Xiaomi Mi TV 4A Pro 49-inch Review: Fantastic 1080p performance, bleak HDR

Xiaomi Mi TV 4A Pro 49-inch detailed evaluation

The most important drawback with shopping for a funds good TV in India right this moment is that each one of them run on AOSP (Android Open Supply Platform). Which means though you have got entry to a whole bunch and 1000’s of apps on the TV, together with the likes of Amazon Prime Movies and Netflix, the expertise could be very underwhelming as a result of these are cell variations of the apps and might’t exploit the potential of the panel in your TV. Immediately we’ve got with us the Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4A Pro 49-inch TV. The TV runs Android TV 8.1 out of the field, together with the corporate’s personal PatchWall OS. It brings with it some upgrades when in comparison with the earlier model of PatchWall. That is the primary time Xiaomi has launched a 49-inch TV in India and it is full of options. Ought to the competitors be nervous?

Key specs at a look

Panel Dimension: 49-inch

Panel Sort: IPS

Panel Decision: 1920x1080p Full HD

Panel Refresh Price: 60Hz

HDR 10 help: Sure

Dolby Imaginative and prescient Help: No

Weight (with stand): 10.9kgs

HDMI Ports: 3

USB Ports: 2

Bluetooth: Sure, 4.2

Wi-Fi: Sure

Ethernet: Sure

Audio system: 2 x 10W

CPU: Amlogic 64-bit Quad-core

GPU: Mali-450

RAM: 2GB

Constructed-in storage: 8GB

Construct and design

Kicking issues off with the construct of the Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4A Pro, it isn’t the slimmest tv available in the market and that’s okay. It, nonetheless, does have comparatively slim bezels across the show which give the TV a pleasant look however aren’t as skinny as what we’ve seen on the Mi TV 4. You’ll be able to select to both wall mount the TV or put it on a desk prime. We put the TV on a desk prime and the 2 plastic toes are sturdy, nicely constructed and maintain the TV in place.

Total, the design of the Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4A Pro is easy. It received’t flip heads, but it surely isn’t flimsy both. It serves its function and we prefer it.

Ports and connectivity

On the subject of connectivity, the Xiaomi Mi LED Good TV 4A Pro has 3 HDMI ports (one among them is ARC), two USB ports, an Ethernet port, AV enter, good outdated antenna connection and S/PDIF for audio. The TV solely has an S/PDIF port for audio output, which is a bummer. It has HDMI ARC too, however I’ve a pair of audio system that help 3.5mm or RCA and I can’t join them to the TV, which is disappointing. You’ll have to spend money on a Coaxial Digital Adapter Cable if you wish to join your audio system which have 3.5mm or RCA connections. When you have a pair of audio system that help Bluetooth, then you may join them to the TV through Bluetooth. The TV additionally helps Wi-Fi.

Total, 3 HDMI ports are an excellent quantity, however the lack of non-obligatory audio output like RCA or 3.5mm is disappointing. The location of the HDMI ports is kind of handy – all of them are on the aspect which signifies that they’re simple to achieve even when the TV is wall mounted. You’ll nonetheless want an HDMI extender if you wish to join a Hearth TV keep on with the TV.

Show panel and film high quality

The Xiaomi Mi LED Good TV 4A Pro has a Full HD panel and boasts of help for HDR. Xiaomi says that the TV might be accessible in VA and IPS panel choices and didn’t speak in confidence to us the producer of the panel. The evaluation unit we’ve got has an IPS panel. A tip for these of you that need to know what panel your TV has, merely change on some content material on it and press the panel. In case you see a rainbow-like color impact within the space you press, then the panel is VA. In case you don’t see the rainbow impact, then it’s an IPS panel.

One other factor to notice is that the Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4A Pro 49-inch TV has an 8-bit panel. For these of you that aren’t conscious, to get the true advantages of HDR, a TV must have a 10-bit panel. An 8-bit panel is able to 256 shades of color for every of the first colors (Purple, Inexperienced and Blue). Which means an 8-bit panel can provide you 16.8 million colors (256 x 256 x 256 = 16,777,216). This will likely appear to be so much and when you’ve got an excellent 1080p TV, you could take pleasure in the way in which content material appears to be like on it. Nevertheless, to provide HDR colors you want a 10-bit panel. As an alternative of 256 colors per major color, a 10-bit panel can produce 1,024 colors per major color. That signifies that a TV with a 10-bit panel can produce over a billion colors i.e. 1024 × 1024 × 1024 = 1,072,341,824.

