A budget TV with rare all-round ability
The Omni QLED’s performance is markedly more assured, considered and authentically cinematic than expected at this budget level.
This 50in version has a less premium design than the larger models available, with the silver metal accents sacrificed in favour of plain black plastic. The feet are black plastic, too, and are positioned at the extremes of the bottom edge, giving the set an unhelpfully wide footprint. The bezels on the sides and top of the screen are decently thin, though, allowing the display to do most of the talking.
Alexa features prominently in the Omni QLED’s makeup, allowing you to control almost every function using your voice; and just as unsurprising is the fact that it features the Fire TV smart platform – that’s sort of the whole point of the TV.
Fire TV is superior to many smart TV platforms in terms of useability and app support, with all the big hitters on board, and even some less ubiquitous, localised services present too. There’s support for all four current HDR standards; HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, even including Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive.
The panel technology is more advanced than is standard at this price, too, it being a QLED TV that uses Quantum Dots to reproduce more vibrant colours than are possible from a standard LCD TV. It not only features direct LED backlighting, which should result in extra brightness, but also local dimming across 48 individual zones, which should make for better contrast than is available from TVs without local dimming.
Considered performer
We are not saying that this is a giant-killer of a TV you should consider if an OLED is within reach; but it is a surprisingly consistent and considered performer that works within its means to provide a very satisfying and authentic picture.
Watching Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny, we find the Dolby Vision Dark mode to be too dim even in a pitch-black room. Dolby Vision Bright is good, though, combining deep blacks with satisfyingly punchy highlights. This isn’t a TV that sets out to dazzle, though – it instead opts for balance. In a shop, that would look dull next to the super-vivid TVs adjacent, but at home, it is natural in a way that focuses purely on what you are watching. That’s a more impressive feat than you might imagine, particularly at this level.
Colours successfully tread the fine line between vibrancy and subtlety, and skin tones are natural and fairly delicately shaded
