Philips 55PFL6007T review

Its 3D picture quality is also great, and surprised us with very sharp images that are normally lost on a passive display. Depth effects feel refreshingly natural, and there’s no crosstalk ghosting whatsoever. There are, however, visible horizontal lines and jagged edges that are unfortunate side effects of using passive glasses. Because it uses passive 3D technology rather than active shutter glasses, new pairs are relatively inexpensive. Philips includes four sets with the TV, so the average family can start watching straight away. The set supports 3D conversion of 2D content, but we felt it didn’t add anything significant to TV or 2D films.

Unfortunately, the 6007 didn’t impress when it came to sound quality. The two down-firing speakers built into the set are overly sharp and produce very little in the way of bass. They’re good enough for watching TV, but not for music or movies.

It’s a shame the on-screen interface is often jerky and slow to respond to your inputs, as it’s well presented and easy to navigate. Naturally, the 6007 will let you tweak image brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness, as well as noise and artefact reduction levels, but you can also decrease the Pixel Precise HD motion smoothing system. It reduces judder significantly in films, but we noticed a few small artefacts in fast-moving scenes at anything other than the Minimum setting.

Considering its superb image quality, the 6007 is a fantastic 55in TV for watching films, either in 2D or 3D. Unfortunately for Philips, the similarly priced competition is fierce. The Sony KDL-55HX853, in particular, has a far superior speaker system built into its stand, a more comprehensive Smart TV system and stunning picture quality, but costs around £70 less. It’s not a huge difference, and you’re really choosing between superior audio from the Sony or passive 3D and Ambilight from the Philips. We narrowly prefer the Sony, but you should make your own decision.