So, how can a TV with an 8-bit panel produce HDR content material? Effectively, right here’s the deal – HDR works with two major elements – color depth and distinction. An 8-bit panel could not be capable of give the colors of a 10-bit panel, however it may possibly improve the distinction (the distinction between the whitest whites and the blackest blacks to provide you a better-looking picture). Aside from growing the distinction, the TV wants to inform the supply of your content material (be it a Blu-ray participant or a gaming console) that it may possibly show HDR content material. That is achieved by choosing the HDMI 2.0 choice from the TV’s settings on this Xiaomi TV. As soon as that is executed, the content material supply (your gaming console, Blu-ray participant, and so forth.) begins pushing HDR content material on the TV. In idea, this could work nicely, virtually what we acquired was bleak HDR efficiency. Let me clarify the image efficiency intimately.

1080p streaming

When the HDMI 2.0 choice was switched off, the efficiency of the TV was implausible. We ran our normal set of content material from the Xbox One X which was Netflix and Amazon Prime movies. Our check recordsdata included Star Trek Discovery, John Wick, Daredevil Season 2, Spiderman Homecoming, and the Grand Tour. All of the content material seemed completely implausible with the one drawback being the occasional reflection confronted with a powerful gentle supply behind us. The IPS panel gave beneficiant viewing angles as nicely. The darkish staircase combat sequence in Daredevil had good distinction contemplating how dimly lit the scene is. The darkness of house blended with vivid gentle in Star Trek Discovery made house look fascinating and the small print on Michael Burnham’s spacesuit seemed vibrant. The evening combat sequence in Spiderman Homecoming in opposition to the Vulture seemed crisp and the ship combat sequence seemed vivid. It’s for sure that you’ll totally take pleasure in watching 1080p content material on this TV.

HDR efficiency

For the HDR check we performed the identical sequences from Star Trek Discovery and Daredevil season 2 and the very first thing to note is that the whole lot turns into darker. In Star Trek discovery, there may be lack of particulars and brightness fairly than enriching the picture. Even in Daredevil, fairly than having the ability to make out the small print in Daredevils swimsuit, all you see is a silhouette. Its startling how the efficiency has modified whenever you change on HDR. See the comparability pictures under.

Above: Star Trek Discovery with HDR enabled (Picture resized for internet)

Above: Star Trek Discovery in SDR (Picture resized for internet)

In case you actually need to benefit from the image potential of the TV, we recommend switching HDR off. Since loads of content material on all streaming providers accessible in India caps off at 1080p, you aren’t lacking out on a lot. Or, if 4K is necessary to you, then I counsel you go for the Mi LED TV 4 Pro 55-inch which has a 10-bit 4K HDR panel.

Gaming efficiency

Gaming is one other place the place the TV works fairly nicely. The TV has a sport mode which helps with enter lag and film settings. Since it may possibly output 1080p content material, PS4 and Xbox One house owners don’t have anything to fret about. PS4 Pro and Xbox One X house owners can exploit the excessive body price modes in video games because the TV can help 60FPS. It’s also possible to select enriched visuals in video games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Gears of Struggle and extra to get an excellent sampled picture.

Above: Gaming on the Xbox One X with HDMI 2.0 enabled

Above: Gaming on the Xbox One X with HDMI 2.0 disabled

We performed Forza Horizon 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider and a few Gears 4 on the TV and all of it appears to be like implausible so long as HDMI 2.0 is switched off. Rise of the Tomb Raider is one sport that appears implausible on a 4K HDR TV with its HDR mode enabled. The identical can’t be mentioned for its efficiency on the Mi LED Good TV 4A Pro. Within the picture under you may see that the content material loses out on vividness discovered when performed in SDR.

Above: Rise of the Tomb Rader with HDR enabled (Picture resized for internet)

Above: Rise of the Tomb Rader in SDR (Picture resized for internet)

PatchWall OS: An evolution in the correct path

One in all my greatest issues with funds good TVs is that they run on AOSP (Android Open Supply Platform). To elaborate why this isn’t a terrific factor I’d want to put in writing a full article, however here’s a abstract. With AOSP, you get the cell model of Android and due to this you get cell variations of streaming providers which implies you may’t exploit the potential of the panel and the general expertise is lacklustre. To not point out the patchy efficiency. I’m completely satisfied to say, that the brand new model of PatchWall runs on Android TV 8.1. That is the full-blown model of Android discovered totally on Sony TVs. Android 8 itself feels smoother than earlier variations of Android and the UI addresses loads of points we’ve had with the Android TV OS previously. Xiaomi is giving customers the advantages of each worlds – inventory Android 8.1 for pseudo nerds like me and PatchWall primarily based on Android 8.1 for these in search of a content material first expertise.

Content material First technique

The elemental technique of PatchWall is to current the consumer with content material first and concentrate on the supply second – a method we’ve got seen in motion with TvOS on the Apple TV and the earlier model of PatchWall. It labored fairly nicely within the earlier gen TVs we noticed from Xiaomi and I’m completely satisfied to say that it really works so much higher on the brand new TVs with Android 8.1.

