TECHNO ITEM: Samsung’s little 4K star UA48HU7500

Samsung’s little 4K star Samsung UA48HU7500

4K isn’t exactly new anymore, but we’ve only awarded the full five stars to a 4K telly very recently. That TV? Samsung’s awesome UA65HU7500, which delivers on the dream of super-sharp 4K brilliance without sacrificing the quality of HD and SD.

Size matters
But what if 65in is just a bit too big for your room? Well, that’s where its 48in brother, the UA48HU7500, comes in. Unsurprisingly, this looks like a slightly miniaturised version of the 65in model. A lovely thin bezel means the front is almost all screen, and the overall design is very smart but uncharacteristically subtle for a Samsung. It seems odd the stand doesn’t swivel, especially as others in the Samsung range do, but the footprint is small enough and the overall set light enough to make moving it easy.

As you’d expect from a premium TV, there are plenty of connections: three USB and four HDMI, plus both satellite and aerial connections for broadcast TV. Set-up is easy: THX Optimizer-led picture tweaks aside, you will be watching your new TV in less than 10 minutes. Of course, you’re immediately going to log-in to any premium streaming services and hunt for shows currently available for streaming in 4K. Speaking of which, Ultra HD on the UA48HU7500 looks superb, supremely sharp and detailed.

The Hub of the matter
A press of the Smart Hub button brings up a row of tiles representing a mixture of channels, apps and inputs, where you will find the usual suspects (YouTube, games and on-demand content). It’s well thought out and designed, and easy to use. So the UA48HU7500 is plenty smart enough, but actually no more so than Samsung’s other 2014 smart TVs, such as the terrific, Full HD UA48H6400 (which is a fair bit cheaper than this set). That jump may be worth it for 4K content, but only if there aren’t any sacrifices elsewhere. And in our opinion, there aren’t.

There is a very slight
sense of processing going on with its Full HD image – no surprise given how much work the TV’s having to do to upscale images to fit its native 3840 x 2160 resolution – but that’s only really noticeable under serious scrutiny and side-by-side comparison. To all intents and purposes, what you’re getting is a picture that’s just as detailed and sharp as the Full HD model. In some ways it’s even better. Activate the ‘Smart LED’ mode and contrast jumps up considerably, with inky-deep blacks combining with bright, pure whites to produce a picture with more punch. The UE48HU7500 has a more neutral colour palette by default, too. In essence, then, when watching both standard definition and HD the HU7500 is more or less a match for the best non-4K TV of this size that Samsung has so far offered this year. So you can have your 4K cake without making your existing Blu-rays or DVDs any less tasty. Everything sounds pretty good, too – clear, loud and fairly punchy by flatscreen standards.

The ultimate value of 4K is, of course, up to you, the end user – but as to whether 4K resolution is even noticeable at 48in, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. If the size is right for you, we certainly recommend taking the plunge.

FOR Beautiful 4K; no sacrifice at lower resolutions; dynamic, natural pictures AGAINST No swivel on stand VERDICT Some very minor flaws, but if you can afford it, this is a fabulous way to go 4K at a smaller screen size

The Smart Hub key on the remote takes you straight to the TV’s smart features