OnePlus TV 65 Q2 Pro Review: Good for cinema, better for gaming

If a big, expansive screen with support for high-end HDR formats such as Dolby Vision and HDR10+ is what you're looking for then this one can definitely be your TV. The Q2 Pro offers good picture quality and sound and elevates it all with impressive features such as VRR and ALLM that promise to improve gaming performance on the TV.

There's no denying that the OnePlus TV Q1 Pro proved to be a massive success for the company. At the time of its launch, it not only established OnePlus as a force to be reckoned with in the television space but also helped spur growth in the industry by democratising the borderline-expensive QLED panel technology. 

But that was 2019, and we're here in 2023. QLED TVs are no more a novelty, with a number of players jumping into the fray with their own offerings featuring this panel technology. So does that mean OnePlus is ready to give up on QLED TVs already and move to something more high-end?

Sadly the answer to that is, no. 

OnePlus has just launched the successor to its popular Q1 Pro, with yes, you guessed it right, a QLED panel TV. The only difference is that Q2 Pro is bigger, better in terms of specifications and offers a lot more in the features department when compared to the Q1 Pro. But the big question still remains, do all these combine to make the OnePlus Q2 Pro a good TV for 2023? Especially when we put it up against some of the other television sets available in the segment.

Well, let's find out in our review of the all-new OnePlus Q2 Pro. 

OnePlus Q2 Pro: Design

First things first, as you can see, this is a fine-looking TV, one that's sure to make your living room come alive if that is where you choose to place it in your home. OnePlus has retained the design language from its previous generation OnePlus TV Q1 Pro, with the device flaunting clean corners and slim bezels. The Q2 Pro is definitely a TV for minimalists and looks quite premium with its brushed metal aesthetics. 

Another big thing of note in the design department is that OnePlus has decided to do away with the sliding soundbar setup which was one of the major talking points about the design of the OnePlus Q1 Pro. So instead of a soundbar placed on a moving piece of hardware, we now have a fixed soundbar in place that's just stuck in place below the panel of the Q2 Pro. 

In my opinion, this was a wise decision as the retractable soundbar of the Q1 Pro proved to be a nuisance at times and had its own documented issues. As a consequence of the change in design, this Q2 Pro's soundbar should not suffer from similar issues in the long run, thereby already making it an upgrade over the last generation flagship TV from OnePlus. 

OnePlus TV Q2 Pro: Audio 

Talking about the sound system of the TV, it's important that I also mention just how powerful it is in terms of performance. There are two separate parts to the sound system this time, with the first being the 40W Horizon Soundbar that works in tandem with a 30W subwoofer to create one of the most complete on-system audio setups I've seen on a TV in a while. 

But while the speaker system is a good addition, no good TV experience can ever be complete without ensuring there is a good panel to make all the visuals come to life. 

OnePlus TV Q2 Pro: Display

For this, we have a huge 65-inch panel, which uses a quantum dot sheet placed above the LED backlighting to improve colour and contrast on the TV. Now as we've mentioned before, QLED TVs aren't a novelty anymore, with many brands using the technology across a range of TVs. However, that does not mean it's a negative in the OnePlus Q2 Pro's favour. 

In fact, I firmly believe that QLED TVs still have a part to play in the growth story of the evolving mid-range and affordable TV segments. And OnePlus' Q2 Pro with its price barely manages to sneak its way into this spectrum. 

But let me not digress. For now, let's stick to going a little in-depth more about the performance of the panel. 

So in our time testing the TV, we found the Q2 Pro's performance to be quite satisfactory, but only after certain tweaks. As a 4K TV with a big 65-inch panel, the TV's capable of recreating some stunning visuals on screen. With its support for technologies such as Dolby Vision, HDR 10+ and the company's in-house Gamma Engine Ultra, users are treated to visuals that pop and look very impressive at the first glance. Skin tones are handled well and scenes look expansive and cinematic because of the TV's ability to boost colours and contrast on the fly for moving frames. 

But for this, we did have to make certain tweaks within the TV's colour management profiles to improve picture performance. For example, we figured out very early that jacking up the backlighting to 100 and switching to the Cinema preset and then finally changing the base colour temperature for the profile from Standard to Warm was the way forward for pretty much every piece of content, except for live sports and games. Another quick hack is to not switch to the HDR10+ preset even while playing HDR10+ mastered content on the TV. This colour preset does not appear to be mastered very well for the TV, with it making scenes look faded and lacking colours. 

The same was the case for the Dolby Vision Dark preset where colours on the panel just look faded, instead of the contrast of whole scenes being boosted to provide depth to scenes. The Dolby Vision Bright preset though performed well, adequately handling visuals. 

Viewing angles are also pretty good, so if you plan to plant this TV in your living room, then you won't have issues consuming content on the TV from slightly odd angles.

But not all is great with the TV. Because of the OnePlus Q2 Pro's size, if you end up using it as your living room centrepiece, then know you'll have to manage the lighting of its surroundings well. While OnePlus claims that the TV has a good peak brightness of 1200 nits, in our testing we achieved more modest numbers. 

Hooked up to Calman Ultimate our Spectracal C6 Colourometer registered numbers closer to the 680 nits mark as the typical peak brightness of the panel. While we're sure the TV is reaching closer to the advertised 1200nits mark on a small section of the panel for a short period of time when HDR or Dolby Vision mastered content is run on the TV, the tested typical brightness is sadly nothing to get too excited about and can prove to be a problem if the TV is put in a bright room. 

Dark scenes are also a mixed bag if you go looking for trouble on the OnePlus Q2 Pro. Although the panel does a good job handling dark scenes in general, there were a few scenes when we did notice some light bleeding on the edges and blooming effects in scenes. 

Despite this not being an OLED, we do get good black performance on the panel, with details and highlights mostly being retained in very dark scenes as well. However, looking closely at dark scenes, and putting a superior OLED panel TV next to the Q2 Pro will reveal that the blacks still aren't true blacks and do have a tinge of grey to them. 

