Tag Archives: Television

Blaupunkt 43-inch Ultra-HD LED CyberSound Android TV (43CSA7070) Review: 4K Smart TV with Good Sound

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Most new budget televisions boast of popular features and specifications related to visuals, such as Ultra-HD resolution, support for HDR formats, and also smart connectivity to enable easy streaming of content from numerous online sources. However, few tout their sound capabilities; affordable options often have only basic speaker systems, and as a result, fairly basic sound quality. The latest range of TVs from Blaupunkt hopes to change that. In India, the Blaupunkt brand has been licensed by local manufacturer Super Plastronics for televisions, and it has recently launched the CyberSound range of affordable smart TVs.

The TV I’m reviewing here is the 43-inch model in this range, the Blaupunkt 43CSA7070 Ultra-HD LED Android TV, and it’s priced at Rs. 30,999. It checks all the boxes when it comes to basic specifications, with a 43-inch Ultra-HD LED-backlit screen, support for HDR content, and Android TV 10 powering the smart connectivity.

However, there’s also a key additional specification that gives the TV its name: the 43CSA7070 TV has a rated sound output of 50W through its built-in speaker system. Is this the loudest and best-sounding budget 4K TV you can buy right now, and can it also match up to the competition in terms of video quality? Find out in this review.

The Blaupunkt CyberSound 4K TV range is available in sizes of 43 inches, 50 inches, and 55 inches

 

Blaupunkt 43-inch Ultra-HD LED CyberSound Android TV design and specifications

Most affordable and reasonably priced televisions in India right now look fairly plain, with simple plastic frames and slim borders that allow for viewers’ focus to remain on the screen. The Blaupunkt CyberSound TV largely adheres to this formula, but has a thin silver-coloured strip at the bottom that helps it stand out a bit. The company logo is on this strip, with a module for the status light and IR receiver right below it.

The television isn’t very thick, and can be wall or table-mounted, with the former compatible with standard VESA mounting hooks, and the latter using the stands included in the box. A wall-mount kit is included in the box, and Blaupunkt provides free installation for this TV with your purchase. The stands, if used, need to be placed near the outer edges of the TV, so you’ll need a wide enough table to place it on.

The power socket for the cable faces to the right of the screen, while all ports face to the left. If you have the TV wall-mounted, these ports might be a bit difficult to access since they are near the centre of the TV at the back. The television isn’t very heavy, weighing about 6.5kg, which makes it easy to lift and even install yourself if you choose. I do, however, recommend that you opt for professional installation if you aren’t familiar with the process.

While I’m reviewing the 43-inch model, there are also 50-inch and 55-inch options in the same product range, priced at Rs. 36,999 and Rs. 40,999 respectively. The 43-inch, 50-inch, and 55-inch models are all Ultra-HD televisions with support for high dynamic range content up to the HDR10+ format, and are almost identical in terms of the rest of their specifications. Naturally, the size you pick would depend on the viewing distance and space in your home.

The TV has a 43-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED-backlit IPS LCD screen, with a standard refresh rate of 60Hz and a rated peak brightness of 450 nits. High dynamic range content up to the HDR10+ format is supported on the TV; the lack of support for Dolby Vision content is notable here, especially since competing products such as the Realme Smart TV 4K 43 and the upcoming Mi TV 5X do have this.

This is an Ultra-HD television with support for HDR10+ format content, but no Dolby Vision

 

Connectivity options include three HDMI ports, two USB ports, Ethernet, Optical (Toslink) audio out, an antenna connector, and a single composite AV input socket to be used with a three-way RCA adapter. Oddly, while the specifications do state the presence of a headphone jack for external audio connectivity, this wasn’t present on my review unit. As mentioned, the 43-inch Blaupunkt CyberSound TV has a rated sound output of 50W through a box speaker system with four speaker units.

HDMI ARC, Dolby Digital and Dolby MS12 processing, Bluetooth 5, and dual-band Wi-Fi are also supported. The TV is powered by a quad-core processor, and has 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage for the Android TV 10 software and apps.

Blaupunkt 43-inch Ultra-HD LED CyberSound Android TV remote and features

Small remotes with few buttons might be in fashion for affordable televisions, but the Blaupunkt CyberSound doesn’t have one of those. The remote of this TV is big and has lots of buttons including a number pad; D-pad for navigation; hotkeys for Netflix, YouTube, and Google Play; a Google Assistant button; and playback controls. This isn’t a bad thing at all, since it means that you can do just about everything you need with just a couple of button presses.

The remote runs on two AAA batteries (included in the box), and has dedicated buttons for all key functions such as changing the source, and accessing the picture and sound settings from any screen. An info button shows basic technical details in supported apps. Although it’s bulky and looks rather ordinary, it’s extremely functional and useful; I’d much rather have function over form when it comes to TV remotes.

It’s possible to change key picture and sound attributes plus some miscellaneous hardware settings using the remote, even from within content being played. Usefully, there is also Google Chromecast functionality built in, as well as support for Apple AirPlay. Getting AirPlay to work was a bit tricky, and needed a third-party app (AirScreen) from the Google Play Store, as the TV wasn’t able to connect with a source device from the Android TV home screen.

I was able to get it to work eventually, and it functioned normally with both a MacBook Air and iPhone once properly set up. Google casting worked pretty much as expected with both screen mirroring and direct content. There is also Google Assistant on the TV, which can be invoked using the button on the remote, and this works as expected too.

Blaupunkt 43-inch Ultra-HD LED CyberSound Android TV software and interface

The Blaupunkt CyberSound TV range runs Android TV 10, with only the stock Android TV launcher. If you’ve used Android TV devices before, this is the same familiar smart TV experience you’ll already be used to. Even if this is your first smart TV, the Android TV experience is among the easiest and best of the various available smart TV platforms.

Apps and games can be downloaded through the Google Play Store for Android TV, and certain apps are needed for you to fully use all the features of the TV, such as the AirScreen app mentioned in the previous section. Some apps come preinstalled on the Blaupunkt CyberSound TV, including Netflix, YouTube, and Google Play Movies.

The Cybersound TV runs Android TV 10, with the stock Android TV user interface

 

Most popular apps and streaming services are available to download, and the remote is fully optimised to control them. Usefully, the television boots up from standby in only around five seconds, and it takes around 45 seconds if you’re doing a full reboot, or turning it back on after the main power was turned off.

While the entire list of settings can be accessed through the Android TV home screen and settings menu, certain core settings for picture and sound can also be pulled up by pressing the ‘Menu’ button on the remote from anywhere within the interface, including when content is playing. This lets you tweak things on the go, and also immediately see how any changes affect the performance of the TV. There are specific picture modes for HDR, with the TV automatically detecting HDR content and choosing an appropriate one.

Blaupunkt 43-inch Ultra-HD LED CyberSound Android TV performance

As the name suggests, the Blaupunkt 43-inch Ultra-HD LED CyberSound Android TV is focused on sound performance, but this television does also match up to the competition when it comes to picture capabilities. It has an Ultra-HD screen with HDR support up to the HDR10+ format, with a standard refresh rate of 60Hz and support for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby MS12 processing, and DTS TruSurround.

That said, the superior Dolby Vision HDR format and Dolby Atmos sound format are not supported. This is a bit disappointing given that options such as the Realme Smart TV 4K 43 offer support for these formats at around the same price.

Despite its size, the Blaupunkt 43-inch CyberSound TV delivers a reasonably detailed picture when playing high-quality content, and differences between full-HD and Ultra-HD content were visible easily enough. High dynamic range content didn’t look significantly different from standard dynamic range content. This partly has to do with the lack of support for Dolby Vision, and partly because of the somewhat low peak brightness of the TV.

While colour accuracy was decent enough and the picture remained sharp and clean with Ultra-HD HDR content, the Blaupunkt CyberSound TV fell a bit short when it came to brightness and punch. Watching various episodes of Street Food: Asia on Netflix, the vibrant colours and activity of various food markets around Asia weren’t suitably reproduced by this TV.

The remote of the Blaupunkt CyberSound TV is big and bulky, but has buttons for practically everything you need

 

The picture was often difficult to discern clearly if bright daylight was hitting the screen, and turning up the brightness and backlighting only worsened things by creating a grey haze. Although darkening the room a bit by drawing the curtains did help improve the picture, night scenes were still often unwatchable in regular conditions; many scenes in the Cebu episode of Street Food: Asia appeared completely grey to me, with no reasonable level of detail visible at all.

This brings me to the black levels of the Blaupunkt CyberSound TV. The odd brightness management and the effect the backlighting has on the picture together made for blacks that didn’t look black at all. Instead, most nighttime and dark scenes appeared to have a grey wash over them that made viewing them quite difficult. I also found that HDR performance was a bit inconsistent, while standard dynamic range content tended to look a bit more visually exciting and harmonious.

I did notice that these flaws seemed to show more prominently in content with low production value, with the TV doing virtually nothing to enhance fast-moving video or anything shot in settings that weren’t necessarily photogenic. On the other hand, watching TV shows and movies shot on carefully constructed sets, such as Comedy Premium League on Netflix and some episodes of Loki on Disney+ Hotstar, was considerably better. Despite these issues with colour and brightness, the Blaupunkt TV did enough to ensure a sharp picture with clean motion, and I had no serious complaints with that.

I found that full-HD content on the Blaupunkt 43-inch CyberSound TV was nearly as good as Ultra-HD content; the TV did a good job of upscaling, particularly episodes of The Good Place and Parks and Recreation, as well as Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw. Interestingly enough, sharp, in-studio shooting techniques and bright sets and colours seemed to bring out the best in this TV. Lower-resolution content, particularly kids’ videos on YouTube, looked decent enough, with reasonably good upscaling. The issues with brightness and colours did persist, but content that is colourful and bright enough on its own didn’t hassle the TV too much.

Sound quality is pitched as a key feature of the Blaupunkt CyberSound TV series, with the 43-inch model having a rated output of 50W through a quad box speaker system. The speakers fire downwards, and are indeed as loud as the number suggests. Even at low to medium volume levels, the Blaupunkt CyberSound TV was very loud. Reasonably good tuning for voices made it easy to listen to the dialogue in movies and TV shows.

Turning the volume all the way up made for very loud sound, but did lead to some quirks in the sound quality which you wouldn’t typically face from a good soundbar with front-firing speakers. Volume levels were consistent, and there weren’t too many spikes in loud scenes or with music. Keeping the volume at medium to slightly high levels made for a pleasant and enjoyable sound. This Blaupunkt TV is quite easily the loudest…

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Hisense 55U6G 55-inch QLED Ultra-HD Smart Android TV Review: Mid-Range Winner?

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Hisense announced its entry in India in mid-2020, and has slowly but steadily expanded its product range here to include options in multiple price categories. Interestingly, the company is also an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for other brands, but has turned its focus to products marketed under its own brand name in India. Its latest range of mid-range large-screen full-array QLED TVs includes the Hisense 55U6G 55-inch QLED Ultra-HD Smart Android TV, which I’m reviewing here.

Priced at Rs. 59,990 in India, the 55U6G is part of a new range from Hisense. The company has also launched 65-inch and 75-inch full-array QLED TVs, priced at Rs. 84,990 and 3,99,990 respectively. With Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support, full-array local dimming, and the full-fledged Android TV experience for smart connectivity, the Hisense 55U6G promises a lot in the mid-range segment, for users looking at slightly better performance than what you would get from budget LED TVs. Is this the best television under Rs. 60,000 that you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Hisense 55U6G QLED TV runs on Android TV 9, with the new stock Google TV-like user interface on top

 

Hisense 55U6G QLED TV design and specifications

Quantum-Dot LED (QLED) TVs are typically positioned higher than LED TVs because of the superior technology in the display, and this also tends to show in their more premium design. Although slightly better looking than the Hisense A71F series from 2020, the 55U6G TV doesn’t look quite as impressive as some other premium QLED televisions such as the Mi QLED TV 4K or OnePlus TV Q1.

That said, the television’s design is discreet and inoffensive, with the screen dominating the front and the Hisense logo small enough to not really stand out significantly. There are thin borders, making for a high screen-to-body ratio, and this naturally keeps your attention on video content, as it’s supposed to be. The back of the TV is reasonably slim near the top, with the bottom expectedly a bit thicker. There is also a texture at the back, but this is unlikely to be seen in day-to-day use, especially if the TV has been wall-mounted.

