LG OLED55E6V review

I'll keep it short and sweet: If you're in the market for a 55-inch screen with an immaculate contrast ratio, beautiful color reproduction and 4K resolution, you'd be hard-pressed finding a set better than the OLED55E6.

You've read about OLED elsewhere before, I'm sure, so I won't spend much time on it here and I'll just cover the basics. In brief, OLED passes an electric current through organic light-emitting diodes to create color on the screen. Each individual LED can be individually controlled, which means there's no need to have giant lamps sitting on the side of the screen or scattered uniformly across the back of the panel.

OLED screens are more uniformly lit than LCD LED screens, have a better contrast ratio and, in most cases, have richer, more natural colors, too.

But why you should pick this OLED specifically, instead of say the OLED C6, G6 or B6, is because the OLED55E6 offers smart TV functionality through WebOS 3.0, a 2.2 stereo soundbar and stunning flat, picture-on-glass design for a fairly reasonable price.

Quick look:

Screen sizes available: 55 and 65 inches | 4K: Yes | HDR: Yes | Panel technology: OLED | Smart TV: Yes, webOS 3.0 | Curved: No | 3D: Yes |Dimensions: 1237 x 767 x 56.7mm (W x H x D) | Inputs: 4 x HDMI with HDCP 2.2, 3 x USB 2.0, Component, Composite, Ethernet, Optical Audio

Design

The 55-inch OLED E6 brings a lot to the table in terms of design. It's easy to appreciate the ultra-slim screen that's thinner than most cell phones, and the accompanying soundbar really can really kick.

On the left-side of the screen you'll find four HDMI ports with HDCP 2.2 and three USB 2.0 ports, alongside composite and component in, ethernet and optical audio ports. It's also fairly hefty, and therefore might require multiple people if you decide to wall-mount it.

Performance and sound

At the core of the OLED55E6 is LG's new webOS 3.0, a fairly robust smart TV system that offers plenty of apps, including 4K versions of YouTube and Netflix. As you might expect, 4K and HDR content looks incredible on this TV with deep, inky blacks sitting next to bright, shimmering whites in perfect harmony. Contrast, OLED's specialty, is as good as it gets here. Watching Star Trek on 4K HDR Blu-ray I was often awestruck at how rich the CGI space looked and how omniscient the vastness of space appeared on LG's top-tier hardware.

That said, the OLED55E6's one weakness might be the way in which it upscales content. On more than one occasion I found the lines between objects that had been upscaled was jagged, while the persistence of truMotion gave every scene a soap opera effect unless you dove into the menus to turn it off.

Sound-wise, however, the OLED55E6 leaves nothing to be desired. I could spend hours going on about the ample noise it generates (the speaker goes up to 100, and I had mine set at a room-filling 12), how you can custom-tune it to your living room via a the remote's built-in microphone or how it strikes the balance between mids, lows and highs, but I'd rather focus on its other neat feature: screen casting through a function called DIAL.

Similar to Google Cast, DIAL allows you to share your mobile device or laptop's screen directly to the biggest TV in your house with just a few clicks. There are other TVs with more integrated solutions out there – just look at Vizio's SmartCast series, for example – but if you're looking for crazy deep black levels and this kind of connectivity, LG's OLED is the only place to find it.

The difference between the OLED55E6 and OLED65E6

Can't decide whether to go with the 55-inch version of the OLED E6 or the 65-inch version? A good rule of thumb is that if you plan on sitting within two or three meters of the TV, stick to a 55-inch screen. If you're a little ways back, opt for the 65-inch option. There's no difference in quality or functionality between the two, so it really comes down to size and budget constraints.

If you're looking for similar sets from Samsung and Sony, you should consider the Sony KD-XD9305, which comes in 55- and 65-inch variations, or theSamsung KS9500 with the company's proprietary SUHD tech inside it and comes in 55, 65 and 75-inch versions.

