Review: The Nokia Smart TV 55

It delivers on both picture quality and audio output, says Khalid Anzar.

The TV market, once dominated by established electronics brands like Samsung and LG, is now a level playing field. Companies that were traditionally known for smartphones have also jumped on the bandwagon.

Among the latest in the fray is home-grown e-commerce platform Flipkart, which has become an official brand licensee for manufacturing and servicing Nokia-branded smart televisions in India.

The Nokia Smart TV 55 is the first product under the Flipkart-Nokia partnership.

The TV offers a comprehensive list of features: Google Android 9 operating system, built-in Chromecast and a JBL sound system.

Here's how they come together.

Design: 3/5

The Nokia Smart TV 55 might not be the most compact television in its segment, but its design is a marvel in terms of looks and utility.

It has a minimal profile, especially in the front, which goes well with most indoors.

The thin bezels (borders) around its screen accentuate its overall design, even when the screen is turned off.

The television supports wall-mount and table-top installations.

Unlike most TVs, the Nokia Smart TV 55 has a sleek centre stand, fitting the TV on narrow tables.

Display and sound: 4/5

The TV has a 55-inch 4K, Ultra High-Definition (UHD) panel.

The screen supports Dolby Vision, High Definition Range (HDR) and a wide colour gamut.

It has a peak brightness of 400 nits.

It also supports adaptive dimming to automatically tune the contrast based on what's playing on the screen.

The in-built JBL sound system has twin audio drivers of 12W each and the speakers support DTS TruSurround technology.

The Nokia Smart TV delivers on both picture quality and audio output.

Though its screen contrast pales in comparison to televisions with premium QLED screens, it is one of the best in its segment.

It has good viewing angles and good frame rates while streaming videos.

It also supports Dolby Vision, an advanced video coding format, which makes it ideal for streaming.

In terms of acoustics, the Nokia Smart TV 55 has front-facing dual speakers tuned by JBL, which are loud and clear.

OS performance: 4.5/5

The Nokia Smart TV 55 is powered by Android 9.0.

Besides regular apps that it supports, the TV has native support for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

It is powered by a quad-core processor, paired with 2.25 GB RAM.

The configuration is good enough for a swift performance.

The TV also has 16 GB internal storage to download multiple apps, which is four times of what (4GB) you get in most other televisions in the segment.

The television also has built-in Chromecast, which allows you to cast content from phones, laptops and tablets on the TV screen.

Bluetooth makes it easy to operate the TV remote without having to point it towards the screen.

However, it is big and bulky and looks outdated.

Overall 4/5

The Nokia Smart TV 55 is not the most compact TV in its segment.

Though its front profile is minimal, it protrudes way too much from the back.

It's also heavier than most new TVs in the price segment.

But it still looks nice and works like a charm.

The OS has no glitches and the video and audio quality is good too.

Despite the challenges of its weight and size, it's a great product for the price.

 

*Image used for representational purpose only.