Connectivity on the Hisense 55U6G QLED TV is decent, with three HDMI 2.0 ports; two USB Type-A ports; one Digital Optical Audio output (Toslink); and one antenna socket, all facing to the left of the TV. There are also some ports facing the back; these are AV In (RCA), 3.5mm audio out, and Ethernet. If you have the TV wall-mounted as I did, access to these ports will be difficult because of their positioning, and cables will likely bend and twist significantly even once connected. HDMI ARC is supported on the HDMI 1 port.

It’s possible to either wall-mount or stand-mount the Hisense 55U6G television, with both sets of hardware included in the sales package. The table stands are simple to install, but the size of this television and the wide footprint of the stands mean you’ll need a large table to place it on. Hisense offers free installation with every purchase.

The Hisense 55U6G QLED TV supports HDR up to the Dolby Vision format plus Dolby Atmos audio, and full-array local dimming with 72 dimming zones. The television has a peak brightness of 700nits, a screen resolution of 3840×2160 pixels, and a refresh rate of up to 60Hz across resolutions. Sound output is rated at 24W through a standard box speaker system. There’s 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and a quad-core processor to run the Android TV software.

Hisense 55U6G QLED TV remote and features

While we do tend to see better features and fancy remotes on premium televisions, the Hisense 55U6G offers only the typical basic features and specifications seen on most televisions. These include dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity, built-in Chromecast functionality, HDMI CEC, and Google Assistant support, to name a few. This TV doesn’t have any specific features for gaming, such as HDMI 2.1 support or low-latency modes.

The remote of the Hisense 55U6G QLED TV is very similar to the one I saw on the 50A71F series, and is powered by two AAA batteries which are included in the box. There are hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and Disney+ Hotstar, as well as a button to invoke Google Assistant, and a D-pad to navigate the interface and control playback. Other useful buttons include the Home and Back keys, volume controls, settings, and a button to quickly select the input source.

The Bluetooth-enabled remote can be used to invoke Google Assistant on the Hisense 55U6G QLED TV

 

For connectivity, the remote uses both an infrared emitter and Bluetooth; the latter allows the remote to be used for voice commands to Google Assistant, and also means that you don’t have to point it directly at the TV. Turning the TV on from standby requires the IR emitter, but all other functions once the TV is on, including volume adjustment and turning it off again, worked with Bluetooth. Commands go through as long as the remote is within about 3m of the TV.

Hisense 55U6G QLED TV software and interface

Many manufacturers, including Hisense, rely on Android TV to power their smart televisions, and the quality of the platform adds great value to the overall experience a TV offers. The Hisense 55U6G runs on Android TV 9, which is a bit dated. Many devices now come with Android TV 11. However, this doesn’t have too big an impact on the user experience, since the stock Android TV user interface is largely the same across versions.

Although I started out my review with the old stock Android TV interface, I received an update to the new Google TV-like Android TV UI a few days after setting the TV up. This isn’t the Google TV user interface that’s seen on the new Google Chromecast and Realme 4K Smart Google TV Stick; it’s Android TV, but with a revamped user interface.

Key changes include redesigned settings and preferences menus, large banners on the home screen with viewing suggestions and recommendations from various apps, and a content-centric approach to what’s on the home screen. There are various lists from across apps and services such as Netflix, Hotstar, and Apple TV; it’s very similar to the old Android TV UI, but there is not as much curation as on Google TV. You can also access quick settings largely focused on picture and sound parameters from within content, as well as the full settings menu from the home screen.

Apps and services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Apple TV, and YouTube all offer familiar experiences. There is also access to the Google Play Store for more apps and games, and a number of key apps come preinstalled on the TV. The experience is therefore quite familiar at the app level, and the new user interface was also quite easy to learn and get used to. I didn’t face any issues with the software or UI during my time with the TV.

Hisense 55U6G performance

The Hisense 55U6G QLED TV has a fairly standard design and feature set, as you might expect from a 55-inch LED television priced below Rs. 50,000. However, Hisense does offer a couple of key features that help set this TV apart from more affordable options; it has a QLED screen which promises better picture quality, as well as 72 local dimming zones that will help improve contrast and black levels.

As with any large-screen Ultra-HD television with HDR support, the Hisense 55U6G QLED TV is best used with high-resolution HDR content. Dolby Vision content expectedly looked considerably better than everything else on this television, with the bright QLED screen bringing out the colours and impact of the format. I watched varied content across OTT services and resolutions, including the third season of Narcos: Mexico, Kim’s Convenience, Schitt’s Creek, Clarkson’s Farm, and a live stream of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, among other things.

Although Ultra-HD HDR content looks best on the Hisense 55U6G QLED TV, live-streamed F1 was good to watch as well

 

Narcos: Mexico brought out the absolute best in the Hisense 55U6G, with a bright and vibrant picture that was considerably better than what I’d only recently seen on the more affordable Mi TV 5X. Colours were reasonably accurate, and the TV even managed to capture the essence of the cliched sepia wash for scenes in Mexico, particularly those involving the character of Amado and the city of Juarez.

That said, high-resolution content did reveal some motion issues, with fast-paced scenes showing a few artefacts. This wasn’t as serious an issue with slow scenes or even faster scenes with low-resolution content. When they did happen though, artefacts and mild stutter in the picture tended to distract from the otherwise decent picture quality.

Although Dolby Vision content looked the best, HDR10+ content from Amazon Prime Video wasn’t too far behind. Clarkson’s Farm and The Grand Tour: Lochdown were sharp and detailed, with the dramatic videography of the latter showcased well. The high peak brightness of this television made for good viewing experiences both in daylight and at night. Even Ultra-HD standard dynamic range content appeared similarly sharp and detailed, with the obvious differences in brightness and colour quality being the only real points of note.

Black levels and contrast were good on the Hisense 55U6G television, largely thanks to its full-array local dimming. Although the effect wasn’t as impressive and intuitive as on some high-end televisions, or even what I’ve seen on the OnePlus TV Q1 Pro, it does make a noticeable difference to the overall viewing experience. Blacks didn’t quite feel as ‘black’ as they should have, but they were far from the more grey-looking dark zones seen on affordable LED televisions.

Although not specified by Hisense, the 55U6G appears to use a VA-type LED panel based on the quality of viewing from wider angles. Colours started to appear washed-out from even just 30-40 degrees off the centre, and it’s best to place yourself within this somewhat narrow range. The black uniformity and contrast do make up for this, though.

Android TV lets you access the Google Play Store to download various apps, including the NDTV app which can be used to live-stream content

 

Performance with full-HD content was decent on the Hisense 55U6G; shows such as Schitt’s Creek and Kim’s Convenience as well as live-streamed Formula 1 looked about as sharp and colour-accurate as can be expected, thanks to the quality of the quantum-dot LED display. Standard definition content was upscaled well and the TV is decent for occasional SD viewing, but like most 55-inch TVs, such content doesn’t look anywhere near as good as on a smaller full-HD or HD TV.

Sound on the Hisense 55U6G QLED TV is tuned to suit voice-based content. Voices sounded clean and detailed even at low volumes, and there were no significant volume spikes or harsh notes at any point during my review. That said, this television isn’t very loud and isn’t very capable with energetic or action-packed soundtracks either. The sound is quite ordinary compared to what you’d get with a proper soundbar or speaker system such as the Sony HT-S40R.

There is support for Dolby Atmos, and this can be activated or deactivated through the audio settings. Unlike on most televisions, this is not detected by apps, and works through the television’s own operating system. Turning it on did have a small effect on the openness and width of the soundstage, but it didn’t sound quite as good as on the OnePlus TV Q1 Pro which detects Atmos content at the app or file level.

Verdict

Quantum-dot is more than just a fancy keyword, and many manufacturers are putting this technology to good use. The last couple of years have seen brands such as Xiaomi and OnePlus get into the business of QLED TVs, and Hisense entering the space has resulted in even more choice for the buyer. The Hisense 55U6G is a good follow-up to the A71F series, thanks to the benefits of QLED technology including a bright, sharp, and vibrant picture. The reliable and familiar software, good remote, and generally hassle-free usage experience add to the overall quality of this television.

If you’re looking for a mid-range television and have a budget of around Rs. 60,000, this is among the better 55-inch options you can buy right now. Slight issues with artefacts and stutter in some kinds of content aside, there isn’t much to complain about with the Hisense 55U6G TV. It’s a safe, capable option for the price.

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OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro 55-inch Ultra-HD LED TV Review: Sensibly Priced, Good Software

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OnePlus entered the television segment with the Q1 series of quantum-dot LED TVs in 2019, but has since turned its attention towards making TVs with varied screen sizes and budgets for a price-conscious India. This includes the Y1S Pro series of televisions, which offer bigger Ultra-HD screens at reasonable prices, familiar software experiences, and some integrations and ecosystem benefits if you have other OnePlus hardware. While the 43-inch and 50-inch variants in the Y1S Pro range were launched earlier in 2022, the company only recently put the largest 55-inch variant on sale.

Priced at Rs. 39,999, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro Ultra-HD LED TV has been developed with value in mind, and goes up against the competition from brands such as Xiaomi and Redmi, TCL, and Hisense, among others in the deeply competitive, affordable big-screen TV segment. The OnePlus television offers support for HDR10+ high dynamic range content, and promises a software experience that works well with your OnePlus smartphones and accessories. Is this the best television you can buy for under Rs. 40,000 right now? Find out in this review.

The OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro is considerably different from the company’s more expensive options when it comes to design

 

OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro design and specifications

OnePlus’ television range in India fits roughly into three categories, of which the Y-series range is the most affordable. That said, the Y series in itself has standard and ‘Pro’ models. The Y1S Pro range features three size options — 43 inches, 50 inches, and 55 inches — with all featuring Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED screens. The largest of the three sizes, the one on review here, is priced at Rs. 39,999 in India.

This isn’t a particularly fancy television when it comes to design, but it does check the boxes for a competitively-priced television of this size. The OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro is available in a single black colour, and has slim borders surrounding the screen on all sides and a good screen-to-body ratio. There is a small OnePlus logo on the bottom strip and a fairly conspicuous module, but the TV has a design that is largely distraction-free and keeps the focus on what’s on the screen.

The OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro weighs around 10.9kg without the included table stands attached, and can be wall-mounted using standard VESA-compatible wall mounts (not included in the box, but can be arranged for at the time of installation). It isn’t particularly slim, and there is a reasonably wide gap behind the TV even when wall-mounted, but the TV doesn’t come across as too thick either. However, the ports on the left side of the TV are far inwards from the outer edge and can be a bit difficult to reach if you have the OnePlus TV Y1S Pro on a standard low-profile wall mount.

Connectivity options on the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro include three HDMI 2.1 ports (one supports ARC/eARC), two USB ports, a digital Optical (Toslink) port, an Ethernet port, and a single socket for AV input (to be used with a 3-in-1 adapter). There is also Bluetooth 5 and dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity on the television.

As mentioned, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro has a 55-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED screen, with support for high dynamic range content in the HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG formats. The speaker system has two drivers, with a total rated output of 24W and support for Dolby Audio. There is 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage for apps and app data on the OnePlus TV Y1S Pro.

OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro remote and features

Minimalist remotes are now the norm, and the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro has a fairly standard remote which keeps the focus on the basics of the smart TV user experience. Interestingly, there is no dedicated power button; the button with the OnePlus logo controls the power and standby modes, in addition to quickly switching to the Oxygen Play interface.

The OnePlus Connect app lets you use a smartphone as a remote for the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro

 

Apart from this, there is a standard D-pad and selection button for navigation, home and back buttons, volume and Google Assistant controls, and hotkeys for Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. The remote uses both IR and Bluetooth for connectivity, and is powered by two AAA batteries.

It’s a good looking and conveniently-shaped remote, and the learning curve (particularly related to the power controls) wasn’t too much to handle. I would recommend keeping the TV on standby much of the time rather than powering it down completely, since this ensures a quick boot-up when you turn it on again. However, you might need to do a full shut-down every few days to keep the system running smoothly.

In terms of features, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro is like any other budget Android TV device, with Ultra-HD Chromecast built-in, and support for Miracast and HDMI CEC. As mentioned, there is voice assistant support through Google Assistant, with the invoking button and microphone on the remote.

OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro software and interface

Similar to Xiaomi’s dual-UI approach, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro runs on Android TV 10 with the refreshed stock Android TV user interface as the primary UI, but with the addition of the company’s Oxygen Play launcher. Oxygen Play has no content of its own, instead focusing on curation of content from various OTT platforms and services. This includes movies, shows, sports, kids content, and news telecasts, from services such as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5 and Sony Liv, among others.