Verdict

The LG OLED55E6 is perfect for a very specific audience – one that wants pristine picture quality, but doesn't necessarily need a 65-inch set, and is willing to pay a premium for it. If that sounds like you, the E6 doesn't disappoint. If you need something a bit larger for the price tag, consider stepping down one of LG's UHD sets. But if picture quality is paramount, there should be nothing stopping you from going all-in with OLED.

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LG Hom-Bot Square (VR65704LM) review

The $899 Hom-Bot Square is LG's latest robotic vacuum cleaner. It's a relatively compact, pleasingly quiet vacuum that offers several cleaning modes and comes with a remote control. It does a decent job cleaning floors, but only when Turbo mode is activated, which quickly drains power. And its navigational skills need work, so you'll likely have to do a bit of babysitting to get the results you want. For the price, you're better off getting a Wi-Fi vacuum you can control with your phone like the Neato Botvac Connected or the iRobot Roomba 980.

Pricing, Design, and Features

There are two versions of the LG Hom-Bot Square. One comes in Ocean Black with a mop attachment for $899, and the other comes in Ruby Red, without the attachment, for $749. That is a steep difference in price for what's basically a simple apparatus for a microfiber cloth. I tested the Ocean Black variant with the mop attachment for this review.

Square with rounded edges, the Hom-Bot measures 3.5 by 13.4 by 13.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.6 pounds, which makes it one of the smaller robotic vacuums we've tested. The Botvac Connected, for instance, measures 3.9 inches tall and weighs 9.0 pounds, while the Roomba 980 is 3.6 inches tall and weighs 8.7 pounds. Height can make a big difference if you have furniture that sits close to the floor.

The top of the vacuum has a glossy finish that's prone to picking up fingerprints. There are five embedded touch buttons, including Start/Stop, Turbo, Mode, Home, and Push. Start/Stop turns the vacuum on or off, Turbo increases suction power, Mode lets you select from a variety of cleaning modes (more on these in a bit), and Home returns the vacuum to its base station. Push pops open the lid so you can remove the dust bin. The bin is easy to remove; just lift the handle and it simply comes out. An embedded LED display above the buttons shows the battery level, selected mode, time of day, and whether the vacuum is in Turbo mode.

There are no other settings options on the Hom-Bot itself. Instead, you need to use the included remote (which is powered by two included AAA batteries) to access the rest of the vacuum's features. In addition to the settings you find on the vacuum , the remote allows you to control it manually, program schedules, set the clock on the display, and mute voice prompts. Unlike the Botvac Connected and the Roomba 980, there is no smartphone app.

Flip the Hom-Bot over and you'll find two wheels, a main roller brush, two rotating side brushes for cleaning edges and sweeping up debris, metallic charging contacts, cliff detection and lower camera sensors, and the battery housing. The vacuum also has multiple sensors around it sides, and an On/Off switch and ventilation port on the back.

Included in the box is a comb-like cleaning tool, a spare dust bin filter, an attachable mop plate, microfiber mop cloths, two spare side brushes, a roller brush for pet hair, and an AC adapter for the docking station. The docking station, which comes with a holding slot for the remote, measures 9.3 by 7.1 by 5.0 inches (HWD).

Setup, Control, and Performance

Setting up the Hom-Bot is easy. First, plug the docking station into a wall outlet. Then, place the vacuum in the base (making sure the metallic contacts touch), flip the On/Off switch, and wait three hours for it to reach a full charge. Once juiced up, you can either press Start/Stop on the vacuum itself or use the remote control to activate it.

As with traditional vacuums, before setting it loose, you should clear your floor of clothes, pet toys, and anything else you don't want the vacuum to suck up. But even after taking the necessary precautions, the Hom-Bot unplugged my electric fan, tangled up a stray Lightning cable, and kept snagging and re-snagging itself on the base of a cat tree.

I also experienced some navigation issues in testing. For example, the vacuum had trouble returning to its home base every time it finished a cleaning job, so I took over via remote and controlled the docking procedure myself. Similar to a toy car, the direction buttons used to pilot the vacuum are intuitive and responsive. It also never once entered the bathroom or entrance hall of my apartment, which again required manual intervention. For what should be a fully automated process, you can't simply set and forget the Hom-Bot.

