How much of a difference does the SLED backlighting make? We have been testing the Realme SLED TV for a while now in order to determine if it qualifies as a recommendation. In our Realme 55-inch 4K LED TV review we will answer all related questions and will help you decide if this is a TV that you should buy. Contents:
55-inch Realme SLED 4K Smart TV price and specifications55-inch Realme SLED 4K Smart TV review: Design, I/O & connectivity55-inch 4K Realme SLED TV review: Remote, performance and interface 55-inch 4K Realme SLED TV review: Picture quality and Audio Realme Smart TV SLED 4K 55-inch review verdict: Should you buy it?
Realme 55-inch 4K SLED TV Price and specifications
Realme Smart TV SLED 4K 55-inch Review: Design, I/O & Connectivity
The Realme 4K SLED TV has extremely narrow bezels on all sides and looks very appealing. There is a very slight gap that runs uniformly along with the panel and is visible only from very close. The TV rests stably on the metal stand but the rubber stubs below for grip detach very easily. The legs fix at the corners and thus you’d need a sizeable table if you decide against wall mounting. Installation is free and consumers won’t have to pay extra for wall mount bracket. The back panel is all plastic, and that’s perfectly fine by us. The spacing between ports and port placements is, however, far from ideal. The three HDMI 2.0 port (all support HDCP 2.2, HDMI 3 has ARC), AV, Tuner, ANT, LAN, and Headphone Output are tightly squeezed in an alcove behind the TV and are difficult to access even when the TV rests on a table.
The two USB ports on the side are placed back to back which makes using them simultaneously a tad difficult. Having said that, with a TV you don’t have to deal with these ports on a daily basis so the odd port placement isn’t that big a bother. As for wireless connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi are supported. Audio speaker vents are present on the rear and at the bottom. There is a joystick button on the back that will help you turn on the TV and control basic functions at times your remote slips under the couch cushion. Realme also adds a cable tie at the back which is a nice touch. Also Read: Realme 43-inch FHD Smart TV review
Realme 55-inch 4K SLED TV Review: Remote, performance and Interface
The remote remains the same as we experienced on the 43-inch model. The remote is comfortable to hold and has all the required buttons in the right places. There are dedicated keys for Netflix, Youtube, and Prime Videos. We would’ve, however, preferred a vertical volume rocker. By default, it functions via IR, but you may also pair it via Bluetooth so you don’t have to point it in any particular direction. Chromecast built-in worked flawlessly as expected and you can cast content from all popular apps on your android phone or mirror your phone screen using the Home app. Realme 4K SLED TV doesn’t support Miracast which is mostly needed for mirroring via native options in some smartphone interfaces or for features like Samsung Dex Wireless. Miracast can, however, be added via a software update so if you particularly need it, there is hope. Realme uses a 64-bit quad-core processor which is comparable to what we usually see in TVs. The performance wasn’t flawless though and we noticed stuttering quite frequently. The TV can be used with gaming consoles without much issue but make sure to switch to the low latency game mode.
Realme Smart TV SLED 4K 55-inch Review: Picture quality and Audio
The 55-inch (3840 x 2160) display on the new Realme TV has SLED backlight. This is to say that the panel uses the primary colors – Red, Green, and Blue LEDs – in the backlight to create purer white light. This makes the panel lighter on the eyes and helps reproduce colors more faithfully when compared to conventional LCD panels that use blue LEDs coated in yellow phosphorus for their white backlight. The display is indeed less harsh on our eyes when compared to other affordable and mid-range LED TVs in the price segment. These claims are also attested by TUV Rheinland certification. The picture quality on the Realme 4K SLED TV is quite good if you don’t mind slightly oversaturated tones. The dynamic range is wide but extra bright scenes feel washed out – something that can often be fixed by switching to the right color preset. Speaking of which, Realme claims 108% NTSC coverage, but NTSC is not a gamut anyone uses these days so that stat doesn’t say much. There are numerous picture modes and you can adjust them to your heart’s content. We mostly preferred the movie mode, but to get the best results you will have to change color mode based on the content. And that’s easier to do when you are playing from an external source rather than using native apps because the pop-up settings menu works only for external HDMI inputs and not for native apps.
We preferred playing from our FireTV stick 4K, but native apps work well too. As for HDR, Realme 4K SLED TV supports HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG but not Dolby Vision. The panel has a brightness of 300nits which is not great for HDR, but this is very much expected in this price range. We didn’t find the brightness lacking while watching most content so we’d say this isn’t much of an issue. Realme SLED TV is impressive at scaling 1080p content and even 720p content. We didn’t notice an appreciable difference between HDR and SDR content though and that’s probably because of the brightness limitations. In spite of this being a VA panel, viewing angles are wide and there is no color fading while viewing the displays from an angle. The good thing is that the panel is not very reflective and we had no issues watching content even in brightly lit rooms. Blacks are deep and contrast is high. The TV does not have local dimming and the black uniformity is not great. However, the inconsistencies will be visible only in dark ambiance and with a predominantly black background. Again, this is an expected issue with all affordable and mid-range LED TVs. Another common LED problem that we noticed is distortion around the edges, which is more noticeable with a white background. So, overall, we’d say that the picture quality is certainly better than what we usually get in this price range. We enjoyed watching content on the Realme SLED TV. The 24W sound output with Dolby support also feels apt. Dialogues are clearly audible and the stereo output feels well balanced. Of course, if you are serious about audio you will need to use an external sound system. We have been using the TV with Realme’s Soundbar which we have also reviewed separately. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Review
Realme Smart TV SLED 4K 55-inch Review Verdict: Should you buy it?
Realme 55-inch 4K SLED TV is not perfect but its flaws lie within the bounds of what is expected in this budget. Realme does really well where it matters. The panel quality is quite good, Full HD and HD scaling are impressive, and the audio quality is decent, and most of the popular apps are supported. On the downside, port placement isn’t ideal, HDR performance is mediocre, and there are some distortions around the edges if you look close. Overall, we are quite satisfied with what Realme is offering. For a price of Rs. 42,999, we have no qualms about recommending the Realme 55-inch SLED TV as an option. Pros
Good picture quality and wide viewing anglesDecent audio outputPremium designWell-designed remoteChromecast built-in and Google Assistant support
Cons
Port placement and spacing is not ideal Occasional lag and stuttering
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