As with other curation-focused launchers, you’ll need paid subscriptions for most of the services, and you might also need to install the apps if they aren’t already installed. Apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Sony Liv, and Voot are preinstalled on the TV, but some can be uninstalled to make things a bit lighter if you prefer. On the whole, Oxygen Play is great for those looking for recommendations — particularly popular Indian content, but there are also curated lists for globally relevant movies and TV shows.

If you know what you want to watch, or prefer browsing through content within specific apps, the stock Android TV launcher might be better suited to you. I do, however, recommend lightening the installation load by removing any apps you don’t intend to use and leaving only the ones important to you.

You can also install the OnePlus Connect app (available on Android and iOS), which lets you use the smartphone or tablet as a remote for the TV when connected to the same Wi-Fi network. The app also provides access to other interconnectivity features such as screen casting, local video casting, and file transfers to the OnePlus TV Y1S Pro. If you have other OnePlus devices such as earphones or smartwatches, these can be connected to or used with the TV quickly and fairly seamlessly.

Oxygen Play provides curation of content, but you’ll still need the apps and subscriptions to be able to watch most of what’s on offer

 

The television has only 8GB of internal storage, and on one occasion I was asked to clear some space to be able to install a 1.2GB firmware update, considering the size of existing loads such as Oxygen Play and apps such as Netflix and YouTube which can’t be uninstalled. Although 8GB of storage is adequate on most Android TV devices, OnePlus’ software package makes it fall short, and there should ideally have been 16GB of space on the Y1S Pro television.

Performance and navigation on the user interface was a bit slow at times but content, once streaming, worked well with not much lag. I did receive a firmware update during my time with the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro, and most popular apps for Android TV are supported through the Google Play Store. Apps tend to display content in the maximum possible resolution (based on availability and your own subscription plan), with Ultra-HD HDR content available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar.

OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro performance

The affordable big-screen television segment typically focuses on specifications and format support, but OnePlus’ approach to the space is a bit different. This is an Ultra-HD TV with high dynamic range support, but OnePlus has skipped the more expensive Dolby Vision format support in favour of better overall performance with picture quality and sound quality for the price.

While the company’s more expensive Q1 Pro is better equipped including a front-firing soundbar speaker system and support for Dolby Vision and Atmos, the Y1S Pro is expectedly simpler given the price difference. On paper, it might even seem a bit under-equipped as compared to competing options from brands such as Xiaomi, Vu, Hisense, and TCL, but the overall experience was largely on par with what I’ve experienced with other 55-inch televisions priced at around Rs. 40,000.

Ultra-HD HDR10+ content expectedly looked best on the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro

 

While Dolby Vision support might have been a good addition given the variety of content for the format available through platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, and Apple TV+, the OnePlus TV Y1S Pro manages to make do reasonably well even with the step down to HDR10. Some content from services such as Amazon Prime Video is available in HDR10+, but the differences between the two formats weren’t significant, and seemed more to do with the quality of the content itself.

I watched a number of TV shows and movies across various services and formats, including the first season of Andor and Rogue One on Disney+ Hotstar, season three of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime Video, and Kaleidoscope on Netflix, to test performance with high-quality Ultra-HD HDR content. I also watched various other HD and full-HD shows and content including the Football World Cup final, assorted episodes of Modern Family, and videos on YouTube.

Among the various Ultra-HD HDR shows I watched on the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro, picture performance was best with Jack Ryan, particularly during well-lit, daytime scenes. Europe’s scenic cities, as well as the Greek coastline on display in the third season looked great, with decent levels of brightness, reasonably accurate colours, and plenty of visible detail.

While the typical punch and vibrancy visible on more expensive TVs with better displays was expectedly missing, it still made for a good viewing experience — if you can cut out enough ambient light in the room. There was also a noticeable difference in the way bright and dark scenes were handled by the TV, which also tended to affect certain types of content such as action shows and thrillers, making for a less consistent viewing experience.

The OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro is unique in that it offers LED backlight dimming. However, it’s what can be termed as ‘global’ dimming where there is a single backlight zone that automatically adjusts the entire backlight for the LED display according to the scenes and detected colour levels. The settings menu allows for adjustment in the intensity of this, and it did seem to make a bit of difference with dark scenes, although not by much.

This being an affordable LED TV, the OnePlus TV Y1S Pro doesn’t benefit too much from this, and black levels weren’t particularly good in dark scenes across the shows that I watched. Some of the darker scenes in Kaleidoscope and Rogue One appeared to be ‘grey washed’, with significant noise visible even with the most gentle of movements. Content remained watchable, but I did need to darken the room as much as possible, and tended to watch mostly at night in order to cover for the TV’s shortcomings in this regard.

Lower resolution content performed similarly to Ultra-HD content in terms of brightness, black levels, and the general adaptability of the OnePlus TV Y1S Pro to changing scenes and varying picture conditions. There was, of course, a visible difference in the sharpness that was made more obvious by the 55-inch screen size, but this is to be expected from any television of this size and didn’t heavily impact the viewing experience.

Sound quality on the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro is very good for a television in this price segment

 

The Football World Cup final with its bright lights and colours looked fine, as did episodes of sitcoms such as Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory. Conversely, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 didn’t look as good because of its generally dark tone and the TV’s weakness with dark scenes, which also tended to bring out the shortcomings in the upscaling.

Gaming…

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Philips 55-Inch 8100 Series (55PUT8115/94) Ultra-HD 4K LED Smart Android TV Review: Worth the Price?

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Although you don’t have to spend more than Rs. 40,000 to get a 55-inch Ultra-HD TV these days, increasing your budget does usually get you better features and performance. This also means being able to choose from more brands, including well-known and established options that offer somewhat more assurance of quality and performance. One such brand is Philips, which has positioned itself a step above the entry-level segment.

Officially priced at Rs. 89,990 (but usually available at Rs. 69,990), the Philips 55PUT8115/94 TV is in roughly the same segment as the now-discontinued Philips 8200-series TV range. On paper, its support for Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, smart connectivity through Android TV, and 20W sound output seem impressive. Is this the best television you can buy for around Rs. 70,000 right now? Find out in this review.

Philips positions itself a bit higher than competing brands such as Xiaomi and Hisense, and aims to take on the likes of Samsung and Sony

 

Philips 55PUT8115/94 Ultra-HD LED Android TV design and specifications

The Philips 55PUT8115/94 Ultra-HD TV is positioned against more premium players such as Samsung, LG, and Sony. However, Philips will also have to take on the technically superior quantum dot LED TVs that value-focused brands have launched, such as the Hisense 55U6G which retails for under Rs. 60,000.

The Philips 55PUT8115/94 television is fairly straightforward and efficient in its design. The point of a television is to put the screen at the centre of the viewer’s attention, and this Philips TV does that well with discreet, slim black borders all around the LCD panel and a simple Philips logo in the bottom left corner.

The television isn’t slim but it isn’t very thick either, and maintains a reasonable aesthetic profile regardless of whether it’s wall-mounted or table-mounted. To the left of the screen, facing outward are one HDMI port (with ARC support), a USB Type-A port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the antenna socket. The rest of the ports are bottom-facing, and these include three HDMI ports, one USB Type-A port, an RJ45 Ethernet port, and the Optical Audio Out (Toslink) port.

Disappointingly, the power socket faces backward, which can cause a plug to bend a bit when the TV is wall-mounted with a low-profile mounting kit, and that doesn’t feel very reassuring. The bottom-facing ports were very difficult to access once the TV was wall-mounted, and even the side-facing ones were a bit tricky to reach. A wall-mount kit isn’t included in the box, so you’ll need to confirm with your retailer whether wall mounting will be provided for free or as a chargeable extra as part of the installation of the TV.

You’ll want to ensure you have all of your connections attached before putting the TV up on a wall, but this won’t be much of a problem if you’re table-mounting the TV, since it weighs a reasonable 11.5kg (11.8kg with the stands attached) and can be moved around a bit if necessary. The TV stands for the Philips 55PUT8115/94 TV are included in the box and attach to the TV near the corners, so you’ll need a wide enough table to place the TV on.

The television sent to me for review is the 55-inch model, and it has an Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED panel. The TV supports HDR up to the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ formats, and has a refresh rate of up to 60Hz. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi, and Ethernet. Audio return channel (ARC) for HDMI is supported. For sound, the television has a bottom-firing box speaker system with a total rated output of 20W, and support for Dolby Atmos. There is 4GB of storage for apps and app data.

Philips 55PUT8115/94 Ultra-HD LED Android TV remote and features

Although minimalist remotes with fewer buttons and smaller dimensions are trendy for televisions these days, I always appreciate a traditional remote for the flexibility and control it offers. The remote of the Philips 55PUT8115/94 is large, with a number pad, playback controls, hotkeys for some streaming services, and a large and tactile D-pad which makes navigation easy even in the dark. It also has useful options for invoking Google Assistant, source selection, and more.

The full-sized remote of the Philips 55PUT8115/94 TV has hotkeys for Netflix, Google Play, and YouTube

 

The remote is powered by two AAA batteries (included in the sales package), and is light and easy to handle. It uses both infrared and Bluetooth for connectivity, although the latter only works for Google Assistant voice commands. Although infrared requires a line of sight to work, the remote was able to work well for me even if not pointed directly at the TV. This will also ensure more conservative battery use, since Bluetooth drains batteries a lot quicker.

Like other televisions running the Android TV platform, the Philips 55PUT8115/94 has full-fledged Google Assistant capabilities and built-in Chromecast. Apart from this, there is also support for HDMI ARC and HDMI CEC.

Philips 55PUT8115/94 Ultra-HD LED Android TV software and interface

Android TV is the operating system of choice for many TV manufacturers because of its quality and ease of use, and the Philips 55PUT8115/94 runs Android TV 10 with the refreshed Google-TV-like user interface. This is a well-established and very reliable software experience, and it’s likely that many buyers will have seen or used it in some form or the other already. Over 5,000 apps are available for Android TV through the Google Play store.

For the most part, my experience with the TV’s software was good. Apps and content were usually quick to load, and there were no buffering issues with content on a fast Internet connection. Navigating the interface was smooth, and basic functions such as switching source devices or invoking Google Assistant yielded the desired results with no trouble at all.

However, I did begin experiencing a recurring issue around two days after a reboot of the TV. Subtitles were slow to load, the sound would cut out at odd times, and eventually, whatever app was running (usually Netflix, but occasionally also Disney+ Hotstar) would crash and take me back to the Android TV home screen.

The Philips 55PUT8115/94 TV runs on Android TV 10, with the stock Android TV user interface and access to the Google Play Store for apps and games

 

A full reboot of the TV – that is, powering it down and turning it back on – would fix this issue, until it resurfaced again after a couple of days. I faced this with the Philips TV throughout the entire review period, and while the fix was easy, it was still time-consuming and bothersome to have to go through the drill every couple of days. No software updates were pushed during my time with the TV, but I’m hoping Philips releases a software patch for this soon.

Philips 55PUT8115/94 Ultra-HD LED Android TV performance

Philips occupies a niche in the big-screen TV segment when it comes to pricing; it’s more expensive than competing products from brands such as Xiaomi and Hisense, but a bit more affordable than similarly-specced TVs from brands such as Sony and Samsung, such as the Samsung 55AU8000 TV.

On paper and in the real world, the Philips 55PUT8115/94 does offer a lot for its street price of around Rs. 70,000. However, it’s not quite as impressive as the now-discontinued Philips 55PUT8215/94, and falls short when compared to decent QLED TVs on some parameters such as brightness. While this TV is undeniably good when it comes to picture and sound quality, the feeling I got was that performance didn’t quite match up to its price.

I watched varied content across resolutions and HDR formats, including The Bubble, No Time To Die, Community, Kim’s Convenience, and Severance. Apart from this, I also streamed live sports content (Formula One) and played some standard definition videos from YouTube, to cover a wide range of genres and viewing habits.

Although the picture is sharp, brightness on the Philips 55PUT8115/94 isn’t very good

 

Ultra-HD Dolby Vision content looked visibly better than anything else on the Philips 55PUT8115/94 television, but certain types of content seemed to suit the TV’s picture signature and muted approach a bit better. This TV doesn’t get as bright as some of its competitors, but it does manage to deliver plenty of detail despite this, particularly in content with a muted colour tone and palette such as Severance and The Bubble.

I did need to darken my room as much as possible to get the best results with such shows, as bright indoor lighting or sunlight hampered the viewing experience. Even with the enhanced brightness on offer with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ content, the Philips TV didn’t quite match up to what a decent quantum-dot LED TV in this price range can offer.

