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Year after year, Vizio's P-series TVs have always provided strong performance at an astonishingly low price. Compared with similar products from Sony, LG and Samsung, the P series has always managed to launch at a lower cost while still providing many of the same images, smart TVs and connectivity features.
For the company's new 2021 model, this impressive value is once again demonstrated. This
(P65Q9-H1) provides almost all the features buyers expect from a mid-range home theater TV, including local dimming, quantum dots, Dolby Vision support and HDMI 2.1 ports.
However, there are some disadvantages. HDMI failure may be related to some components. Compared with other platforms, the application library on the screen is very small, and Vizio's TV still does not include a voice remote control. However, for those who prioritize picture quality on a budget, the P-series Quantum offers some of the best picture performance you can get at a price, especially when it sells for less than $1,000.
This
Unpacking and setting up is very simple, although you will need additional help to complete the process. If the unit is placed on an entertainment console, the display screen includes two separate left and right feet.
Although I prefer the appearance of the base brackets, since the foot brackets are generally easier to use and install, I began to appreciate their simplicity.
After assembly, the TV adopts a standard industrial design and looks good. The bezels and bezels of the display are not conspicuous, but not fancy. At the thickest point, the outline of the TV is about 3 inches. The P-series Quantum doesn't have the surprising factor of thinner OLEDs or Samsung's models with almost no bezels, but its design is reliable for models in this price range.
Built-in four HDMI 2.1 ports (one eARC). On the right rear side of the panel, two are on the side and two are upward. That is, only two side ports are marked as supports
/ 120Hz.
Although Vizio originally planned to include a voice remote control in its 2021 TV, the company eventually released a voice remote control without a TV. Vizio told me that it wanted to ensure the best user experience, and finally decided that the voice function was not ready yet. The included one-click remote control works well, but to Vizio's disappointment, Vizio is still the only major TV manufacturer that still does not have a voice remote control.
After turning on the TV, you will be treated as usual various housekeeping services, such as Wi-Fi settings and privacy policy agreements. This process is all standard configurations of smart TVs and only takes a few minutes.
If you want the most accurate out-of-the-box pictures, it is recommended that you select the "Calibrate Dark" mode from the picture settings menu, and then disable all other features of the TV, such as motion smoothing, noise reduction, and edge enhancement. For standard dynamic range (SDR) video, you should set the peak brightness setting to low, and for standard dynamic range (SDR) video, you should set it to high.
(HDR) video.
If you are buying an LED TV and you are someone who puts image quality first, you should pay attention to two main functions: local dimming and quantum dots. The former can help the TV produce deeper black levels and have more precise highlights, while the latter can make the color range wider. This
Check these two boxes.
The TV has 200 local dimming zones, which is a large number for models in this price range. Generally, the more areas of the TV, the better the effect of controlling contrast and brightness. At the same time, quantum dots allow the display to cover close to 100% of the P3 color gamut. This means that when you watch 4K HDR streaming titles or discs, you will get all the colors the creator wants.
Vizio listed
The peak brightness is 1100 nits. The number will vary depending on the settings you use, but even with the "calibrated dark" mode, the TV is close to reaching the level of the mark. I measured a peak brightness of around 960 nits on 25% of the pattern, which is great for a TV in this price range.
When reviewing TV, I mixed test patterns and actual demo materials from various discs and streaming titles. I like to sample some particularly tricky scenes in movies and performances on all monitors to see how they handle contrast, black, color, and viewing angles. The P-series Quantum can handle all the requirements I made very well, but there are only a few minor issues here and there.
In the climax battle sequence of "Aquaman", the black level looks good and darkened in the dark sequence, such as the opening of "The Matrix", while the color pops up from the screen. Artifacts like flowers are still often visible, but halo is minimal for this type of TV.
Vibrant highlights make the content really shine, and the scene maintains good shadow details.
The previous P-series Quantum model had banding issues on some content, which caused the gradient to look a bit blocky and pixelated. Fortunately, the 2021 model shows improvements in this area. I haven't noticed any major issues in the previous problematic sequences, such as the scene in "Ex Machina" bathed in dazzling red light.
Having said that, I did encounter some weird issues with Dolby Vision games, which caused the black level to look one or two levels higher than it should be. This is obvious when watching the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy on 4K Blu-ray. When using the default "Calibrate Dark" setting, the black level looks high and gray. This problem can be corrected by lowering the brightness setting from 50 to 48, but this will make other light sources look a little dark.
The strange thing is that if I force my Blu-ray player to output in HDR10 instead of Dolby Vision, the black level looks good. This leads me to believe that this is a Dolby Vision problem, not a problem with the TV performance itself.
