It's been just a year since Indkal Technologies, the official licensee of the Acer brand forayed into the lucrative smart TV business in India.
Recently, the company launched another new I-series smart television in four sizes-- 32-inch (HD with prices ranging between Rs 19,990 and Rs 47,990 in the sub-continent.
I have been using the 43-inch model (Rs 34,990) for close to a week and here are my thoughts on the new Acer smart TV.
Design and build quality:
The new Acer 4K TV flaunts a slim design language. It has uniform thin bezels around the sides and the top. At the base, it has a slightly thicker chin with Acer branding at the middle, but in no way harms the visual aesthetics of the television.
Also, it features premium metallic rail around the edges offering stability to the structure. On the back, it has a minimalistic design and the company has ensured all the connectivity features are on one side and the power port on the other side.
Each port is clearly marked with names to help users avoid plugging the wrong type of cords. It comes with one USB 2.0 port, one USB 3.0 port, one LAN port, one antenna cable port, one digital audio out optical port, three HMDI ports, a 3.5 mm audio jack port and a mini audio AV port. On the other side, it has a two-point power port (100 – 240Vac). It also supports Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi (2.5GHz & 5GHz).
The company is offering both wall mount tools and also table stands with the retail box. Owners can either install it themselves or call up customer care to set them up.
I myself set up the Acer TV with the table stands. The company offers two screws for each stand. They are made of polycarbonate material and are sturdy too. Once the screws are tightened into their places, the TV stands stable on the flat surface and doesn't wobble.
User-interface and performance
Setting up the Acer I-series Android TV was way easy. You don't have to be tech-savvy to do it. Once you switch on the TV, you will be asked to pair the TV Remote via Bluetooth wireless connection. It was able to instantly detect the controller.
The next step is to connect your Android phone via the Home app and just invoke Google Assistant and say the phrase-- 'Hey Google, set up my TV'. And, just follow the instructions on the TV screen and the phone's display and you will be done with full set-up in around 15 minutes if not less.
It comes with Chromecast built-in and runs Android 11 TV OS and the user interface is very simple. It is easy to find apps and event contents thanks to a card-like presentation on the home screen. Also, the TV supports more than 5000 apps including OTTs such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar+Disney, and many more.
Also, users can even make video calls through the Google Duo app. And, cast the phone's home screen on the TV too.
Inside, the Acer TV comes with a 64-bit class quad-core processor backed by an ARM Mali G31 graphics processor, 2GB RAM and 16GB storage.
On the front, the TV features 43-inch UHD (Ultra High Definition) display panel with 3840×2160p resolution. It supports Wide Colour Gamut+ and HDR10+ with HLG promises the TV reproduces multimedia content with objects in the scene look more natural and vibrant in terms of colours are brighter in a good way for an immersive viewing experience.
Acer TV supports 4K Upscaling technology. Even if the content is 1080p or less, the TV can upgrade the motion picture quality for better viewing. It also comes with Digital Noise
Reduction, Micro Dimming, Intelligent Frame Stabilization Engine (IFSE), Dynamic Signal Calibration (DSC) and Super Brightness, ensure the colours of subjects in the movie or any multimedia content come off vibrant to the eyes.
It also features a Blue Light Reduction feature. Similar to the technology we see in the smartphone when activated, it will reduce the blue light emission and lessen the strain on the eyes while binge-watching content during the night.
Does it succeed in delivering the goods? Yes, it does a remarkably fine job. I had a really good time with Acer I-series TV watching nature documentaries. As you can see from the photos of the television, the colours look rich, the green looks greener (other shades too, look real) and the black is darker. The details within the shadows of the objects too are distinguishable, offering a wonderful viewing experience.
Also, there is less reflection when viewed from side angles.
Another notable aspect of the new Acer TV is the high fidelity 30W speakers, which is very rare among affordable smart TVs, which often come with inferior speakers (max 20W) due to cost-cutting.
Here, Acer TV with the Dolby Audio system delivers really good audio quality. With the volume set to high, it livens up the whole living room and there was very less distortion.
As far as the remote is concerned, it is very handy and the keys are tactile and responsive. The buttons are easy to reach for the fingers even for people with small hands.
The remote has direct shortcut buttons for four popular OTT apps-- Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video and YouTube.
If your house has four or five members, I recommend Wi-Fi router speed be at least 100Mbps for buffer-free streaming of high-quality multi-media content and other smart devices such as phones and laptops, which can still be able to get stable wireless internet connectivity.
Final thoughts
Overall, the new Acer I-series TV is a really good value-for-money smart television.
However, there is stiff competition in the smart TV business in India. As per Counterpoint Research report (Q1,20220, the top two Xiaomi (& Redmi with 14 per cent share ) are Samsung (13 per cent share) are fighting neck-to-neck and others LG (8 per cent), OnePlus (7 per cent), and Sony (5 per cent), are intensifying the competition.
The rest of 53 per cent market share is shared by TCL, Vu, Realme and others. But, with the new I-series, Acer can make a mark in the industry, provided they create awareness among the consumers, as most of them identify the Taiwan-based company as just a computer maker.
The new Acer I-series TVs cost-- Rs 19,990 for 32-inch model, Rs 34,990 for 43-inch TV, Rs 40,990 for 50-inch television and Rs 47,990 for the 55-inch model.
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