But that's completely acceptable considering this TV does not use self-dimming pixels and instead uses about 120 dimming zones to control darker scenes on the TV. 

Away from the subjective, we also tested the TV using Calman Ultimate to better understand the visual performance of the TV. 

While we did test the various presets on the TV, our testing data also revealed that the best results were always to be achieved while the TV was set to the Cinema preset. Both colour accuracy and handling of gamma, were the best in this preset, for both sRGB and HDR content.

Set to the Cinema preset and testing the panel for accuracy of colours for the sRGB container, we found the panel throwing up some really good numbers, with the Average DeltaE clocked at 3.1 and the Max variance in colour accuracy jumping to 7.4 at point 6J, which is a shade of grey. In our testing we also found the panel covering pretty much the whole sRGB colour container in terms of gamut coverage. 

For the more challenging DCI-P3 container, we again tested good numbers, with the DeltaE for colour accuracy only jumping to 3.7 and the Max DeltaE also remaining within acceptable limits for a TV at 9.1. The gamut coverage here was also good at 93 per cent, which was a little short of the advertised 97 per cent mark for gamut coverage. 

The Grayscale tracking of the device revealed some interesting results and also explained some of the visual performance of the device. Despite changing the colour temperature of the panel to warm, we realised the panel's output was still a little on the cooler side, with an average colour temperature of around 7200 kelvins. The RGB Balance also explained this further, with the TV using significantly less amount of reds as compared to greens and blues for creating whites across various stages of luminance. 

The best RGB balance here was seen at around the 10 per cent luminance mark, with the TV using quite low amounts of reds to create white light after the 10 per cent brightness mark. 

The Gamma tracking of the OnePlus Q2 Pro's panel also revealed some interesting things. During our tests, we found that the Gamma tracking of the device has been set in a way that it is over-darkening the dark scenes and over-brightening the brighter scenes for the majority of luminance points. 

We think OnePlus is`  using this gamma to compensate for the TV's lack of very high brightness and improve what could have otherwise been average dark scene performance. All in all, good work on OnePlus' part I'd say. 

OnePlus Q2 Pro: Gaming performance

Away from benchmarks, and cinema performance, we also tested the OnePlus Q2 Pro for gaming performance. This is because gaming is a big push on the TV this time. And understandably so.

I mean, we have a huge 65-inch 4K panel with support for 120Hz variable refresh rate and ultra-low-latency support for visuals using ALLM. All this combined ensures that when you finally hook up a supported console to the TV, it can effectively handle fast refresh games and bring to life, fluid, ultra-responsive visual experiences, that look as nice as they play on screen. 

What's also good is that we get support for VRR on two HDMI ports, instead of just one as we have seen on many competing TVs. Then there's also support for the Gamepad feature that lets you connect your smartphone to use it as a gamepad for gaming apps that you'd find on the Google TV OS that makes the TV's hardware tick. 

Verdict: Should you buy the OnePlus TV Q2 Pro?

Well, the answer to this depends on what your ask is from your next TV. 

If a big, expansive screen with support for high-end HDR formats such as Dolby Vision and HDR10+ is what you're looking for then this one can definitely be your TV. The Q2 Pro offers good picture quality and sound and elevates it all with impressive features such as VRR and ALLM that promise to improve gaming performance on the TV. 

The only question I have here is if the TV is worth a buy for anyone and everyone looking to buy a TV around the 1 Lakh mark. Especially if you don't mind going a little lower in terms of the panel size. 

If a 55-inch panel suffices your needs, then I'd recommend taking a look at the Xiaomi OLED Vision, or better, even the LG A2 which you can snag for around the same price in the market. These are both OLED panel TVs, that'll give you better dark scene performance and overall more immersive visual experiences. 

But if you do so, know you'd not only be missing out on a bigger panel-fitted TV that is the OnePlus Q2 Pro, but also a TV that offers a superior feature set for gaming experiences and definitely a better sound system. So choose wisely and decide just how much value you're ready to put on the extra gaming features, the sound system and most importantly the bigger panel size on the OnePlus Q2 Pro and then go ahead and make your buying decision. 

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Acer I Series 55 Inch TV Review: One for the masses

For them, the TV's above par audio performance and support for neccecary features coming at an aggressive price point may just be more than enough to make a buying decision.

The 55-inch segment of the televisions category has grown at an exponential pace over the last year or so. While the Covid-induced lockdowns have definitely helped increase demand for televisions in general, this segment has grown faster because of the launch of aggressively priced propositions that don't compromise on performance or quality. 

Another name was added recently to this list in the form of the Acer I-Series televisions. These new TVs come with an edge-to-edge display, giving it a near bezel-less design. The TV also offers some interesting upgrades over its predecessor, bringing support for enhanced Wide Colour Gamut+, HDR 10+, Super Brightness, Black Level Augmentation and 4K Upscaling. 

While interesting on paper, do all these features make the new I-Series TV from Acer worthy of your money? Let's find out in our review where we'll focus primarily on the picture performance of the device. 

ACER 55-INCH I-Series

Panel Size: 55-inch (also available in 43 and 50-inch screen sizes) 

Panel Type: VA with D-LED backlighting

Panel Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - 4K

Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz

HDR 10 support: Yes

HDR 10+ support: Yes

Dolby Vision Support: No

HDMI Ports: 3

USB Ports: 2

Bluetooth: Yes

Wi-Fi: Yes

Ethernet: Yes

Speakers: 30W 

Built-in storage: 

Price: MRP: 

Acer TV: Display performance and picture quality

Acer's new I-Series TV is available in multiple sizes, with the one we're testing today coming with a 55-inch panel. It is powered by a quad-core chipset which is paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. This hardware paired with a rich feature set that includes support for HDR 10+, HLG and Dolby Atmos. Because of the light-weight UI, the performance of the TV also does not take a hit when you play HDR or 4K content. All this combined comes together to create generally enjoybale experiences for using what's essentially an affordable 4K TV. 

