Acer 58-inch XL 4K UHD Smart TV Review: Better Than Xiaomi Mi TVs?

Acer AR58AP2851UD Design & Build Quality

The 58-inch XL-series TV comes in an all-black finish. The big panel is surrounded by noticeably thicker black borders and the TV rests on a metallic grey tabletop stand. The design feels a bit dated in 2021 as most Smart TV manufacturers have started offering thinner bezels with premium metal finish. For instance- the recently launched Mi TV 5X (55-inch) has a minimal bezel design with aluminum trim that gives the TV a far more premium appearance.

 

Feels Sturdy & Should Last Long

However, unlike most similarly priced Smart TVs, the Acer 58-inch TV has better build standards. The plastic used in constructing the big-screen TV feels more sturdy and durable. The Acer TV is a bit hefty and seems more long-lasting than Xiaomi, Kodak, and most big-screen TVs priced under Rs. 50,000. The back panel is made up of hard plastic and lacks those fancy carbon fiber finishes. It's just a good old plain sturdy design.

You can also wall-mount the 58-inch TV but the wall mount bracket has to be purchased separately. You can ask the service installation engineer to bring the bracket at the time of the installation visit.

Connectivity Ports & Features

The Acer AR58AP2851UD 58-inch panel comes equipped with the most required connectivity ports, which are conveniently placed in the reach of your hand even if the TV unit is wall-mounted. You'll find three HDMI ports and two USB ports. One of the three HDMI ports supports ARC, which lets you output high-definition audio such as Dolby Atmos to external sound setups with just an HDMI cable.

Besides, you also get the regular input ports such as one LAN port, optical 3.5mm out for audio, mini AV input port, Antenna input port, and SPDIF. Sadly, the lack of ALLM mode might disappoint some console gamers out there.

Acer AR58AP2851UD Picture Quality

The star of the show is the 58-inch 4K UHD 3840x2160 panel that gets a Wide Color Gamut + support. It's an HDR10+ and HLG enabled screen that as per Acer produces up to 1.07 billion colors. These numbers translate to an immersive viewing experience with the panel producing vivid colors, decent contrast levels, and brighter visuals with both SDR and HDR content, well to a good extent.

Good Peak Brightness

The display touches 420 nits brightness, which is even brighter than the recently launched Xiaomi Mi TV 5X 55-inch Smart TV. Resultant, the Acer 58-inch TV produces brighter and vivid visuals with slightly better viewing angles in challenging lighting while watching HDR content with darker scenes. The cosmic travel scenes in Apple TV's Foundation series looked stunning on the 58-inch panel.

Colors are rendered well and blacks don't appear grey, thanks to a decent contrast ratio of 6000:01 and micro dimming enabled panel, which is better than not having any form of local dimming. However, I would still have preferred full-array dimming any day on the 58-inch panel even if it increases the price marginally.

Stream 4K HDR content

I also tried the newly launched Google TV on the Acer TV and noticed slight differences in the picture quality. The same content streamed on Netflix appeared slightly better with the Google TV stick. The picture seemed less noisy and the colors looked punchier and vivid. It seems that the video signals are handled slightly well by the Google TV stick than the TV's native hardware. Nevertheless, you can still experience all major HDR formats on the 58-inch panel.

The best picture output came out with the Apple TV and Dolby Vision content on YouTube. Series like See and Foundation made the best use of the HDR10+ enabled UHD panel. The sniper shot scene by Will Smith in Gemini Man looked phenomenal on the 58-inch UHD panel.

Lacks Dolby Vision Support

Sadly, the TV panel lacks Dolby Vision support. You can enjoy series like Our Planet in 4K HDR on Netflix but the lack of dynamic metadata that comes along with the Dolby Vision format is a bummer. The color depth differences are notable if you keep a Dolby Vision TV next to the Acer AR58AP2851UD 58-inch UHD.

Acer should have roped in Dolby Vision to make the viewing experience a bit more immersive for media buffs.

Acer AR58AP2851UD Sound Quality

Coming on to the sound quality, the 58-inch TV supports Dolby Audio but the average sound delivery disappointed us. The 24W speaker setup felt a bit lacking in terms of depth and quality, especially with bass response.

It can easily fill a big bedroom or a medium-sized living room but you would still feel the need of setting up an external sound setup to enjoy those action flicks and sports matches. Loudness alone cannot qualify as good sound delivery.

Acer Smart TVs Remote Control

Acer has designed a decent remote control for its XL-series Smart TVs. It offers hotkeys for Netflix, Prime Videos, YouTube, and TikLive, which is a cable alternative app available on Google Play Store. Besides, you get volume controls, directional buttons, source button, RC button, mute button, a smart key to offer some useful shortcuts. A setting button is also provided to enable basic picture/audio controls while consuming the content.

Acer AR58AP2851UD Hardware & Software Performance

The 58-inch Acer TV runs without any performance issues. It is powered by a 64-bit ARM Cortex-A55 chipset with code name- rtd285o. The quad-core chipset has a maximum clock speed of 1100 MHz and is paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of memory.

The combination ensures smooth UI navigation and seamless switching between different apps and screens. The TV is also capable of streaming 4K files from USB storage and OTT platforms without any playback issues.

It runs Android 9 out-of-the-box with no third-party custom skins. For instance, there's no content discovery engine (like the Xiaomi PatchWall UI) to offer content recommendations or a constant supply of new content on the TV screen. All Acer branded Smart TVs run the stock version of the Android TV platform. You have the Google Play Store to allow for seamless app installations and a settings menu with the most required utilities.

Additionally, the TV has built-in Chromecast and native screen sharing functions but it lacks far-field microphones. You will need the remote controller to invoke the voice assistant for Google Assistant support. The hands-free virtual assistant support must have been a good add-on feature on the Acer Smart TVs.

Acer Branded After Sales Service

We consider after-sales service support as critical as the product itself, especially for a product like a television that is meant to stay with you for a longer period. We reached out to Acer for the service support on the newly launched Smart TVs. Acer informed us that the brand will serve 17,800+ Pin codes with its wide network of service centers across India.

Acer has set up separate, dedicated customer support for Acer branded televisions, which will be supervised and operated by Indkal Technologies Pvt Ltd. The brand is offering a 1-year comprehensive warranty on the product and also on the accessories.

Verdict

For an asking price of Rs. 40,999, the Acer AR58AP2851UD 58-inch has a lot going in its favor despite some shortcomings. It boasts a big and vivid 4K UHD panel with better peak brightness than the competition, delivering immersive visuals for both SDR and HDR content. The TV runs smoothly, offers the most required connectivity features, and has a sturdier design than most of its rivals.

The lack of Dolby Vision is a big miss for a panel of this size. The certification could have made the 58-inch display a perfect screen for binge-watching the supported content. The big panel also deserves a more powerful, at least 40W sound setup to match its display performance.

Nevertheless, the big panel is still capable of delivering a cinematic-grade viewing experience at the comfort of your living room. All you need is a good external sound setup and the right content to make the most out of the big 58-inch display. Overall, it's a good start from Acer and gives more options to consumers in the crowded Smart TV space.