55SM8600PUA Review: The Best LG Television?

55SM8600PUA: At First Glance

The LG 55SM8600PUA is a mid-range 4K UHD TV that was released in 2019. Furthermore, as of the time of its release, this television was regarded as one of the best 4K televisions.

This is because the television features a 4K NanoCell IPS display that offers colorful picture quality and wide viewing angles. However, as a few of us know, LG’s NanoCell televisions are quite expensive and the LG 55SM8600PUA isn’t an exception.

To give more details, when I wrote this review in January 2022, the LG 55SM8600PUA had a price tag of $1299.99. To be honest, considering the specs and features that come with this television, I believe that it is totally worth this price tag.

Do you want to know the features and specs that I am talking about? Well, you have to continue reading!

55SM8600PUA: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Like most modern televisions, the LG 55SM8600PUA comes with an elegant and smooth design. To give more details, this television’s display is surrounded by matte-black super-slim bezels that are made of plastic.

Despite being so slim, LG manages to stylishly engrave an “LG NanoCell” inscription at the right end of the bottom bezel.

Moving on, the LG 55SM8600PUA features a wide stand that is attached to it from the center of its bottom. Just like the bezels, this stand is made of plastic and also features a matte-black finish.

Even though this stand is sturdy, the LG 55SM8600PUA still wobbles a bit when pushed with force.

Moving on to the back, the LG 55SM8600PUA features a plain metal back panel that has a mild-brushed texture. Furthermore, on this back panel, you will find holes for accommodating a 300 x 300 millimeter VESA mount.

Impressively, because the back of this TV is slim, this television shouldn’t bulge out if mounted on the wall.

Having said all of this, let us quickly discuss the dimension and weight of the TV. The LG 55SM8600PUA measures 1231 x 63.5 x 716 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 17191 g

To be frank, for a 55-inch television, the weight of this TV is kind of too much. In fact, most 55-inch television in its category weighs less.

For example, the TCL 55US57 weighs 14378.8 g and measure 1244.6 x 88.9 x 721.3 mm (W x D x H). Also, the Hisense 55DU6500 weighs 16420.04 g and measure 1244.6 x 83.8 x 721.3 mm (W x D x H).

In conclusion, even though the LG 55SM8600PUA features a sleek design, it weighs more than most of its competitors. Therefore, in this design review section, I will rate the LG 55SM8600PUA an eight out of ten.

55SM8600PUA: Display Features

As hinted earlier, the LG 55SM8600PUA comes with a 55-inch NanoCell display with 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution. As a NanoCell display, this display offers a wider range of colors unlike other types of displays.

Moreover, because this TV’s NanoCell display features 4K resolution, the colors that it produces would be very sharp and realistic. As a result, improving the overall picture quality of the display.

Impressively, the LG 55SM8600PUA’s 4K NanoCell display is made with an IPS panel. This display panel allows a display to offer impressive and wide viewing angles.

Therefore, the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display has wide viewing angles thanks to its IPS panel. As a result, even when viewing the LG 55SM8600PUA from the sides or off-center, color accuracy and picture quality will remain intact without issues.

Unfortunately, despite its 4K resolution and IPS panel, the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display comes with a poor contrast ratio. To give more details, this television’s display features a contrast ratio of 1,176:1.

Briefly, the contrast ratio of a display is the ratio between the brightest white and the darkest black that the display can produce. Furthermore, a high contrast ratio means that the display is capable of producing deep blacks.

Unfortunately, because the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display’s contrast ratio is somewhat poor, it won’t be able to produce deep blacks. In other words, the blacks that the display produces or renders will look more like gray.

Hence, the LG 55SM8600PUA isn’t particularly the ideal television for watching movies with lots of dark or shadowy scenes. Besides, with a contrast ratio as poor as this, this television isn’t ideal for dark room viewing.

On a positive note, the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display supports local dimming. Local dimming is a technique that displays uses to improve their contrast level by dimming backlight zones.

Therefore, with the help of local dimming, the blacks that the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display produces should be a little bit darker. However, it won’t be as dark if the display comes with a good contrast ratio.

Moving on, the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display supports HDR in numerous formats. These formats include Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG, and HDR Pro.

Just in case you are wondering, the full meaning of HDR is High Dynamic Range. Also, this picture technique allows for a greater range of colors and improved contrast when a display is viewing HDR-supported content.

For the record, HDR-supported content is often found on streaming services like HULU, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and so on.

That said, the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display has excellent reflection handling. To give more details, this display features a semi-gloss coating that prevents reflection on direct sunlight.

Therefore, you shouldn’t have an issue using the television in a bright or moderately-lit area.

In addition to its impressive reflection handling, the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display is very ideal for viewing fast-motion content. This is because the display comes with a really fast response time of 12.4 milliseconds.

For clarity, response time is the amount of time that it takes a display to transition from a particular color to another color. Thus, viewing fast-motion content like action movies or sports will be very appealing on the LG 55SM8600PUA.

Having said all that, now let us discuss the gaming capabilities of the LG 55SM8600PUA’s display. This display is very much capable of playing video games thanks to its low input lag of 10.1 milliseconds.

