Review: Philips 32PHS6009/12 Smart HD TV with Titan OS - A Solid European Alternative
I recently decided to upgrade my TV as my current Walton TV, running on Android, was not meeting my expectations. I don't actually have many expectations of a TV, I just want be able to watch RTÉ 1 and 2 for the occasional Rugby match, Toy Show or pan-European singing competition, TG4 for the basketball and streaming from Paramount or Netflix for the kids cartoons. The TV I had needed frequent reboots to just work and struggled to handle the terrestrial channels.
I decided that it was a good opportunity (given the current political climate to try to buy European), and while it is most likely not manufactured in Europe, the Philips brand stands out as a trustworthy European (Dutch) brand and I was very interested to see they have developed their own TV operating system alternative to Android in Titan OS. Not only does it tick the box of being a European TV, it also addresses some of my privacy concerns regarding having Android running on devices throughout my household.
The Philips 32PHS6009/12 Smart HD TV was the TV I chose, 80cm (or 32 inches in old money), because that is what fits in the space reserved for the TV in my house.
Purchased from Currys (https://www.currys.ie/products/philips-32phs600912-32-smart-hd-ready-hdr-led-tv-10265079.html), it was €229.00 at the time I purchased it.
First Impressions:
At 4kg, the TV seems very light to me; it felt much lighter than the one I was replacing. On the other hand, the remote control felt heavy, with a solid, high-quality feel to it.
I find the buttons reserved for specific services to be a little annoying, as I may not want to use any of these services or have subscriptions to them. In my case, we are likely to use the Netflix button as the kids are using this (and I can't find a European equivalent that works for them). I had to search for 'Freely' online and discovered it is a UK-only service (geo-locked), which makes it even more irritating than the others as I can't use this at all from Ireland even if I wanted to. I don't know yet if there is a way to reprogram the buttons.
The initial setup was smooth. It asked me for my language and region. There was an option for English (which is how I like it, without assuming I must be either British or American), and then I was presented with a list of larger countries and an 'Other' option under which I found Ireland. I could choose from two location options: 'Home' or 'Shop'.
Connecting to WiFi was straightforward, with an option to skip this and have an unconnected traditional TV.
During setup, you can reject all sharing of data with third parties, which I did. It has not appeared to impact the use of the TV.
Tuning:
I tuned both the local terrestrial channels and free satellite channels. The terrestrial channels were straightforward, though it did search for a long time to find them. The satellite search was a bit tricky, with it wanting to search only Astra 19.2 by default. I had to manually add Astra 28.2 and Eutelsat myself and ignore warnings that the TV was right and I was wrong when it suggested Astra 19.2. It turns out I was right, and it was able to tune the channels.
The TV runs smoothly, with a bit of a delay when switching between terrestrial and satellite, but I can live with this.
Titan OS:
The operating system runs smoothly, is intuitive and is easy on the eye. As far as I can tell there is no app store, and all available apps come preinstalled. Things I miss are Proton VPN, RTÉ Player and Paramount. There is a good selection of apps available and I am sure we will see more if it gains in popularity.
Irish TV:
As stated above, I was able to tune the Irish channels. RTÉ 1, RTÉ 2, TG4, and the Virgin Media channels are all available. However, there is no RTÉ Player app today. I have reached out to RTÉ to ask if this is something that is on the cards.
I have also been unable to cast from RTÉ Player or Virgin Media Player from my phone. TG4 casting is working fine.
I also tried the built-in Titan OS web browser to access RTÉ Player. It fails with what looks like geo-blocking, but I confirmed my IP address is reporting correctly. A lot of this is par for the course for RTÉ, so it would be unfair to blame it on the TV.
Apart from the issues with access to the player apps for Irish TV channels, I like this TV. I hope we see more TVs running Titan OS as time goes on so that the range of apps expands. No regrets on this one.