I remember the days of my childhood when me and my mates used to watch cartoons and other shows on those really teeny tiny (well they were pretty big for those days) boxy television sets. Mowgli, Crystal Maze and Tour of Duty ruled the roost those days and we had a ball watching them. When I graduated from Mowgli to Swat Kats and Johnny Bravo, so did my TV.
It got a bump up in size from 21 to 25 inches but was still boxy though. It sounded a lot louder and had weirdly huge speakers on either side. Things got interesting when I watched Kaun Banega Crorepati because my TV had a better remote and was much flatter and slimmer. Guess what? it was not black anymore but in a shade of grey which looked suave at that time. We bought our first smart TV in 2010 I think and it was a Samsung, a HUGE 42" Full HD TV that had an OS much like the computer. But of course, at that time, we had pretty much no HD content so we never really understood what HD was until we played a couple of movies a long long time later.
Its been 8 long years with the good old Samsung and it just wouldn't give up. Wait, what? Right! You must be thinking that I am nuts to wish if my TV had gone bad. Not really, that's pretty much the state that all millennials are in after seeing the slew of SMART TV releases in the past couple of years. It all started with the Vu TV, which of course was a Flipkart exclusive. Then came along brands like TCL, Micromax, Cloudwalker, Kodak and now Mi. Yes, you read it correctly because Mi has launched their flagship Smart TV in India, the Mi TV 4.
At just 4.9mm, the Mi TV 4 is slimmer than smartphones. It claims to be the slimmest smart tv out there, but I think LG's disruptive Signature OLED Wallpaper TV is clearly the slimmest all throughout the form factor. But the interesting thing is that, while the Mi TV 4 at 55" is Rs. 39,900 retail, the LG @ 65" sells for about 3 times more at 12 lakhs!. Yes, you can buy an SUV and a Smart TV for that kinda money
Let's talk more about the Mi TV 4. The frame is very thin and is resistant to dust and fingerprint. The TV can be wall-mounted (with an optional accessory) or can be put on stands that come as standard (that's only if you can find a table wide enough to put it on). It is run by an OS called PatchWall (based on Android) that puts content first based on your viewing history (much like how YouTube recommends videos one after the other). But unlike other Smart TV's, Mi TV puts content first and all of it is controlled by the PatchWall app. You are greeted by rows and columns of content when you switch on the TV. The content is grabbed from the Setbox box and online streaming apps such as Hungama, Sony Liv and more. Xiaomi is in talks with Netflix and Amazon Prime for providing content and could be added via a software update as indicated by Mi.
The 55 inch 4K HDR panel (sourced from Samsung) is exceptional while viewing HD and 4K content. Xiaomi claims that it is the best panel that Samsung makes with a response rate of 8ms. The viewing angles are great but have an ever so slight stutter while viewing fast-moving visuals. It comes with Dolby+DTS Audio, Bluetooth 4.0 (for those wireless speakers), WiFi, multiple ports and is powered by 64-bit quad core processor with 2GB RAM and 8GB internal storage. The TV is controlled by a 12 button remote similar to the erstwhile Apple TV remote and is extremely easy to use. You can pair your keyboard and mouse to the TV if you wish to.
The TV has become an instant hit with flash sales in Flipkart and Mi.com lasting only 15 seconds. This is a definitely worrisome problem for mainstream TV makers like Samsung, Sony, and the likes because the Mi Smart TV is a value proposition that is aimed only at the Millennials on all fronts. The most disruptive thing about it is the price and the power that it packs. The design is also contemporary and nothing like what is normally expected of a TV.
My millennial friends who are planning on investing in a smart TV look no further, the Mi TV is the best choice. Non-millennial friends out there, give it a shot. Why pay a fortune for a Smart TV when you have the Mi TV around.
World Cup 2018 will look swell in that big 55" panel in all its HD glory and I just wish and pray that my Korean friend lets go finally. Fingers crossed. Lol.
P.S.
Cathy (http://salesandmarketingwarrior.blogspot.in) and Stylish, if you could do the honors please :P
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