The television market is where old rules are giving way to new ones and the changes can go beyond selling a few million sets. In the last few years we have been hearing how Mi TVs from Xiaomi are selling like hot cakes. It is… and will continue to do so. Xiaomi has gone ahead and launched its Redmi line of TVs, which will be a game changer in the long run.
Consider this. Once a new television set, which is affordably priced, enters the house, it is expected to be around for six-seven years, unlike most of our phones. It will find centre stage in your apartment and each time you look at it, you will be reminded about a brand name — Redmi. Meanwhile, your phone may require an update every two-three years, so the next time you go to a shop or online, chances of you buying a Redmi or Mi phone will be high. It’s about the recall value of a brand.
These are good television sets with a few minor drawbacks that obviously come with low pricing but they are changing the way other TV brands are packaging their sets. We had the Redmi Smart TV X55 in for review and after having used it for a couple of weeks, it has impressed me with quite a few things but, at the same time, left a couple of questions hanging in the air.
Excellent spread of connectivity options
The range begins at Rs 33,999 for the 50-inch model and the one we had for review is the 55-inch model, which is priced at Rs 39,999. What we are staring at is an ultra-HD LED TV with a resolution of 3840x2160, complete with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ high dynamic range formats.
From the front, the television looks great with narrow bezels. What you get in the box are plastic stands that can be easily fixed to the TV. I managed to set it up singlehandedly. The first quibble is the plastic stand, which doesn’t make me feel comfortable for a screen size that’s really big.
In way of connectivity, Redmi doesn’t disappoint at all. In case you are mounting the TV on the wall, there will be no issues with connecting wires, for all the connectors are on the side. It’s a practical design. For a budget TV, it’s an excellent set of ports — three HDMI 2.1 ports with support for ALLM, and one of the ports supports eARC. Also present are two USB ports and a headphone out. Along the bottom edge, are A/V inputs, optical audio out and an Ethernet port.
The remote is voice-enabled and is the lifeline of the TV in the sense everything needs to be controlled using it. Compact and the keys are very intuitive but two issues here — there are no batteries in the box (come on Xiaomi!) and you have to use a workaround to mute the TV as there is no dedicated button for it.
Buy it for PatchWall
What you get is an Android TV, the user interface of which most of us are familiar with. While setting up, there is an option to use the Android TV interface or Xiaomi’s own PatchWall interface, which runs on top of Android TV 10. Switching between them is also not a problem. What puts PatchWall in a class of its own is user-friendliness. Seamlessly you can scroll through the carousel of programmes that are available across OTT platforms and recommendations based on categories and new releases. Once you get hooked on to PatchWall, it’s almost impossible to let go.
Of course, picture quality is the most important aspect. For the price, it’s truly good, especially if you are watching 4K content. The colours pack in enough punch while the contrast is quite good. I watched a few bang-bang titles — London Has Fallen to Archenemy, coming away happy, well almost. Even with the screen brightness kept to a moderate level, pictures look good. Where things could have been better is in the reproduction of black levels, which at times verge on dull grey but not to the point of not recommending the television. There are no flaws in way of HDR10 and HDR10+ content while SD and 720p content also appear sharp enough. The degree of upscaling is good and you won’t be disappointed.
One area that needs to be looked into is sound, which is a problem on most new TV sets. The sound is nothing exceptional and though the dialogues are clear, that big punch is missing, especially while watching action films. Getting a soundbar means spending more, which also translates into should you look for a TV from a different brand.
Should you buy it?
For its price, yes absolutely. Be it sports-related content or 4K videos, there is enough oomph. If Redmi can work around sound quality then there will be very little room to beat them. TVs don’t need to be silly expensive to be good. Redmi Smart TV X55 indeed offers an eyeful.
More about the smart TV
Redmi Smart TV X55 comes with decent remote control with dedicated buttons for Amazon Prime Video and Netflix
Device: Redmi Smart TV X55
Price: The range is priced upwards of 33,999
High notes
• Excellent picture quality
• PatchWall experience gives the TV extra brownie points
• Enough connectivity options
• Very good upscaling of content
Muffled notes
• Speakers could have been louder
• Deep blacks at times appear slightly greyish
