Big screen in a budget

Blaupunkt’s latest range of Made in India TVs claims to deliver stunning visuals and great audio at a budget price. We put their claims to the test

Blaupunkt is not known for its other electronics as much as it is famous for its audio products. However, I tested a QLED TV from Blaupunkt last year and it impressed me with its cutting edge specs and the value for money it offered. The volume on that was loud, but it wasn’t the best sound experience, as is with most televisions. 

Investing on sound

With the new line of TVs, Blaupunkt is focusing on delivering the sound along with their high specs. The aptly named Cybersound models start at 32-inches with a price tag of Rs 14,999 and a 40W sound output. The real killer sound though is produced by the 43-inch and 55-inch TV, Rs 30,999 and Rs 40,999 respectively. We tested the 55-inch model that has an impressive four-speaker array with an out of 60W. The speakers are capable of Dolby Digital Plus and have DTS TruSurround certification. Both the 43 and the 55-inch are 4K TVs.

What’s inside?

The 55-inch comes in a huge box, but the TV itself is surprisingly light at just around 10 kg. In the box, you get a wall mount, feet for the TV in case you want to table mount it, some documentation, a nice looking remote and some batteries for the remote.

The lightweight makes it easy to lift the TV, however, the size means you need at least two people to set it up. The included wall-mount seems sturdy, but the included feet don’t feel as stable. The TV does stand when you attach them, but there is a wobble if you touch the top of the panel, which made me a little nervous. A rough push at the screen didn’t break or topple the TV, which was good.

The 55-inch TV itself has some impressive specs an Ultra HD 4K LED panel capable of HDR 10, it has a brightness of 550 nits and a 5000:1 contrast ratio. The entire unit is driven by an ARM-based A53 quadcore processor with a Mali GPU, 2GB RAM, 8GB Storage.

There are multiple connection options on this Blaupunkt as well. This includes 3 HDMI, 2 USBs, a LAN port, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi, Optical out and A/V.

The working

The Cybersound TV runs Android 10 and has MEMC (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation) to smoothen on-screen visuals, built-in Chromecast support and a Google Assistant to do your every bidding. The remote given with the TV is very impressive. You can talk to Google Assistant, access your pen drive, switch to Netflix or YouTube by pressing the corresponding button. The remote, however, is fairly large unlike the tiny remote on the previously reviewed Blaupunkt QLED TV. The size and the selection of buttons make it very useful.

Android TV OS worked well and it was very easy to use. Playing video games on it and watching Netflix on the TV was fun. There is a whole range of apps to choose from the Google PlayStore, which means you can customise your TV experience as you see fit. You can even load Kodi and Plex on the TV. 

The colours and pictures reproduced were vivid and sharp. The attention to the sound with this model has yielded great results. The sound on the TV is clear and loud. You can even play music on the TV without hating it too much. While the speakers are loud, the sound isn’t very balanced. I found the speakers to favour treble over bass, lossing a bit of depth in the process. That said, it is still beyond most standard TV speakers.

Conclusion

Overall, I am very impressed with this TV and even more impressed with its budget price tag of Rs 40,999. This does not feel like a budget TV, all the materials except for the TV feet, feel premium. The focus on sound has paid off, even though it doesn’t have much of a bass profile it is one of the better sounding TVs on the market. If you are looking for a 55-inch TV with a booming sound and impressive visuals you will do well to choose the Blaupunkt Cybersound.

Pro
>> Excellent value for money
>> Loud impressive speakers
>> Doesn’t feel like a budget device

Cons
>> Speakers need punchier bass
>> The TV feet don’t imbue confidence 
>> Remote controller is on the larger side

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