As such, watching both SDR and HDR content through a set-top box or the latter through an OTT platform was not a problem. The TV handled such content as expected, with upscaling of lower resolution content also proving to not be an issue on the new Acer I-Series TV. But the performance looks good only if you compare the TV to similarly priced offerings. And once you start going a little up the price ladder, other options with more refined UIs and powerful chipsets do come into the mix.

 

Another thing to note here is that Acer's new TV comes with Micro Dimming, instead of frame or local dimming. As such, performance of the TV in darker scenes can suffer a little, with some level of halo effect visible in such scenes. 

Moving away from the subjective, we also collected some interesting data while testing the Acer I-Series TV using the Calman Ultimate software paired with the Spectracal C6 Colorometer and Video Forge Pro. During our tests, we got the best results for the TV on the Movies preset. However, when compared to the results we got on some competing devices, the flaws of the Acer I-Series TV started to expose itself. 

During our tests, this preset gave us slightly high delta errors in colour accuracy, with the average deltaE of 3.7 and max deltaE climbing to 7.3 when the TV was set to output content in the sRGB colour space. For SDR, RGB balance was also just about okay, with blues slightly oversaturated. With an average CCT of 6771, such content had a slight blue bias which we couldn't fix through the TVs internal settings. 

We found the TV's tuning for HDR content slightly better, with the RGB balance much more in check. However, colour accuracy for HDR content was again on the higher side, with the Average DeltaE hitting 7.3 and the maximum error of 13.3 being observed at 100 per cent red. Apart from this, the TV managed to cover about 94.7 per cent of the sRGB colour space, and going down to 71.6 per cent of the DCI-P3 container. The TV also threw up a good brightness of 401 nits for HDR content and about 330 nits for SDR content -- both good enough for handling content mastered in the respective colour profiles. 

Acer I-Series TV review:  Design and Audio

With the Acer I-Series TV, the company has brought back its Boundless design language which sees it offering very thin bezels around the panel. This is paired with a functional design language which sees the HDMI, USB and other ports of the TV placed in such a way that they are easily accessible not only while the TV is set on a stand, but also when it's wall-mounted. 

Overall, Acer has done a good job in making the TV look premium and worthy of the money the company is asking for it. And thankfully, this is also the case for the remote of the device, which completes the look of the TV with its design that makes it look quite upmarket thanks to the use of premium materials. 

Acer I-Series TV review: Verdict

The Acer I-Series TV holds its ground as a good option in a sea of similarly priced 55-inch 4K LED TVs. However, it definitely doesn't stand out as the best option there is in the segment. While it does get HDR 10+ support, the fact that it is not Dolby Vision ready does count as a negative in its favour and makes it difficult to recommend to buyers looking to get an affordable offering that can be used to watch some select content in highest fedility possible through OTT platforms. 

However, that's only if you're looking to watch such content on the TV. For most pieces of content, the HDR 10+ and HLG support of the TV should be good enough. And thankfully for this Acer I-Series TV, for such buyers, the TVs inaccuracies in reproducing certain colours at times may also not prove to be an issue. 

For them, the TV's above par audio performance and support for neccecary features coming at an aggressive price point may just be more than enough to make a buying decision.

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Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Review: Offers good value for your money

The Xiaomi Smart TV 5A is a good product in isolation. Even though it lacks HDR support, it does do the basics well and offers decent performance for the price. For everyday use, its output will be good enough for most non-picky, non-discerning users looking to watch movies and the latest shows on it. The presence of an ample amount of RAM and an above-par speaker set-up for the segment also works in its favour. 

Over the last few months, we've seen some good 43-inch Full HD TVs making their way to the market. These TVs from the likes of OnePlus and Redmi have ensured there are enough options for buyers looking to buy a decent-sized TV for their homes. Recently, Xiaomi added to the mix, by launching a new TV in the segment -- the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A. This particular TV is available in three different sizes, with the entry-level 32-inch variant sporting slightly different base specifications. We have with us for review the 43-inch variant of the TV which comes with a Full HD panel, Xiaomi's PatchWall UI, and an interesting feature set. Let's find out if it's a good upgrade over its predecessor and also a worthy competitor for the other 43-inch Full HD TVs available in the market. 

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A: Specifications

But before we start with the review, let's quickly take a look at the specifications of the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A. 

Panel Size: 43-inch  Panel Resolution: 1920 x 1080p - FHD Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz HDR 10 support: No HDR 10+ support: No Dolby Vision Support: No HDMI 2.0 Ports: 2 USB Ports: 2 Bluetooth: Yes, 5.0 Wi-Fi: Yes, dual-band Ethernet: Yes Speakers: 24W (DTS:X | DTS Virtual: X) Built-in storage: 8GB RAM: 1.5GB Price: MRP: 25,999

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A: Display and picture quality

With the Smart TV 5A, Xiaomi's attempting to create immersive visual experiences at an affordable price point, and bringing to life these attempts is a 43-inch Full HD panel that features very tiny bezels. At 100 backlight and set to the Movies colour preset, this Xiaomi Smart TV 5A delivered average results in our display tests conducted using Portrait Displays Calman Ultimate paired with Spectracal C6 Colourimeter and VideoForge Pro pattern generator. 

The TV faltered a little on the colour accuracy front, with the avg deltaE climbing up to 5.9 and max deltaE shooting to 14 at point White. Since the lower the deltaE value, the better it is for the TV to accurately reproduce colours on the panel, this score is not good news for the Xioami Smart TV 5A. Additionally, with the point White base being a little off, we also saw some deviation from the expected levels at some other colour points. Now, these slightly high deltaE numbers were a surprise to us, as we have previously recorded better numbers testing the Redmi Smart TV 43, which recorded an average delta error of only 2.2. While the average deltaE of 5.9 on the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A isn't, particularly the worst we have seen on a TV, it is definitely not amongst the best, and considering this is Xiaomi's primary entry-level TV for the market, it's more surprising that the results are not close to what the Redmi Smart TV 43 achieved in our tests. 