On the other hand, I liked how sharp and detailed the picture was, as well as the smooth, clean motion handling of the Philips 55PUT8115/94 TV with Ultra-HD content. The snow-filled outdoor landscape and the windowless office spaces in Severance looked sharp and on-point, achieving the mood that the show aims to set. Fine details in the facial expressions and moods of the characters were brought out capably and reliably by the television. Motion was definitely easy on the eyes, and made it possible to watch content for long stretches with little discomfort.

Sitcoms, including Community and Kim’s Convenience, felt lively because of the brightness of the content and gentler camera work, but still seemed a bit dull in comparison to what the competition can reproduce. That said, I seldom encountered any motion artefacts or picture flaws; the television pretty much did its job in a straightforward and simple manner. It eliminated distractions and let me focus on what I was watching.

I watched a full-HD stream of No Time To Die on Amazon Prime Video, and only detected minor differences in sharpness between that and other Ultra-HD content I had recently streamed across platforms. Although Dolby Vision and HDR10+ content was visibly a bit brighter, SDR content didn’t feel like too much of a step down, given the toned-down brightness of the Philips 55PUT8115/94 TV.

SDR and lower-resolution content didn’t feel like too much of step down, given the muted brightness levels of the TV with HDR content

 

Formula One live-streamed with Disney+ Hotstar, as well as standard definition content showcased some issues with sharpness and ability to upscale and process lower-resolution content. In some cases, particularly with the Australian Grand Prix, this wasn’t bad at all, and about as good as can be expected when watching this kind of content on a 55-inch television.

Sound quality on the Philips 55PUT8115/94 was acceptable, but it did not get quite as loud and wasn’t as refined as I’ve heard on similarly priced competition such as the Mi QLED TV 4K. While the sound was clean, I often felt a need to bump the volume up in dialogue-heavy scenes when watching The Bubble, only to have to quickly decrease it when the soundtrack took over or when action scenes played out.

Although these volume spikes and drops were never too drastic, this did affect the sound experience a bit, and you might want to invest in a basic soundbar to overcome the weaknesses of the TV’s speakers. Dolby Atmos did seem to provide a bit more width and depth to the sound with supported content, but this could only really be heard at high volume levels.

Verdict

Competition in the mid-range television segment is fierce, and the price of the Philips 55PUT8115/94 ends up holding it back, compared to its peers. Although the picture is sharp, detailed, and often gets the mood of content right, its inability to get bright enough and its below-average sound quality hold this TV back. I also experienced some software issues that could simply be a bug or a result of poor implementation.

This TV costs perhaps Rs. 10,000 too much, in my opinion, and better value-for-money options can be found from competing brands. Both Xiaomi and Hisense sell quantum-dot LED TVs at around the same price or less. That said, if you want picture quality that delivers on most counts, this Philips TV could work well for you. It might also be worth looking at the Philips 55PUT8215/94 TV, which although officially discontinued, might still be available at some retailers, as it offers better overall performance.

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Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV Review: The ‘Affordable’ OLED Television

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LED-LCD technology in TVs is still the most common and affordable type, and Xiaomi smartly chose to focus its products around it during its early years of selling televisions in India. The company still pushes large volumes of its affordable LED televisions, but has also experimented with premium TVs such as the Mi QLED TV 4K range which is available in a massive 75-inch screen size, priced at Rs. 1,39,999. This adventurous approach to the premium price segments has now led to the launch of Xiaomi’s first OLED TV in India.

Priced at Rs. 89,999, the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is available in a single 55-inch size and is the company’s most expensive TV of its size in India. Even so, this television strongly undercuts the competition, and will be a tempting proposition for buyers who want the benefits of OLED screen technology, but without having to pay the exorbitant premium. Xiaomi’s OLED TV has launched at a price where you typically find high-end quantum-dot LED TV from brands such as Sony, Samsung, and OnePlus.

With key specifications such as support for Dolby Vision IQ and Dolby Atmos, 30W of sound output, and the Ultra-HD OLED screen that gives this TV its name, is the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV the best television you can buy under Rs. 1,00,000? Find out in this review.

The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV has far-field microphones, which can be set to always-listen for the Google Assistant wake commands

 

Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV design and specifications

Most 55-inch OLED televisions are priced well over Rs. 1,00,000, so the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV’s price gives it a significant leg-up over the competition. At Rs. 89,999, this is by far the most affordable 55-inch OLED TV you can buy in India (that I am aware of) right now. The benefits of the OLED display at this price makes this an enticing proposition, particularly since the much higher pricing of competing OLED TVs has been a barrier for buyers thus far.

Despite the price, Xiaomi hasn’t really held back with this TV when it comes to design and specifications. At just 4.6mm thick, the OLED Vision TV is very slim at the edges, although the centre portion of the back of the TV gets a fair bit thicker where the electrical components and ports are. The bezel around the screen is similarly slim on all sides, and a module at the bottom has the Xiaomi logo, indicator light, power switch, and a switch for the far-field microphones.

The television can be wall-mounted or stand-mounted, and standard VESA-compatible wall mounts work with the TV. Professional installation is provided for free by Xiaomi and the stands are included in the sales package, but the wall-mount kit isn’t. You can, however, request Xiaomi for wall-mounting the TV at the time of installation, and the technician will provide a wall-mount kit if you don’t have one of your own.

The ports and sockets on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV are quite conveniently positioned for a large television and are easily accessible even when the TV is wall mounted. The RJ45 Ethernet port, Optical Audio-out (Toslink) port, RCA sockets, and Antenna socket face downwards, while the three HDMI 2.1 ports, two USB Type-A ports, and 3.5mm audio jack face the left of the screen. HDMI ARC is supported on one of the ports. The power cord is permanently attached to the TV to the right of the screen, and was disappointingly short for my liking.

The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is only available in a single 55-inch size, for now

 

The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV has a 55-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) OLED display, with each individual pixel capable of self-illumination without the need for backlighting. There is also support for high dynamic range content up to the Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ formats, a standard refresh rate of 60Hz, and a DCI-P3 colour gamut of 98.5 percent. The contrast ratio is expectedly high at 15,00,000:1, and there is also the Reality Flow MEMC engine for motion interpolation.

For sound, the television has a 30W speaker system with eight drivers, and support for the Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats. Connectivity is handled via Wi-Fi 6 with dual-band support, Ethernet, and Bluetooth 5 for wireless audio and for connecting to the TV remote. The TV has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage for apps and app data, and is powered by a quad-core ARM Cortex-A73 processor.

Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV remote and features

Some things barely change, and Xiaomi’s TV remote is one of them. The company’s basic, minimalistic plastic Bluetooth remote is bundled in the box with the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV, albeit with some small changes. Disappointingly, despite the price of the TV, batteries for the remote aren’t included in the box, which is a complaint I’ve had for a while.

The remote itself functions well enough and some relatively recent feature additions such as quick mute (press volume-down button twice quickly), quick wake (turns the TV on in 3-4 seconds from standby), and quick settings (long-press the PatchWall button) cover for the obvious lack of dedicated buttons for those functions. Usefully, you can quickly switch between Xiaomi’s PatchWall user interface and the stock Android TV UI by pressing the dedicated buttons.

There are hotkeys for quick access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and the complete list of apps installed on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV. A microphone for voice commands and a button to invoke Google Assistant are also present on the remote, although the TV also has far-field microphones that can be set to always listen for the wake command, to serve the same function.

This worked well, with a simple ‘OK Google’ or ‘Hey Google’ command to invoke Google Assistant even from across the room, followed by proper understanding of even complex voice commands. The microphones are naturally always listening when this mode is on, so if this feels like a privacy issue to you, the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV does let you flip a switch (just under the logo, at the bottom of the TV) to turn this off.

The remote of the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is a familiar one, but there are small changes in the button layout

 

The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV also has built-in Chromecast for casting from supported devices and services, and Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM) which is said to optimise the TV’s settings for improved latency and performance when gaming with a connected gaming console. There are no other specific features for gaming, and the peak refresh rate of 60Hz means that this TV isn’t ideally meant for use with current-generation gaming consoles.

Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV software and interface

The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV runs on Android TV 11, with the PatchWall 4 and stock Android TV user interfaces on top, similar to how it is on much of the company’s other television range. Apps and games can be installed through the Google Play store for Android TV, which has a catalogue of over 5,000 apps right now, including popular content streaming apps, social media apps, and other services.

PatchWall hasn’t received any major additions since the Mi TV 5X, but it remains a content-focused UI with excellent content curation, lists, and a pleasant appearance. IMDb integration, the availability of the Mi Home app for easy access to IoT devices in your home, and plenty of supported apps and services for the curation make PatchWall a good interface to use.

The stock Android TV UI has gotten some new additions from the last Xiaomi TV I reviewed. The interface is now the Google TV-like UI that rolled out in late 2021, with a bit more focus on content recommendations and curation, although the lack of support for Netflix in the recommendation engine is still disappointing. You can still use Google Assistant or regular search to find content on Netflix and many other sources, or access the specific apps directly.

The overall software experience with the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV was as good as I expected it to be, and I experienced no serious issues or bugs during my time with the television. While I personally preferred the app-focused approach of the stock Android TV interface, PatchWall’s content-friendly interface should also appeal to many users.

Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV performance

Customers looking for a 55-inch TV with a budget of around Rs. 1,00,000 would typically consider a good quantum-dot LED television, such as Sony’s Triluminos range, Samsung’s QLED range, and the OnePlus TV Q1 Pro. However, the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV offers buyers the option to get something with arguably better screen technology at the same price, given that OLED TVs are typically priced well over Rs. 1,00,000.

That’s not to say that the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is necessarily on par with premium OLED TVs such as the LG CX range, but the benefits of OLED technology itself – particularly the black levels – are clear and present on this television. I watched a variety of content on the TV across resolutions and dynamic ranges, going from Ultra-HD Dolby Vision to simple standard definition, and the TV undeniably delivered the kind of performance that can be expected at this price.

The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV has the new Google TV-like user interface, as well as PatchWall UI

 

Watching Love, Death & Robots Season 3 on Netflix in Ultra-HD with Dolby Vision, the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV performed at its absolute best. The black levels were expectedly excellent, offering true pitch blacks that also helped in getting the contrast levels right. While this naturally made an impact across scenes, night-time scenes across content looked particularly good on the TV.

This also helped to make the colours feel much more impactful and punchy, particularly with the beautiful, bright animation of the ‘Three Robots: Exit Strategies’ episode of Love, Death & Robots. The effect of Dolby Vision was also noticeable, not only due to the visible bump in brightness but also in the colours, as they felt a hint more vibrant. This was the case even with The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals, where the scenic landscapes and beautiful holiday homes looked impressive on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV.

Taking high dynamic range content out of the equation did considerably change the way the TV performed, but the differences didn’t take too much away from the overall viewing experience. Better Call Saul in Ultra-HD resolution (but with standard dynamic range) looked sharp and detailed on the big screen, and the excellent black levels of the TV suited the gloomy, sombre scenes of the show very well.

The brightness levels, even in daylight scenes, didn’t feel as strong as with Dolby Vision content, but the sharpness and reasonable colour accuracy made up for this to a large extent. However, I did notice some motion interpolation issues and stutter during scenes with quick movements while watching Better Call Saul, particularly in dimly-lit night time scenes. This got particularly distracting at times, and is a fairly large drawback of this TV.

Black levels and contrast are excellent on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV

 

Full-HD and lower-resolution content looked decent enough, with a natural sense of softness in the picture that seemed to suitably cover for the lack of sharpness that comes with lower resolutions. Movies such as The Matrix Resurrections and sitcoms such as Kim’s Convenience, as well as live-streamed Formula 1 races, all looked decent, with good colours and black levels. Issues with motion were still present and seemed to crop up more often in the Formula 1 races, but seemed less obvious in lower resolution content.

Sound on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is acceptable for most purposes, with the tuning focused on making voices sound clear. This worked across all types of content, but helped particularly when it came to sitcoms and sports content where dialogue and commentary needed to be heard clearly. There isn’t quite as much grunt in the sound, but the speakers get reasonably loud and does deliver clean, uniform sound, without any significant volume spikes.

Dolby Atmos support on the TV did seem to help with giving the sound a bit more spaciousness and a better soundstage with supported content, including Our Great National Parks. Although the sound was decent, it might be worth stepping up to a proper soundbar such as the Sony HT-A7000 or an equivalent speaker system to match up to the considerably better visual experience the TV has to offer.

