The modern TV. It's that and a whole lot more... well it should be. When people hear "Smart TV" they associate it with a generally understood number of set features, but in reality, there is no such set list. I could add a quad-core to a set and give it some random OS that I made which basically does nothing but provide you access to pornhub and vine, and call it "smart" with no problem. What the Philips series does is call a dumb TV smart with the Google Chromcast series. This is a result of their lack of any on-screen menu/interface for streaming apps. Looking through commonly used apps like Netflix, Crunchyroll, or even something like iHeartRadio, is impossible to do on the TV itself. It requires a separate wireless device which you then use to "cast" the individual program you selected to the TV itself which will simply begin playing it. Your expensive tablet is now a glorified TV remote. They also don't even work with Amazon Prime. I am sure it's because Google TV or Youtube Red or whatever they are gonna call it, sees Amazon as a direct competitor.
This is like if Chevy only made their cars derivable if you were also wearing Chevy-brand shoes with the RFID pedal activator embedded in the shoe-sole as well. It is an extra unnecessary step that no one wants to deal with. Every other "smart" TV can have something "cast" to it, but the other option is to use the on-screen menu, which everyone is not only accustomed to, but also expects. This is like Chevy selling a car with no steering wheel and simply telling drivers to use their new Chevy pedal activation shoes to steer with by pointing your toes in the direction they want to go in. Customers bought a car, they are expecting a steering wheel. Philips has decided you don't, and you're not going to get one.
The technical specs next to the price tag are the siren song they sing. With more than your standard HDMI ports and some great resolution they are indeed utilitarian and impressive, but even these are not as impressive as they could be. No localized-dimming, speakers that could be better, and a remote that like it was designed by Jackson Pollock Jr, son of Roy Lichtenstein. All in all, if you don't know what you're in for, you'll see the price tag (which makes a Vizio look like Bentley next to a Kia), ad think something like:
Jackpot!
Well don't be fooled, I am here to let you know that after you get this home and start it up, you are going to start regretting buying it and thinking; "Should I haul out my old PS3 so I can at least get an onscreen menu so it's easier to watch The Orville on Hulu while I am lying on my couch and my tablet is way over on the other side of the room?" The answer will be yes and you will be annoyed. Google seems to not have learned from the mistakes of Apple, and it's probably because they think they are so much better than they are. The proprietary technology and software Apple has famously alienated itself with, will be the proprietary consumer behaviors and end-user activities will eventually create a significant reverse-value-ratio to make Samsung or even SONY products look attractive again.
This was not good news.
This review is mostly based on the Philips PFL5922 series, but looking at others in the showroom were pretty much the same. Don't you hate it when you get "gifts" of things you want but the exact type of said thing is something you'd never want... like when you were growing up and you wanted an NES so you could play it and talk about it with your friends and then one day there's a wrapped up box at home, you get all excited, and it's a ColecoVision. You know you can't be mad, but at the same time you know you're gonna use it once and then just ...not anymore.
Then like with the flat-lining of Google Plus (no small part in the straight up resentment it caused with it's unexpected anal-fisting into Youtube), this will likely make these Philips turds so unattractive that the office of whoever thought making Google Cast the only way to go is going to be in there thinking long and hard...
The just won't know what went wrong...
So to summarize, don't buy this.
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