The grayscale tracking results were also just okay, with the average delta error again on the higher end and a slight red bias. Calman testing also showed that the panel peaked at 248 nits brightness when set to a 10 per cent window. Now, considering this is an SDR TV, it's more than enough for watching movies or shows in SDR quality that are tuned for not hitting high brightness levels. 

But do the numbers translate to real-life performance?

Well, in real life, we found the TV to perform as expected – not great, not too bad, just about adequate-ish. We tested it by playing some movies and shows on it and realised that shows and movies such as American Gods and Jumanji, tuned to best perform in HDR, performed well on the TV in SDR too. It handled most content fine, but in certain scenes, the content did look a little over-saturated. Skin tones were a little off, and darker scenes too were not handled particularly well. However, the TV offers a good contrast ratio for its price which should be encouraging for buyers looking to spend their hard-earned money on this TV.

At this point, we'd like to remind you that all of this testing was done with the TV set to the Movies mode, which by default switches the TV to producing warm colour tones. We tried switching the TV to a balanced colour tone to improve visuals, but both to our eye, and the Calman testing equipment, this attempt only messed with the colour reproduction even more. However, if you're a fan of vibrant colours, and don't care about colour accuracy as much, we'd recommend switching to the Standard colour profile. But overall, despite its misses, the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A does what it is tasked to do – provide a good overall viewing experience to the end-user.

Xiaomi TV 5A: Build, design 

Considering this is a budget TV, the Xiaomi TV does offer better-than-average build quality. The bezels are not too pronounced, and the TV generally looks upmarket for the price. The back of the TV, is quite regular, with the back cover made out of plastic and houses primarily two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a 3.5 mm jack and a port for optical audio output. There's also a 2 speaker set-up at the base which is tucked nicely within the body of the device. 

Xiaomi's latest offering can also connect to the internet using WiFi over 2.4GHz and 5GHz wavelengths and also features Bluetooth v5.0 for connecting audio equipment to the device. All the ports are generally easy to reach, regardless of the fact that it's mounted on a wall or kept on a table using the detachable plastic stands.

As we have explained above, the design of the TV is quite upmarket because of the materials used to build it and also its premium design language used. We can safely say, this is something that is also true about the remote of the device. It's the same remote that we have seen on other more expensive TVs from Xiaomi in the past. It's pretty ergonomic and feels nice in the hand because of its matte textured finish. Apart from housing directional buttons, it also brings power, Google Assistant, OTT hotkeys for Netflix and Prime Video and a volume rocker. There is no mute button, instead, it uses the volume down button as a hotkey which can be pressed twice quickly to mute the device. 

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A: Audio and PatchWall UI

Now, let's get back to the intangible -- audio and the user interface. To begin with, despite Xiaomi's attempts, the audio performance of the device isn't mind-blowing. It is good for the price, but there’s still more one could ask for from the Xioami Smart TV 5A in the audio department.

The engineering team at Xiaomi has done their best in designing the audio chamber for the TV. However, the results still fall short of our expectations. But then again, for a budget TV to have great audio is as good as expecting the unexpected.

Audio isn't very crisp, and dialogue clarity suffers as a result at times. The bass is also not too punchy, and the sound loses clarity at higher volume levels. But, the performance is still better than what's available on competing TVs in the price range and the segment. This is because the TV not only brings big 24W dual speakers but also supports technologies such as DTS Virtual: X.

Moving on to UI experience, this is also quite good on the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A. The primary reason behind this is the fact that Xiaomi has equipped this TV with 1.5GB of RAM – amongst the highest in the segment – which appears to be just about enough to handle this custom UI from the company. This is great because PatchWall has evolved to become a great Android TV alternative, and to have it run smoothly on the device, without any lags and hitches is the minimum any end-user deserves. 

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A: Verdict

Now, to the all-important question, should you buy the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A? Well, the truth is, this TV from Xiaomi is a good product in isolation. Even though it lacks HDR support, it does do the basics well and offers decent performance for the price. For everyday use, its output will be good enough for most non-picky, non-discerning users looking to play movies and shows on it. The presence of ample amounts of RAM and an above-par speaker set-up for the segment also works in its favour. 

It looks appealing in the living room, in terms of design and accessibility of ports, and things like its UI experience (thanks to onboard RAM) and encouraging audio performance (despite some obvious bottlenecks due to its budget billing) are some of the key takeaways from our time spent on this TV.

However, we'd still not recommend this TV in this budget segment. For that, we turn your attention towards the Redmi 43-inch FHD Smart TV (review). Despite its failings in the audio department, this TV from Redmi is a better deal as it offers slightly better visuals because of its improved colour accuracy. However, this recommendation only stands if the accuracy of colours is what you desire. Otherwise, the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A is a safe choice and as good a bet as any for your hard-earned money.

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Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Review: Offers good value for your money

The Xiaomi Smart TV 5A is a good product in isolation. Even though it lacks HDR support, it does do the basics well and offers decent performance for the price. For everyday use, its output will be good enough for most non-picky, non-discerning users looking to watch movies and the latest shows on it. The presence of an ample amount of RAM and an above-par speaker set-up for the segment also works in its favour. 

Over the last few months, we've seen some good 43-inch Full HD TVs making their way to the market. These TVs from the likes of OnePlus and Redmi have ensured there are enough options for buyers looking to buy a decent-sized TV for their homes. Recently, Xiaomi added to the mix, by launching a new TV in the segment -- the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A. This particular TV is available in three different sizes, with the entry-level 32-inch variant sporting slightly different base specifications. We have with us for review the 43-inch variant of the TV which comes with a Full HD panel, Xiaomi's PatchWall UI, and an interesting feature set. Let's find out if it's a good upgrade over its predecessor and also a worthy competitor for the other 43-inch Full HD TVs available in the market. 

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A: Specifications

But before we start with the review, let's quickly take a look at the specifications of the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A. 