Finally, it should be noted that the viewing angle of the display is not the best. This is to be expected considering the type of panel it uses, but if you sit on the side, the color drop and distortion will be obvious, and the TV's "enhanced viewing angle" mode does not really help. People who plan to remove the sofa from the TV may want to purchase Vizio's more expensive products
Or IPS LED TV, for example
.
Vizio's SmartCast platform is still a good smart TV system, but it is far from the best operating system on the market. It can complete the work of streaming at will, but people who want a more agile and comprehensive experience may want to choose
.
Buyers can access through the screen
, Such as Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Vudu, Paramount Plus and Peacock. In other words, the range of options is far less than Roku TV or Android TV.
The app is also not found in the catalog, but you can still cast it from your mobile device to your TV.
When the TV is turned on for the first time, the TV may be a little sluggish, and it may take a few seconds to turn on the screen. Application navigation is stable, but the lag is small. SmartCast can also aggregate search results from various streaming services. A free ad-supported real-time streaming media channel is also provided, called WatchFree.
You can connect the TV with Alexa or
A device for hands-free control, but buyers who want a remote control with built-in voice control will have to move elsewhere.
Although Vizio's TVs are known for their competitive prices, this considerable value usually requires some trade-offs, especially in terms of software. Although my experience
It has been going well, and some quirks and stability issues have indeed appeared.
Vizio's 2021 TV lineup initially encountered a known issue
This prevents the console from working through the HDMI 2 or 3 port of the TV. This means that players cannot use the 4K 120Hz function for compatible PS5 games.
Although the P65Q9-H1 had this problem when I first received the review unit, Vizio has released a firmware update to fix the problem. My PS5 can now work normally through HDMI 2 and 3 inputs, and the console’s settings menu confirms that the TV can receive 4K 120Hz signals from the system.
However, even though 4K HDR games can work normally, I still encounter a very strange error during 4K Blu-ray playback on PS5. Whenever I watch 4K Blu-ray via PS5, the P-series Quantum TV seems to be limited to 1080p. This does not happen when I use a standalone 4K Blu-ray player or Xbox One X. I have contacted Vizio about this issue and I am investigating it.
The recent firmware update should also resolve compatibility issues between the TV and certain AV receiver models. Unfortunately, this seems to be still in progress. mine
It works, but the TV still has problems with my old 2016 Onkyo TX-NR555. After the firmware update, I can get the video pass-through function from Onkyo, but after changing the input or restarting the TV, the signal usually stops working again.
The TV is also prone to glitches, and whenever I restart the monitor, it seems to force the "enhanced viewing angle" setting to be enabled. I prefer to keep this setting to keep the most accurate image, so I have to turn it off manually every time I restart the TV. The difference in picture quality with enabling or disabling this setting is very subtle, so most people will not notice or care, but it still annoys me.
If you are looking for a 65-inch home theater TV that costs less than $1,500,
It should be on your short list. The TV has all the features that buyers might want to use in this type of display, including local dimming and HDMI 2.1.
However, when sold at a full price of US$1,200, this TV is a bit expensive compared to similar products from TCL and Hisense. Thankfully, it is usually sold for less than $1,000, which makes it an amazing choice.
For other 65-inch TVs in this price range with similar specifications, the main competitor of the P-series Quantum is
with
. The retail price of these models is US$1,000, but the current retail price is US$950.
Both models include voice remote controls that Vizio lacks. Hisense can be the brightest, and TCL uses the new mini LED technology for advanced local dimming. In other words, only Vizio has an HDMI 2.1 port and has the widest color gamut in this group.
Buyers who prefer a more robust screen smart TV experience may wish to use a cheaper Hisense or TCL model. But gamers who want next-generation features can get better benefits in the following ways:
Provides impressive performance at a price, but faces fierce competition at a low price
with
Alternatives.
The display's local dimming and quantum dot color functions are first-class, and the addition of HDMI 2.1 distinguishes it from similar TVs. In other words, Vizio is still solving some of the signal problems of these HDMI ports, and the selection of TV screen applications is limited.
Buyers who want a reasonably priced 65-inch TV suitable for playing HDR in a dark room can never go wrong.
, But it is a better choice when sold for less than $1,000.
Cost-effective HDR brightness, local dimming with good black level, wide-color quantum dots, HDMI 2.1 port
Mediocre viewing angle, limited screen application selection, no voice remote control, some HDMI malfunctions
Disclosure: This article is written by
team. We focus on products and services that may be of interest to you. If you buy them, we will get a small portion of the revenue from the sales of our trading partners. We often get products from manufacturers for free for testing. This will not affect our decision on whether to choose a product or recommend a product. We operate independently of the advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us
