Vu Televisions is one of those few players in the television industry that was able to capture the essence of the online market in India. The company has a strong portfolio across various segments in the country and the recently launched Smart 4K TV range adds more strength. The brand has introduced three different models under the 4K UHD TV range includingthe 43-inch (42SU128), 49-inch (49SU131) and 55-inch (55SU138) at a price tag of Rs 36,999, Rs 46,999 and Rs 55,999 respectively.
However, things have changed in the recent past. With Xiaomi entering in the television segment with its affordable yet top-of-the-line television, Mi LED TV 4 and budget-oriented TVs, Mi TV 4A in India, Vu certainly has a serious challenge. So, naturally, the question here is: Will it be able to cross all hurdles on its way to grab a sizeable chunk of market share in India? We spent some time with the device and here is what we think of it.
What we like about Vu Android 4K UHD TV!
Before starting with the review, it is important to note that we got the 49-inch model for review. So, to begin with, the first thing we liked about the device is the display. Although it is not the sleekest option available in the market, the TV does come loaded with A+ Grade IPS panel with a screen Resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and it has 450 nits brightness.
The TV has a viewing angle of 178-degree and it has an image Refresh Rate of 60Hz. This should ideally translate into good viewing experience and so it did. We quite like the display quality on this one with colours being close to the source. The DLED backlight source helps to provide some clear images and movies, which end of the day makes it an enjoyable viewing experience. This coupled with front-facing speakers at the base provide some good audio experience as well.
Another plus point of the display is the non-reflective nature, which is particularly missing in Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4. For sound, the TV is equipped with 10W+10W speakers. The TV comes with a choice of sound modes including Rock, Pop, Live, Dance, Techno and more. The sound was quite loud in nature and more than enough to be heard in an average room size. The bass and treble as good and the support of Dolby Digital comes handy at times.
Now, coming to its major highlight. The Smart TV comes equipped with official Android TV operating system, which is a scarcity at this price point. The device runs on Android 7.0 Nougat. In our testing, we found that the user interface is quite smooth and pretty easy to navigate. However, the TV does take some time to boot up. Once the TV is on you are greeted with a home page that contains all the syndication from Google’s App and there are sections of the pre-installed apps just beneath it. The content is mostly curated through Google apps like Google Movies, TV, Music and more. The TV also sports a Google Play Store. Plus, there are some third-party apps like Hotstar, Netflix, ALT Balaji, Sony LIV and more.
Another thing we like about the VU Android UHD TV was the Bluetooth-enabled remote control. It features a pretty minimalistic design and it is pretty easy to operate. The remote also features voice search, which makes it easier to search for a content on the TV.
What we didn’t like about the Vu Android UHD 4K TV!
Coming to the drawbacks, the Smart TV really has a bulky back panel as compared to other Smart TV out there. Another thing we didn’t like about the TV was the placement of the ports. The power button is at the bottomunder the panel, which is kind of odd. Plus, the other ports including a Headphone jack, Composite in, Channels in, 2 HDMI ports, one USB port and digital audio out port are all at the back. This makes it a tad difficult to reach them if you want to connect your set-top box or gaming console to the TV. The problem gets worse when you place it on a wall.
Secondly, the Android TV has a limited number of apps, which again limit your whole Smart experience. There are other third-party stores like Aptoide, which has a better amount of apps. Thirdly, the Chromecast support on the TV falls flat in our testing. We tried to cast different content from our other smart devices, but every time it just refused to do so. No matter how many times we try to cast, the Chromecast function was quite buggy in our opinion.
Same is the case of the pairing the Bluetooth-enabled remote control. During the installation time, we faced a lot of trouble connecting the Bluetooth remote control with the TV. Another thing that bothers us is the fact that the television does not give you a notification of the update and it straight away installs it. So, for example, if you are into an action-packed movie and the moment there is something really interesting going to happen and the TV shuts itself automatically to apply a new update. Not exactly pleasure in 4K .