Buying Guide All the best Connected TV services compared
Every manufacturer offers a very different Smart TV experience
Does your TV have one-touch access to apps for BBC iPlayer, YouTube,
Netflix, Lovefilm and Blinkbox? Not all smart, connected TVs are equal -
they differ greatly in looks and apps - but all can get online, most
using Wi-Fi.
There is no industry standard for smart TV, so every
brand of television has a different platform of apps, though expect to
find everything from sport, weather and on-demand video and movies to 3D
content, games and social networking.
What's the best connected
TV platform? That will depend on what you're after; some smart TV
systems excel with a wide range of on-demand apps from UK TV channels,
others with on-demand movies.
We've ranked the UK's major
connected TV platforms in descending order, putting just as much
emphasis on ease of use as app selection, to help you as you buy into a
whole new generation of online television.
1. LG Smart TV
LG's
connected TV platform gets the nod largely because of its oh-so-simple
design that puts seemingly disparate sources of video onto one home
screen. Our favourite part of LG's smarty-pants user interface hasn't
got anything to do with apps, but rather with networking. SmartShare
software displays any video, photo or MP3 file stored on a networked PC,
Mac or NAS drive, USB flash drive or HDD, on the home screen - and as a
thumbnail image.
It's beautifully simple, and file support is
huge, though for those wanting an even more comprehensive treatment, LG
also offers the MediaLink (formerly called Plex) app that adds movie
artwork and other data. Beloved of rampant downloaders and networkers it
might be, but SmartShare is made complete by a thoroughly decent
selection of apps - and that includes a useful 3D World.
The
Premium page hosts BBC iPlayer, Lovefilm, Netflix and YouTube, with
lesser-known apps comprising Absolute Radio, Red Bull TV, ITN, Autocar,
YouTube, Blinkbox, CineTrailer, Cartoon Network, HiT, Picasa, iConcerts,
AccuWeather and Box Office 365.
LG announced in March 2013 that
its Blu-ray players and home cinemas would also carry an app for Spotify
(£9.99 per month) in the Premium Apps section, though it's not been
added to its smart TVs. The SmartWorld app store, however, contains
little of note aside from Skype.
As well as shortcuts to apps and
widgets, and full mastery of the TV, a free LG TV Remote app puts a live
TV picture on a smartphone that mirrors what's playing on the TV.
Searches for content across its apps and the web result in
source-specific results - and it's a search that can be done on some of
LG's flagship TVs (such as the LG 47LA860W and LG 55LA740V) by speaking into the Magic Remote pointer-style remote control. It works a treat.
It's
not got the most extensive choice of apps, but LG's Smart TV platform
succeeds on ease of use - and spectacularly so. This is connected TV at
it user-friendly best.
While
it doesn't quite gel with the TV's central architecture, Panasonic's
new My Home Screen user interface is the freshest, newest idea in
connected TV. It takes design cues from both LG and Samsung, though the
customisation options on My Home Screen are unique.
Numerous pages
can be created sporting different layouts and even wallpaper, all with
specially created icons and shortcuts to widgets. TV Home Screen,
Lifestyle Screen and Info Screen are typical, though you can just as
easily create Bob's Apps or Dad's Screen using the free text entry.
Is that kind of customisation really needed? Probably not, but it's a very flexible system nonetheless.
All
screens have a a live TV thumbnail, which is crucial. It's fluid, it's
smooth, and it's got just enough apps inside it, including BBC News, BBC
iPlayer, Eurosport Player (subscription needed), YouTube, BBC Sport,
iConcerts, Skype, Netflix, Euronews, Dailymotion, EuroSport, CNBC
Real-Time, PlayJam Games, SHOUTcast Radio, Aupeo, Chess Challenge, Rovi
TV Listings, Facebook and Twitter. It could really do with Blinkbox and
Lovefilm, too.
Part of the new, free Viera Remote 2 smartphone
app, Swipe & Share 2.0 can be used to physically push a photo, MP3
or even a (home-made) MOV video from the device's touchscreen to the TV
itself. It works vice-versa, too, so that digital files stored on USB
flash drives attached to the a Smart Viera TV can be streamed to a phone
or tablet. As a piece of connected TV technology, it's mightily
impressive.
Now
expanded to five separate screens - one each for TV, on-demand films,
social media, Samsung's apps, and your own digital media - Samsung's
Smart Hub is the only connected TV platform that includes catch-up TV
apps for all terrestrial channels in the UK.
As well as Five, 4OD
and ITV Player (exclusively so), Smart Hub includes KnowHow Movies,
Netflix, Lovefilm (though it's a download from the Samsung Apps store,
not onboard as a default), Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Viewster,
Dailymotion, Absolute Radio and some unusual apps such as Curzon On
Demand, NatGeo Images, BFI, Digital Theatre plays, TED and TuneIn
internet radio.
