Realme Smart TV Review - Android

The company has steadily gone up from releasing budget phones and started coming up with midrange phones, flagships, accessories like earphones, power banks, and now AIoT products like what we have here, the Realme Smart Android TV.

Available in 32-inch and 43-inch models, this entertainment machine has a lot of things you’d expect from a modern TV — wireless connectivity, Android TV OS, built-in Chromecast, and more. But is it the one you should go with? We’ll be checking out the top-tier model in our Realme Android Smart TV review.

Realme Smart TV Specs

• 32-inch HD LED display, 1366 x 768 pixel resolution
• 43-inch FHD LED display, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution
• 16:9 aspect ratio, 178-degree viewing angle
• 16.7M colors, Chrome Boost
• ARM Cortex A53 quad-core processor
• Mali-470 MP3 GPU
• 4x speakeras, 24W
• Dolby Audio
• Remote with microphone
• Android TV, OTA updates, Google Assistant
• Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, etc.
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, single-band
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Infrared
• DLNA
• 3x HDMI (ARC CEC), AV, Tuner, 2x USB, LAN, SPDIF 1
• 32-inch: 730 × 469 × 161mm (With stand), 730 × 432 × 88mm (Without stand)
• 43-inch: 967.5 × 604 × 233mm (With stand), 967.5 × 560 × 87mm (Without stand)
• 32-inch: 3.7kg (With stand), 3.6kg (Without stand)
• 43-inch: 6.8kg (With stand), 6.7kg (Without stand)
• Wall mount: 100x100mm (32-inch) + 200x200mm (43-inch)
• Power: 45W (32-inch), 74W (43-inch)

Design and Hardware

Like most budget Smart TVs, design isn’t the top priority for the Realme Smart TV 43-inch. Not that it looks bad, but it looks clean and minimalistic like everyone else.

We have thin bezels on the top and the sides, while the bottom is relatively thicker. The chin has the Realme logo, with an LED light on the bottom that lights red when the TV is on standby.

Beneath the LED light is a single physical button that lets you switch on/off the TV: no onboard volume keys or channel switcher.

The back is made of plastic, with a metal chassis beneath it for the wall mount. Speaking of which, the 43-inch model requires a 200 x 200mm wall mount size. The smaller 32-inch is at 100 x 100mm. If you can, you might want to mount this TV on your wall instead of using the included stand.

With the Realme Smart TV, you’re getting a sketchy stand. At first, I thought they included the wrong screws, as it is loose and doesn’t tighten. In fact, I did force to tighten it but ended up getting the screw stuck while the stand is still loose.

This makes the TV wobble. It still stands, though, but a small bump will wobble the TV a lot that you might get a mini heart attack.

The ports are on an L-shaped line around back, while the power cable — which is unremovable — is on the other side.

Being made of plastic, the Realme Smart TV 43-inch only weighs 6.8kg, so it’s easy to mount or move around. The smaller 32-inch variant is only at 4kg.

Display and Sound Quality

The 43-inch Realme Smart TV has an FHD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, while the 32-inch is at 1366 x 768. This 43-inch model uses a VA panel that offers a higher contrast ratio than IPS panels. This is great if you’re watching in dark rooms but kind of struggles in a bright room as it easily attracts reflections.

Viewing angles is said to be 178-degrees, which is enough for a 43-inch screen since you’d be viewing it from a distance. Peak brightness is at 400-nits, which is enough for HLG and HDR 10 support for streaming platforms like Netflix, albeit it isn’t officially HDR certified.

Realme’s Chroma Boost feature is also here, a feature that originated from its smartphones. It helps enhance picture quality like colors, clarity, and contrast. It works fine, but being an FHD screen may be a bit lacking if you’re coming from a 4K display.

As for audio, both Realme Smart TV models come with 24W quad stereo speakers that consist of two full-range speakers and two silk dome tweeters.

The built-in speakers are fine, but it definitely lacks bass. It’s an acceptable placeholder until you get a Realme soundbar or any other dedicated set of speakers.

Performance and Interface

The Realme Smart TV is powered by a MediaTek quad-core CPU that has four Cortex A53 efficiency cores to enable its smart features. It also has 1GB 2133MHz RAM and 8GB of storage, with 4.6GB available for the user.

This is one of my gripes about this TV. Upon first boot, the performance is annoyingly slow, and the boot-up process itself takes about 30-40 seconds long. You can experience lags from increasing the volume, opening apps, and especially when trying to summon Google Assistant.

But after a couple of hours, the processor starts to gain steam, and the speed becomes bearable. We suggest you keep the TV on standby when not in use and not completely shut it off.

The main highlight here is the fact that it runs on Android TV. This one uses Android 9 Pie, which has a really minimalistic interface and gives you access to tons of streaming apps like HBO Go and Disney Plus (yet to be available in the Philippines.

Popular platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube are preinstalled. It also comes with a dedicated web browser, file browser, and more. You can expand the app selection by getting them from the Google Play Store. Chromecast is also built-in.

The remote it comes with has easy access to the preinstalled streaming apps. Plus, it has a built-in microphone to summon Google Assistant. This means you can easily find TV shows, adjust the volume, turn off the TV, or even control any devices and smart home products connected to your Google ecosystem via the remote.

Remote

The Realme Smart TV comes with its own dedicated remote. It’s ultra-thin and sleek but made of plastic material that makes it feel cheap to the touch. Two AAA batteries power it.

Like most smart TVs, the button selections are really minimalistic. We have the power and mute button on the top, sandwiching the Google Assistant’s built-in microphone.

In the middle, we have a D-pad with Realme’s signature yellow accent. Below it is the back button, menu, home, dedicated Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime buttons, input switch, volume controls, and the Google Assistant Button. The space below all these buttons has the etched Realme logo.

There’s an IR blaster on the top like most TV remotes. Other than turning on the TV, you don’t have to point the remote directly to the TV to control it. Once it’s up and running, it would rely on Bluetooth connectivity to reach the TV, so you can press any button without having to point the thing to the TV.

Related articles

• Cheap 32-inch LED TVs under Php5,000
• GMA Affordabox vs ABS-CBN TVPlus: which Digital TV receiver is the one for you?

Connectivity

The Realme Smart TV can connect to your home WiFi with its single-band WiFi, no 5.0GHz. While accessories can be paired with its Bluetooth 5.0.

Side ports

As for inputs, we have the HDMI 1, ANT, Digital Autio Out, AV (3.5mm), USB 2.0, and 3.5mm headphone jack easily accessible on the left side. A 1-to-3 AV cable adapter comes in the box.

Bottom ports

The rest of the ports are on the bottom, which is quite hard to reach. There’s the LAN port if you want a wired internet connection, two extra HDMI ports, and another USB 2.0.

Verdict

The Realme Smart TV may have a sketchy stand, underwhelming speakers, and moves slowly upon boot, but there’s no denying that it’s one of your best options for the price.

For under Php20,000, you’re already getting a complete smart TV experience thanks to its Android TV OS that gives you access to almost all streaming platforms available; a clean interface, a remote with a microphone in it for smart controls, and much more.

15/04/2021 06:59 AM

noypigeeks.com