Will you buy the Thomson 55-inch TV for Rs 32,999?

The Thomson Oath Pro 55 smart TV seems to offer good value for money. But does it? Let's find out, says Khalid Anzar.

*IMAGE: Priced at Rs 32,999, the Thomson Oath Pro 55-inch is a barebones smart Android TV. Photograph: Kind courtesy Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels.com

The Thomson Oath Pro is one of the three Android-certified smart TVs launched by Super Plastronics, the brand licensee for Thomson in India.

It comes with both Dolby Vision and HDR10 support, a combination rarely seen in budget TVs.

It also has Google Play Store for TV, Chromecast and Google Assistant all built in.

Design

The Thomson Oath Pro is available in 43-, 55- and 65-inch screen variants.

I reviewed the 55-inch, which has thin screen bezels with a rose-gold strip at the bottom.

Its I/O ports are easy to access even if the TV is wall-mounted. A minimal, functional design.

Display

The TV has a 10-bit LED panel of a UHD 4K resolution.

The panel supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG.

It has a rated brightness of 550 nits and contrast ratio of 500000:1.

The panel is glossy and has 178-degree viewing angles.

But the display suffers from backlight bleeding and image ghosting issues.

And there is no option for auto brightness or auto dimming.

*IMAGE: The TV has a 10-bit LED panel of a UHD 4K resolution. Photograph: Kind courtesy Thomsontv.in

Audio

The speakers -- bottom-facing dual 30W stereo speakers with DTS TruSurround and Dolby Digital Plus audio support -- are loud, with decent treble and bass.

Suitable for casual viewing, but inadequate for documentaries or music videos.

Performance

A quad-core processor, paired with 1.75GB RAM and 8GB built-in storage, powers the TV.

The performance is nothing spectacular.

The set does not support quick boot and there is a software glitch.

Some OTT apps automatically shut down as the TV enters standby mode.

Also, the 2.4GHz WiFi limits its overall utility, especially if you have IoT devices connected to a dual-band WiFi router and want them to connect with the television.

Verdict

Priced at Rs 32,999, the Thomson Oath Pro 55-inch is a barebones smart Android TV.

It's a hard one to recommend.

You might instead like to try the Vu Premium Android TV 55, which costs less and performs better.

*Kindly note the image has been posted only for representational purposes.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com