LG 40″ LED HDR 4K Ultra HD Smart TV Reviewed

If you read our recent post on 4K UHD TV’s you may be left wondering which model to buy, after all there are so many to choose from.

Here we review the LG 40UH630V LED HDR 4K Ultra HD Smart TV, a 40″ version of one of LG’s recent 4K UHD offerings. Now, we know there’s a lot of debate on whether or not a 40″ screen will show the benefits of 4K but this review should be of interest to both those who live in smaller properties and those who are perhaps looking for a TV for the bedroom, attic or shed.

The primary reason for choosing this model was the features as well as the price, at the time of writing, a very reasonable £629 including a 5 year warranty from John Lewis. With a host of features such as Freeview HD, Freeview Sat and Freeview Play, built in WI-FI and it’s Smart TV capabilities it’s pretty future proof and should serve buyers well.

I was able to dispense with my Amazon Fire TV Stick, thanks to the integrated Amazon Video app, which was just as well as the TV only has 3 HDMI inputs whereas my old one had 4 so I needed to free one up. Amazon Video has a selection of 4K content but be aware of is that if you want to watch 4K  content on Netflix you will need to upgrade your subscription if you are not already on the Ultra HD package.

I can’t tell you about the live TV capabilities as I haven’t watched it since 2003; this is purely used for gaming, Netflix, Amazon Video and watching downloads stored on a NAS.

Streaming files from the network was a breeze and as you’d expect for a 2016 model, it has all the current codecs meaning there’s no problem with playback.

Picture quality is excellent viewing both 4K and non-4K content including blu-rays and DVDs with the ability to switch quite easily, which I found great when I was using the games console as there are only a few button presses to flick between modes, unlike the old TV.

If I’m honest I’m not sure my eyes could discern the difference in 4K content over regular HD content as both look fantastic and certainly a world apart from the old Toshiba it replaced.

Things I was less impressed with were the lack of LG’s Magic Remote as standard. That said, you can use the LG App and turn your phone into a remote which is probably better than the remote with its shortcuts to the various TV apps meaning you have even fewer keystrokes to get to what you want.

The only other gripe I have is whilst there is an option to connect a bluetooth keyboard, I’ve no idea which keyboards work, I tried two and neither worked.  It would be good if the information was readily available, LG’s website turns up nothing, that I could find.