All Samsung Smart TVs now include S
Recommendation, which suggests content from both live TV and its
video-based apps based on your viewing habits. It's also a good system
for conducting manual searches, though unlike LG it doesn't tell you
where each video it's found is being sourced from.
Some of its flagship TVs - such as the Samsung UE55F8000 and Samsung UE40F6400 go further, offering voice and gesture control, though neither is as reliable as it could be.
Samsung's
Smart View app can stream a clone of live TV to any tablet or phone, or
a different channel to the one being watched on the TV (if the TV has
two tuners), while those with Samsung Galaxy devices can mirror their
phone or tablet's small screen on the TV's big one using the AllShare
Play app.
SEN-sational?
Hardly, though Sony's stab at smart TV has a lush new look. Well
organised and with a crisp, modern user interface that floats over live
TV, the new list-style menu comes complete with a handy History option
showing you the inputs and programmes you've watched most recently.
However, press the SEN button on the remote and you just get a long list
of all the apps available on Sony's connected TV service.
SEN is
built around Sony's own increasingly impressive Video Unlimited and
Music Unlimited services, but it also includes BBC iPlayer, Demand 5,
Lovefilm, Netflix, BBC News, Sony's Entertainment Television library,
BBC Sport, a Sony-branded channel of 3D content, Sky News, YouTube,
Twitter, Facebook, Picasa and Skype. Hundreds of other minor video apps
and games apps - as well as widgets galore - also exist.
The Sony KDL-55W905A and Sony KDL-47W805 come with a second ultra-slim remote control fitted with an NFC chip. Tap it against an NFC-capable portable device - such as the Sony Xperia Z smartphone (and plenty of other Android devices besides) to instantly link to the TV. Hassle-free screen mirroring follows.
Sony's
free TV SideView app for smartphones and tablets is one of the best
presented we've seen to date, though it only deals in second-screen
browsing of the TV listings and your digital media (as well as putting
your chosen TV show or media file on the TV, remote control-style).
Sadly
there's no second screen viewing, so you can't stream video from the TV
to your portable device for, say, watching in another room. Voice and
gesture controls are sadly lacking on Sony TVs, too.
It's
been refreshed for 2013, but Toshiba's connected TV package isn't a
huge improvement on its previous Toshiba Places platform. Looking like a
cross between Samsung and Panasonic's smart TV gubbins, Cloud TV is
split between separate screens for Home, Premium Apps and TV &
Video.
Those Premium Apps comprise BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Deezer,
Blinkbox, YouTube, BBC Sport, BBC News and Viewster (though no Lovefilm
or much in the way of non-BBC catch-up TV), while the 'More' tab leads
to another page that adds the likes of KnowHow Movies, LIVE Sport TV,
Vimeo, iConcerts, Funspot, Woomi, Dailymotion, Aupeo and Facebook. There
is no external app store.
The Home page has a live TV area, but
much larger is its central Events section that's designed to show your
diary (though entering events is painful) above a 'Trending on Twitter'
section that expands to an entire page (of nonsense). An Inbox area
confusingly shows messages from avatars that contain recommendations of
things to watch.
The Premium Apps page also contains video adverts
for Viewster, Netflix and Deezer above a banner advert, and so does the
TV & Video page that simply groups together all of Cloud TV's
video-based apps, adding France 24 and Skype along the way.
The
basic remote control app has no second screen functions, while a
dedicated Toshiba Cloud TV app is available (for iOS users only) that in
theory should make it easier to use the calendar function. However,
setting it up and linking devices involves a mess of accounts, passwords
and pairing codes. Most users will give up early on.
Philips'
system has a thumbnail that displays - with sound - either live TV or a
live video source, a Tweet button and a fresh design that puts all apps
along the bottom of the screen. In fact, Philips has created a roomy
connected TV interface that borders on looking classy.
That,
however, it where the good stuff ends. Sure, BBC iPlayer and YouTube are
included, but beyond those two there's little to get excited about.
Twitter
and Facebook (combined in a Social TV app) besides, there's National
Rail, Picasa, iConcerts, and a link to an App Gallery that includes
stuff such as CNBC Real Time, Skype, Napster, Absolute Radio, Aupeo,
Viewster, Funspot, Euronews, ebay, MeteoConsult, Foreca weather, the
saucy trio of Hustler, Private and Brazzers, and... Tom Tom HD Traffic.
Blinkbox and its one-off movie rentals saves the platform from
obscurity. Some may miss the likes of the higher-profile Lovefilm
Instant and Netflix, but for anyone after the very latest movies, it's
Blinkbox you want.
Basic and in need of some content, Philips' smart TV effort - as seen on the Philips 42PFL6008 - is nevertheless straightforward to use and decidedly uncluttered - though there is an uncomfortable reason for that.
Philips
offers its MyRemote app; its Wi-Fi Smart Screen feature puts whatever
live TV channel is playing on the TV onto a phone, while SimplyShare
streams photos and music stored on a phone (or any other networked
device) to be viewed on the TV. Nice, but it's not exactly a second
screen.