You should use your voice to seek for content material utilizing the voice function on the distant management. Merely press the microphone button and say issues like “salman khan films” or “change to star films” or “present me sport of thrones” and if the content material is on the market, it is going to pop up. You’ll be able to’t say issues like “Play sport of thrones on Hotstar” however you may open the Hotstar App by saying “Open Hotstar”. The voice search works extraordinarily nicely due to Google Assistant integration. We are able to’t look forward to it to begin recognizing issues like “Play Fashionable Household on Hotstar” straight. There are a couple of options lacking from voice search, however what is on the market works brilliantly. The voice search will largely yield Google outcomes however when paired together with your set prime field, can change channels and present programming eliminating the necessity so that you can bear in mind channel numbers.

Add to it the truth that with the Google Assistant, you may management all of your good home equipment with the TV and you’ve got little or no cause to get off the sofa.

Android TV with the Google Play Retailer however lacking some apps!

The TV has entry to the Google Play retailer and regardless of this you don’t have entry to Netflix or Prime movies. On the launch occasion, Xiaomi introduced that they’d carry Prime Movies to the TV quickly.

Being an Android TV, it additionally has Chromecast in-built. In case you thought you’d be capable of Chromecast Netflix onto the TV we’d say suppose once more. We tried it and it doesn’t forged, which is a bummer. Casting content material from YouTube and Hotstar labored nicely.

The Android TV UI has additionally seen some modifications since Android TV 7. The most important one is a cleaner UI. All the pieces is neatly laid out together with your favorite apps being the very first thing that you will notice. All the pieces else is specified by rows from sizzling picks to trending movies to Play Film strategies and extra. Since voice management works nicely for Android you actually don’t have to navigate the UI a lot bodily.

I even tried saying issues like “Play stranger issues on Netflix” and the response I acquired was “Newtflix is both not put in or can’t be searched”

Total, Android TV 8.1 is so much higher in terms of format of apps and fluidity in efficiency when in comparison with its predecessor.

Benchmarks

We used the Spider Elite 4 to check the TV and the outcomes are a blended bag. From the benchmark scores under you may see that the brightness of the TV is first rate, color uniformity is sweet and so is the luminance uniformity. Nevertheless, the color accuracy as per the Spider isn’t nice. That is in fact maintaining in thoughts very best conditions. In actual world utilization, the TV does a positive job of showcasing content material consumed repeatedly at residence.  

Audio high quality from the TV audio system

Coming to the audio, the Xiaomi Mi LED Good TV 4A Pro has two down firing 10W audio system bringing the full output to 20W. I’m usually not a fan of the audio system on a TV however the ones on the Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4A Pro are first rate and get the job executed for on a regular basis viewing. Watch the Cyberpunk 2077 E3 2018 trailer on YouTube and you’ll discover that at 60 % quantity, it sounds loud and room filling. There isn’t any bass within the efficiency of the TVs audio system although. So, if you’ll watch information through your set prime field, exhibits like Younger Sheldon or Large Bang Concept or something the place the vocals are extra necessary than the background rating you must do exactly positive. You’ll be able to throw within the occasional film as nicely. However if you wish to take pleasure in a film or video games with all of the bangs and swishes, you’ll need to spend money on a soundbar or a speaker set.  

Distant management

Talking of the remote-control, Xiaomi has gone with the identical minimalistic design because the one we noticed beforehand with some welcome modifications. The distant this time has a extra squarish design than rounded in direction of the perimeters. This makes it simpler to carry in a single’s palms and offers it an excellent grip.

The distant pairs to the TV through Bluetooth so that you don’t actually need to level it to the TV for it to work. The distant additionally doubles as a common distant, so it may possibly management your Set High Field, Mi Android field and another gadgets.

The distant has a couple of new buttons this time round. You might have a voice button under the ability button which brings up the Google Assistant. On the left and the correct of the again button you have got the PatchWall and Android OS button respectively to carry up the UI you want.

Total, the distant management is minimalistic, purposeful and works nicely. It builds upon a distant that we appreciated to start with. Though a devoted mute button and menu button are missed. You’ll be able to carry up the menu by clicking the centre button, however intuitively, that’s extra of a choose button than a menu button.

Verdict

Contemplating the options on provide, the Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4A Pro 49-inch TV is an efficient purchase for these in search of a 50-inch good TV. It has a fluid purposeful and nicely laid out UI carry you the advantages of each inventory Android TV and PatchWall. The image efficiency at 1080p is nice too. The draw back is the poor HDR efficiency, which is form of the primary USP of this TV. Although 4K content material is well accessible right this moment a 1080p TV can get the job executed very nicely if mixing set prime field viewing with streaming providers is what you might be in search of. Nevertheless, in the event you nonetheless need to go 4K, you could want to extend your funds. For Rs. 30,000 you might be getting a reasonably good FHD good TV proposition with the Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4A Pro 49-inch TV. Let’s hope there may be sufficient shares this time round for purchasers.