Panel Size: 43-inch  Panel Resolution: 1920 x 1080p - FHD Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz HDR 10 support: No HDR 10+ support: No Dolby Vision Support: No HDMI 2.0 Ports: 2 USB Ports: 2 Bluetooth: Yes, 5.0 Wi-Fi: Yes, dual-band Ethernet: Yes Speakers: 24W (DTS:X | DTS Virtual: X) Built-in storage: 8GB RAM: 1.5GB Price: MRP: 25,999

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A: Display and picture quality

With the Smart TV 5A, Xiaomi's attempting to create immersive visual experiences at an affordable price point, and bringing to life these attempts is a 43-inch Full HD panel that features very tiny bezels. At 100 backlight and set to the Movies colour preset, this Xiaomi Smart TV 5A delivered average results in our display tests conducted using Portrait Displays Calman Ultimate paired with Spectracal C6 Colourimeter and VideoForge Pro pattern generator. 

The TV faltered a little on the colour accuracy front, with the avg deltaE climbing up to 5.9 and max deltaE shooting to 14 at point White. Since the lower the deltaE value, the better it is for the TV to accurately reproduce colours on the panel, this score is not good news for the Xioami Smart TV 5A. Additionally, with the point White base being a little off, we also saw some deviation from the expected levels at some other colour points. Now, these slightly high deltaE numbers were a surprise to us, as we have previously recorded better numbers testing the Redmi Smart TV 43, which recorded an average delta error of only 2.2. While the average deltaE of 5.9 on the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A isn't, particularly the worst we have seen on a TV, it is definitely not amongst the best, and considering this is Xiaomi's primary entry-level TV for the market, it's more surprising that the results are not close to what the Redmi Smart TV 43 achieved in our tests. 

The grayscale tracking results were also just okay, with the average delta error again on the higher end and a slight red bias. Calman testing also showed that the panel peaked at 248 nits brightness when set to a 10 per cent window. Now, considering this is an SDR TV, it's more than enough for watching movies or shows in SDR quality that are tuned for not hitting high brightness levels. 

But do the numbers translate to real-life performance?

Well, in real life, we found the TV to perform as expected – not great, not too bad, just about adequate-ish. We tested it by playing some movies and shows on it and realised that shows and movies such as American Gods and Jumanji, tuned to best perform in HDR, performed well on the TV in SDR too. It handled most content fine, but in certain scenes, the content did look a little over-saturated. Skin tones were a little off, and darker scenes too were not handled particularly well. However, the TV offers a good contrast ratio for its price which should be encouraging for buyers looking to spend their hard-earned money on this TV.

At this point, we'd like to remind you that all of this testing was done with the TV set to the Movies mode, which by default switches the TV to producing warm colour tones. We tried switching the TV to a balanced colour tone to improve visuals, but both to our eye, and the Calman testing equipment, this attempt only messed with the colour reproduction even more. However, if you're a fan of vibrant colours, and don't care about colour accuracy as much, we'd recommend switching to the Standard colour profile. But overall, despite its misses, the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A does what it is tasked to do – provide a good overall viewing experience to the end-user.

Xiaomi TV 5A: Build, design 

Considering this is a budget TV, the Xiaomi TV does offer better-than-average build quality. The bezels are not too pronounced, and the TV generally looks upmarket for the price. The back of the TV, is quite regular, with the back cover made out of plastic and houses primarily two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a 3.5 mm jack and a port for optical audio output. There's also a 2 speaker set-up at the base which is tucked nicely within the body of the device. 

Xiaomi's latest offering can also connect to the internet using WiFi over 2.4GHz and 5GHz wavelengths and also features Bluetooth v5.0 for connecting audio equipment to the device. All the ports are generally easy to reach, regardless of the fact that it's mounted on a wall or kept on a table using the detachable plastic stands.

As we have explained above, the design of the TV is quite upmarket because of the materials used to build it and also its premium design language used. We can safely say, this is something that is also true about the remote of the device. It's the same remote that we have seen on other more expensive TVs from Xiaomi in the past. It's pretty ergonomic and feels nice in the hand because of its matte textured finish. Apart from housing directional buttons, it also brings power, Google Assistant, OTT hotkeys for Netflix and Prime Video and a volume rocker. There is no mute button, instead, it uses the volume down button as a hotkey which can be pressed twice quickly to mute the device. 

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A: Audio and PatchWall UI

Now, let's get back to the intangible -- audio and the user interface. To begin with, despite Xiaomi's attempts, the audio performance of the device isn't mind-blowing. It is good for the price, but there’s still more one could ask for from the Xioami Smart TV 5A in the audio department.

The engineering team at Xiaomi has done their best in designing the audio chamber for the TV. However, the results still fall short of our expectations. But then again, for a budget TV to have great audio is as good as expecting the unexpected.

Audio isn't very crisp, and dialogue clarity suffers as a result at times. The bass is also not too punchy, and the sound loses clarity at higher volume levels. But, the performance is still better than what's available on competing TVs in the price range and the segment. This is because the TV not only brings big 24W dual speakers but also supports technologies such as DTS Virtual: X.

Moving on to UI experience, this is also quite good on the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A. The primary reason behind this is the fact that Xiaomi has equipped this TV with 1.5GB of RAM – amongst the highest in the segment – which appears to be just about enough to handle this custom UI from the company. This is great because PatchWall has evolved to become a great Android TV alternative, and to have it run smoothly on the device, without any lags and hitches is the minimum any end-user deserves. 

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A: Verdict

Now, to the all-important question, should you buy the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A? Well, the truth is, this TV from Xiaomi is a good product in isolation. Even though it lacks HDR support, it does do the basics well and offers decent performance for the price. For everyday use, its output will be good enough for most non-picky, non-discerning users looking to play movies and shows on it. The presence of ample amounts of RAM and an above-par speaker set-up for the segment also works in its favour. 

It looks appealing in the living room, in terms of design and accessibility of ports, and things like its UI experience (thanks to onboard RAM) and encouraging audio performance (despite some obvious bottlenecks due to its budget billing) are some of the key takeaways from our time spent on this TV.

