Xiaomi launched the Mi TV 5X series in India last month as the successor to Mi TV 4X series launched in 2019. This year the company has launched 43″, 50″ and 55″ 4K TV models in the country. All these have HDR 10, HDR 10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and also feature a metallic bezel-less finish, making these a major upgrade compared to the Mi TV 4X series. We have the 43″ model for the review. Is this worth the price? Let us find out in the review.
Design and build quality
The Mi TV 5X comes with aluminium alloy frames all around the TV that offers an elegant look. Even the size bezels are minimal, so the screen-to-body ratio is 95.4%, offering a wholesome viewing experience. The 50″ and 55″ model have 95.9% and 96.6% screen-to-body ratio, respetively.
The back of the TV features layers of carbon fibre that look good, otherwise it has a plastic finish.
It comes with a metal stand in the box that also offers a premium look. You can also wall mount the TV, but you have to buy the wall mounting brackets separately.
On the front, below the screen, you can see the Xiaomi branding. There is also a small bezel below it that houses LED indicators for Google Assistant, and an on and off toggle below. Overall, the design and build quality are good for the price.
Picture and audio quality
The Mi TV 5X features a 43-inch (3840 x 2160 pixels) 4K LCD 60Hz panel with support for DolbyVision, HDR10+, HDR 10 and HLG support. DolbyVision works in Netflix and Hotstar apps, and the HDR 10+ feature works in Amazon Prime Video. You can also watch HDR content on YouTube. It also has 94% DCI P3 and 88% NTSC colour gamut, so the colours are vibrant. Viewing angles are good as well.
Similar to other TV models, there are Standard, Vivid, Sport and Movie modes, you can adjust the backlit, brightness, contrast, Saturation, Hue, Sharpness and Colour temperature. It also comes with Xiaomi’s proprietary ‘Reality Flow Engine’ that interpolates frames when needed to ensure blur-free and smooth viewing while watching sports or playing games. There is also an option to turn off motion smoothening if you don’t prefer it. You can also adjust the colour space. The screen is bright, but the company has not mentioned the maximum brightness.
The TV also comes with Vivid Picture Engine 2 which is Xiaomi’s proprietary display technology with Adaptive Brightness. Thanks to photo-electric sensor, it smartly adapts to the ambient lighting conditions for a comfortable viewing experience. It is one of the first TVs in the range to feature it. The TV can also upscale 1080p content to 4K without losing much details.
Coming to the audio quality, the TV has 30W stereo speakers with support for Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD. You need to enable Dolby Atmos from the sound settings. Dolby Atmos works in Netflix, and it can also play Dolby Atmos supported videos stored locally.
Since these are only stereo speakers, and not a 6-speaker setup like the Mi QLED model, you don’t feel thumping bass in audio, but the quality is good and doesn’t distort even in full volume. The 40W speakers in the 50″ and 55″ model should offer a slightly better audio experience. It has eARC support through its HDMI 2.1 port, which makes it easy to connect to a soundbar or to an AV receiver, so you can connect a Dolby Atmos-powered speakers for the best experience.
You can operate the TV with a simple voice commands, since the TV has built-in far field mics. There is an LED indicator to notify you if the microphone is on. You can also turn it off with a simple hardware toggle.
With the built-in assistant, you use voice to search and access entertainment, get answers, control the TV and also operate the smart home devices connected to the Google Assistant without using the remote control.
The remote looks the same as other Mi TV remotes with Netflix and Prime Video shortcuts. The remote offers Quick Mute (Double tap volume down key to mute), Quick Setting (Long press Patchwall button to access picture, sound and more settings) and Quick Wake (Turn on TV in less than 5 sec) features.
Software and features
The Mi TV 5X runs Android TV 10 with the latest Patchwall 4 update that brings several new features including the IMDB integration which lets you check for rating before you watch a movie.
Xiaomi says that the PatchWall 4 is lighter, faster and more responsive. The UI offers faster search results, quick transitions between apps and lag-free content discovery. The User Centre and App Inputs have been moved to the first fold for easy access. User Centre acts as a personal hub for users where they can save their favourite content, watch new trailers, check their subscription plans and much more
The PatchWall 4 features an all-new details page for each title, providing ample information on more than 30 streaming services. With partnerships, there are now 30 content partners in 15 different languages, with the latest being Chaupal and Lionsgate Play. The PatchWall 4 also comes with 75+ free live channels. The Mi Home app integrated in Mi TV allows users to control all AIoT devices easily. Overall, the PatchWall 4 is a huge improvement. The company keeps pushing regular updates to the PatchWall. It has started rolling out a new update that will bring performance and system improvements to enhance the overall UI experience, said the company.
Performance
The Mi TV 5X series is powered by a Quad core MediaTek MT9611 (A55) processor with Mali G52 MP2 GPU, same as the Mi QLED TV 4K models. It has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage.
As you can see in the image, you get 1.7GB of usable RAM and 11.3GB of usable storage. Performance was smooth without any issues.
Connectivity
It has three HDMI 3 ports that includes one HDMI eARC port, Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and 6.5ms Input Lag @ 4K 60fps, two USB 2.0 ports, AUX port on the side. On the bottom you can see the Ethernet ports, Optical port, AV input and antenna port.
It has Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz / 5GHz) (2×2 MIMO) and Bluetooth 5.0 support. We got download speed of 223Mbps and upload speed of 110Mbps when connected to a 1Gbps connection over Wi-Fi 5GHz network.
Conclusion
The Mi TV 5X from Xiaomi packs a lot of features, offering a competitive experience at a good value. There are a lot of 4K TV models that are slightly cheaper, but you don’t get support for HDR 10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, metal frame, HDMI 2.1, eARC, ALLM, far-field mics and other features that is available in the Mi TV 5X series. Even though the audio from the 30W speakers is loud, bass is missing, but it is definitely a good improvement from the Mi TV 4X series. If you can spend more, you can also check out the Mi QLED TV 55″ model that has a better panel and an enhanced audio experience.
With a price tag of Rs. 31999, the Mi TV 5X 43″ 4K TV will be available for purchase from Mi.com, Flipkart.com, Mi Home, Mi Studio and Croma, starting tomorrow, 7th September 2021 at 12PM. It is also available in 50-inch model that costs Rs. 41,999 and the 55-inch model is priced at Rs. 47,999. HDFC Bank Credit Cards & EasyEMI get up to Rs. 3000 instant discount.