Moreover, input lag is the time that it takes a display to register a signal input. Furthermore, the lower the display input lag, the better the gaming experience.

This is because it will take the display just a few milliseconds to register an input from a gamepad for example. Thus, improving the gaming experience on this TV.

After thorough consideration, I strongly believe that the LG 55SM8600PUA deserves an eight out of ten in this display review section.

55SM8600PUA: Sound Features

When it comes to sound production, the LG 55SM8600PUA employs two 20-watt speakers. These speakers are quite impressive in sound production, offering impressive sound quality.

Besides, these speakers are very loud to the extent of conveniently filling a fairly large room with sound. Not only that, the speakers are capable of producing well-balanced and clear dialogue.

In case you are curious, dialogue is the sound produced when multiple characters are having a conversation in a movie or TV show. In addition to its impressive sound production, the LG 55SM8600PUA features DTS-HD to further enhance its speakers’ sound production.

This DTS-HD is an audio technology by DTS that allows the LG 55SM8600PUA’s speakers to produce high-definition sound. Furthermore, this audio technology improves the surround sound that the TV’s speakers produce.

For those wondering, surround sound is the reproduction of an actual sound that gives listeners an impression that sound is coming from different angles of their environment.

Impressively, the LG 55SM8600PUA comes with a subwoofer that allows it to produce enough bass. Therefore, bass-heavy movies will be very appealing to watch on the LG 55SM8600PUA.

Having said all that, let us now discuss the performance of this television on a THD test. Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is an evaluation test for measuring the amount of distortion that a sound device is capable of producing.

Furthermore, on this test, the acceptable score is 1% or less. Thankfully, the LG 55SM8600PUA was able to score 0.955% on the THD test.

Therefore, even at the max volume level, distortion on the LG 55SM8600PUA won’t be audible.

To conclude this sound features review section, I will rate the LG 55SM8600PUA a nine out of ten for its impressive sound performance.

55SM8600PUA: Port and Connectivity Features

The LG 55SM8600PUA offers a good number of ports. However, all of the ports are housed on the back of the television.

Therefore, if the television is wall-mounted, the ports won’t be easily accessible.

That said, the LG 55SM8600PUA features three USB 2.0, 4 HDMI ports, an Ethernet port, and a composite video input. Also, this television comes with an RF port for antenna connection, and a digital optical audio output.

That said, for wireless connectivity, the LG 55SM8600PUA comes with Bluetooth 5.0 as well as an in-built WiFi 802.11 ac.

As expected from a $1000+ LG television, the LG 55SM8600PUA features a magic remote control. This remote is the same one that comes with most high-end LG TVs.

Moreover, this remote is made out of a solid plastic body and firm rubber buttons that provide easy access to the television’s functions. Furthermore, instead of the traditional plus-shaped navigation button, this remote features a scroller for navigation.

Impressively, despite being so small, this magic remote features a full number pad. Also, the remote comes with two dedicated buttons for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Not just that, the magic remote also features an in-built microphone for voice input. Thus, by pressing down the microphone button on the remote and speaking into this in-built mic, you will be able to control the LG 55SM8600PUA with your voice.

Moreover, for voice assistant AI, the LG 55SM8600PUA support Google Assitant as well as Amazon Alexa.

In conclusion, the LG 55SM8600PUA offers a good number of ports as well as a magic remote control. Therefore, I will rate the LG 55SM8600PUA a nine out of ten in this port and connectivity review section.

55SM8600PUA: Smart Features

When it comes to the smart operating system, the LG 55SM8600PUA offers the webOS 4.5. This operating system has a straightforward interface that is easy to navigate and runs fairly smoothly.

Also, on the interface of this OS, there is a dashboard that offers quick access to various streaming services. A few of the streaming services that you will find on this dashboard include Sling TV, HULU, Now TV, Netflix, and iTV.

Moreover, if you ever need additional streaming services, you can simply download them from the LG content store on webOS 4.5. That aside, this operating system offers a full web browser.

Therefore, if the LG 55SM8600PUA is connected to the internet via WIFI or Ethernet, you will be able to browse the internet freely on the TV.

Impressively, with the help of the LG TV Plus app, you will be able to control the LG 55SM8600PUA in case you misplace your remote control. Besides, you can also use this application to share content from your smartphone to the television.

To make things more interesting, this LG TV Plus app is available on both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store.

All things considered, I will rate the LG 55SM8600PUA a nine out of ten in this smart features review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The LG 55SM8600PUA is a 55-inch NanoCell television that offers a 4K resolution and a colorful, impressive picture quality. Moreover, thanks to its display’s IPS panel, this television comes with wide viewing angles.

In addition to that, this television is ideal for gaming due to its low input lag. Furthermore, this television comes with a good port selection as well as a magic remote control.

However, this television comes with one major flaw, which is its poor contrast ratio. Besides this flaw, there is literally nothing to hate about this television.

Therefore, if you need an adequate 55-inch LG TV and you can afford it, the LG 55SM8600PUA is the best for you!

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