Vizio SmartCast E55-D0 HD TV Review: A Solid HD TV that's Priced to Sell

Our Verdict

Vizio'southward budget 1080p E55 brings smart Goggle box features to this set up using a Google Chromecast-based approach. It also has a top-rated picture for TVs in this class.

For

• Accurate colour
• Bright picture
• Competitively priced big screen

Against

• No tablet included for smart TV features
• No 4K or HDR support

Tom's Guide Verdict

Vizio's budget 1080p E55 brings smart TV features to this set using a Google Chromecast-based arroyo. It likewise has a top-rated moving-picture show for TVs in this class.

Pros

• +

  Accurate color

• +

  Bright picture

• +

  Competitively priced big screen

Cons

• -

  No tablet included for smart TV features

• -

  No 4K or HDR support

A revamped design based on terminal year's E-Series, Vizio's E55-D0 has ditched the moribund smart TV interface in favor of a new Google Chromecast-based approach. Information technology's a more flexible smart TV blueprint for providing streaming entertainment. The E55 is a member of Vizio'south upkeep line, which means that it doesn't back up 4K or HDR (high-dynamic-range) programming. However, a full-array LED backlight design with local dimming provides for a punchier picture and makes the $480 E55 a very attractive choice as a budget Idiot box.

Design: Only smart

The E55-D0 comes in Vizio's basic black with anxiety bolted onto either side for tabletop placement. The legs wait machined and perforated, as if they're designed to reduce weight, giving it a high-tech, industrial look.

Vizio included just the right number of connections, every bit well. The TV has built-in Wi-Fi (to back up the streaming services) and 3 HDMI ports, which should suffice for most dwelling house theater setups. There are also Ethernet and USB connections, and dissimilar Vizio'due south 4K SmartCast M55-D0, this set has a digital Television receiver tuner so cord cutters can easily add an antenna and skip the cablevision or satellite TV neb.

MORE: Our Favorite 4K (Ultra Hd) TVs Bachelor Now

Functioning: Vivid contrasts

Vizio TVs tend to favor a particular personality when information technology comes to how their pictures are tuned, and the E55-D0 is no exception. In its best preset video mode — dubbed Calibrated — information technology yielded good color accuracy, and overall it tends to push contrast levels more than some other 1080p sets, such equally the LG 55LH5750.

When we watched our suite of examination Blu-ray-based movies, the Vizio set up delivered deeper blacks than the comparable LG model. However, information technology lacked some of the subtleties of LG's slightly more detailed-looking moving picture, favoring instead more extreme contrasts.

On the Vizio E55, you can see more details in shadows, such every bit Bond wrestling with a villain in a dark tunnel (thanks in part to the full-array local dimming). Merely in bright desert scenes, the Vizio set can be dominated by yellows and expect a fiddling done out.

The effects can vary from scene to scene, equally well. For example, 1 tin clearly make out details in the brides' sleeping room in Mad Max: Fury Road that were lost in darkness on the LG set.

Audio: Reedy

The Achilles' heel of the Vizio E55 is its congenital-in sound system. The sound that emanates from its speakers is thin, tinny and reedy. And there'south not much of it — even with the book gear up to halfway, the Vizio E55 failed to deliver much in terms of sound pressure levels. Female person vocals, like Adele's, sounded as if they were being broadcast from a cheap AM radio — something users cannot improve upon without earthworks into the smartphone app's settings.

More: Our Favorite Soundbars for Minor and Big TVs

Interface: Smart simply clunky

Equally with its M-Series line of TVs, Vizio has dumped its old Yahoo-backed smart TV interface in favor of SmartCast, which is based on Google's Chromecast. The Goggle box comes with a small, very basic remote command, but Vizio intends for you to control all the streaming smart services (and access many deeper settings like sound profiles) using a free Android or iOS app on a smartphone or tablet. However, unlike the more expensive M-Serial and P-Series models, Vizio does not include an Android tablet with this TV; you lot have to bring your own.

The large advantage of this approach to smart Tv services is that Chromecast supports a very wide array of apps and streaming services, including Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, YouTube and HBO Now. You can also search or browse for content beyond multiple apps at one time, which makes it easier to discover something to watch. Furthermore, there'due south the hope of more features and services down the road, thanks to Google.

I plant one drawback to this approach, withal: The software is somewhat ho-hum to respond, making the Android tablet an inefficient Telly remote. Using a defended remote tin can be quicker, but smartphone-axial owners may be more than forgiving.

Bottom Line

Anyone who wants a proficient-size prepare that can handle a library of DVDs and bring in entertainment from multiple streaming services volition be happy with the Vizio E55-D0. Its accurate colors and contrasty picture will please almost viewers, and so along with the LG 55LH5750, Vizio's E55-Practice is one of the main contenders to consider among budget 1080p TVs.

John R. Quain has been reviewing and testing video and audio equipment for more than 20 years. For Tom'south Guide, he has reviewed televisions, HDTV antennas, electric bikes, electrical cars, too equally other outdoor equipment. He is currently a contributor to The New York Times and the CBS News television programme.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/vizio-smartcast-e55-d0-hdtv,review-4051.html

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