The Realme Smart TV X was announced earlier this year and now I finally have a chance to test out the 43-inch version of the device. It’s priced very competitively at Rs 24,999 and has, on paper, capable hardware. Now a lot of players have emerged in the smart TV race and chief among them are the likes of Xiaomi, OnePlus, and more. Let’s find out in this review if the Realme Smart TV X is a choice worth considering in the extremely competitive TV space.
Table of Contents
The lowdown
Realme’s design work on the Smart TV X is nothing out of the ordinary. The standard black colour scheme and plastic design won’t win any style points in my book. This is, however, a budget smart TV, so premium looks might be a bit too much to expect anyway. As for the build quality itself, the TV is quite sturdy and the frame doesn’t creak when the device is moved around. On the back, there is a bulge in the middle to make room for the ports, while on the bottom you get the 24W quad-speaker setup.
You can either mount the TV on your wall or use two stands that can be screwed on the bottom and place it on any flat surface. I went with the latter and didn’t face any issues regarding the stand’s stability. Coming now to the ports, you get three HDMI slots, two USB Type-A ports, an ethernet port, an AV connector, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The ports are easy enough to access, although a wall mount could make it difficult to access two HDMI and one of the USB Type-A ports. As far as wireless connectivity options go, the device offers Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi.
MediaTek’s quad-core SoC that consists of Cortex A55 CPUs and a Mali G31 MP2 GPU handles the performance. Apart from that you also get 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. To cut a long story short, I was not overly impressed with the Smart TV X’s processing prowess. The UI felt a bit slightly sluggish and can freeze up for a couple of seconds randomly while switching between apps. However, the apps themselves ran smoothly and showed no signs of buffering. Android TV 11 runs on the device, providing access to the Play Store and your favourite OTT apps. As can be expected, there’s an integrated Chromecast function for effortless casting to the screen.
As for the remote, it has the same design and button layout as previous Realme TV remotes. It is sleek, made of a composite polymer, and has a sort of matte finish across the board. You do get direct access to Netflix, YouTube, and Prime Video from the remote’s dedicated buttons. Apart from that, there is a dedicated Google Assistant button present for accessing the UI through voice commands. The remote pairs effectively with the Smart TV X.
Talking about the display quality, I was quite satisfied with the viewing experience on offer by the Realme Smart TV X. The screen is HDR10 and HLG compliant, amplifying the dynamic range across supporting media content on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Also, the bezels surrounding the panel are quite slim which I like. The TV also has the Chroma Boost Picture Engine running behind the scenes to ramp up colour saturation and brightness, but you can turn it off in the settings menu. The TV X has a peak brightness of 400nits which I feel is more than enough for any kind of indoor use. The panel doesn’t have any anti-glare coating to it so any light source shining directly behind you will interfere with your viewing.
In terms of audio quality, the 24W quad-speaker setup works decently well. It is Dolby Audio certified for better clarity and even at very high volumes, the speakers do not crackle. The vocals are easily distinguishable from the instruments in the background and the soundstage provided is up to the mark. There is, however, a lack of any bass on the speakers which robs the sound quality of its depth.
Verdict
Even with its budget price tag, the Realme Smart TV X certainly has an air of quality surrounding it. It may not readily be apparent from the outside, but in metrics like display quality and user-friendliness, the TV X does come out as a worthwhile choice when compared to its competitors. One area of concern is perhaps the TV X’s processing prowess. However, as an overall package, the Realme Smart TV X is the smart TV to beat under the Rs 25,000 mark.
Editor’s rating: 4 / 5
Pros:
- Crisp visuals on a budget
- HDR10 capability
- Good UI
- Sturdy build
- Cost-effective
Cons:
- Average performance
- Audio lacks bass
