My decision to get this TV
I have seen this ad on my Facebook Feed for many weeks, and when my 5 years old 50" Sony TV finally was turning off by itself every few minutes, I decided that I seriously consider buying a new TV.
To be honest, I wanted to simply go to the store to get a TV as I needed to replace my TV, but this is a special period in Singapore. The Circuit Breaker where all the electronic stores like Harvey Norman, Best Denki, Courts, and Audio House are not open.
I went online and did my research and was planning to get another Sony TV as I had one remote control my PS3 and my TV before, but I could not really find one. Then comparing some 55" TV, I narrowed it down to a few brands -- Xiaomi, Samsung, Philips, LG, and Toshiba.
The various online sites seemed a little off the mark in terms of experience. Going to Lazada made me interested in yet another brand. TCL which seems to have a 55" at a decent price $699 and it has a useful feature of using the mobile phone as a remote. (like Xiaomi) Sadly, TCL TV was out of stock.
Looking at my other options, many of them say that the delivery time was 14 days. I did not really want to wait 14 days and decided to go to Shopee to search and somehow, the Shopee site was not stable and failed to load on various occasion and when it loaded, the cluttered page layout did not motivate me to even want to look at my options. I clicked on the Xiaomi TV which was in Singapore and the delivery date was in 25 days.
I checked the other online stores, and either their search function sucks, or they really did have not many options. Best Denki has TV sets for sale, but there is not much description available, and I don't even know how big the TV is. And finally, when I found the TV that was within my budget, I found that the delivery time was actually also about a week.
At this point, I decided to check and compare the various specifications of the TV and I did compare the Prism+ TV as well. Noting that some of the newer appliances did not really last as long as the older ones, I decided that 3 year warranty offered by Prism+, a relatively unknown brand was something that would give me some peace of mind.
I ordered the Prism+ TV on April 20, and the expected arrival date was in May - Late May. I was willing to wait and I just had to use my Mac Screen as a TV for the time being.
I was surprised as I got an email that my TV was coming, and it did arrive at my house about 2 weeks after I paid for it online.
Unboxing.
I bought the TV with a fixed stand, and the serviceman came and installed my TV quickly. There was no problem at all as I had many holes in my wall already and there were some that would fit the new mounts.
There was nothing special in the unboxing. I was disappointed to see styrofoam still used in the packaging. Looking at the whole TV and how it was brought out, it felt the same as my other TVs and I was not impressed by anything during the unboxing.
Specifications.
HDMI 2
HDMI ARC 1
USB 2
AV In 1
Audio Out 1
VGA 1
Functions:
YouTube, Amazon, Netflix App
Can play most video formats, menu is not great but good enough to use and navigate.
Warranty:
3 years.
So again, there was not much that surprises me or impresses me, but at $599, I can't complain.
Review
After using my TV for a few days, trying out the various functions, here are some of my thoughts.
Pros: (Why I like this TV)
The pixels look pretty sharp and even with the sun shining into the house, I still had enough contrast to watch the TV. Image quality is amazing.
This is an IPS screen, so it has very good viewing angles. watching the TV from the side is also good enough. The color is vivid from all angles as you would expect from an IPS display.
There are built-in Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon buttons, so checking something on YouTube is quite easy. However, you run into the same problem as the other TVs which is the lack of a keyboard makes typing and searching hard. I added a wireless keyboard to the USB and this problem was solved.
The menus on the TV was quite intuitive. I could connect the WiFi without looking at the manual.
There is a ScreenCast Function which I can easily cast the screen of my PC to the TV. The display is good enough to display my UHD display as well.
I love that it has HDMI ARC connection. So when I connect the soundbar, I can use the TV Remote to control the volume.
It plays many different video formats, and I've even tried .mp4 .mkv and .avi files. It all works.
At only $599, I don't think any other IPS displays come close with all the SMART TV features.
Cons: (What can be better)
No Optical Port. My soundbar actually connects to the optical input and I cannot find one on the TV, so I have to use the HDMI ARC for the sound. Since there are only 3 HDMI outlets, one will be used for sound in this case.
The remote feels cheap and there is no quick screen resizing option on the remote.
The TV does not have much of a base in terms of sound, and this is solved by having a soundbar. The sound from this TV is decent. (This is expected as most TV do not have an impressive sound)
There are no apps to use my phone as a remote. (not really an issue here)
The black is not as "black" and you have to play with picture mode and contrast when watching at night. I watched some of my 4k Bluray and the AI for dynamic display was not smart enough, but with a few tweaks and turning on the HDR, you do get a pretty solid display for that price. Not perfect, but it can be tweaked. Tip: Turn off the backlight when watching at night.
This is a pre-order, so the uncertainty of when it is coming really tests your patience, especially when your TV is down.
Access to the ports behind the TV can be challenging. You need small hands and arms to put your HDMI from below the TV. So make sure all your HDMI cables are connected before you mount the TV.
Overall:
Would I recommend this TV?
For the price, I believe that this is hard to beat. I hope TV can last way after the warranty as I do like the image quality. If this lasts, I would definitely look out for more Prism+ products.
-- Robin Low
