Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV Review
LED-LCD technology in TVs is still the most common and affordable type, and Xiaomi smartly chose to focus its products around it during its early years of selling televisions in India. The company still pushes large volumes of its affordable LED televisions, but has also experimented with premium TVs such as the Mi QLED TV 4K range which is available in a massive 75-inch screen size, priced at Rs. 1,39,999. This adventurous approach to the premium price segments has now led to the launch of Xiaomi’s first OLED TV in India.
Priced at Rs. 89,999, the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is available in a single 55-inch size and is the company’s most expensive TV of its size in India. Even so, this television strongly undercuts the competition, and will be a tempting proposition for buyers who want the benefits of OLED screen technology, but without having to pay the exorbitant premium. Xiaomi’s OLED TV has launched at a price where you typically find high-end quantum-dot LED TV from brands such as Sony, Samsung, and OnePlus.
With key specifications such as support for Dolby Vision IQ and Dolby Atmos, 30W of sound output, and the Ultra-HD OLED screen that gives this TV its name, is the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV the best television you can buy under Rs. 1,00,000? Find out in this review.
The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV has far-field microphones, which can be set to always-listen for the Google Assistant wake commands
Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV design and specifications
Most 55-inch OLED televisions are priced well over Rs. 1,00,000, so the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV’s price gives it a significant leg-up over the competition. At Rs. 89,999, this is by far the most affordable 55-inch OLED TV you can buy in India (that I am aware of) right now. The benefits of the OLED display at this price makes this an enticing proposition, particularly since the much higher pricing of competing OLED TVs has been a barrier for buyers thus far.
Despite the price, Xiaomi hasn’t really held back with this TV when it comes to design and specifications. At just 4.6mm thick, the OLED Vision TV is very slim at the edges, although the centre portion of the back of the TV gets a fair bit thicker where the electrical components and ports are. The bezel around the screen is similarly slim on all sides, and a module at the bottom has the Xiaomi logo, indicator light, power switch, and a switch for the far-field microphones.
The television can be wall-mounted or stand-mounted, and standard VESA-compatible wall mounts work with the TV. Professional installation is provided for free by Xiaomi and the stands are included in the sales package, but the wall-mount kit isn’t. You can, however, request Xiaomi for wall-mounting the TV at the time of installation, and the technician will provide a wall-mount kit if you don’t have one of your own.
The ports and sockets on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV are quite conveniently positioned for a large television and are easily accessible even when the TV is wall mounted. The RJ45 Ethernet port, Optical Audio-out (Toslink) port, RCA sockets, and Antenna socket face downwards, while the three HDMI 2.1 ports, two USB Type-A ports, and 3.5mm audio jack face the left of the screen. HDMI ARC is supported on one of the ports. The power cord is permanently attached to the TV to the right of the screen, and was disappointingly short for my liking.
The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is only available in a single 55-inch size, for now
The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV has a 55-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) OLED display, with each individual pixel capable of self-illumination without the need for backlighting. There is also support for high dynamic range content up to the Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ formats, a standard refresh rate of 60Hz, and a DCI-P3 colour gamut of 98.5 percent. The contrast ratio is expectedly high at 15,00,000:1, and there is also the Reality Flow MEMC engine for motion interpolation.
For sound, the television has a 30W speaker system with eight drivers, and support for the Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats. Connectivity is handled via Wi-Fi 6 with dual-band support, Ethernet, and Bluetooth 5 for wireless audio and for connecting to the TV remote. The TV has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage for apps and app data, and is powered by a quad-core ARM Cortex-A73 processor.
Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV remote and features
Some things barely change, and Xiaomi’s TV remote is one of them. The company’s basic, minimalistic plastic Bluetooth remote is bundled in the box with the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV, albeit with some small changes. Disappointingly, despite the price of the TV, batteries for the remote aren’t included in the box, which is a complaint I’ve had for a while.
The remote itself functions well enough and some relatively recent feature additions such as quick mute (press volume-down button twice quickly), quick wake (turns the TV on in 3-4 seconds from standby), and quick settings (long-press the PatchWall button) cover for the obvious lack of dedicated buttons for those functions. Usefully, you can quickly switch between Xiaomi’s PatchWall user interface and the stock Android TV UI by pressing the dedicated buttons.
There are hotkeys for quick access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and the complete list of apps installed on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV. A microphone for voice commands and a button to invoke Google Assistant are also present on the remote, although the TV also has far-field microphones that can be set to always listen for the wake command, to serve the same function.
This worked well, with a simple ‘OK Google’ or ‘Hey Google’ command to invoke Google Assistant even from across the room, followed by proper understanding of even complex voice commands. The microphones are naturally always listening when this mode is on, so if this feels like a privacy issue to you, the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV does let you flip a switch (just under the logo, at the bottom of the TV) to turn this off.
The remote of the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is a familiar one, but there are small changes in the button layout
The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV also has built-in Chromecast for casting from supported devices and services, and Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM) which is said to optimise the TV’s settings for improved latency and performance when gaming with a connected gaming console. There are no other specific features for gaming, and the peak refresh rate of 60Hz means that this TV isn’t ideally meant for use with current-generation gaming consoles.
Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV software and interface
The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV runs on Android TV 11, with the PatchWall 4 and stock Android TV user interfaces on top, similar to how it is on much of the company’s other television range. Apps and games can be installed through the Google Play store for Android TV, which has a catalogue of over 5,000 apps right now, including popular content streaming apps, social media apps, and other services.
PatchWall hasn’t received any major additions since the Mi TV 5X, but it remains a content-focused UI with excellent content curation, lists, and a pleasant appearance. IMDb integration, the availability of the Mi Home app for easy access to IoT devices in your home, and plenty of supported apps and services for the curation make PatchWall a good interface to use.
The stock Android TV UI has gotten some new additions from the last Xiaomi TV I reviewed. The interface is now the Google TV-like UI that rolled out in late 2021, with a bit more focus on content recommendations and curation, although the lack of support for Netflix in the recommendation engine is still disappointing. You can still use Google Assistant or regular search to find content on Netflix and many other sources, or access the specific apps directly.
The overall software experience with the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV was as good as I expected it to be, and I experienced no serious issues or bugs during my time with the television. While I personally preferred the app-focused approach of the stock Android TV interface, PatchWall’s content-friendly interface should also appeal to many users.
Xiaomi OLED Vision (55-inch) Ultra-HD Android TV performance
Customers looking for a 55-inch TV with a budget of around Rs. 1,00,000 would typically consider a good quantum-dot LED television, such as Sony’s Triluminos range, Samsung’s QLED range, and the OnePlus TV Q1 Pro. However, the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV offers buyers the option to get something with arguably better screen technology at the same price, given that OLED TVs are typically priced well over Rs. 1,00,000.
That’s not to say that the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is necessarily on par with premium OLED TVs such as the LG CX range, but the benefits of OLED technology itself – particularly the black levels – are clear and present on this television. I watched a variety of content on the TV across resolutions and dynamic ranges, going from Ultra-HD Dolby Vision to simple standard definition, and the TV undeniably delivered the kind of performance that can be expected at this price.
The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV has the new Google TV-like user interface, as well as PatchWall UI
Watching Love, Death & Robots Season 3 on Netflix in Ultra-HD with Dolby Vision, the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV performed at its absolute best. The black levels were expectedly excellent, offering true pitch blacks that also helped in getting the contrast levels right. While this naturally made an impact across scenes, night-time scenes across content looked particularly good on the TV.
This also helped to make the colours feel much more impactful and punchy, particularly with the beautiful, bright animation of the ‘Three Robots: Exit Strategies’ episode of Love, Death & Robots. The effect of Dolby Vision was also noticeable, not only due to the visible bump in brightness but also in the colours, as they felt a hint more vibrant. This was the case even with The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals, where the scenic landscapes and beautiful holiday homes looked impressive on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV.
Taking high dynamic range content out of the equation did considerably change the way the TV performed, but the differences didn’t take too much away from the overall viewing experience. Better Call Saul in Ultra-HD resolution (but with standard dynamic range) looked sharp and detailed on the big screen, and the excellent black levels of the TV suited the gloomy, sombre scenes of the show very well.
The brightness levels, even in daylight scenes, didn’t feel as strong as with Dolby Vision content, but the sharpness and reasonable colour accuracy made up for this to a large extent. However, I did notice some motion interpolation issues and stutter during scenes with quick movements while watching Better Call Saul, particularly in dimly-lit night time scenes. This got particularly distracting at times, and is a fairly large drawback of this TV.
Black levels and contrast are excellent on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV
Full-HD and lower-resolution content looked decent enough, with a natural sense of softness in the picture that seemed to suitably cover for the lack of sharpness that comes with lower resolutions. Movies such as The Matrix Resurrections and sitcoms such as Kim’s Convenience, as well as live-streamed Formula 1 races, all looked decent, with good colours and black levels. Issues with motion were still present and seemed to crop up more often in the Formula 1 races, but seemed less obvious in lower resolution content.
Sound on the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is acceptable for most purposes, with the tuning focused on making voices sound clear. This worked across all types of content, but helped particularly when it came to sitcoms and sports content where dialogue and commentary needed to be heard clearly. There isn’t quite as much grunt in the sound, but the speakers get reasonably loud and does deliver clean, uniform sound, without any significant volume spikes.
Dolby Atmos support on the TV did seem to help with giving the sound a bit more spaciousness and a better soundstage with supported content, including Our Great National Parks. Although the sound was decent, it might be worth stepping up to a proper soundbar such as the Sony HT-A7000 or an equivalent speaker system to match up to the considerably better visual experience the TV has to offer.
Verdict
The expense involved in buying an OLED TV has typically made this category an ultra-premium one. However, Xiaomi’s competitive approach to pricing has made its first OLED television relatively more accessible. It goes up against quantum-dot LED TVs from brands such as Sony and Samsung but with a very visible and solid differentiator. If you have a budget of up to Rs. 1,00,000 for a 55-inch TV, this is among my top picks to consider, simply because it’s an OLED television with the typical benefits that come with the technology.
The Xiaomi OLED Vision TV offers excellent black levels, colours, and sharpness, combined with good software, reliable performance, and value for money that is hard to argue with at this price. Although I did face some issues with motion handling, this wasn’t enough to take away from the otherwise great overall experience. That said, this TV is best suited for viewers who often consume high-resolution HDR content or for anyone looking for a 4K TV with the best black levels without having to spend a fortune.
