Infinix 55W1Q 4K TV review: worth a second look

Published On: January 24, 2024

Infinix is known for offering value-for-money devices. Its laptops have all stood the test of time and still exist in my personal budget laptop recommendation list. So when I heard that Infinix had released a new line-up of QLED TVs, namely the Infinix W1 QLED series, I had to check it out. The key feature of this TV lineup is the LG’s smart WebOS integration. But what about the picture quality? Sound quality? What about the overall experience? Well, this review will take you through the finer points and help decide whether you should consider this Infinix 55W1 QLED TV as your next upgrade or not.

Starting with the variants and pricing, the Infinix W1 QLED Smart TV Series offers three variants: a 32-inch (HD-Ready) model priced at Rs 10,499, a 55-inch (4K) model at Rs 34,999, and the most expensive 65-inch TV (4K) available for Rs 47,999. Now, focusing on the 55-inch model, let’s delve into the features and capabilities of this TV.

Table of Contents

Design and build quality

Inside the box, you’ll find a Bluetooth-enabled LG Magic Remote, a wall-mounting kit, two AA batteries, and some paperwork.
This TV offers the same tried and tested familiar fat chin bezel design. This design has become a norm for quite some time as all the bezels except the bottom one are comparatively thinner, thus offering the viewer a superior, no-distraction viewing experience. The bottom bezel houses the Infinix logo and looks prominent and well-placed on the TV.

Talking about the build quality, this TV has a solid metal chassis, which is quite impressive. The construction is top-notch, with no noticeable gaps between the panel and the bezels. Moreover, the TV stands firmly on its metallic feet without any wobbling.

Ports

1 of 2

As per the I/O ports are considered, the TV has you covered in two areas. On the right-hand side, there are three HDMI ports, with the middle one supporting ARC. There is then a USB 2.0 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Moving down, at the bottom section, the TV offers an optical audio port, an RJ45 LAN port, another USB 2.0 port, analog RCA ports, and an RF antenna port. There are plenty of options for all your devices!

Display

As the name suggests, this TV sports a 4K UHD 55-inch Quantum Dot LED panel. The picture quality of the display is simply stunning. The viewing angles are impressive, delivering deep blacks. The colours are vivid and punchy, and in terms of brightness, our internal testing revealed a peak brightness of up to 400 Nits, surpassing the claimed brightness of 320 Nits.
The TV provides various picture profiles, including Cinema, Eco, Standard, Vivid, and Game Optimizer. The Cinema profile offers a slightly warmer tone, which I personally find appealing. However, the Standard profile is also suitable for general daily content consumption, especially for watching soap operas.

4K SDR
This TV also supports MEMC, which stands for motion compensation. If you enjoy the smooth cinematic look of a video, you can switch it ON to make the video appear smoother, giving it a soap opera effect. However, I prefer to keep the MEMC turned OFF to maintain the content as the director intended.
4K HDR
While watching SDR content on YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, or Netflix, the TV excels with its impressive 94 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage. The SDR picture quality and colour reproduction are top notch. However, the TV isn’t so impressive in HDR performance. For instance, in scenes like Spiderman: Far From Home, the background is well-lit and defined, but the character model of Spiderman in his black stealth suit lacks definition, texture, and fine details. It seems like crucial HDR data is missing, possibly explaining the absence of Dolby Vision HDR certification support.
4K GAMING
Connecting my PS5 to this TV and enabling the dedicated Game Optimiser mode resulted in a significant reduction in latency during gameplay of The Last Of Us, notably enhancing the overall gaming experience.
BACKLIGHT BLEED TEST
PS: I also tested for light leaks and IPS glow, and fortunately, there were no patches of backlight bleeding in any part of the screen.

Sound quality

This TV features a 20W down-firing Dolby Audio-supported dual-speaker setup. The device delivers impressive loudness and a good range of mids and treble. However, the bass at higher volumes is lacking. Generally speaking the sound profile is flat, making it suitable for almost all kinds of content except for the hip-hop genre.
I believe pairing this TV with a soundbar or an auxiliary audio output setup can enhance the audio experience. Luckily, there is a 3.5mm audio jack for seamless analogue audio output.
Different sound modes are also available, and for those curious about the speech clarity mode, yes, that’s available too.

Software and remote

Starting with the hardware under the hood, this TV sports 1.5GB of RAM with 8GB of internal storage.
WebOS
Despite having only 1.5GB of RAM, the system ran smoothly. I would even go so far as to say that it is smoother than any Google TV platform TV offered at a similar price bracket. The credit for this goes to LG’s WebOS, as this operating system is pretty lightweight.
Though more internal storage is always welcome, this TV does allow you to plug in an external drive in the USB port to watch locally stored content.
APPS STORE
Instead of the Google Play Store, this TV has its own app store that houses a lot of widely used apps, for example: Hotstar, Jio Cinema, SonyLiv, AppleTV, Spotify, Etc.
For Apple users, the TV also incorporates both Apple AirPlay and Apple Home, providing a seamless connection between Apple devices and the TV without any inconvenience.

A Bluetooth voice-enabled Magic Remote is included with this TV, allowing seamless navigation through the WebOS interface. It functions like an air remote, allowing you to point and click with a cursor, providing a similar experience to using a mouse on a computer. WebOS may take some time to get used to, but after initial hours of using it, it feels intuitive and user-friendly.

Verdict

The Infinix 55W1 QLED Smart TV is priced at Rs 34,999. You can find more affordable 55-inch options from brands like Thomson, White Westinghouse, Blaupunkt, iFFALCON, Motorola, Acer, and others. What this Infinix W1QLED TV offers you is unmatched SDR performance, superb visual quality, a good selection of labelled I/O ports, and a lag-free software experience.

The absence of Dolby Vision HDR support on this TV results in a somewhat underwhelming HDR performance. If only we lived in a world where, there was no HDR content, or say HDR was scarcely available, I would call this the best value for money 4K TV for the price of 35K. If HDR matters to you a lot, I would recommend the 55-inch Thomson 55OPMAXGT9030 as that TV comes at a more affordable price point of Rs 29,999 and offers better HDR; Dolby Vision quality and a slightly more impressive 40W sound output.

This 55-inch TV from Infinix should be considered if you plan to watch a lot of Full HD, UHD non-HDR, SDR content.