smooth fast action and side to side panning to create images with greater clarity. It's going to be noticed the most during sports programming that has a lot of camera movement. This also applies to shows and movies that utilize camera movement like side to side panning.

    3D Performance

    The best thing to do before enjoying 3D content on the 48H6400 is to adjust the picture settings. Change the picture mode to Movie and the Auto Motion to Standard. This is key to getting the best out of any 3D image. In doing so, judder is eliminated and images bright. The resulting image is sharp and clear with a good amount of depth. Colors appeared slightly subdued for 3D images, but they are certainly not bad. As usual for active 3D glasses, a small amount of flicker present. It may be better suited for dark viewing rooms. Just like the side angle viewing for 2D content, color and contrast fade very quickly when moving from front and center.

    Samsung UN48H6400 3D Glasses
    These are the 3D glasses for 2014 model Samsung LED TVs

    Features Rating: 90/100

    Samsung Smart Hub

    Samsung UN50H6400 Smart TV
    The Apps page is where you'll find all the featured apps as well as the ones you've downloaded for easy access

    The Smart Hub keeps the same basic design as last year with subtle improvements. Samsung hit the mark with their user interface and intuitive nagivation. This time around you will see a Game tab as one of the major smart TV pages. It doesn't sport the split screen mode like the Smart TVs above it in the line up. The H6400 does not implement the quad-core processor like some of the top tier models either. Instead it uses dual-core processing to run browsing and smart TV navigation.

    Web Browser, Touch Pad Controller, and Wifi

    Samsung UN48H6400 Touchpad Remote
    This year's touch remote features an egg shape with a smaller touch pad, but more buttons

    Surfing the web and the Smart TV features is a breeze with the new touchpad remote. It's much faster and easier than a traditional 5-way controller. The actual touch pad is a bit smaller this year, but that's okay because it now supports motion control. This brings it closer to LG's Magic Remote. The smaller touch pad also leaves room for more useful buttons on the remote instead of the on-screen menus. The voice recognition only works for inputting searches if the soft keyboard for the search field is open. The Wifi connection was easy to establish and it help up well while surfing the web. For streaming content it worked really great too.

    Appearance

    The 4 legged quadrapod stand has a chrome metallic finish this time around. The stand also allows 25 degrees of swivel in either direction. This is an excellent addition that really helps with the functionality of the design. The glossy black plastic bezels measures half an inch with a clear acrylic plastic on the outside to frame them up nicely. It's hard to notice the clear frame without looking for it. The overall depth is just under 2 inches.

    Samsung UN48H6350 LED TV Design and Appearance
    The familiar quad leg desing of the H6400 isn't a stranger to mid-level Samsung LED TVs

    Value Rating: 90/100

    The UN48H6400 has a retail price of around $1,100. This presents a strong value when you consider the strong picture quality, smart TV options, and 3D playback. The 50-inch version of this one is only $100 more. It may be worth the extra cash for a little extra screen space. If you are tight on space, this may be the one for you. Sony and LG have TVs in direct competition with the H6400 series. LG's smart TV platform rivals the Samsung, while Sony has more to offer when it comes to top tier picture quality.

    Overall Rating: 89/100



    Jack Burden Jack Burden has been reviewing and writing reviews in the consumer electronics category for 7 years with CEAG. He considers grayscale gradation, film patterned retarders, and focus field drives to be fun topics. Read more about Jack
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