Google TV-based 4K smart television on budget

Super Plastronics Private Limited (SPPL), the official brand licensee of Kodak smart televisions in India, recently launched eight new models with screen sizes ranging from 32-inch to 75-inch. Leading the pack in its CA PRO series is a 65-inch screen model, which is based on Google TV platform. The smart television boasts a 4K UHD LED display with support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Besides, there is a 40W audio system with support for Dolby Atmos. Connectivity is covered by dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless, and USB 2.0 and HDMI (with support for ARC and CEC) for wired. At Rs 43,999, the Kodak CA Pro is among the cheapest 65-inch smart televisions powered by Google TV platform. Is it good? Let’s find out:

Design

The Kodak CA PRO 65-inch boasts an all-screen front profile with power LED on the bottom-centre side the only visible distraction since it glows red when the TV is off. The TV is neither heavy nor bulky. However, its cheap plastic frame and underwhelming construction quality give away its affordable roots. The TV supports wall mount and table top installations, and comes with accessories for both in the box. The table-top installation accessories (legs) provide firm and secure placement to the television, but a center stand would have been a better fit here considering the large footprint of the device.

Display and audio

The Kodak CA PRO 65-inch sports an LED panel of 4K resolution stretched in 16:9 aspect ratio. The screen supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ – high dynamic range (HDR) formats commonly used by over-the-top platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, and Amazon Prime Video. From price optics, the screen is good with modest contrast, brightness, and colours. The screen is tuned for cool colour temperature by default, but can be tuned for warm and neutral colours from display settings. For personalised experience, there are multiple colour profiles available such as vivid for saturated colours, sports for bright colours, and movies for warm colours. Besides, there are colour profiles for HDR content such as ‘HDR10+ Dark’ and ‘HDR10+ Bright’.

Matching the visual experience is audio delivered by 40W stereo-speaker system. The speakers are loud and clear, but lack depth. For built-in speakers, however, these are good. The support for Dolby Atmos is a welcome addition here. However, the weak sound stage leaves one asking for more.

Performance

The Kodak CA PRO 65-inch is powered by MediaTek MT9062 processor paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB on-board storage. Though the TV has sufficient RAM and storage, it fails to impress on the performance front. It is primarily because of inconsistencies in the Google TV platform. The interface is content rich with recommendations available on the home screen from supported apps, but scrolling through the content is a slow and sluggish experience. Besides, the TV does not remember display settings and keeps shifting back to the default ‘energy saving’ colour profile after every reboot.

Verdict

The Kodak CA PRO 65-inch is a value proposition in the smart television segment. On top of fundamentals, the TV offers premium features such as support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. For the price, the audio-visual experience is good. However, performance is a drag on it. Nevertheless, there is HDMI port with support for ARC and CEC. Therefore, you can plug-in the streaming device such as Amazon Fire TV stick to bypass the performance limitations stemming from Google TV operating system. Rounding up the package is an all-round connectivity, including two-way Bluetooth for Google Assistant-powered voice remote control and other Bluetooth-enabled accessories, dual-band Wi-Fi, HDMI, USB-A, and optical for digital audio output.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz