Basically all the main This product category has experienced massive inflation over the last decade. All categories, that is, except televisions. For some reason, year after year, brands compete to not only make the best and brightest models, but also the best and cheapest ones.
The new Vizio 4K TV (its literal model name) costs $328 for a 55-inch model, has excellent built-in streaming and all the apps you could want, and has Dolby Vision high dynamic range. It doesn’t have fancy backlighting for perfect black levels, but if you need a cheap screen for a bedroom, office, garage, vacation home, corner bar, whatever, there’s really not much this one can’t do. pretty good.
Five years ago, a TV with specs like this would have cost around a thousand dollars. Reverse inflation is surely enjoyable for average viewers. Now you can get the huge 86-inch model for less than a thousand dollars.
A new black box
Televisions have become so good that the vast majority of us no longer need to follow high-end trends. For less than $500, this model has all the features we expect from high-end TVs, including fit and finish.
Photography: Parker Hall
It’s a simple black box with legs on either side of the screen. I would prefer a pedestal mount, but I can’t be picky about this price, and you may or may not be planning on a wall mount or other type of support. The legs keep it stable enough on my TV stand, and a nice 2-inch thick casing makes it easy to move the TV around without fear of breaking it.
Like all modern TVs, this one has super slim bezels and is almost all screen when turned on. It runs on Vizio’s SmartCast operating system, which is one of the best internal smart TV interfaces we regularly test. It makes it easy to cast between Android phones (thanks to Chromecast) and iPhone (thanks to AirPlay 2), and has its own range of decent built-in apps for everything from Netflix to Apple TV. They all work well in my tests, although I prefer my trusty Roku interface when I have the option.
Setup is quick and painless. Simply plug in your TV, log into your apps, and go. It comes with three built-in HDMI ports (one eARC for setting up the soundbar or receiver), which is more than enough for most modern homes. I plugged in my Nintendo Switch and my Panasonic 4K Blu-Ray player and was watching Ferris Bueller instantly.