It helps to read the manual before toggling any of the various cleaning modes. For instance, My Space mode lets you guide the robot around a chosen rectangular perimeter (smaller than 3.3 feet), which it will then clean around. Zigzag has the robot sweep back and forth across the floor. Cell-by-Cell divides areas into rectangular spaces which the Hom-Bot works on one at a time. And Spiral Spot focuses on one particular zone.

As far as cleaning performance is concerned, results are mixed. The Hom-Bot cleans quietly, even with Turbo mode activated, which should really be on by default. Without it, suction power is weak, especially on carpets. On hardwood floors, the Hom-Bot fared better. Though the included microfiber mop attachment doesn't offer any noticeable changes in cleaning. If it's shiny floors you're after, you'll want to consider the iRobot Braava 380t or the iRobot Scooba 450, two robots that specialize in mopping. The Hom-Bot couldn't navigate to my tiled bathroom on its own, and once I picked it up and moved it there, it failed to pick up most of the kitty litter left on the floor. Overall, on cleaning performance, the Hom-Bot lagged behind the Botvac Connected and the Roomba 980.

LG says the Hom Bot lasts up to 100 minutes in Standard mode. In testing, with Turbo Mode activated, it conked out in less than an hour, before it could finish cleaning my small apartment. (And it takes about three hours to fully charge the Hom-Bot.) To compare, the Botvac Connected lasts up to 90 minutes in Turbo mode, or up to 120 minutes without it.

Conclusions
The LG Hom-Bot Square has a few things going for it. It's small enough to fit under most furniture, quieter than the competition, has several cleaning modes, and comes with a useful remote control. It even does a respectable job cleaning the floor, though to do so, it needs to have Turbo mode activated, which drains power quickly. That shouldn't be the case for $900, nor should the navigation issues I experienced in testing. In this price range, you're better off with the iRobot Roomba 980, which has a much easier time getting around on its own and connects to your smartphone via Wi-Fi. Or you can save $200 and pick up the Neato Botvac Connected, which also offers powerful cleaning and Wi-Fi connectivity.

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LG SH7B Soundbar review

Soundbars are all the rage these days and it's easy to see why – they take up very little space, sound way better than your TV's speakers and are dead-simple to set up. And while some feel that soundbars might not sound as good as a true surround sound system or even a good stereo setup, I've found that they do a good enough job that most people won't mind skimping on some sound quality for an easier setup and smaller price tag.

That said, the LG SH7B soundbar system sounds great for the price, offering a ton more features than other soundbars. It's also as easy as it comes to get set up as it doesn't require routing wires or the need for an preamp and amp of a traditional surround sound system.

Said simply, the LG SH7B offers an attractive package for movie and music enthusiasts who don't want to break the bank. The soundbar and subwoofer package retails for $500 (about £380, AU$666) but, give it some time, and you'll be able to find it for even lower on the web.

Design and connections

The 360-watt LG SH7B comes with a soundbar and subwoofer in the box. The soundbar measures a slim 41.73 x 2.09 x 3.35 inches (L x W x H) and the sub is a compact 6.73 x 12.6 x 9.92 inches (L x W x H).

The subwoofer is wireless, so all you need to do is plug in its power cable and it'll sync automatically with the soundbar. There's a single status light located on the subwoofer that tells you if it's connected, which comes in handy if you ever need to troubleshoot it.

The LG SH7B offers a ton of flexibility for mounting. Wall mount adapters are included in the package and the soundbar is light enough that it'll fit just about anywhere.

Alternatively, if breaking out a drill wasn't on your agenda for today, you can simply place the soundbar flat on your home entertainment center without needing to drill. Plus, since the sub is wireless, you can place it anywhere within the room – but I suggest putting it in a corner to maximize bass impact.