Verdict

The expense involved in buying an OLED TV has…

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Samsung 55-inch QN95B Neo QLED Ultra-HD Mini LED TV Review: The Futuristic Flagship TV

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Modern flat-panel televisions typically slot into one of three common categories – LED, quantum-dot LED, and OLED, with standard LED TVs being the most affordable and OLED TVs usually being the most expensive. Recently, a few brands including TCL, LG, and Samsung have introduced a fourth category in India – Mini LED. This panel type is a middle ground between the affordability and brightness of LED models, and the colour and contrast levels that OLED panels offer.

The product I’m reviewing today is the current flagship Ultra-HD television from Samsung, the QN95B Neo QLED TV, which combines Samsung’s expertise in quantum-dot technology with the modernity of Mini LED technology. Priced at Rs. 2,14,990 in India, the 55-inch Samsung QN95B Neo QLED Ultra-HD TV is a modern marvel in many ways, including its use of quantum dot technology, Mini LED backlighting, and its uniquely slim design. There is also support for high dynamic range up to the HDR10+ format, and Dolby Atmos audio with a 70W speaker system. Is this the best flagship 55-inch television you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Samsung 55QN95B TV runs on the Tizen operating system for televisions, which has a particular focus on the Samsung TV Plus streaming service

 

Samsung 55-inch QN95B Neo QLED TV design and specifications

The Samsung QN95B Neo QLED is one of the company’s flagship Ultra-HD TV ranges in India, and you can choose between two sizes, 55 inches and 65 inches. Samsung sent me the 55-inch variant for review, which is priced at Rs. 2,14,990 in India. This places it firmly in the premium category, going up against flagship options from brands such as LG and Sony, covering various display technologies including quantum-dot LED and OLED.

What sets the Samsung QN95B series apart from much of the competition is the use of Mini LED backlighting, combined with the company’s highly-rated QLED quantum-dot technology. Mini LED technology uses much smaller LEDs for backlighting, allowing for more, smaller local dimming zones, and a promise of reduced backlight bleeding effects. This precision backlighting comes close to what OLED technology offers. It also has the distinct advantage of much higher peak brightness; the Samsung QN95B has a claimed peak brightness of 2,000 nits.

There’s more to the Samsung QN95B television that aims to justify its premium pricing, particularly how this TV looks. The main body of the TV is completely flat, with a uniform thickness that allows it to maintain a low profile when wall mounted, with barely any gap between the screen and the wall on all sides. The back of the TV has just two ports, for the One Connect cable (more on that in a bit), and one USB Type-C port for a webcam (which is an optional purchase, priced at Rs. 8,900). All eight drivers of the 4.2.2-channel speaker system are also at the back.

You can also table-mount the Samsung QN95B television, using the centre-positioned stand included in the box. The stand is very heavy at around 8kg, and feels solidly built to be able to safely hold up the screen. I had the Samsung QN95B TV wall-mounted for my review, using my own VESA kit. Samsung states that the TV weighs around 16.1kg without its stand, which is quite heavy for a 55-inch television, especially this one given its slim proportions.

The screen unit is, quite literally, just the screen of the Samsung 55-inch QN95B television; the ‘brains’ of the TV is the One Connect box that comes with it. This box connects to the screen, sending both power and audio-visual signals to the screen and its 4.2.2-channel speaker system. The single cable that connects the two is transparent and thin for easy concealment, and is about 1m long. This allows for easy access to the ports and sockets, and is the reason for the screen unit being so slim.

The One Connect box connects to your mains power supply and has four HDMI 2.1 ports (one supports HDMI eARC), three USB Type-A ports, an RF In cable socket, an Ethernet port, and a digital optical audio output (Toslink). The box also handles wireless connectivity over dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2, and interfaces with the remote. This flat box can be positioned anywhere near the TV, although it is a bit large and will need some space on a flat surface such as a TV furniture unit.

The design of the Samsung QN95B TV is particularly impressive, with a slim form factor that leaves little space between the TV and the wall

 

The Samsung QN95B Neo QLED TV has a native refresh rate of 100Hz, variable refresh rate of 144Hz (under certain conditions when used for gaming), and a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels for its 55-inch screen. The TV uses Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor 4K, and supports high dynamic range content up to the HDR10+ format and Dolby Atmos audio (but not Dolby Vision). The 4.2.2-channel sound system has two top-firing speakers to simulate overhead channels, and has a rated output of 70W.

Samsung 55-inch QN95B Neo QLED TV remote and features

The Samsung 55-inch QN95B Neo QLED TV is fairly well-equipped when it comes to the remote and features. The remote is unique for its solar charging capability, with a small solar panel on the back to keep the rechargeable internal battery going. Usefully, there is also a USB Type-C port for urgent, quicker charging when needed. That said, The remote was sufficiently charged straight out of the box and didn’t need to be charged over USB at all during my review.

The remote itself is compact and somewhat minimalistic when it comes to buttons; there is no number pad and no dedicated playback controls, but there is a D-pad for navigation, hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and Samsung TV Plus, and a few others.

You can use the remote’s microphone to give voice commands to the voice assistant of your choice, and you can also directly access the settings from any screen on the TV. I quite liked the remote and didn’t have any trouble with it during my review, apart from the markings on the buttons being a bit hard to read in the dark and the tactile feel of the buttons not really helping either.

If you have any Samsung smart appliances that are compatible with the company’s SmartThings framework, you can control them directly from the TV. Other features include EyeComfort mode which adjusts brightness and colour levels according to time of day and ambient light, support for multiple voice assistants including Google Assistant, Alexa, and Samsung’s own Bixby, Multi View for mirroring your smartphone screen while simultaneously watching content on the TV (from select apps and services), and more.

There is no Google Chromecast functionality, but you do get Apple AirPlay 2 on the Samsung QN95B Neo QLED TV, which worked well for me. I was able to use AirPlay to mirror my iPhone screen on a part of the TV screen, while using select apps such as Samsung TV Plus or YouTube for the Multi View feature.

The remote of the Samsung 55QN95B has a solar panel for charging, but also can be charged quickly with USB Type-C

 

Gaming-focused features such as a 144Hz variable refresh rate, auto low-latency mode, and support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro make this TV reasonably well suited for use with modern gaming consoles. There is also Object Tracking Sound which claims to create a realistic soundstage according to what’s on screen, and Q-Symphony, which allows the TV’s speakers to work in conjunction with compatible audio systems.

Samsung 55-inch QN95B Neo QLED TV software and interface

Samsung continues to use its own Tizen software for its televisions, but the QN95B Neo QLED TV sees significant changes in the user interface compared to earlier Samsung TVs. This includes a much more content-focused UI with viewing recommendations from various apps and services. This is similar to Xiaomi’s approach with PatchWall, although Samsung’s curation and layout feel a bit cluttered and awkward in comparison.

A key focus point of the interface is Samsung TV Plus, a free streaming service that comes preinstalled on the television. This service has a linear TV programming format, with over 60 channels including Discovery, TLC, and Boomberg. The content on these channels is scheduled, and is streamed using the TV’s Internet connection.

However, the user interface tends to put this service front and centre, including starting up the most recently viewed channel immediately in a small preview box when this TV is turned on, which can be annoying and disturbing if the volume was left at a high level. There is also a lot of emphasis on free movies and TV shows from various streaming services, but you will need each one’s app to be installed, and in some cases, you’ll need to register and sign in.

All of this aside, the core functionality of the user interface is decent enough, and it’s easy enough to switch between connected source devices. Apps are easy to access as well thanks to a dedicated row on the home screen, and the app marketplace has various options for popular streaming services, games, and other apps. The settings menus are a bit complicated to navigate, but the TV offers plenty of options for customisation and tweaking. The UI isn’t quite the best among the various options available right now, but it’s entirely functional and usable.

The Samsung 55QN95B Neo QLED TV supports HDR up to the HDR10+ format

 

Samsung 55-inch QN95B Neo QLED TV performance

Before I get into the performance section of this review, it’s worth noting that we are aware of reports that Samsung has reportedly been caught cheating on certain TV tests carried out by reviewers; the QN95B TV is itself the subject of allegations brought up by FlatpanelsHD in its review. However, our testing process does not involve the specific tests that the Samsung QN95B TV is alleged to detect and manipulate, and we have no reason to believe that the television sent to us for this review is not a standard retail unit.

The Samsung 55-inch QN95B is a modern flagship that delivers the kind of performance you would expect from a television priced at over Rs. 2,00,000. The quantum-dot Mini LED screen provided a bright, vibrant picture with most of my viewing, and this TV was able to use its careful calibration and technical capabilities to deliver flagship-grade HDR performance even with HDR10+.

I tested the Samsung 55QN95B with a variety of content across resolutions and dynamic ranges, and as is usually the case with high-end models, this TV was optimised for Ultra-HD HDR content. Apart from obvious differences in sharpness, parameters such as motion handling, colour accuracy, and brightness were all visibly better with high-quality content.

Perhaps the best experience I had with the Samsung 55-inch QN95B TV was watching Spider-Man: No Way Home in Ultra-HD HDR with Dolby Atmos through the Apple TV streaming service. Everything including the sharpness, colours, and detail levels were expectedly good, but the brightness of this television with good HDR content was what truly stood out. Even after ensuring that this TV wasn’t artificially boosting brightness levels, its picture was still visibly brighter and more vibrant than most other competing options I’ve had a chance to see or review.

The bright colours of this superhero movie were a treat to watch, and looked on point throughout, thanks to the effective and powerful backlighting provided by the superior micro-dimming ability of the Mini LED tech and the quantum-dot filter. I found black levels to be practically as good for regular viewing as what I’ve seen on high-end OLED TVs. I also found blooming and light bleed issues to be handled well on the Samsung QN95B Neo QLED TV, with very little light spillover visible even in bright scenes.

The brightness was, on occasion, a bit too much, particularly in dark rooms. Changes in brightness were quite visible and sometimes a bit sudden. However, this TV does have a mode that allows it to adapt to light conditions, and this largely worked well for me. This mode can also boost brightness during the daytime, making it possible to quite easily and conveniently watch TV even with bright daylight shining in the room. Although a dark room undoubtedly made for the best viewing experience, this TV didn’t deviate too much in performance even when the room was well lit.

The Samsung One Connect Box powers the TV screen, and also holds all the ports and inputs for the device

 

Although Dolby Vision HDR is said to be technically superior to Samsung’s…

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Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD Android LED TV Review: Focused on Performance

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With OLED and Mini LED display technologies gaining prominence in the premium segment, quantum-dot LED tech has largely settled into a comfortable mid-range position. Buyers looking to spend a bit more for a promise of better performance often look to options from brands such as Sony and Samsung, both of which are well established when it comes to LED and quantum-dot LED TVs. Among the more popular options in the upper mid-range segment is the X90 series from Sony, which has now been updated for 2022 with the X90K range.

Priced at Rs. 1,23,490 for the 55-inch (XR-55X90K) variant on review here, the Sony Bravia X90K series is the company’s most expensive and advanced LED television range in India right now. With this, Sony hopes to strike a balance between performance and price, with Triluminos quantum-dot technology, full-array local dimming, and support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. There’s a lot of promise here, but is the Sony 55X90K the best big-screen television you can buy under Rs. 1,50,000? Find out in this review.

The Sony 55X90K TV runs on Android TV 10 software, with the Google TV user interface on top

 

Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED Android TV design and specifications

The X90 series sits at the top of the pecking order for Sony’s LED TVs, and is available in three sizes: 55 inches priced at Rs. 1,23,490, 65 inches priced at Rs. 1,70,990, and a 75-inch variant which will be launched in the coming weeks from the time of publishing this review. Apart from the size, there are no differences in any of the models, with all having Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) Triluminos (quantum-dot) LED screens, and a refresh rate of 120Hz at up to 4K resolution.

Coming to the design of the TV, the Sony Bravia 55X90K is pretty much what you’d expect from a high-end Sony television. It’s entirely black, with slim bezels around the screen, a discreet Sony logo in the bottom left corner, and little else to take any attention away from the screen itself, which is how televisions should be. The power button and a slider switch for the always-on microphones are at the bottom of the TV, alongside the main speakers.

Unlike many modern high-end televisions, the Sony 55X90K isn’t very slim at any point. However, it isn’t too bulky or thick either as it doesn’t sit too far from the wall even when wall-mounted, and has a similar width as most TVs of its kind. The television weighs about 17.4kg without the stands attached, and supports VESA wall mounting.

