JVC 55-inch QLED TV Review: Budget Smart TV that gets most things right

Japanese electronics maker JVC re-entered the Indian market earlier this year via a licensing agreement with Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL) and has since introduced a series of smart TVs in partnership with Amazon. I have been using the recently launched JVC 55-inch QLED TV for a couple of months, and here’s my two bits on how the Japanese company performed with its new offering.

Unboxing:

Inside the box of the JVC TV, you are greeted by a 55-inch QLED panel, a metallic stand, a wall mount, four screws, a remote with AAA batteries, and some paperwork.

If you’re not going to have the TV installed, the metallic stand actually looks pretty good and is sturdy enough to handle the QLED panel with ease.The same cannot be said for the remote control that comes with the TV. It feels cheap and the JVC branding on the bottom came off after a few days of use. I hope JVC improves the remote’s shelf life in its next iteration of TVs.

Other than that, I didn’t notice any major glitches, the response time is good and voice commands work as expected. There are four hotkeys at the bottom for Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Netflix and the app menu. (Unfortunately, there is no option for JioHotstar).

Display and connectivity:

The star of the show is a 55-inch QLED panel with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR support and a 60Hz refresh rate. There are very slim bezels around the panel, with a plastic chin at the bottom that houses the JVC branding, just below which is the power button to turn the TV on and off in case you forgot the remote.

To be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for the picture quality of this TV, but the results were anything but what I expected. The IPS panel on this TV is capable of reproducing sharp and vibrant colours that are pleasing to the eye. On closer inspection, however, you’ll notice that there’s something lacking in very dark scenes, as this isn’t an OLED panel, but that’s something you’ll have to make do with at this price point.

One area where I think there’s room for improvement is the TV’s inability to reproduce human skin tones in certain scenarios, which isn’t a major problem but something that can be worked on in the future iterations.

Pairing the display is a 60-watt speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support. The speakers get quite loud here, and the audio quality is such that you won’t really feel the need for an additional soundbar unless you’re an audiophile or want to recreate that theatre-like surround sound setup. I found myself using the TV at a maximum of 30-40 percent volume (which was sufficient for my use case), but going above 50 percent volume does result in some distortion.

In terms of connectivity, you get 3 HDMI ports and 2 USB 2.0 ports on the back, along with the three pins for plugging in your set-top box or gaming console. JVC’s TV also comes with Bluetooth version 5.0, dual-band Wi-Fi and built-in Google Chromecast, which means you can share your smartphone screen content on the TV.

Software:

The JVC 55 inch QLED TV runs on Android 11 out of the box with the latest security patch being till September 2024. The TV runs on a Realtek processor (unspecified) with support for 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage.

In my experience, it took around 35-40 seconds for the JVC to boot up and get to the home page, which is par for the course. There are a few pre-installed apps such as Hotstar, JioCinema (yes, this TV was launched before the merger), Zee5, YouTube and YouTube Music, most of which can be uninstalled or disabled if required.

As this is a proper Android TV, you get support for the Play Store, which can be used to download additional apps. Sideloading apps from a USB stick also worked well.

While my experience with the TV’s software was largely satisfactory, there was one issue with the Wi-Fi that left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. That is, on most occasions, I noticed that it wouldn’t automatically connect to my Wi-Fi until I manually went into the Wi-Fi settings, at which point it would start connecting.

Another bug I encountered a couple of times is that the UI sometimes stops responding while running the JioHotstar app. It’s worth pointing out that these issues aren’t deal-breakers and JVC/SPPL can easily fix them via an OTA update.

Verdict:

Priced at ₹35999, JVC’s 55-inch QLED TV offers excellent value for money with its impressive screen quality, loud and punchy speakers, stylish design and a host of connectivity options.

While the TV has some obvious flaws, such as a cheaply built remote, an outdated Android 11 OS and minor software bugs, I feel it does its primary function – delivering crisp, immersive visuals – well enough to justify being a strong contender in its segment.