Xiaomi has, in a short while, made massive strides within the tv enterprise in India. Among the main manufacturers within the good TV area and a well-liked choice for patrons in search of inexpensive, value-for-money big-screen TVs, Xiaomi’s televisions are normally on the radar of many patrons in India. While it does supply some high-end choices together with OLED and QLED TVs, the model is greatest identified for its inexpensive merchandise, making the brand new Xiaomi Smart TV X Series significantly related in its rising product portfolio.
Priced at Rs. 34,999 in India for the 50-inch variant (L50M7-A2IN) on evaluation right here, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is much like the Mi TV 5X that was launched in 2021, however with a extra spartan strategy that sees fewer options and frills in favour of extra aggressive pricing. Xiaomi has, nonetheless, retained some key specs, together with the Ultra-HD display, assist for Dolby Vision HDR, and Android TV with the PatchWall and inventory Android TV UIs. Is this the most effective inexpensive Ultra-HD TV you should buy proper now? Find out on this evaluation.
The Xiaomi TV X Series is a little more inexpensive than the Mi TV 5X which was launched in 2021
Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 design and specs
The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is accessible in three measurement choices, starting from 43 inches to 55 inches. The 43-inch variant is priced at Rs. 28,999, the 50-inch variant retails for Rs. 34,999, and the 55-inch variant is priced at Rs. 39,999, as per the corporate’s launch pricing. At the time of this evaluation, I noticed the 50-inch X50 variant on the corporate’s official on-line retailer for Rs. 31,999. All variants have the identical specs and Ultra-HD decision, so the one important distinction between the three is the scale of the show.
As talked about, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series skips a number of options in favour of higher pricing, together with some parts of the design of the tv. The again of the TV is sort of plain to take a look at, and the included stands are made from plastic (in contrast to the steel stands included with the Mi TV 5X). However, you will not discover any important variations on the entrance of the TV, with a reasonably simple look that has slim bezels and a reasonably excessive screen-to-body ratio.
At the underside is the Xiaomi emblem, simply above the module for the indicator mild. Unlike on the Mi TV 5X, there isn’t any hands-free Google Assistant on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and due to this fact no microphone on the TV itself or a sliding change to mute it. The again of the TV has the ports going through the left and the underside, with loads of area round them to permit handy connections, even when you have the TV wall-mounted.
Additionally, Xiaomi hasn’t skimped with the ports, and the choices stay unchanged from the Mi TV 5X. There are three HDMI 2.1 ports (one helps ARC/eARC), two USB Type-A ports, a 3.5mm socket for wired headphone or speaker connectivity, and Digital Optical (Toslink), Ethernet, AV Input, and Antenna connectivity.
The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series runs on Android TV 10, with the inventory Android TV and PatchWall UIs on high
I had the TV wall-mounted for my evaluation, and it did not sit too near the wall even with a low-profile wall-mount package, so there was sufficient room to entry the ports as wanted. The wall-mount package is not included within the gross sales package deal; the Xiaomi technician can present one on the time of set up.
The Xiaomi Smart TV X50 has a 50-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED display with a refresh price of 60Hz, with assist for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG excessive dynamic vary codecs. Audio output from the TV’s down-firing speaker system is rated at 30W, with assist for the Dolby Audio, DTS-HD, and DTS Virtual X codecs. For connectivity, there may be dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5, and the TV has a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 8GB of inner storage for apps and app knowledge, decrease than the 16GB storage on the Mi TV 5X.
Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 distant and options
Xiaomi’s minimalistic distant returns on the X50 TV, albeit with minor modifications. There are two new hotkeys for Disney+ Hotstar and apps along with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and the ‘Mi’ emblem has been changed by the PatchWall emblem for the button that rapidly switches to Xiaomi’s customized UI for its TVs. Apart from these, it is the identical acquainted distant, though it does appear barely bigger than earlier remotes.
The distant is powered by two AAA batteries, that are thankfully included within the gross sales package deal. Some of the software-based tweaks for the distant, launched to cowl for the dearth of {hardware} buttons, are nonetheless in place. These embrace urgent the amount down key twice rapidly to mute, and long-pressing the PatchWall button to entry the fast settings menu.
Xiaomi’s compact and light-weight distant sees a number of modifications with the X50 TV, together with new hotkeys
Other options on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 embrace auto low-latency mode (ALLM) for gaming, Dolby Atmos passthrough when utilizing HDMI ARC with appropriate speaker techniques, and entry to Google Assistant utilizing the distant. There can also be built-in Google Chromecast and Miracast for casting from appropriate gadgets.
Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 software program and interface
Xiaomi’s acquainted dual-UI strategy primarily based on the Android TV 10 working system stays in place on the Smart TV X50. If you favor the PatchWall UI, the corporate’s customized consumer interface continues to enhance by means of efficiency, curation, suggestions from over 30 built-in streaming providers, and extra. There can also be entry to the Mi Home app immediately on the TV, which is beneficial when you have any Xiaomi IoT merchandise.
If you favor the familiarity of the Android TV consumer interface, that is current as nicely. Soon after establishing the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, the inventory Android TV UI was up to date to the more energizing, Google TV-inspired look. Regardless of which UI you favor, the apps are the identical, together with entry to over 7,000 apps on the Google Play retailer for Android TV, to obtain any extra apps and video games that you may want.
