GAME CHANGER
TO LEVERAGE THE SMART TV FUNCTIONALITY, XIAOMI HAS TIED UP WITH CONTENT PARTNERS SUCH AS HOTSTAR AND TVF
Xiaomi’s first LED TV launched in India is the perfect blend of style with functionality. It is the world’s thinnest LED TV, made with 4.9-mm-thick frameless panel from Samsung. The 55-inch Ultra HD (4k) TV with HDR support has narrow bezels on the sides that enhance the viewing experience. It comes with Dolby audio which is good enough for a small room; but for an even more immersive experience an additional sound source will be a good idea.
The TV has a customised PatchWall UI that puts content at the top. The UI is similar to that of Amazon’s FireTV stick with sub-heads such as VIP, Movies and TV Shows; it customises the content suggestion as per usage. To leverage the Smart TV functionality, Xiaomi has tied up with 10 content partners including Hotstar, TVF and Hungama. This eliminates the need to plug in external media source or download apps, as the content is displayed on the screen, ready to be played. The free content can be streamed instantly; but you need to log in to access the paid services. However, the two most popular content partners – Netflix and Amazon Prime Video – are not yet available on this platform, which is a big letdown. There is no app store to install the two apps either; one has to get it from the .apk files using the ‘Install from USB’ feature.
Our review unit had the YouTube app preinstalled which I used to stream 4k content. The output was great – good clarity and true-to-life colours. Using two remotes – one for the TV and the other for the settop-box – is the common, albeit inconvenient, practice. Xiaomi has eliminated the need for it. By plugging in Sensy’s infrared sensor cable into the USB port of the TV, and placing the sensors in front of the set-top box, the TV viewing guide becomes accessible by the Mi TV remote. Unlike traditional remotes that have numerous buttons, the Mi LED Smart TV’s Bluetooth remote only has 11 (and resembles the FireTV Stick remote).
This TV offers a host of connectivity options – three HDMI ports, two USB ports, SPDIF port, AV port and an antenna – and supports WiFi, Bluetooth and LAN connectivity. It is powered by 64-bit Quadcore processor with 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage for running UI and installing apps. It has a refresh rate of 60Hz, which is good enough for watching videos. Considering Xiaomi’s aggressive pricing of
` 39,999, a war in the smart LED TV space is imminent. Local players especially, such as VU and Sanyo, will have to up their game.