However, we'd still not recommend this TV in this budget segment. For that, we turn your attention towards the Redmi 43-inch FHD Smart TV (review). Despite its failings in the audio department, this TV from Redmi is a better deal as it offers slightly better visuals because of its improved colour accuracy. However, this recommendation only stands if the accuracy of colours is what you desire. Otherwise, the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A is a safe choice and as good a bet as any for your hard-earned money.

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Redmi Smart TV X43 4K HDR TV Review: A good budget 4K HDR TV

What the Redmi Smart TV X43 has going for it are the same features that made its larger siblings an enticing offering. The TV is packed with features including support for almost all HDR formats, a host of connectivity options and a simple design. Its build is at par with other budget TVs we’ve tested. The panel of the TV has very good colour reproduction for HDR and SDR but the peak brightness is lower than what we’d like for an immersive HDR experience. The audio output is average. Considering the 29K price point, this is a good option for those looking for a budget 4K 43-inch TV. 

The 43-inch screen size is the only one in India where you have the option of a 4K TV and an FHD TV to choose from. More than the resolution, it is the representation of content in HDR vs SDR that matters more. While a 4K image will look crisper than 1080p, it’s the adoption of HDR on budget TVs which is underwhelming and at times, the SDR image looks better than the HDR. 

Today we have with us the Redmi Smart TV X43. It is a 43-inch addition to the Redmi Smart TV X series now available in 43, 50, 55 and 65-inch screen sizes. We have reviewed the 65-inch Redmi Smart TV X65 and found it to be quite the value for money offering. In the 43-inch space, we have reviewed the Redmi FHD which is currently priced at Rs 24,999. We’ve also reviewed offerings from Realme as well. As of writing this review, the Redmi Smart TV X43 is priced at Rs 28,999 and comes with all the features of its larger siblings including support for Dolby Vision and HDR. Is it a worthy consideration above the FHD Redmi Smart TV 43? 

Redmi Smart TV X43 specs at a glance

Panel Size: 43-inch (Also available in 50, 55 and 65-inch screen sizes) Panel Resolution: 3840 x 2160p - 4K Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz HDR 10 support: Yes HDR 10+ support: Yes Dolby Vision Support: Yes Weight: 6.5 kgs HDMI Ports: 3 USB Ports: 2 Bluetooth: Yes, 5.0 Wi-Fi: Yes, dual-band Ethernet: Yes Speakers: 30W  Built-in storage: 16GB RAM: 2GB Price: MRP: 28,999

Redmi Smart TV X43 Display Panel and Picture Quality

The Redmi Smart TV X43 has D-LED backlighting. As far as peak brightness is concerned, in the Vivid preset, we recorded a peak brightness of 372 nits, but in the Movie and Standard preset, you can expect peak brightness between 250 and 300 nits, which is low for HDR content. However, whether this hampers your viewing experience is something we will comment on below. Where the device impressed was with the Colorchecker Analysis, giving an average delta error of 2.9 which is quite good. Even in the grayscale 2pt, the error was below 2 indicating good performance overall. In the saturation sweeps, we have an average delta error of 2.5 which is very good, indicating a good representation of colours overall. So, while the brightness of the TV may be low for consuming HDR content, it has fairly good colour reproduction. 

Above: Peak brightness

Above: Grayscale 2 point. 

Above: Saturation sweeps of the Redmi Smart TV x43 Above: Colour Gamut Coverage

Above: ColorChecker Analysis

HDR

Like we said above, the peak brightness of the TV is nothing to write home about. But that's not the biggest problem with budget HDR TVs. It is that the dark sequences shouldn't look too dark and the colours should look good. That’s exactly what we found here. In a show like Our Planet (available in Dolby Vision on Netflix), we didn't get the specular highlights as we did on other TVs with higher peak brightness, but the dark areas of this show were still quite enjoyable. Same for a show like the Grand Tour (available in HDR 10+ on Prime Video). A stark standout has to be the dark sequence we use in Jack Rayan, another HDR 10+ show on Prime Video. The sequence we use to test has a slightly darker tone on budget HDR TVs but that wasn’t the case here. It was crisp and easily enjoyable.  

There are some occasions where the content on-screen looked slightly darker than was expected, but these moments were far and few. The Dark Knight Rises is a good example of this with most of the action in the first two-thirds of the movie taking place at night. Even though a lot of these dark sequences were easy to watch, there was some loss of detail due to the low peak brightness of the TV. But this is one example as with other pieces of content with dark sequences be it Altered Carbon, the content was easily enjoyable.

The TV does come with a lot of settings options giving you a decent amount of control. For Dolby Vision content there is Dolby Vision Bright and Dolby Vision dark and as always, keep the TV in Dolby Vision Bright irrespective of the lighting in the room. HDR 10+ only has one option while HDR 10 content has HDR Standard, HDR Vivid and HDR Movie. Here I found HDR 10 Movie worked best for almost all HDR content.   

SDR

A new addition to Netflix recently was Spider-Man Far From Home. This title is available in 4K but in SDR. The details on Spider-Man's suit are quite detailed with the reds and blues standing out. The battle with Mysterio which begins at the 1 hour 15 min mark and ends with Spider-Man being hit by a train is a good example of SDR playback with a healthy mix of colours and bright and dark sequences. The TV does a good job of reproducing these sequences and with a little bit of bias light in the room, there are almost no halo or blooming effects on the screen. The overall performance is very good for SDR.

Regular SDR content, be it from a set-top box or even streaming services, look good on this TV. For watching movies and most TV shows, I recommend using the Movie preset. However, as we’ve seen on other TVs, we found that some shows like Young Sheldon, for example, look best using the standard preset despite its slightly cooler colour bias. The one thing I recommend is going into the settings and switching off motion smoothing as I am one that does not like the artificial smoothing effect in movies. That's a personal choice as you may like it.

