Realme Smart TV 4K 43 inch price from Rs. 27,999

 It doesn’t feel like it, but it’s been just about a year since Realme entered the TV category with its budget Smart TVs last May . With 2021 looking like it’s going to be spent mostly in the confines of our homes, Realme has decided to up their game by refreshing their budget TV line-up. The most notable upgrades here are 4K displays and support for Dolby Vision, something which is still not common in the sub-30K segment. The 43-inch model which we reviewed, has been priced at Rs 27,999, while the 50-inch model sells for Rs 39,999. I’ve used it extensively for the past 10 days or so, and here’s what you need to know if you’re looking to buy this, or any other TV in this segment.

Realme 4K TV Review: Build & Design

Realme TV 4K looks and feels like any other TV in this category. It’s a plastic build that doesn’t look premium but nor does it feel cheap by any standards. Thanks to the materials used, the TV is considerably lightweight and I had no trouble setting it up myself. You don’t get a wall-mount included in the box, so that might be an additional cost you need to keep in mind. What you do get inside the box are two metal stands to prop the TV up on a table top, which is how I used it. The stands are quite sturdy and the TV doesn’t wobble too much

On the back of the TV, you find the ports all in a vertical alignment. There are 2 HDMI ports, 1 HDMI ARC port, 2 USB ports, which I think have been packed too close to each other and I doubt if you’ll be able to use both of them together. There’s also an Antenna port, Ethernet Port, Digital Audio OUT and an AV port you can use to connect your TV to the non-HDMI set-top boxes and media players. A thoughtful addition is the 3-cable style converter, which will help you with that.

Realme has done well in trimming down the bezels up front at least on the top and both sides. On the bottom we get a slightly thicker chin, with Realme branding and just below that sits the quad-LED array that acts as a notifier for the Hands-free voice control feature. More on that on the other side of this H2.

Realme 4K TV Review: Remote & Voice Control

We’re all used to Smart TVs and Smart appliances in general being compatible with Google Assistant by now. For TVs, this integration usually works via the mic built into the TV remotes. You get that same here too, but with this new line of TVs, Realme has also added far-field mics on the TV itself. What this means is you don’t even need the remote to shout instructions at your TV, and for a lazy bum like me, it was almost like a dream come true. You can control a lot of the aspects of the Realme TV just by using the OK Google commands. The functions can range from opening or switching between apps, playing something specific on YouTube, searching for a movie across platforms, increasing/decreasing volume and even turning the TV on/off. All without having to search for the remote. Noice.

Now this isn’t a revolutionary feature introduced by Realme. A lot of high-end TVs come with mics inbuilt, but it’s definitely a novelty in the sub-30K segment.

Realme 4K TV Review: Picture Quality

Let’s talk about what makes a TV a *good* TV – The picture quality. Firstly, both the 43-inch and 50-inch variants feature 4K (3840×2160) screens. These are Direct-lit LCD panels, with 60Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 280 nits. Note that this brightness level is at 100% APL (Average Picture Level) i.e. when the entire screen is lit up. For context, the 1000+ nits of peak brightness claims we see on phones and 400-ish nits claims on TV screens are more often than not made with much smaller APLs. Case in point, the screen here is plenty bright and visible even in daytime with sunlight falling into the room.

Coming to the pièce de résistance now, this TV has support for Dolby Vision formats, along with the usual HDR and HLG formats. First things first, if you think Dolby Vision is some magical thing that’ll make you jump with joy or something, no that’s not gonna happen. Also, Dolby Vision content is limited only to Netflix as of now, and a few upscaled titles on Hotstar. But that’s it. This being out of the way, Dolby Vision does help content look a bit better, with enhanced colors and better control over the highlights and shadows. You get three DV profiles here: Bright, Dark and Vivid; they help further tuning up the picture quality for certain kinds of content.