Xiaomi''s televisionsare popular among Indian buyers, with many high-end applications including OLED and QLED TVs. It is also known for its affordable features, making the new Xiaomi Smart TV X Series particularly relevant in its expanding product portfolio.
The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is similar to the Mi TV 5X that was launched in 2021, but with a more spartan approach that sees less features and frills in favour of higher competitive pricing. Is this this the best affordable Ultra-HD TV you can buy right now?
The Xiaomi TV X Series is somewhat more affordable than the Mi TV 5X which was first launched in 2021.
Design and specifications for the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50
The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is available in three sizes, ranging from 43 inches to 55 inches. The 43-inch version is priced at Rs. 28,999, the 50-inch version is priced at Rs. 31,999, and the 55-inch variant is priced at Rs. 39,999. This is because all variants have the same specifications and Ultra-HD resolution, but the difference between the three is the size of the display.
The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series has missed a few features in favor of higher pricing, including some features of the television''s back. However, the TV''s back is quite straightforward to look at, and the included stands are made of plastic (unlike the metal stands included with the Mi TV 5X), whereas there will be no significant differences at the front of the TV, with a rather straightforward appearance with little bezels and a fairly high screen-to-body ratio.
The Xiaomi logo is displayed below the indicator light, which similar to the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and there is no hands-free Google Assistant on the TV itself, neither the cable nor the asliding switch to mull it. Even if the TV is wall-mounted, the TV has enough space to connect.
Xiaomi hasn''t had to skim with the ports from the Mi TV 5X, which features three HDMI 2.1 ports (one supports ARC/eARC), two USB Type-A ports, a 3.5mm socket for wired headphone or speaker connectivity, and Digital Optical (Toslink), Ethernet, AV Input, and Antenna connectivity.
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The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is compatible with Android TV 10, with the stock Android TV and PatchWall UIs on the back.
I had the TV wall-mounted for my review, and it didn''t sit too close to the wall even with a low-profile wall-mount kit, so there was sufficient room to access the ports as needed. The wall-mount kit isn''t included in the sales package; theXiaomi technician may provide one at the time of installation.
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The Xiaomi Smart TV X50 has a 50-inch Ultra-HD (3840x2160-pixel) LED screen with a 60-bit refresh rate, as well as support for the Dolby Audio, DTS-HD, and DTS Virtual X formats. The TV has a quad-core processor, twoGB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage for apps and app data, less than the 16GB storage on the Mi TV 5X.
Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 is equipped with a remote and many features.
Xiaomi''s minimalistic remote comes back on the X50 TV, albeit with minor adjustments. Alongside Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, there are two new hotkeys, and the Mi''s logo has been replaced by the PatchWall logo for the button that quickly switches to Xiaomi''s custom UI for its TVs. Apart from these, the remote appears to be slightly larger than previously.
The remote is powered by two AAA batteries, which are fortunately included in the sales package. Some of the software-based tweaks for the remote, which have been introduced to cover for the absence of hardware buttons, are still in place. These include pressing the volume down key twice quickly to mute, and long-pressing the PatchWall button to access the quick settings menu.
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The X50 TV, which is compact and lightweight, sees a few changes, including new hotkeys.
Other features on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 include an auto low-latency mode (ALLM) for gaming, a Dolby Atmos passthrough when using an HDMI ARC with compatible speaker systems, and access to Google Assistant via the remote. Google Chromecast and Miracast have also been used to casting from compatible devices.
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Application and interface for the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50
Xiaomi''s familiar dual-UI concept based on the Android TV 10 operating system remains in place on the Smart TV X50. If you prefer the PatchWall UI, the company''s custom user interface continues to improve by way of performance, curation, recommendations from over 30 integrated streaming services, and more. Also, the Mi Home app is available on the TV, which is useful if you have any Xiaomi IoT products.
If you prefer the familiarity of the Android TV user interface, then that''s well-known. Soon after installing the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, the stock Android TV UI was refined to a new, Google TV-inspired look. Regardless of which UI you prefer, the apps are the same, including access to over 7,000 apps on the Google Play store for Android TV, and the possibility to download any additional apps and games.