Redmi Smart TV X43 Gaming performance

Gaming on this TV is good overall, though we faced the same problem found on other budget HDR TVs. When you connect a PS5 (review) to the TV for the first time, you are asked to calibrate the brightness. Firing Dirt 5 (review) after calibration and you immediately realise that the TV is trying to punch way above its weight. Since Dirt 5 is an HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) game, it relies on the brightness calibration between the TV and the console. You need to go into the settings of the game and readjust the brightness so the content doesn't look burnt. Other games like Ghost of Tsushima (review) and Spider-Man: Miles Morales (review) and more look like they did on the Redmi Smart TV X65 we reviewed - good overall with the loss of some detail which is acceptable for this price point. 

Redmi Smart TV X43 Audio Performance

Loud is the first thing that will come to mind when you hear the audio from this TV. It can get quite loud and fill a small room with ease. While there are a bunch of audio presets to choose from, I found leaving the TV on Standard or Movie based on the content gave the best results. The audio does lose clarity at high volumes and I found that going beyond 20-25 was just too shrill especially for movies. Below 25, the volume is clear and audible with clear dialogue in TV shows. But to enjoy a good movie, you’ll have to invest in a soundbar.

Redmi Smart TV X43: UI

Xiaomi still offers the best of both worlds - PatchWall and Android TV. Android TV UI has seen some slight changes making it more in line with Google TV UI. It has a Discover Tab that shows a curation of content from OTT apps. The home screen offers a mix of content from OTT and your app library. It's an evolution of the Android TV UI to bring it more in line with the new Google TV UI. You also get PatchWall which has a better content-first approach and is the same that we saw on the Redmi 43-inch FHD TV, Mi QLED TV 75 (review) and even the 65-inch Redmi TV. It has the same content curation with space for lists such as IMDB top 100 list, and more lists like HDR 10+ content, Dolby Vision content, etc. 

Redmi Smart TV X43 Remote control

What has changed for the better is the remote control that comes with the Redmi Smart TV X43. While it still lacks a dedicated mute button you get a new dedicated button for Disney+ Hotstar and a dedicated button to pull up the app drawer. The rest of the design and ergonomics of the remote control remain the same with a dedicated button for the voice assistant, D-pad, back button and dedicated buttons to bring up PatchWall and Android TV UI.   

Redmi Smart TV X43: Build and design

The build and design of the Redmi Smart TV X43 are almost identical to the Redmi 43-inch FHD TV we reviewed earlier, except for a few points here and there which you wouldn't notice if you didn't know what you were looking for. The TV has relatively slim bezels all around considering the price point and the TV is held in place by 2 simple plastic feet. 

For connectivity, we have 3 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, an optical port, a 3.5mm port, AV in and an ethernet port, along with an antenna port. There is also Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi which is nice. Overall, it is a simple looking TV and that's ok, considering you'll spend more time with the display which has decent performance.

Bottom Line

What the Redmi Smart TV X43 has going for it are the same features that made its larger siblings an enticing offering. The TV is packed with features including support for almost all HDR formats, a host of connectivity options and a simple design. Its build is at par with other budget TVs we’ve tested. The panel of the TV has very good colour reproduction for HDR and SDR but the peak brightness is lower than what we’d like for an immersive HDR experience. The audio output is average. Considering the 29K price point this is a good option for those looking for a budget 4K 43-inch TV. 

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Acer boundless 50-inch TV Review: Lost in the crowd

The Acer Boundless 50-inch TV does little to transcend the boundaries of the budget TV segment. It is yet another budget TV with good SDR performance, average HDR output, and a decent smart TV experience. To put things into perspective, its HDR performance is better than what we saw on the Blaupunkt Cybersound TV. The audio output is acceptable for everyday content and the gaming experience is decent as well on the Acer Boundless TV. But then again, the overall experience is slightly better on the Redmi TV 50-inch, which is slightly more expensive than the Acer. The Redmi TV also supports Dolby Vision. You can also check out the AmazonBasics 50-inch TV as well as an option, however, the AmazonBasics TV does not support ARC but it supports Dolby Vision. For Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 more you can get a 50-inch TV with a smoother UI and better sound output along with a few more features.

In our experience, the 50-inch TV space has a very specific audience. It’s for those that feel a 43-inch TV is too small while a 55-inch TV might be too big for their entertainment setup. That’s why the LG 48-inch CX (review) or even the C1 works so well as a gaming monitor/TV in the premium space and we have 50-inch TVs from Redmi, AmazonBasics, iFFALCON, TCL and more trying to fill the void for those looking for a 50-inch TV. Today we have the Acer 50-inch Boundless TV with us for review. As of writing this review, the TV is available online for Rs 32,999 but you can get it for as low as 29,999. The TV boasts of a 4K resolution and support for HDR 10 but misses out on Dolby Vision. Is it a good option to consider, or is it lost in the sea of budget 50-inch TVs?

Acer 50-inch Boundless TV specs at a glance

Panel Size: 50-inch (available in 43 and 55-inch screen sizes)  Panel Type: VA with D-LED backlighting Panel Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - 4K Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz HDR 10 support: Yes HDR 10+ support: Yes Dolby Vision Support: No Weight: 9.9 kgs HDMI Ports: 3 USB Ports: 2 Bluetooth: Yes Wi-Fi: Yes Ethernet: Yes Speakers: 24W  Built-in storage: 16GB Price: MRP: 32,999 (Price on Flipkart)

Acer 50-inch Boundless TV Display Panel and Picture Quality

The Acer 50-inch Boundless TV has DLED backlighting and no dimming zones. In our tests, we found the TV has a peak brightness slightly above 300-nits, which isn't impressive when it comes to HDR content. However, as we said in our Realme 43-inch 4K TV review, HDR performance on budget TVs has reached a point where the experience can get acceptable, especially if it is your first experience, but it is recommended to consume content in SDR as much as possible on these TVs. Also, as we said in our OnePlus U1 (review) and Samsung QN90A reviews, not supporting Dolby Vision isn't necessarily a con as long as the HDR performance is good. With a peak brightness of slightly more than 300 nits, we can’t expect to see detailed specular highlights in HDR content, but the content isn’t very dull either. We will elaborate below. 

