Samsung UE65JS9000 review

The JS9000 uses a revised curved Smart remote in addition to a regular remote. Like previous designs, it has an accelerometer for pointing at the TV to bring up a small cursor that follows your movements around the screen. This makes navigation much faster than conventional buttons, and we like the textured grip and comfortable finger grooves on the back. It doesn’t have as many buttons as the standard remote, but all the essentials are there, including source input, menu, volume and a shortcut to Smart Hub, which is now powered by Tizen.

^ Samsung’s new curved remote is great for navigating its new Tizen interface

The new UI is a huge improvement on last year’s smart interface. Text is now much cleaner and icons look more modern, so the whole interface feels that bit slicker, yet refreshingly unintrusive. A long row of colourful icons appear along the bottom of the screen, so you can carry on watching while you decide what to do. It’s much better than being taken to a screen-hogging menu system, and it puts all the key settings within easy reach.

^ Samsung’s new Tizen UI looks very similar to LG’s tile-based webOS interface

Smart Hub is actually very similar to LG’s webOS interface, as your most recent apps and channels run along the bottom edge of the screen in a row of bright, colourful cards. You also can pin certain apps to your recent list so they’re easier to find. The small square of featured apps to the left of your recents will swap places with the app list to reveal more recently added apps, games, the JS9000’s web browser and shortcuts to any connected devices, such as your smartphone, tablet or PC.

When we tested the JS9000, it was missing Netflix, 4OD and Demand 5, but Samsung assured us these will be available soon via a firmware update. Instead, you’ll find Amazon Instant Video, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, YouTube and Plex. There are also apps for Skype, BBC News and BBC Sport.

^ A quick tap of the Pointer button on the smart remote will bring up shortcuts to the top menu, volume and channel controls and Samsung’s smart TV apps 

The JS9000 uses one of Samsung’s One Connect boxes for connectivity, meaning you only need two cables going into the TV itself. There’s a healthy selection of ports, including four HDMIs, an adapter port for component and composite inputs, an Ethernet port, a CI slot, three USB ports, one of which is USB3, an optical S/PDIF audio output and a port for an IR extender. The box can be upgraded in the future too, so you won’t be left behind should new HDMI and HDCP standards get introduced.

^ The One Connect box provides you with plenty of ports and connections

Taken together, at least you won’t have to worry about the Samsung SUHD UE65JS9000 going out of date. However, at £3,999, it’s an expensive bit of futureproofing, as there’s still precious few pieces of content to actually watch in 4K or HDR. We’re fans of the new Tizen UI, but when Panasonic TX-55AX902 is currently available for £1,999, which offers better viewing angles and an equally great-looking picture, the JS9000 doesn’t do quite enough to justify the extra price. And If neither of these quite fit your needs then check out our regularly-updated Best TVs to Buy. Buy the Samsung UE65JS9000 now from Richer Sounds