The Android TV interface had some issues, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 struggling to navigate around. There were also occasions where apps would not load properly, and subtitle timing on Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar was off by a second or two. However, the problem was quick enough, as long as the TV was rebooted, until a few days later when the issues would be resolved.
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The Xiaomi TV+ app is a great addition to the software suite, which allows for access to linear, programd channels'' similar to those found on a DTH set-top box-based service, with the obvious difference being that the content is streamed using an Internet connection.
Although it was a bit slow, it took a while to load even on my otherwise fast Internet connection, but this will hopefully improve over time. The channel selection had a fair amount of variety and content, and was a great distraction for occasions when I couldn''t think of anything from the start.
Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 performance
Due to its Ultra-HD screen, the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 is fairly popular in its price range, offering excellent picture quality across different resolutions and excellent sound quality.
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I watched a wide range of content across resolutions and dynamic ranges, from Ultra-HD with Dolby Vision or HDR10 support, to standard-solution video clips and shows on YouTube and Hotstar. While the differences in the top-quality content naturally demonstrated, the 50-inch size of the X50 variant seemed to assist hide some of the hazards of lower-resolution content at typical viewing distances for a living room.
On the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, black levels were disappointing, and this was seen in dark scenes on House of the Dragon.
Home on Apple TV+ in Ultra-HD Dolby Vision was expected to be very good as compared to all other content, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 doing a decent job with the high-end LED format. However, this did not seem to result in a significant difference in brightness from a high-end LED or a quantum-dot LED TV, but the colors and tones seemed to be better off.
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The beautiful, often colourful homes and surrounding nature on Home looked about as good as possible on an entry-level Ultra-HD HDR TV. Pizza on Netflix looked particularly attractive in terms of colours and sharpness, and the gentle motion in these two shows was generally handled well by the television.
Shows such as Andor and House of the Dragon provided a somewhat different viewing experience, which mainly correlated with the black levels. The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is an entry-level LED TV, and this meant that there was always a slight grey tinge across the screen.
With bright, colourful content, this didn''t matter or show too prominently, but with the above two shows relying heavily on dark, night-time scenes, this made the picture appear a bit dull and often difficult to see unless the room was completely dark. In dark scenes, Andor seemed to benefit from its Ultra-HD resolution and Dolby Vision support, while the Full-HD resolution of House of the Dragon appeared quite strange, with a large range of items and colors displaying.
The Xiaomi Smart TV X50 hailed full-HD, although ultra-HD content was expected to feature the best in the television.
With HDR10 content, the TV sounded quite as capable as with Apple TV+ and Netflix''s high-quality Dolby Vision content. The Grand Tour''s latest episode was sharp and fun to watch owing to its mostly bright snowscapes, but the technically inferior HDR format sounded a little less impactful.
The content itself will enhance or break the experience, and the high-quality content and footage of The Grand Tour arguably looked better than the dull Dolby Vision stream of Andor on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50. Full-HD content such as House of the Dragon and Welcome to Wrexham, despite the obvious differences in sharpness, appeared decent thanks to the 50-inch screen size of the X50 variant.
The TV with decent upscaling and the screen itself concealing some of the shortcomings in the picture from typical living room viewing distances, according to lower-solution scenarios such asepisodes of Sarabhai against Sarabhai.
Given the price and the size of the TV, the sound on the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series was quite impressive. The TV is loud, with the sound well tuned to increase dialogue and background scores. Despite the lows and background effects, the sound was largely beneficial to much of what I wanted to see. This is a particularly useful point, since users will not need to invest in a soundbar or speaker system along with the TV.
Xiaomi''s televisions in India have always driven the value-for-money argument much further than the competition, and the X Series manages to fine-tune the concept even further. It''s not quite different from the Mi TV 5X range in terms of core specifications, but does not limit on some features that might be considered unnecessary frills.
The result is a well-equipped Ultra-HD TV that does the job it intended to do, with a rating of 34,999 for the 50-inch variant, which is excellent value for money. Picture quality is decent, save for some small shortcomings, the sound quality is good, and the software and UI performance are acceptable on the price tag. This is a reasonable choice if you''re looking to upgrade to a larger screen right now, and want to explore the ever-increasing list of Ultra-HD