LG 55EA9800 review

The 55EA9800 certainly can't be accused of not trying unusually hard to be user-friendly. Especially impressive is the latest version of its Magic Remote concept, which combines excellent, impressively accurate 'point and click' technology with a simple, tactile wheel for scrolling through long menus.

The remote fits perfectly in your hand and within seconds even the most technophobic of users should be using it to whizz through the 55EA9800's menus and features as if they'd been born to do it.

LG's onscreen menus are among the more attractive in the TV world too, and generally make it pretty clear where you need to go next in order to achieve a desired end. They also do a quite thoughtful job of screening the most complex adjustments from people who aren't keen (and thus, presumably savvy) enough to seek them out.

The Smart TV menus are perhaps a touch overwhelming as LG seeks to fit into one densely populated 'scrolling' hub screen quantities of stuff that rival brands are increasingly tending to put into completely separate screens. But this is a small point, really, and overall the 55EA9800 is much easier to use than you might expect from a TV of its spec level.

Sound quality

While you struggle to see the 55EA9800's speakers thanks to their small size and see-through design, you can certainly hear them. The power and dynamic range they're capable of producing is pretty incredible all things considered, outperforming the speakers found in many much larger, deeper TVs that use speakers you can, you know, actually SEE.

It doubtless helps that the 55EA9800's speakers fire forwards rather than down like those of many other skinny TVs.

The only complaint I might make about the 55EA9800's audio in the circumstances is that the soundstage they produce is a bit narrow – possibly because the TV's curved design forces the speakers at each end of the chassis to face slightly towards each other.

Value

On the one hand – and probably, sadly, the hand that applies to the vast majority of the TV-buying public - $8k is an awful lot of cash to splash on a mere 55-inch television. On the other hand, the 55EA9800 is no ordinary 55-inch television.

Its OLED technology makes it both prettier and a better performer than any other HD TV to date, and we could even imagine fans of 4K having their heads turned by the 55EA9800's advantages in every other department bar straight resolution.

It's also worth remembering that when it launched the 55EA9800 was four grand more than it now costs. And when 55-inch OLED TVs were first announced not far off 18 months ago, five-figure prices were being talked about.