Smart TVs have become a really popular choice among people who are looking to upgrade their TV viewing experience. They had a slow start because of lacklustre content in the beginning but, now, with an abundance of online streaming services, they have dug their roots deep in the households. Now there are a lot of smart TVs out here catering to various budgets, but often the ones in the lower price brackets get left out with some of the more premium features found in the more premium models. So, exactly how much do you lose when you bring your budget down? Well, let’s find out:
- Mi Smart TV 4: Let’s start with the current budget champion. In many ways, the Mi TV 4 is being hailed as one of the best smart TVs in India that you can currently own if you are on a tight budget. It is a 4K 55 inch Smart TV with HDR 10Bit support and has a myriad of connectivity options. For its selling price of Rs.40,000, there isn’t much that it can be criticized for, and it might seem tempting to just go out and buy it. But where it loses out the most is in its Smart software, which isn’t up to the mark with its competition and doesn’t have a few core services like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime.
Pros
- Lots of connectivity options (USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Audio, HDMI).
- 4K HDR Support.
- Simple and easy to use remote.
- Supports smartphone Mirroring.
- Really big 55 inch display.
Cons
- Not a lot of online based content.
- Side loading apps isn’t a straightforward task.
- VU 43SU128: When it comes to budget 4K smart TV’s, let’s just say that Mi isn’t the only one that is competing in the market space. VU might not have enjoyed an outright success like Xiaomi, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying. The 43SU123 is a smaller 4K TV, having a 43inch display, which might be beneficial to a few potential buyers but is crucially better than the Mi TV 4 in a few areas. For starters, it has a better display panel than the Mi, even though it loses out on HDR support. Secondly and crucially, it runs Android 7.0 out of the box and can actually run online based content streaming services like YouTube, Netflix, Google Play Movies, etc.
Pros
- Good display quality, 4K UHD resolution.
- Has ample support for online streaming services.
- Very affordable price.
Cons
- Smaller display panel than the Mi TV 4
- No HDR Support
- Onboard speakers are very weak
- VU isn’t a very widespread brand
- TCL L55P1US 4K: TCL is one of the oldest and respected brands in India when it comes to TVs. The LP55P1US is their budget 4K TV retailing at just under Rs.60,000. It is one of the better 4K offerings in this budget. The most striking feature of the TCL is that along with the Mi TV 4 is it also offers a 55 inch display and doesn’t cost a fortune at the same time. But unlike the Mi TV, it gets all the usual Smart TV features like internet connectivity and smart remote features and media playback is taken care of by rather impressive system specifications which includes a 6 Core GPU and a Quad Core 64bit ARM CPU.
Pros
- Uses Android as an OS and Playstore can be side-loaded.
- Very Good Display Quality.
- High end system specifications.
Cons
- Refresh rate is very low for 4K.
- The OS needs more optimization with the Hardware.
- Customer Service isn’t particularly upto the mark as the competition.
- Limited connectivity options compared to others.
- Sony BRAVIA KLV-40W562D: The long name aside, the Bravia is the first non 4K TV in this list. We decided to include it because we found it to be particularly impressive as far as smart TV’s in a budget go. First of all the display panel, this is by the most impressive aspect of the TV. Even though it has only a 1080p resolution, it runs at a staggering 200Hz which is pretty impressive, resulting in crisper and smoother video. Secondly, it comes with the usual array of Sony’s picture enhancement technologies like X-Reality Pro, DCR and Motion Flow-XR and has the best default audio output in this comparison.
Pros:
- Really fast refresh rate of 200Hz
- Has the best built in Stereo speakers in this comparison, certified with Dolby DTS
- Has built in Web Browser
Cons
- Limited Default Apps
- A bit pricey as compared to the competition
- Connectivity options aren’t that great as compared to the competition in the price bracket
- It’s coming of age
- Micromax Canvas Full HD Smart TV: Micromax isn’t the first name that comes to mind when we speak of TV’s. Nonetheless The Canvas Smart TV is the cheapest smart TV in our list, and it gives some more expensive TV’s a serious run for their money. It has some very high-end flagship features like USB 3.0 Support, Wi-Fi Mirroring, Internet, surround speakers and a very comprehensive 1+2 Years warranty. It also has a very decent 40 inch display panel with 1920×1080 Full-HD resolution, which means that it can fit into most cramped spaces with minimal adjustments.
Pros
- Generally decent overall smart TV feature set with Android OS as its base.
- Surround Speakers
- Works with 3rd party remote apps
- Impressive connectivity options as per as the pricing goes.
- Excellent Pricing.
Cons
- The Android user interface is old and based on Android Kit Kat, which may cause some app compatibility issues.
- Not enough pre-loaded streaming services.
- The speakers are average at best.
- The display panel is what you would expect at this price point and cannot compete with higher end offerings from larger brands.
- Micromax customer service isn’t the best compared to the competition.
We at Killerfeatures always try and fish out the best deals for your money from an array of online shopping portals. The models mentioned here are for reference purposes only, and you should read up on the manufacturer description for full disclosure of the technical details and warranty services. For more buying guides, make sure to visit killerfeatures.com.