The table mount stands are included in the sales package, and are easy to install. The stands attach to the bottom corners of the TV, so a wide table or television unit will be needed if you choose to stand-mount the Sony Bravia 55X90K TV. Interestingly, you can attach the stands to keep the TV at a lower position where the frame is almost resting on the stands. The higher position leaves some space between the bottom of the TV and the table, which should come in handy if you want to place a soundbar there.

Wall mounting can be availed through the free installation which comes with the TV. The installation technician will bring along the wall-mount kit and install it, if you choose. I used a third-party wall-mount kit, which attached easily onto the back of the TV thanks to the VESA standard.

The Sony 55X90K television has support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats

 

All of the ports and sockets on the Sony XR-55X90K television face outwards to the left of the screen, while the power socket for the detachable power cable is on the right. Usefully, access to the ports and sockets is quite easy even when the TV is wall mounted. There are four HDMI ports (two are HDMI 2.1 with 4K 120Hz and Variable Refresh Rate support, one of which additionally has eARC support), two USB Type-A ports, one Optical Audio-out (Toslink) port, an Ethernet port, an antenna socket, and sockets for 3.5mm audio-out and Video In.

The Sony Bravia 55X90K television has support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG formats for high dynamic range content, and Dolby Atmos and DTS Digital Surround audio formats. There is dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, along with 16GB of internal storage for apps and app data. The TV is powered by Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, and has a four-speaker system with 30W of total rated output. As with many of Sony’s high-end televisions, there is full-array local dimming on the 55X90K TV.

Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED Android TV remote and features

Sony has typically included large, full-function remotes with its televisions, including the recently launched X75K series. However, the 55X90K television marks a notable departure from this trend. It has a smaller, more minimalistic remote with fewer buttons. This kind of remote is admittedly much easier to handle and store safely and has buttons for most important functions, so I wasn’t too bothered by the change.

There is no number pad, but a ‘123′ button brings up a virtual number pad in case you need it. The remote has hotkeys for YouTube, YouTube Music, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video, along with a Google Assistant button and a microphone on the remote to listen to voice commands. Other buttons include volume and playback controls, a D-pad for navigation, home and back buttons, and buttons for settings and source selection. The remote is powered by two AAA batteries, which are included in the sales package.

Key features of the Sony Bravia 55X90K TV include auto low-latency mode and variable refresh rate (VRR) for gaming, hands-free Google Assistant support thanks to the always-listening microphones on the TV, Alexa support, and a light sensor to automatically adjust the brightness of the screen according to lighting conditions in the room. Other useful connectivity options include built-in Google Chromecast and Apple AirPlay with HomeKit support.

Sony has gone with a smaller and more minimalistic remote with the X90K series

 

All of this worked as expected, including being able to use AirPlay without the need for a separate app; I could just select AirPlay from the source selection menu and the TV would appear in a list of available displays on my iPhone or MacBook.

Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED Android TV software and interface

The Sony Bravia XR-55X90K television runs on Android TV, similar to others in Sony’s smart TV range over the past few years. However, recent models, including the Sony X75K series have had the newer Google TV user interface on top of the Android TV, unlike the older stock Android TV UI that many manufacturers still work with. That said, the X90K TV runs Android TV 10 with the Google TV UI, unlike the more affordable X75K series which has Android TV 11.

Although a bit old and naturally a bit short on updates and security patches, Android TV 10 delivers largely the same experience as Android TV 11, at least at the UI and feature level. Plus, the hardware in the TV ensures good performance for the user interface. The Google TV user interface on the X90K is the same as on the X75K series with key features including Google Play Movies embedded into the UI rather than as a separate app, and a content-centric approach that highlights and recommends movies and TV shows from various apps.

Interestingly, this TV also gets a ‘Netflix Calibrated Mode’, which is said to optimise picture settings for specific content on Netflix. Other key UI functions, including accessing the settings, can be done from any screen on the interface by pressing the settings button on the remote.

Google Assistant can be used to search and access specific content, or even general information, and the Google Play store for Android TV provides access to over 5,000 apps and games built for use on televisions. It’s a largely familiar experience for anyone used to Android TV, and remains my pick as the best television operating system right now.

Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED Android TV performance

The Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED TV uses its resolution, calibration, and Triluminos quantum-dot technology to deliver the kind of performance you would expect for the price. While not quite on par with good OLED TVs in this price range when it comes to black levels, the Sony 55X90K uses its full-array local dimming to good effect, to ensure decent blacks and rich contrast, while delivering impressive brightness and a level of colour accuracy that not too many televisions offer in this segment. Furthermore, I found performance to be consistently good across various types of content and resolutions.

Expectedly, the best experience was with high dynamic range Ultra-HD content, and the Sony 55X90K TV’s support for the Dolby Vision format helped it deliver quality picture performance.

The Sony XR-55X90K television provided a bright, sharp, and clean picture, especially with Ultra-HD HDR content

 

Umbrella Academy Season 3 showed that the Sony 55X90K TV was not only very bright with Dolby Vision content, but also had colours that felt very accurate and on point. The TV also captured the slightly vintage aesthetic very well, while properly portraying the vibrant colours of the lavish sets of the show. There was a sense of warmth and comfort in the colours that made it possible to comfortably binge-watch the show on the Sony TV.

While the Sony Bravia television was quite bright, it didn’t quite get as bright as the Mini LED-powered Samsung QN95B TV. However, it more than made up for this with its warm, soft tones, and its ability to handle motion well. That said, its brightness capabilities didn’t falter even under bright daylight or when switching on all the lights in the room. Usefully, the Sony 55X90K is able to use a sensor to adjust its display brightness based on the light in the room; this worked well, ensuring brightness levels were always gentle on the eyes.

Black levels and contrast quality wasn’t exceptional on the Sony X90K TV out of the box, but I was able to set it up to my liking quite easily. Once calibrated, the blacks were decent thanks to good local dimming, which also delivered excellent zone-based brightness as bright parts of the screen shone through, while darker zones maintained the quality of the black levels. There was some visible blooming from bright zones, but this wasn’t distracting or bothersome in any way.

High dynamic range content did show a visible difference in brightness levels and colour accuracy when compared to standard dynamic range content, but it wasn’t too far behind in quality. Watching select scenes of Spider-Man: No Way Home on Netflix in Ultra-HD resolution (but with standard dynamic range) was good, thanks to the TV’s capable native brightness levels, sharpness, and clean overall approach to picture quality.

Upscaling of lower-resolution content was decent on the Sony XR-55X90K TV

 

Full-HD and standard definition content is usually iffy on high-end TVs, which are usually optimised for high-resolution content. However, the Sony Bravia XR-55X90K TV offered a clean picture, with good upscaling that made most low-resolution content look decent despite the large screen size.

There was occasional judder visible with the motion processing disabled, but turning on some of the motion interpolation and processing features made a visible difference in reducing the judder while keeping artefacts to a minimum even with low-resolution content. The Sony Bravia 55X90K also seemed to be able to adapt well to different types of content, prioritising sharpness or smooth, clean motion as needed.

Sound quality on the Sony Bravia 55X90K television was acceptable across formats and content types, although Dolby Atmos did make a noticeable difference in improving the spaciousness and detail in the sound. While the TV did sound alright even at soft and moderate volumes, it didn’t get too loud, and was audibly held back a bit by its 30W speaker system which didn’t deliver a very impressive performance as I’d have expected from a TV at this price.

Verdict

Changes in technology and pricing in the premium television space means that it’s now possible to buy an OLED or Mini LED television for less than Rs. 1,50,000, which makes the older quantum-dot LED technology feel a bit dated in comparison. However, it also makes it possible to buy a well-equipped, well-calibrated, and feature-rich quantum-dot LED TV such as the Sony Bravia XR-55X90K at a price which, while definitely on the premium side of things, isn’t quite as high as other flagship options.

This…

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LG C2 55-Inch Ultra-HD Smart OLED evo TV (OLED55C2PSC) Review: The OLED Champ

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If you’re spending big money on a television, you’ll naturally want to do your research and make sure you’re getting the best. However, that choice is a lot more complicated now than it was a few years ago, particularly with the introduction of new screen technologies such as Mini-LED changing the classic dynamics of the premium TV space. That said, OLED televisions still command a premium, both in terms of capabilities as compared to the competition, as well as price.

The television I’m reviewing here is part of a series that has long been among the most popular options among OLED televisions in India. The LG C2 range is the successor to the popular C1 and CX ranges, and promises improved performance and capabilities, along with the benefits that OLED screen technology typically brings to televisions. Is this the best premium (around Rs. 2,00,000) 55-inch television you can buy in India right now? Find out in this review.

The LG C2 OLED TV is available in various sizes, including a 55-inch variant on review here

 

LG C2 55-inch OLED TV (OLED55C2PSC) design and specifications

The LG C2 series is available is various sizes, ranging from 42 inches (priced at Rs. 1,39,990) to 83 inches (priced at Rs. 11,74,990). The variant sent to me for review is the 55-inch option, which is officially priced at Rs. 2,19,990. All televisions in the range, regardless of size, are Ultra-HD (3840×2160 pixels) OLED TVs with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and have largely similar specifications and features. Dolby Vision IQ and Dolby Atmos are supported on the TV.

LG’s C-series of televisions aren’t typically known for flourishing, premium design, and the 55-inch C2 TV is nowhere as impressive to look at as the similarly-priced Samsung 55QN95B. However, it’s still a well put together television with a slim profile at the edges, easy-to-reach ports and sockets, and narrow borders around the display that allow you to focus your attention on what’s playing on the screen.

There are no markings at the front of the TV, not even an LG logo. At the bottom, there is just the power button, located on a module that also has the status light and IR receiver. All of the ports and sockets are to the left of the screen and are easily accessible even with the TV wall-mounted. The speakers are bottom firing, and on the whole, the design is as straightforward as it gets.

The LG C2 55-inch television weighs 12.7kg without the stand, and 14.4kg with the centre stand which is included in the box. This stand design ensures that the TV can be placed on even a relatively small table and doesn’t have a large footprint. I had the television wall mounted for my review, using a VESA-standard low-profile wall-mount kit of my own; the wall-mount kit for the TV isn’t included in the box, but can be availed of during the free installation by the brand.

The ports and sockets on the LG C2 55-inch TV include four HDMI ports (all supporting 4K at 120Hz resolution, one of which support eARC), three USB Type-A ports, LAN, Optical Digital Audio-out, a single-socket AV-in to be used with an adapter, antenna and cable sockets, and an analogue socket for an IR blaster. Notably, there is no wired headphone connectivity on the TV.

In addition, there is NVIDIA G-sync, variable refresh rate (VRR), and AMD FreeSync support for gaming. The LG C2 supports dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 for connectivity, and has a rated sound output of 40W for its 2.2-channel speaker system. The television is powered by LG’s a9 Gen 5 AI processor 4K, which enables various AI-based features that’s claimed to optimise the viewing experience.

LG C2 55-inch OLED TV (OLED55C2PSC) remote and features

LG’s magic remote concept has been a popular one, and the C2 55-inch TV has this unique remote included. It’s a full-sized unit, and is designed to be bottom-heavy for better grip and manoeuvrability, which is needed for its wand-like functions. The remote creates a floating cursor on the screen of the TV, and you can wave the remote around to point and click. You can also stick to the traditional d-pad, scroll wheel, and button controls, if you prefer; either way, the remote is easy to use and gets you around the interface quickly.

LG’s magic remote uses ‘wand-like’ gestures to let you quickly navigate the interface, but you can choose to stick to the D-pad and scroll wheel if you prefer

 

The remote has hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar, along with separate buttons to invoke Google Assistant and Alexa. Usefully, it’s possible to use both voice assistants simultaneously on the TV, which isn’t something I’ve seen too often. The rest of the remote is fairly standard, with buttons to control power, volume, source selection, and open the settings menu from anywhere within the UI, or even when content is playing.

Other features on the LG C2 television include support for Apple AirPlay and HomeKit, hands-free voice control, and LG’s AI ThinQ suite, which is able to sense the surroundings including daylight and other conditions, to set up the picture and sound for the conditions. It’s also possible to link the TV to the LG ThinQ app on your smartphone, which lets you use the phone as a remote for the TV and adjust certain settings, among other things.

LG C2 55-inch OLED TV (OLED55C2PSC) software and interface

LG’s webOS platform has come a long way over the years, from originally being built for Palm smartphones to being the default operating system for its TVs. It’s even changed a fair bit in the past year or so, with a growing focus on content curation and recommendations. Some elements of the interface continue to appear as overlays, such as the Settings and Source selection menus, but much of the interface covers the entire screen.

