When buying a TV, I mostly concentrate on connectivity. So it’s a bit awkward when I ask the sales guy to turn the TV around. They often look perplexed. But any TV manufacturer that gives you good connectivity will always deliver a good panel. So here’s a list of what the Nyamgondho looks for.
HDMI ARC. This allows two way transmission of audio data. So you can send audio upstream from a player/receiver or downstream from the TV. This preserves high definition audio quality and there’s no need for connecting those red, white and yellow cables.
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USB 3.0: necessary for powering storage devices that require more than 500mA. Sometimes you may try to read a movie from an external storage device but it may not be recognized. USB 3.0 solves that issue. It also allows for transfer of data at a minimum of 5Gbps. Most TVs provide USB 2.0 which I am not interested in
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HDMI 2.0. Most TVs come with HDMI 1.4. which is old fashioned. Version 2.0 allows for transfer of bandwidth at 18GBps allowing you to watch 4k movies at 60fps without compromise. HDMI ports must be 3 in number. 1 for my receiver, another for my firestick 4k and a free one for the future.
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Rj45 port. Most of the time a wired connection is faster than wireless. Always welcome
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Wi-Fi 5 GHz. The Tv has to support wifi 4 which also known as 5GHz Wi-Fi. That is 802.11/n. Using 2.4 GHz is alright but could interfere with Bluetooth connectivity if your TV is connected to a soundbar or headphones. Make sure TV supports Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth: minimum version 4.2. Sweetspot version 5.0 which allows for connectivity of more than one BT device. So if you want to follow a programme and some scumbag keeps interrupting you. You can still connect your headphones without affecting the other sound outputs. Kwahivo ataskiza kwa soundbar na wewe uko na headphones zako ukifuata. You can also connect sound to different bluetooth devices if you want.
Usually a TV with all these things will not be cheap for most brands. But kama uko knowledgeable utapata a good deal. Don’t listen to salesmen. Most 4k TVs on jumia, kilimall and avechi sijui Uka, Vision, Konka, Bruhm would struggle to meet this criteria. Even some of the Hisense, Sony, LG and Samsung 4k tvs might not meet this criteria. And that’s before I start looking into the software. The panel comes last as its of no use if the connectivity is poor.
Great post! Another thing I have always found curious is the picture engine aspect. Scaling up individual pixels intelligently when given a low resolution input, color, texture, hues balance etc. I have never been able to make sense of this aspect of TVs. What I have noticed though for some time is that LGs seem have something about them I cant put a finger on…a curiously attractive quality of picture. I am a sony diehard though, I just cant seem to be able to migrate.
It’s mostly software and low cost hardware. Do you mean image upscaling like the way a 480p video may appear more clear on some TVs? Or the wider colour gamut and dynamic range provided by HDR 10 and Dolby Vision? TVs use algorithms like Nearest Neighbor and Bilinear interpolation to upscale videos. Most Hollywood movies are shot in 2K to allow for easier editing and then later upscaled to 4K for the audience using software. TVs have tried to learn and copy Hollywood.
Those are attributes that are really hard to find on the tvs sold in Kenya. Only TCL will easily tick almost all the boxes well. In Kenya we have tcl s6500/s6800… Hata size 40 (tcl 40s6500), how about that! TCL comes with both Chromecast and Roku installed by the manufacturer. TCL has Bluetooth connectivity also. Only Xiaomi TVs would compete with TCL. But xiaomi TVs are not readily available here and they do not have DVB-t2.
The day LG, and Samsung, will embrace android TV os on their TVs will be the day Sony will die. Sony did well for themselves when they installed Android TV OS on their TVs, but the prices at which they sell the TVs are comparatively too high such that only diehard fans do buy the same. Sony’s selling point is the great quality of their TVs and Android TV OS. LG also make equally good quality TVs, albeit without Android TV OS, but their prices are lower than Sony TVs.
True. TCL tellies have all those features at a bargain price, and tops it up with having Android OS. The only downside is a small internal memory (circumvent with an external hard drive), and poor sound quality (circumvent with audio system via Bluetooth).
Yes TCL has most of these attributes but TCL takes time to update its android version. Sometimes it doesn’t at all. For example, that TCL 6500 comes with android oreo. TCL also puts a skin on its OS making it harder to upgrade to the newest version. If you’re looking for a 43" avoid 6500/6800 instead go for the TCL P8M (available locally) should set you back by 35K - very small difference in price. Comes with android pie, bigger ram, HDR 10 and more storage
Xiaomi and Sony has been updating their android versions. If you have a Mi TV you can update to pie. If you need a Xiaomi with DVB t2 you can buy from india or get a Motorola TV instead which comes with a soundbar for the same price. If you’re looking into india also consider Nokia TV. An update of the OS matters alot for a TV. Old Netflix applications always stop working as Netflix is always looking for new ways to counter piracy. Ukinunua TV iko na android 6.0 eg some Hisense and Skyworth TVs ujue you will never watch Netflix in 1080p or 4k. If TCL does not update their android TVs in 3 years you might be stuck with apps that cannot update.
The problem is google. Only Sony has made the big jump and it will reconsider this in future. LG and Samsung are not going to enter the trap of overeliance on Google. If South Korea disagrees with the US and sanctions are applied Google will withdraw all its support for android TVs from those regions. Or it can use that as a basis to fight proxy wars. Ati “kama hutaacha kuuzia China/Iran/NorthKorea TVs we’ll withdrawal our Google services for all your TVs including those you sell in other regions”
No one wants to offer their testicles to Google. Their phones have already entered that trap. That’s why LG has WebOs and Samsung has Tizen. LG is even developing WebOS for cars to challenge android auto and Apple CarPlay. These companies have to think longer term. Smaller brands are the ones taking up Google Services in a heartbeat. It’s the only route for their survival.
If you want a different ram/rom combo other than 1gb/8gb you have to get bigger screen sizes 55" and above. Hapo utapata 2gb/16gb rom. Or import TVs like Xiaomi, Motorola, Nokia and Oneplus which give better memory combinations. 1gb ram is really slow.
The best and the most informative post i have read on Ktalk!
I now know (kama hujui, hujui)…haha
Thanks for sharing such a greatly informative piece. Well done bro.
Carry on!
Bro, WiFi 802.11n is not also known as “5GHz.” The 5GHz WiFi was introduced with 802.11a (Also known as WiFi 2). All WiFi standards from WiFi 4 (802.11.n) are backward compatible, but the best standard currently is WiFi 5 (802.11ac), before ax is fully commercialized in the next few years.
TCLs sold in Kenya are crap. The company only sells the best in the US and Europe. For example, fully-specced TCL 6-series are only sold in the US. Alafu crapy under-specced P6 TVs are dumped in EMEA, with no Dolby vision and only 2 HDMI ports (only one has 2.0 but no arc).
Android TV is not the best OS for smart TVs, the only advantage it has is app support from the play store. The best OSs are Roku, WebOS, and Tizen (Yes, samsung’s TV OS is better).
Unless you are using a very old WebOS. Also, remember that TVs za 70k and below are just budget TVs… and you know what happens to budget smartphones. But also, Kenyan retailers wako na tabia ya kuuza 4-year-old TVs in the market. For instance, many still sell curved TVs, even though they are no longer manufactured.