I did expertise some points with the UI on the Android TV interface, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 feeling a bit sluggish to navigate round. There had been additionally events the place apps wouldn’t load correctly, and subtitle timing on apps comparable to Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar was off by a second or two. However, the repair for this was simple; a full reboot would have the TV working wonderful for probably the most half, till a number of days later when the problems would reappear.
An attention-grabbing new addition to the software program suite is the Xiaomi TV+ app. This permits entry to linear, programmed ‘channels’ much like what you’d discover on a DTH set-top box-based service, with the plain distinction being that the content material is streamed utilizing an Internet connection.
I did discover it to be a bit gradual and it took fairly some time to load even on my in any other case quick Internet connection, however it will hopefully enhance over time. The channel choice had a good quantity of selection and content material, and was a helpful distraction for occasions after I could not consider what I wished to observe, or simply wished to observe one thing for a couple of minutes.
Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 efficiency
The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is positioned under the Mi TV 5X within the firm’s order of pricing, however this has extra to do with small variations within the function set and design of the TV. When it involves efficiency, the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 is pretty adept and on top of things for a tv in its value phase, due to its Ultra-HD display with assist for Dolby Vision HDR, common good image high quality throughout totally different resolutions, and first rate sound high quality.
I watched quite a lot of content material throughout resolutions and dynamic ranges, from Ultra-HD with Dolby Vision or HDR10 assist, to plain definition video clips and reveals on YouTube and Hotstar. While the variations within the top-quality content material naturally confirmed, the 50-inch measurement of the X50 variant appeared to assist cover a few of the drawbacks of lower-resolution content material at typical viewing distances for a front room.
Black ranges weren’t superb on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and this confirmed in darkish scenes on House of the Dragon
Watching episodes of Home on Apple TV+ in Ultra-HD Dolby Vision was expectedly good as in comparison with all different content material, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 doing a good job with the excessive dynamic vary format. This did not appear to translate into as important a bump in brightness as could possibly be anticipated from a high-end LED or quantum-dot LED TV, however the colors and tones appeared to be higher off.
The stunning, usually vibrant properties and surrounding nature on Home seemed about pretty much as good as could be anticipated on an entry-level Ultra-HD HDR TV. The naturally brilliant and vibrant image of Chef’s Table: Pizza on Netflix seemed significantly engaging when it comes to colors and sharpness, and the mild movement in these two reveals was usually dealt with nicely by the TV.
Shows comparable to Andor and House of the Dragon supplied a considerably totally different viewing expertise, which needed to do with the black ranges. The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is an entry-level LED TV, and this meant that there was at all times a slight gray tinge throughout the display.
With brilliant, vibrant content material, this did not matter or present too prominently, however with the aforementioned two reveals relying closely on darkish, night-time scenes, this made the image seem a bit boring and sometimes troublesome to observe until the room was fully darkish. Andor appeared to learn from its Ultra-HD decision and Dolby Vision assist to look considerably watchable, whereas the full-HD decision of House of the Dragon seemed relatively unusual in darkish scenes, with lots of artefacts, and hues showing washed out.
Full-HD content material on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 seemed first rate, though Ultra-HD content material expectedly introduced out the most effective within the tv
With HDR10 content material, the TV appeared practically as succesful as with the high-quality Dolby Vision content material on Apple TV+ and Netflix. The newest episode of The Grand Tour was sharp and enjoyable to observe due to its primarily brilliant snowscapes, however the technically inferior HDR format appeared to indicate within the colors being barely much less impactful.
That mentioned, the content material itself will make or break the expertise, and the high-quality content material and photographs of The Grand Tour arguably seemed higher than the boring Dolby Vision stream of Andor on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50. Full-HD content material comparable to House of the Dragon and Welcome to Wrexham, regardless of the plain variations in sharpness, seemed first rate due to the 50-inch display measurement of the X50 variant.
Lower-resolution content material comparable to episodes of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai on Disney+ Hotstar had been equally dealt with pretty nicely by the TV, with first rate upscaling and the scale of the display itself hiding a few of the weaknesses within the image from typical front room viewing distances.
Sound high quality on the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series was relatively spectacular given the value and measurement of the TV. The TV is loud, with the sound tuned nicely to reinforce dialogue and background scores. While the sound wasn’t as impactful within the lows and background results, it largely suited a lot of what I wished to observe. At this value stage, it is a significantly helpful level, since customers will not have to spend money on a soundbar or speaker system together with the TV.
Verdict
Xiaomi’s televisions in India have at all times pushed the value-for-money proposition a lot additional than the competitors, and the X Series manages to fine-tune the idea even additional. It’s not very totally different from the costlier Mi TV 5X vary when it comes to core specs, however does in the reduction of on some options that could possibly be thought-about pointless frills.
The result’s a succesful funds Ultra-HD TV that largely does the job its meant to do, and at Rs. 34,999 for the 50-inch variant (going as little as Rs. 31,999 relying on seasonal pricing), presents wonderful worth for cash. Picture high quality is first rate save for some small drawbacks, sound high quality is sweet, and the software program and UI efficiency are acceptable on the entire. This is a wise decide for the value, for those who’re seeking to improve to a giant display and wish to discover the ever-increasing checklist of Ultra-HD and HDR content material on supply proper now.