This includes the Home Dashboard, which shows a tile display of connected devices, and allows for quick access to AirPlay and any IoT devices you have connected through the LG ThinQ app. The main smart TV interface is now a full-screen affair, with tiles for weather, content recommendations, apps, and the web browser, so pressing the home button will pause what’s playing, unlike before.

Dolby Vision IQ and Dolby Atmos are supported on the LG C2 evo OLED TV

 

Many of the popular apps that you’d usually want on a smart TV are already installed, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar. Others can be installed through the app library, which have been optimised for the big screen. There are also various games, social media apps, and tools to choose from. Although not as well put together and extensive as the Google Play store for Android TV, the app library on webOS is decent enough, and apps work just as well on the platform as on other popular TV platforms.

I found the overall software experience a bit cluttered and unpredictable on the whole, and things sometimes took a bit too long to load. That said, there were no significant issues, and webOS is entirely usable as it is.

LG C2 55-inch OLED TV (OLED55C2PSC) performance

At over Rs. 2,00,000, the LG C2 55-inch television is firmly a premium option and would naturally be expected to perform at a level that justifies the price. LG’s OLED televisions have typically delivered on this and the C2 is no different; this is among the best televisions in its segment right now when it comes to picture quality and overall performance.

In terms of specifications, the LG C2 55-inch TV is well equipped for all kinds of content with support for various HDR formats up to Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Atmos audio, and the pixel-level dimming feature that comes with an OLED display. What truly stood out about the C2’s picture performance was its ability to almost intuitively adapt to the content and lighting conditions in the room, making practically everything I watched look as good as it could be.

Ultra-HD Dolby Vision content was first on my list, and I watched various shows and movies on the TV, including Obi Wan Kenobi, The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals, Uncharted, and Man Vs Bee, to name a few. Across content and genres, the LG television delivered excellent performance, particularly when it came to contrast levels.

The true pixel-level blacks of an OLED television mean that contrast is virtually infinite, but getting it right is often a challenge. The LG C2 aces this aspect, delivering a picture that never looked like it was trying too hard and didn’t seem to need to highlight the deep blacks, as is usually the case with more affordable OLED televisions.

The LG 55C2 OLED TV gets the colours and black levels right, and never feels like its trying too hard

 

The colours felt understated, going more for accuracy and realism than the kind of bright, sometimes excessively vibrant picture, that many mid-premium and high-end televisions usually offer. Dolby Vision’s excellent handling of colours was made significantly better by the LG C2 55-inch TV, particularly with the visually stunning locations in The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals.

The brightness was usually on point for the lighting conditions in the room, with LG’s AI ThinQ functionality doing a surprisingly good job at reading the content and lighting to set up the picture properly, getting the picture calibration right with the dark, detailed scenes of Obi Wan Kenobi. That said, the television did sometimes take a couple of minutes to react to changes in lighting conditions (such as turning a light on), but when it did, picture quality was impressive.

OLED televisions aren’t known for very high brightness levels and although LG claims to have enhancements in place to make the C2 brighter than previous models in the series, it doesn’t quite get there. This wasn’t often a problem for me as I usually watched television at night with the room dimly lit, but on the occasions that I tried to watch something during the day, it proved to be a bit of a challenge.

Unlike the very bright Samsung QN95B Mini LED TV, the LG struggled to adjust to even overcast conditions during the day, and I needed to draw the curtains for a watchable experience. This can be a challenge even in brightly lit rooms, so it’s something you should consider if ambient lighting can’t be quickly and easily adjusted.

While Dolby Vision and HDR10 content was viewable in a brightly-lit room thanks to the brightness of the TV being bumped up automatically, non-HDR content was a bit difficult to watch in anything but a dimly lit room. Episodes of Better Call Saul were detailed thanks to the Ultra-HD resolution, but the dull nighttime scenes of this iconic show were occasionally challenging to watch. The black levels were handled well, but skin tones and the nondescript suburban setting of the show seemed to lack character and feel at times.

Although I did face some issues with brightness levels, sharpness and motion handling were rarely ever an issue with the LG C2 55-inch OLED TV. The television’s seemingly intuitive ability to tweak the picture for the content was on full display here. During the slow scenes of Man Vs Bee, the LG C2 kept the focus on Rowan Atkinson’s priceless range of facial expressions, while the fast, exciting action sequences of Uncharted saw clean, flowing motion, with the right amount of blur and barely any noticeable artefacts.

As you’d expect from an OLED TV, black levels on the LG 55C2 are excellent

 

With lower-resolution content, the LG C2 did reasonably well with bright, colourful content. However, the brightness issues meant that generally dark content tended to affect the picture quality a fair amount. The Batman on Amazon Prime Video was occasionally disappointing to watch, with the TV unable to do much with the low resolution and generally bad quality of the stream. However, it was considerably better than on the (much more affordable) Philips Ambilight 7900 series TV on test, suggesting that the LG C2 is trying a lot harder to upscale and process lower quality content.

Sound quality on the LG C2 55-inch TV was decent in certain situations; Dolby Atmos made for a good soundstage, and even standard audio encoding was clear enough provided the volume was turned up. However, this itself was an issue for me; I often had to have the TV at the 90 percent volume level to hear anything properly in an otherwise quiet room, so I couldn’t quite get the loud and impactful sound that movies such as Uncharted and The Batman deserved. You will likely want to get a soundbar or speaker system to go with this television.

Verdict

Premium…

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Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV Review: Effortlessly Good

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Only a handful of brands sell OLED televisions in India, with Xiaomi, LG, and Sony being notable names in the segment. Widely considered among the best TV display technologies for mainstream televisions, OLED is usually seen on premium, big-screen televisions, often priced at over Rs. 2,00,000 for the popular 55-inch size. The latest television I’m reviewing is not quite from Sony’s flagship lineup for OLED TVs, but is firmly positioned as a premium option as part of the Japanese company’s XR series.

Priced at Rs. 2,49,900 officially (but can be bought from official retailers for around Rs. 1,85,000), the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K is the smallest and least expensive in the company’s 2022 OLED lineup in India. With an Ultra-HD HDR display with support for Dolby Vision HDR, Google TV UI on top of Android TV, and Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR powering it, is this the best TV under Rs. 2,00,000 you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Sony XR-A80K television series is available in three sizes, starting at 55 inches

 

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV design and specifications

The Sony XR-A80K series is available in three sizes in India — 55 inches (on review here) priced at Rs. 2,49,900, 65 inches priced at Rs. 3,49,900, and 77 inches priced at 6,99,900. The 77-inch variant has a rated sound output of 60W as compared to 50W on the 55-inch and 65-inch options, which is the only difference in the variants apart from the screen size.

The Sony Bravia XR-55A80K looks a lot like the Sony XR-55X90K quantum-dot LED TV which I recently reviewed, with thin black borders along the edges of the screen, resulting in an impressive screen-to-body ratio. It’s a straightforward, distraction-free look that ensures your attention is on what’s playing on the screen.

There is a small Sony logo in the bottom-left corner, and a switch on the underside that controls the always-on microphone for voice controls. The microphones themselves are just below the screen facing forward, with a dull indicator light just between them. The television is reasonably slim, but there is a fair bit of space between the edges of the TV and the wall behind, with the middle of the TV being a bit thicker.

The 55-inch A80K TV weighs about 18kg, and comes with the table stands in the box. The stands can be fitted at the corners of the TV, so you’ll need a large table or entertainment unit to place it on. Wall mounting is an option as well, although the kit for this is not included in the box. Sony does provide free installation with the TV, so you can have the technician install a suitable wall mount for this at the time of installation.

There is hands-free voice assistant support on the 55A80K, and you can even turn off the microphone for more privacy

 

All of the ports and sockets on the Sony XR-55A80K TV face to the left of the screen, with only the power socket for the detachable cable near the right side of the screen, at the back. The ports aren’t too difficult to reach even with the TV wall mounted on a low-profile mount kit. Connectivity options include two USB Type-A ports, Digital Audio-Out (Optical Toslink), a 3.5mm headphone jack, a single Video-In socket, an Ethernet port, an antenna socket, and four HDMI ports. Among the HDMI ports, two support 4K at 120Hz, while one supports HDMI ARC and eARC.

As mentioned, the Sony XR-55A80K is a 55-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) OLED television, with support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats. For sound, the television has a five-driver setup with a total output of 50W, and uses Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology which gives the impression of sound coming from the screen itself. Dolby Atmos and DTS Digital Surround are also supported on the TV.

Like the Sony Bravia X90K series, the A80K is powered by Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, and comes with dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. The TV has 16GB of storage for apps and app data.

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV remote and features

The Sony Bravia XR-55A80K, like the X90K, has Sony’s newer and somewhat minimalistic remote. This isn’t to say that it’s barebones; there are plenty of buttons and controls on it, including a D-pad and Android TV navigation keys, source and settings buttons, playback controls, a Google Assistant button, and volume controls. There are also hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube Music.

This kind of remote is a lot easier to handle as it does away with many of the buttons that modern streaming-focused users don’t often need, such as the full number pad. The remote has a microphone for voice commands, and has Bluetooth connectivity for ease of use. It’s powered by two AAA batteries (included in the box), and covers practically everything you’ll need to control on the TV.

Other features on the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K include support for Apple AirPlay and HomeKit, built-in Google Chromecast, and hands-free Google Assistant, apart from remote-based voice commands. When the slider switch below the TV is set to ‘On’ and the TV itself is on, you can invoke the voice assistant with the ‘OK Google’ or ‘Hey Google’ voice command and speak directly to the TV.

The remote of the Sony XR-55A80K TV has hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube Music

 

You can also set up Amazon Alexa on the TV, if you prefer. For gaming, the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K supports 4K at 120Hz through two HDMI ports, auto low-latency mode, and variable refresh rate (VRR).

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV software and interface

Sony is among the few brands that has adopted the Google TV user interface across its product range, and the XR-55A80K is no different. At its base, the television runs Android TV 10, with the Google TV UI on top. This is practically the same user experience as on the Chromecast with Google TV, and is one that I consider to be among the best software and user interface packages for televisions right now.

Some of its key features include the much improved content curation and recommendation system, banner view showing major new releases, multi-app ‘Continue Watching’ row, and the rather quirky themes for the kind of movies and TV shows you can watch.

Google’s own purchases and rentals are integrated into the UI, and a search for any content will show you the best and most affordable available method to watch it, prioritising any streaming services you’re already subscribed to. Netflix is integrated into the search for titles, but unfortunately not into the recommendation engine, unlike on the Chromecast with Google TV. Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot, and Zee5 are among the services that work with the recommendation system.

Also worth mentioning is Sony’s Bravia Core streaming service, which is available on XR series TVs like the 55A80K. Sony states that Bravia Core can stream at up to 80Mbps (considerably higher than other services) to provide better picture quality for Ultra-HD HDR content, tagged as ‘Pure Stream’. The content library isn’t as vast as on other services, but it’s worth exploring for the technically better stream and picture quality on offer.

Sony bundles a one-year complimentary subscription of Bravia Core with the 55A80K, with many titles available to stream for free and without any need to redeem a credit. Apart from those, I had five credits to redeem on ‘premium’ titles, which included much of the ‘Pure Stream’ and IMAX Enhanced catalogues.

As of now, it isn’t clear how much the service will cost after the free trial, but users should be able to continue viewing titles redeemed with credits for some time beyond the subscription period. Picture quality on titles on Bravia Core was indeed better than even Netflix and Apple TV for Ultra-HD content.

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV performance

The premium segment for televisions isn’t quite as diverse and populous as the more affordable price points, and Sony’s reputation does give it a bit of an edge here. However, there is strong competition to the XR-55A80K even at this price, particularly from the excellent LG 55C2 OLED TV and Samsung 55QN95B. While the LG television delivered slightly better contrast and blending, and the Samsung TV was undeniably brighter and more vibrant, the Sony XR-55A80K tended to offer better realism and picture accuracy on the whole.

High-quality Ultra-HD HDR content is sharp, detailed, and great to watch on the Sony XR-55A80K TV

 

The HDR format support for Dolby Vision on the Sony TV tended to favour content on Netflix, Apple TV+, and Disney+ Hotstar a bit more than Amazon Prime Video, although the objective quality of content on the Bravia Core streaming service seemed to outperform just about everything else. What stood out about the Sony XR-55A80K though, was its ability to adapt to the quality of content, fluidly and effortlessly; while good content looked the part, even lower-resolution content was suitably upscaled to look decent on the 55-inch screen.