Behind the soundbar you'll find connections for HDMI in and out, optical, auxiliary and ethernet. What you don't see physically are connection options for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi that make the LG SH7B quite a versatile speaker setup for all your music or movie streaming needs.

To get started, you'll need to download LG's MusicFlow Player app, as it allows you to seamless transition from listening to music on your phone to all of your LG speakers at home. LG's MusicFlow line of speakers all work in tandem with the SH7B to create a multi-room listening experience that in some ways rivals Sonos systems. (However, for the record, I've previously reviewed the LG MusicFlow P7 portable speaker, which I found to be less than impressive.)

While the SH7B's setup was mostly a breeze, I found LG's Music Flow Player app for Android a buggy mess. I tried multiple times to connect the SH7B to my wireless network but it always failed. I switched to my iPad and downloaded the iPhone version of the app and it connected the first time. So much for being platform agnostic.

With the SH7B hooked up to your home network, you can use Google Cast to stream your music over Wi-Fi, offering an audible performance bump over the Bluetooth connection.

Sound quality

For its light weight and reasonable price tag, the SH7B surprised me with an above average sound. It still sounds like a soundbar – with its narrow imaging and simulated surround sound – but this is the tradeoff you make for going with a simplified audio solution.

Movies, overall, sound good, with powerful bass impact and distortion-free playback, even at higher volumes. Out of the box, the bass is a little overbearing, but that can be adjusted with the included remote. For the most part, mids and highs sound good with dialogue sounding clear.

Watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the sound of blasters and lightsaber wooshes filled my apartment. Lasers hit home with impactful blasts of sound, with the subwoofer generating an impressive amount of bass for its size. However, there was very little surround sound effect, which pulled me out of the experience and made everything sound a bit two dimensional.

The SH7B's limited imaging means you won't get true surround sound, but it's not a problem exclusive to LG's latest 'bar – most other soundbars under $1,000 typically face that problem as well. To its credit, though, its sound is concentrated around the center channel but there's still good stereo separation to help create a more immersive listening experience.

If you want a comparison to another manufacturer, the Samsung HW-J650 goes for around the same price of the LG, but features an annoying echo effect making the LG a better buy.

Music sounds mediocre on the SH7B with the speakers missing top-end resolution and offering sometimes muddy bass. However, turning down the subwoofer level helped to tame the bass and balance the sound. If you're more of a casual music listener, the SH7B is more than adequate but you might be better off with a stereo bookshelf speaker, which will sound better for music and cost a little less.

One thing I really enjoyed about the LG SH7B is its ability to be used without turning on the TV. I streamed music via Google Play Music and Soundcloud to the soundbar. I love that Google Cast is built in, making it easy to start streaming music from any Android or iOS device.

We liked

Although the SH7B doesn't offer the finest audio quality, LG managed to pack its entry-level soundbar full of useful features that still manages to sound good. Having Google Cast built in makes the SH7B a versatile home theater product for all of your music or movie needs.

Plus, it's easy to set up and having a wireless subwoofer makes setup easy. You can also add rear Musicflow speakers to upgrade the SH7B into a true surround sound setup.

We disliked

Out of the box, the SH7B has overwhelming bass. It's easy enough to turn down via its remote control, but bass sounds a bit uncontrolled for some movies. While setup is painless for the most part, LG's MusicFlow Android app is extremely buggy compared to the one it released on iOS. The SH7B still sounds like a soundbar with its limited three-dimensional imaging so those looking for true surround sound should look elsewhere.

Final verdict

It's hard to fault the LG SH7B too much – it does a lot with a minuscule physical footprint and a reasonable price tag to match. I really enjoyed my time using it for playing back music and watching movies, even if the lack of true surround sound made the films less immersive than I was used to.

That said, it's a breeze to set up since its subwoofer is wireless but Android users may be frustrated by LG's buggy app. Sound quality is great for the price, but in the end loses out to traditional bookshelf speakers in terms of clarity on the high-end. If you want a soundbar that can take on every type of media you can throw at it, though, the LG SH7B is a great option.

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