Xiaomi has been manufacturing televisions in India for several years. Every year, they up the ante and release something that blows the competition away, and in 2022, they appear to be on a mission to be even bigger number one in the category. The latest product to emerge from their Indian factories is the Redmi Smart TV X43, which we put through its paces. This is what we could make of Xiaomi‘s new-age TV.
Redmi Smart TV X43 review: Design
Xiaomi like the rest of the pack has also become more earth-conscious. They are using less and less plastics and more eco-friendly containers for their devices. Unpacking and setting up the Redmi Smart TV X43 is child’s play, yes there are some large plastics still present on the TV that you need to remove, but it has become less than before.
So let’s get into it and talk about the form factor. The Redmi Smart TV X43 is a brilliant looking TV that has a 43-inch, almost edge to edge, display. The bezel is super thin and it almost merges with the wall behind it. The Redmi branding can be seen under it and the indicator light is now white, not the usual red. This can be controlled to stay off/on via the settings menu.
The TV can easily be wall-mounted or kept on a table using the supplied V legs. At the back, you will find a lot of connectivity ports. These include three HDMI, USB, headphones that are side-mounted and downward-facing AV, Ethernet and Optical ports. The physical power off button is placed behind the LED indicator at the bottom.
The remote has also seen an upgrade. Well, it is still sleek, but with the Netflix and Prime video buttons, you will also get dedicated Disney+ Hotstar and Apps keys. These are good additions as people do watch a lot of Disney+ Hotstar, and geeks like us want to quickly get to the apps section instead of jogging through the menu.
Redmi Smart TV X43 review: Performance
The Redmi Smart TV X43 is a significant upgrade. There are a lot of good things happening in it. But first, let’s quickly get the tech specs out of the way. This smart TV has a 64-bit quad-core A55 CPU, Mali G52 MP2 GPU, 2 GB RAM (out of which 1.5 is available) and 16GB of internal storage for apps. 4K works at 60Hz refresh rate and what you essentially get is a better looking Android 10 driven system.
Thanks to this configuration, the scrolling and OS fluidity has become much better. Also, the users have the option to either use the Redmi PatchWall 4, which has good features and gives you a lot of personal recommendations. In case you like the vanilla Android 10 TV OS look, you can always go back to it at a press of a button. You do get pre-loaded apps like Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+Hotstar on the TV and more can easily be downloaded from the Play Store.
With it, there are a few other good free apps available too, like Live TV, which will stream news channels like Republic TV and ABP. If you want more you can always download the Zee5 app that has almost all the News Channels.
Now let’s talk about its main USP, the 4K HDR 10+ driven display. The Redmi Smart TV X43 also has Dolby Vision and Hybrid Log Gamma, which makes everything look very realistic and life-like. We loved every bit of this smart display. The colours are very vivid, blacks are super deep, and everything from sports to fast-paced action movies look super great on it. We played a lot of Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube content on it and Redmi Smart TV X43 never gave us a chance to bicker or find fault. As we said, it floored us.
And the experience becomes even better thanks to the 30W (15W x 2) downward-firing speakers with Dolby Audio. They are exceptionally loud and are great for bedrooms and large living rooms. We always kept the sound under 25 and from 12-14 feet, every word was audible. With that the remote also has a dedicated Google Assistant button, so you can voice command your TV to open or search for shows and movies. 9 out of 10 times the feature worked perfectly.
The Redmi Smart TV X43 supports dual-band Wi-Fi and Ethernet in case you want wired connectivity. We ran 100% of the review through Wi-Fi and the internet router was in another room 35 feet away and not once did we see a buffering signal. We even connected a wired USB Mouse to the TV and immediately it recognised it and a mouse pointer appeared on the TV screen. A mouse makes the browsing experience much better.
Another advantage of the Redmi Smart TV X43 is that its remote is Bluetooth 5 compatible. As a result, if you want to address the TV with the remote, you don’t need to point it at it. Simply press the buttons, and the TV will respond. Speaking of which, it is a simple remote with a circular dial for next, previous, up, and down. The middle section/button is used to execute or enter.
It works well in most situations, but when browsing a website, a remote with air mouse capabilities is preferable, so we used the wired mouse. However, this is not a disadvantage because 99 percent of people would rather watch TV shows than browse the internet, which it is perfect at. Oh, just in case you are wondering where the mute button is? Double press the reduce volume button on the remote and it will mute the Redmi Smart TV X43.
Verdict
We were able to search for any OTT show using voice command on PatchWall 4’s home screen. We liked it because it cut down on our search time, as we didn’t have to go to an app, then search, then go to another, and so on. When turned on, this TV consumes less than 100W of power. So, is it worthwhile to purchase the Redmi Smart TV X43 for Rs 28,999? That is a resounding yes. This TV has everything you could want in a budget-friendly 4K TV. If you prefer a larger screen, the same TV is also available in 50, 55, and 65-inch sizes (at extra cost). Overall, this is a promising start for Redmi TVs in India in 2022.
Redmi Smart TV X43 Pros
Excellent 4K display
Not expensive
Exceptional audio quality
Redmi Smart TV X43 Cons
Air mouse remote capability would have been a boon
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