Mi QLED TV 4K First Impressions: Upping The Game With Better Audio-Video Performance

Price And Availability

Despite the QLED panel and support for other premium features, Xiaomi has kept the pricing quite aggressive. The Mi QLED TV 4K is priced at Rs. 54,990 in India and will be available in the lone 55-inch variant on mi.com, Mi Home, Flipkart and all retail stores including Vijay Sales by 21st December. To give you some context about the QLED TV's pricing in the Indian market, Samsung and OnePlus' QLED offerings cost almost double of the price of the Mi QLED TV 4K. TCL and Compaq also offer QLED TVs in India in the range of Rs. 60,000 to 80,000 depending upon the screen size.

We spent some time with the Mi QLED TV 4K to evaluate its performance in our first impressions. Here's what we found out.

 

Design And Build Quality

This is the best-looking smart TV from the house of Xiaomi. Since the price is higher this time, the company has offered a better overall build quality as compared to its affordable offerings. The new 55-inch TV flaunts an aluminum alloy frame which has been given a sandblast coat to add a premium touch. The almost bezel-less front (96% screen to body ratio) looks stunning from a distance. The TV can be wall-mounted or placed on a tablet/cabinet with the help of the bundled metal table-top stand. The stand's build quality has also been upgraded. Lastly, the back panel of the new TV has been given a carbon finish to give an up-market look and feel. Overall, we are impressed with the design and build quality of the Mi QLED TV 4K.

Panel Type, Picture Quality And Formats Supported

The biggest upgrade comes in the form of the new 55-inch QLED 4K panel (3840 x 2160 pixels). It's a 10-bit VA panel that supports all major picture formats including 4K HDR, HLG, Dolby Vision and most importantly- HDR10+ which is often associated with high-end premium TVs. With the HDR10+ support, the Mi QLED TV's 4K panel produces much brighter picture quality (up to 4,000 nits) and better contrast ratio. Moreover, the 100% NTSC and 95% DCPI-3 color gamut support further improves color vibrancy on the 55-inch 4K panel. I tuned in to some HDR10+ enabled content on the Prime Videos and it simply looked stunning. Xiaomi has also equipped the QLED panel with MEMC technology (named Reality Flow on TV) which smoothen the content being streamed for a blur-free viewing experience. We will talk more on the picture quality in our comprehensive review.

Hardware And Software Performance

The 55-inch QLED TV 4K is powered by MediaTek's top-end 64bit quad-core A55 processor coupled with Mali G52 graphic card. The smart TV has built-in Google Chromecast, 2GB RAM and 32GB built-in storage which should suffice for keeping media content on the TV in case you don't have a hard disk handy. The smart TV runs on Android 10 and should receive the Android 11 update soon. In addition to the native Android 10 UI, the TV also offers the latest version of Xiaomi's in-house content discovery platform- PatchWall UI which brings a neat custom interface with loads of content suggestion from 25+ content partners. Some other useful features include-Universal search, User Centre, Kids Mode, Smart Recommendations and Live TV.

Audio Performance And Connectivity Features

We are quite impressed with the Mi QLED TV 4K's audio performance. The sound produced is one of the best we have experienced on a TV in this price-point. The 6 speaker arrangement (4 full-range drivers and 2 tweeters) generate 30 watts power output which filled the big living room where we have placed the TV. Importantly, the new TV even has HDMI 2.1- eARC and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) support to offer lossless audio via an external home theatre setup. This gives you more control over the audio performance for a movie theatre-like experience from the comfort of your living room.

Other connectivity features include- Bluetooth 5.0, USB x 2 ports, Ethernet port, Optical x 1 port and 3.5mm x 1 audio jack.

Remote Control Improvements

While the new TV ships with the familiar Mi TV remote controller, it is now upgraded to offer some intuitive functions for customizing picture and audio settings via different button combinations. This is one of the most awaited features as it allows for tweaking of color profiles and audio output without stopping the content being streamed. The feature is named ‘Mi Quick Setting' and works by long-pressing Mi button to access picture, sound and more settings option on the TV. Moreover, you can now mute the TV by simply double-tapping the volume down button.

Should You Consider Buying The Mi QLED TV 4K?

The Mi QLED TV 4K is a great addition to India's growing smart TV space. It brings the premium picture-viewing experience to the sub-55K price-point with an impressive 55-inch QLED 4K panel. We are impressed with the overall picture, audio quality and features of the new Mi TV but we need some more time to fully evaluate its performance. Watch this space for our full review of the Mi QLED TV 4K.