Above: Peak brightness of the Acer Boundless TV via Portrait Display Calman

Above: ColorChecker Analysis in the Movie preset

Above: ColorChecker Analysis in the Standard preset

An interesting thing to note is that in the movie preset the 2pt greyscale delta error is quite low but the RGB balance for this is all over the place. In the ColorChecker Analysis, the average Delta error is quite high in the movie preset and that translates to real-world performance as well, but we will talk about some settings that can help you get the best experience from the TV. 

4K and HDR performance

Starting with the 4K and HDR performance, like we said above, the TV does not support Dolby Vision so our suite of content from Netflix, Apple TV and more played back in HDR 10. The performance from HDR 10 lacked the punch one would expect from the movie preset, with the content looking slightly duller than I’d like. Switching to the Standard or Dynamic preset punched up the colours, and the backlighting but changed the colour temperature to show a slightly cooler bias. This can easily be fixed by changing the colour temperature to Warm. For HDR content I recommend using the Standard preset with the warm colour temperature to get a slightly brighter image with decent colours. One more thing we noted was that for a lot of content the Standard and Dynamic preset has the same performance. 

For the movie preset, the backlighting is bumped down to 60 and while we did try and bump it back to 100, the performance wasn’t the same as the Standard preset with the warm colour temperature. Just so you know, the backlighting is at 100 in the standard preset. 

All the content we consumed in HDR looked decent enough except for content like The Dark Knight Rises and Altered Carbon, where the details in a lot of the dark sequences were lost especially if there were some specular highlights in these dark sequences. So, if you feel the HDR performance in the TV lacking, I recommend connecting an external device like the Fire TV Stick (review) and switching HDMI settings to 1.4 and consuming content in SDR for a better experience. 

SDR playback

Speaking of SDR content, the TV can do a good job of representing it. Put simply, use the Movie preset for movies as it does a decent job of representing the colours well. So, in movies like Spider-Man Homecoming and Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, you get good colours and skin tones. In some cases, it may look a tad warmer than required, but that’s ok considering the price. We have seen TVs like the Philips PUT8215 (review) give very good performance in SDR for colours, especially with skin tone reproduction.  

In some SDR content like Young Sheldon and other TV shows, the Standard preset with a neutral colour temperature does a better job. So, if you watch the news and everyday TV shows, then the Standard preset works better. 

Gaming

The Acer Boundless TV does not have a dedicated game mode in the picture settings, but the TV recognised when a PS5 (review) was connected to it. For the picture preset, I recommend going into the settings, choosing the 'Personal' profile and switching off all forms of post-processing and switching the colour temperature to warm. In my opinion, this made the colours in the games look the best, albeit slightly warmer than I’d like. But the overall performance of the TV can be described as decent. 

In a game like Spider-Man Miles Morales (review), you miss the punchy highlights found on slightly more expensive TVs, but the experience isn't bad on this TV. However, it has weak contrast. So, if you are swinging towards the sun in-game, and dark shadows are being cast, the shadows look darker than they should. But then again, in a game like Ghost of Tsushima (review), there are slightly elevated black levels to make the content in the dark easier to see, which for this price, is ok. 

The TV may not be ideal for gaming, but gets the job done for casual gamers. 

Audio Performance

If there is one place the TV suffers, it is with the sound output. You have 24W of sound output and while vocals are clear mixed audio and high octave chance sequences or even the orchestral scores in movies left me wanting more. For everyday activities like news and TV shows, you should be fine. The channel separation is also weak, especially if you watch the race at the 12-minute mark in Ready Player One. The TV supports ARC output from HDMI port 1, but it isn't labelled which is also a miss. 

UI

Let’s get the worst out of the way. There were many times the TV randomly restarted on me when consuming content from streaming services. This happened often enough for me to mention it. Apart from this, the UI worked as intended. Running on Android TV 9 out of the box the TV gives you access to the Play Store for all your streaming needs. Switching between apps worked well enough and we faced the standard slew of stutters and slowdowns one would expect from a budget TV but nothing that broke the experience (except for the random restarts).

There is a dedicated button for the Google Assistant on the remote control and while it did take a heartbeat longer than I’d like to respond, it’s in line with what we’ve experienced from TVs in the 30K price range. 

Remote control

The remote control that comes with the TV has a slightly concave design giving it a good grip. The remote control is compact and easy to use with dedicated OTT hotkeys for Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and TikiLive. You get the standard directional buttons, Google Assistant, Home and more. There is a volume rocker as well and I wish the mute button were closer to the rocker, but hey, at least there is a dedicated mute button.  

Build and design

Considering this is a budget TV, I didn't expect anything outstanding from the build. It has 2 plastic feet that hold it in place. It has a plastic shell and relatively slim bezels on three sides. All the ports are facing the side. For connectivity, the TV has three HDMI ports, two USB ports, optical out, ethernet port, antenna port, 3.5mm audio and an AV in port. The port may not be easy to reach when the TV is wall mounted so cable management is something to consider in advance. The TV is held in place by 2 plastic feet.

Bottom Line

The Acer Boundless 50-inch TV does little to transcend the boundaries of the budget TV segment. It is yet another budget TV with good SDR performance, average HDR output and a decent smart TV experience. To put things into perspective, its HDR performance is better than what we saw on the Blaupunkt Cybersound TV (review). The audio output is acceptable for everyday content and the gaming experience is decent as well on the Acer Boundless TV. But then again, the overall experience is slightly better on the Redmi TV 50-inch which is slightly more expensive than the Acer. The Redmi TV also supports Dolby Vision. You can also check out the AmazonBasics 50-inch TV as well as an option, however, the AmazonBasics TV does not support ARC but it supports Dolby Vision. For Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 more you can get a 50-inch TV with a smoother UI and a better sound output along with a few more features.

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