Additionally, the Sony XR-55A80K was able to use its light sensor very well, to adapt the brightness and impact levels for the content and ambient light settings in the room. As a result, the picture always felt natural and easy on the eyes. It was never too bright, and I also didn’t find myself needing to adjust the brightness to make up for daylight or bright room lights. The Sony TV seemed to do all of this on its own, making for an easy viewing experience that let me focus on what was playing.

Watching Thor: Love and Thunder on Disney+ Hotstar in Ultra-HD Dolby Vision was a treat on the Sony XR-55A80K, with the television adapting well to the numerous bright, colourful scenes of New Asgard, as well as the dark, creepy scenes in the Shadow Realm. The ability to capture detail and add a sense of realism was noteworthy, with the glistening of Thor’s gold chest plate looking absolutely on point, even while Gorr’s lurking in the shadows retained all of the detail and watchability that you’d expect from a high-end OLED TV.

As expected for an OLED television, the Sony XR-55A80K wasn’t exceptionally bright. Unlike the Samsung QN95B which delivers a consistently watchable picture regardless of lighting conditions, the Sony benefited from at least some darkening of the viewing room, even in the form of simply drawing the curtains closed. There was also a fair amount of glare on the screen from slivers of light from the windows or ceiling lights, so you’ll definitely need to set the room up for the TV when watching.

The Sony XR-55A80K is among the best of the premium OLED TVs available in India right now

 

Colourful animation such as Pacific Rim: The Black in Ultra-HD looked sharp and detailed on the Sony XR-55A80K, as did football documentary Welcome To Wrexham in full-HD resolution. The Sony television delivered impressive consistency in the picture, often making it hard to distinguish between Ultra-HD and ftull-HD content.

The black levels were similarly impressive across resolutions and dynamic range, particularly during the dark scenes of Thor: Love and Thunder where faint details were visible clearly and beautifully even during the dark Shadow Realm scenes. Watching dark content at night was a surprisingly good experience, thanks to the sheer detail and naturalness in the picture that the Sony XR-55A80K is capable of.

However, there was a notable difference between good Dolby Vision HDR content and SDR content, with the TV providing impressive colours, a visible bump in brightness, and impressive contrast between bright and dark zones. Dolby Vision content such as Home on Apple TV+ was an impressive showcase of what the TV is capable of, getting the bright cityscapes of Hong Kong, as well as the grey interiors of Gary Chang’s converted home on point quite capably.

Standard definition content naturally looked a bit awkward on the 55-inch screen of the Sony A80K TV, but it didn’t look quite as awkward as I’ve seen on many televisions of this size and resolution. Ideally, you’ll want to stick to full-HD resolution and above to put the TV to good use.

Sound quality was impressive on the TV as well, particularly with Dolby Atmos content. The TV was loud, detailed, and had a rather impressive soundstage thanks to the company’s interesting speaker layout and positioning. With standard audio content, I found the sound entirely acceptable for most purposes, but you might want to consider a good soundbar for a more…

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Xiaomi Smart TV X Series (X50) 50-inch Ultra-HD LED TV Review: Well-Priced 4K TV

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Xiaomi has, in a short time, made big strides in the television business in India. Among the leading brands in the smart TV space and a popular option for buyers looking for affordable, value-for-money big-screen TVs, Xiaomi’s televisions are usually on the radar of many buyers in India. While it does offer some high-end options including OLED and QLED TVs, the brand is best known for its affordable products, making the new Xiaomi Smart TV X Series particularly relevant in its growing product portfolio.

Priced at Rs. 34,999 in India for the 50-inch variant (L50M7-A2IN) on review here, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is similar to the Mi TV 5X that was launched in 2021, but with a more spartan approach that sees fewer features and frills in favour of more competitive pricing. Xiaomi has, however, retained some key specifications, including the Ultra-HD screen, support for Dolby Vision HDR, and Android TV with the PatchWall and stock Android TV UIs. Is this the best affordable Ultra-HD TV you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Xiaomi TV X Series is a bit more affordable than the Mi TV 5X which was launched in 2021

 

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 design and specifications

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is available in three size options, ranging from 43 inches to 55 inches. The 43-inch variant is priced at Rs. 28,999, the 50-inch variant retails for Rs. 34,999, and the 55-inch variant is priced at Rs. 39,999, as per the company’s launch pricing. At the time of this review, I spotted the 50-inch X50 variant on the company’s official online store for Rs. 31,999. All variants have the same specifications and Ultra-HD resolution, so the only significant difference between the three is the size of the display.

As mentioned, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series skips a few features in favour of better pricing, including some elements of the design of the television. The back of the TV is quite plain to look at, and the included stands are made of plastic (unlike the metal stands included with the Mi TV 5X). However, you won’t notice any significant differences at the front of the TV, with a fairly straightforward look that has slim bezels and a fairly high screen-to-body ratio.

At the bottom is the Xiaomi logo, just above the module for the indicator light. Unlike on the Mi TV 5X, there is no hands-free Google Assistant on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and therefore no microphone on the TV itself or a sliding switch to mute it. The back of the TV has the ports facing the left and the bottom, with plenty of space around them to allow convenient connections, even if you have the TV wall-mounted.

Additionally, Xiaomi hasn’t skimped with the ports, and the options remain unchanged from the Mi TV 5X. There are three HDMI 2.1 ports (one supports ARC/eARC), two USB Type-A ports, a 3.5mm socket for wired headphone or speaker connectivity, and Digital Optical (Toslink), Ethernet, AV Input, and Antenna connectivity.

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series runs on Android TV 10, with the stock Android TV and PatchWall UIs on top

 

I had the TV wall-mounted for my review, and it didn’t sit too close to the wall even with a low-profile wall-mount kit, so there was enough room to access the ports as needed. The wall-mount kit isn’t included in the sales package; the Xiaomi technician can provide one at the time of installation.

The Xiaomi Smart TV X50 has a 50-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED screen with a refresh rate of 60Hz, with support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats. Audio output from the TV’s down-firing speaker system is rated at 30W, with support for the Dolby Audio, DTS-HD, and DTS Virtual X formats. For connectivity, there is dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5, and the TV has a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage for apps and app data, lower than the 16GB storage on the Mi TV 5X.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 remote and features

Xiaomi’s minimalistic remote returns on the X50 TV, albeit with minor changes. There are two new hotkeys for Disney+ Hotstar and apps in addition to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and the ‘Mi’ logo has been replaced by the PatchWall logo for the button that quickly switches to Xiaomi’s custom UI for its TVs. Apart from these, it’s the same familiar remote, although it does seem slightly larger than previous remotes.

The remote is powered by two AAA batteries, which are fortunately included in the sales package. Some of the software-based tweaks for the remote, introduced to cover for the lack of hardware buttons, are still in place. These include pressing the volume down key twice quickly to mute, and long-pressing the PatchWall button to access the quick settings menu.

Xiaomi’s compact and lightweight remote sees a few changes with the X50 TV, including new hotkeys

 

Other features on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 include auto low-latency mode (ALLM) for gaming, Dolby Atmos passthrough when using HDMI ARC with compatible speaker systems, and access to Google Assistant using the remote. There is also built-in Google Chromecast and Miracast for casting from compatible devices.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 software and interface

Xiaomi’s familiar dual-UI approach based on the Android TV 10 operating system remains in place on the Smart TV X50. If you prefer the PatchWall UI, the company’s custom user interface continues to improve by way of performance, curation, recommendations from over 30 integrated streaming services, and more. There is also access to the Mi Home app directly on the TV, which is useful if you have any Xiaomi IoT products.

If you prefer the familiarity of the Android TV user interface, that’s present as well. Soon after setting up the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, the stock Android TV UI was updated to the fresher, Google TV-inspired look. Regardless of which UI you prefer, the apps are the same, including access to over 7,000 apps on the Google Play store for Android TV, to download any additional apps and games that you might want.

I did experience some issues with the UI on the Android TV interface, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 feeling a bit sluggish to navigate around. There were also occasions where apps would not load properly, and subtitle timing on apps such as Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar was off by a second or two. However, the fix for this was easy; a full reboot would have the TV working fine for the most part, until a few days later when the issues would reappear.

An interesting new addition to the software suite is the Xiaomi TV+ app. This allows access to linear, programmed ‘channels’ similar to what you’d find on a DTH set-top box-based service, with the obvious difference being that the content is streamed using an Internet connection.

I did find it to be a bit slow and it took quite a while to load even on my otherwise fast Internet connection, but this will hopefully improve over time. The channel selection had a fair amount of variety and content, and was a useful distraction for times when I couldn’t think of what I wanted to watch, or just wanted to watch something for a few minutes.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 performance

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is positioned below the Mi TV 5X in the company’s order of pricing, but this has more to do with small differences in the feature set and design of the TV. When it comes to performance, the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 is fairly adept and up to the mark for a television in its price segment, thanks to its Ultra-HD screen with support for Dolby Vision HDR, general good picture quality across different resolutions, and decent sound quality.

I watched a variety of content across resolutions and dynamic ranges, from Ultra-HD with Dolby Vision or HDR10 support, to standard definition video clips and shows on YouTube and Hotstar. While the differences in the top-quality content naturally showed, the 50-inch size of the X50 variant seemed to help hide some of the drawbacks of lower-resolution content at typical viewing distances for a living room.

Black levels weren’t very good on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and this showed in dark scenes on House of the Dragon

 

Watching episodes of Home on Apple TV+ in Ultra-HD Dolby Vision was expectedly good as compared to all other content, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 doing a decent job with the high dynamic range format. This didn’t seem to translate into as significant a bump in brightness as could be expected from a high-end LED or quantum-dot LED TV, but the colours and tones seemed to be better off.

The beautiful, often colourful homes and surrounding nature on Home looked about as good as can be expected on an entry-level Ultra-HD HDR TV. The naturally bright and vibrant picture of Chef’s Table: Pizza on Netflix looked particularly attractive in terms of colours and sharpness, and the gentle motion in these two shows was generally handled well by the TV.

Shows such as Andor and House of the Dragon provided a somewhat different viewing experience, which had to do with the black levels. The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is an entry-level LED TV, and this meant that there was always a slight grey tinge across the screen.

With bright, colourful content, this didn’t matter or show too prominently, but with the aforementioned two shows relying heavily on dark, night-time scenes, this made the picture appear a bit dull and often difficult to watch unless the room was completely dark. Andor seemed to benefit from its Ultra-HD resolution and Dolby Vision support to look somewhat watchable, while the full-HD resolution of House of the Dragon looked rather strange in dark scenes, with a lot of artefacts, and colours appearing washed out.

Full-HD content on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 looked decent, although Ultra-HD content expectedly brought out the best in the television

 

With HDR10 content, the TV seemed nearly as capable as with the high-quality Dolby Vision content on Apple TV+ and Netflix. The latest episode of The Grand Tour was sharp and fun to watch thanks to its primarily bright snowscapes, but the technically inferior HDR format seemed to show in the colours being slightly less impactful.

That said, the content itself will make or break the experience, and the high-quality content and footage of The Grand Tour arguably looked better than the dull Dolby Vision stream of Andor on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50. Full-HD content such as House of the Dragon and Welcome to Wrexham, despite the obvious differences in sharpness, looked decent thanks to the 50-inch screen size of the X50 variant.

Lower-resolution content such as episodes of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai on Disney+ Hotstar were similarly handled fairly well by the TV, with decent upscaling and the size of the screen itself hiding some of the weaknesses in the picture from typical living room viewing distances.

Sound quality on the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series was rather impressive given the price and size of the TV. The TV is loud, with the sound tuned well to enhance dialogue and background scores. While the sound wasn’t as impactful in the lows and background effects, it largely suited much of what I wanted to watch. At this price level, this is a particularly useful point, since users won’t need to invest in a soundbar or speaker system along with the TV.

Verdict

Xiaomi’s televisions in India have always pushed the value-for-money proposition much further than the competition, and the X Series manages to fine-tune the concept even further. It’s not very different from the more expensive Mi TV 5X range in terms of core specifications, but does cut back on some features that could be considered unnecessary frills.

The result is a capable budget Ultra-HD TV that largely does the job its meant to do, and at Rs. 34,999 for the 50-inch variant (going as low as Rs. 31,999 depending on seasonal pricing), offers excellent value for money. Picture quality is decent save for some small drawbacks, sound quality is good, and the software and UI performance are acceptable on the whole. This is a sensible pick for the price, if you’re looking to upgrade to a big screen and want to explore the ever-increasing list of Ultra-HD and HDR content on offer right now.

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