Samsung UN46F6300 Review (UN46F6300AF)

Weaknesses

Neutral

The UN46F6300 has some of the best features of the top tier models. Micro dimming and active 3D are the only things missing. It's got a 120Hz refresh rate and the full Samsung Smart Hub powered by a dual core processor. The slimmed down yet robust feature set places the F6300 in the mid-level arena. TV shoppers not interested in 3D playback are immediately going to see the inherent value of this TV. It replaces the popular ES6100 model from last year with a similar feature set and design. It is available now.

Picture Quality Rating: 8.6

The UN46F6300 ditches the micro dimming of the F6400, but the picture quality is still strong. The matte-type screen reflects a lot of room light and tones down the brilliant image we've seen in top tier models. It also reduces depth 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. 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 ES6500 from last year. A full 10-point white balance adjustment option that makes getting colors accurate easy with the right settings. The 46F6300 is loaded with tons of extra picture adjustment options, most of which we recommend just leaving off.

The F6300 gives a good sense of depth in this shot, even without 3D like the F6400 has. The contrast in this shot leads to some elements being washed out in the background

Auto Motion Plus

We recommend no matter what picture mode you watch, that you go into this setting in the Advanced Picture menu, tune the feature to Custom then turn the Blur Reduction to 10, and the Judder Reduction to 0. Or you can just set it to off. The judder reduction part of this feature does too much to distort the picture including eliminating too much natural background blur, actually accentuating judder/jerky motion effects when the camera pans slowly, and creating motion artifacts.

This shot is a good example for color rendition on the F6300. Colors are bright without being over saturated. Also a fair amount of detail comes through in light and dark areas, although we have seen better performance out of LCD/LED TVs

Gaming - Very Responsive Game Mode

Getting to the Game Mode
Go to the Systems menu near the bottom of the main menu. Scroll down to the General settings and open that menu. Game Mode is located here. It seems like a pain to dig into the menus like this to turn it on or off.

Okami HD really brought out the colors of the F6300. Game mode is perfect for an action game like this one

Turning on the Game Mode is the best way to go for gaming on the UN46F6400. The picture mode in Game Mode has its own settings, and initially look pretty bad. Standard is the only available picture mode while Game Mode is on. Take the time to turn the sharpness down to 10 or less, the Color Space to Auto, Dynamic Contrast to Off, Color Tone to Warm1, and the Screen Size to Screen Fit. Adjust the Backlight and Brightness to your personal preference. This will provide a decent picture quality as well as a cut down on input lag. This made Okami HD and Crysis for the PS3 look fantastic and the input lag was negligible at a decent 30ms.

This input lag test shows how important the game mode is for reducing input lag on this LED TV. First person shooters are going to see some of the best results of this low input lag

Features Rating: 8.6/10

Smart Hub with Dual Core Processor

The Smart Hub has received a redesign this year, and we see it as a positive thing. Samsung has really streamlined the design and navigation. These are two aspects that have always seemed a little clunky in smart TV suites across the board. Samsung has made 5 main pages that are home to all of the different reasons for accessing smart TV in general. The Social page hosts all of the facebook and twitter feeds you want. The Apps page is where all the apps like Netflix, the web browser, and tons of games will find their home. The On TV page is basically a pretty TV guide that shows what is on TV now and what will be soon. The Movies & TV Shows gathers all the online digital content you'll ever need for rent or purchase. The Photo & Video page is last, this is where all of your personal content can be found connected through a USB device or through the network. This is a great way to organize the entire thing in a meaningful way.

The dual core processor included in the 46F6300 speeds the entire Smart TV section while viewing content at the same time. Multitaskers will also appreciate the speed of searching in the Smart TV options, an area of criticism in the previous model ES6100. The F6300 missed out quad-core processors seen in models higher up in the lineup.

See our full article about Samsung's Smart TV 2013 here.

Wifi and Web Browser Included

The Web Browser on the F6300 defaults to a Bing search bar. The browser is slow to use with the 5-way controller on the remote but loads content quickly and the Wifi connectivity is also improved over last years model.

Design and Appearance

The F6300 is not going to win best-looking but it's attractive nonetheless with a bit more understated design than the top end almost frame less LED TVs. The thin charcoal black half inch framing bezel has an acrylic clear edge and the panel is around 2 inches in depth. Some may not care for the “quadrapod” 4-legged stand, but it's not bad and at least its not chrome for this model. It does conveniently swivel 15 to 20 degrees.

Audio Quality - Not too Sound

The 46F6300 has some issues with sound quality. There is plenty of volume during music and background noice, but a clear lack of voice volume and clarity – even when using the Clear Voice option in the menu. We tried everything, all the settings, the equalizer and could not find an option that we felt improved the audio quality. Sound quality gets a 6 out of 10 for me on the F6300.

Value – Bang for the Buck Rating: 8.6/10

The UN46F6300 is very strong in value in the 46 inch market at around $899. By eliminating 3D, micro dimming and the slick touchpad remote, and sticking with some of the features that matter most, this is a tough model to beat in the mid-level LED TV category. Competition is from the LG 47LA6200 and the LG 47GA6400.