Today, we're taking a closer look at the PRISM+ Q55 Ultra TV - a budget-friendly TV that promises top-of-the-line features. We'll be putting this TV through its paces, testing out everything from its QLED technology to its Dolby Atmos sound system. And of course, we'll be sharing our honest opinion on whether or not this TV is worth the price. So, if you're looking for a new TV that offers premium features at a wallet-friendly price, stick around - this review is for you.
Let’s start with the initial experience. After the order was processed, Prism sent through a confirmation e-mail with delivery details and on the delivery day itself - assembly and training session is included, which is a nice touch.
With it set-up and in place, I was actually really shocked how light the whole assembly was. We easily moved it around the house with one hand each. As far as the build quality goes - it is ok for this price point. You have the main panel and a whole lot of plastic but it has no bezels on top or sides and only a small one at the bottom with a reasonably sized Prism+ logo. Below the display you have a small sensor protrusion which features IR receiver, status light as well as microphone array. Below that there is a power button as well as a slider to disable the aforementioned microphone array.
On the back this TV features a 200 by 200 mm VESA mount or if you would like to keep it on your console then it comes with these small feet. Connection wise there are three HDMI 2.0 ports with the 1st port supporting ARC, two USB 2 ports which come in handy if you want to watch something from a portable hard drive. There is also AV In, SPDIF out as well as Ethernet and RF in. So there are plenty of connections to suit most people. The remote also features a pretty standard layout of buttons including One-Click Access to 4K In-Built Apps and all the essentials like volume, back, home, settings etc.
As far as the specs go, the new Q Series ultra is very similar to standard Q Series. It is still 4K with 55 to 75 inch sizes, it features 10 bit colour display but now it is using QLED panel rather than Quantum IPS.
Without getting deep into the technical explanation - QLED panels use quantum dot technology to enhance colour and contrast, while Quantum IPS uses quantum dots to enhance colour gamut. QLED typically offers a brighter display, while Quantum IPS usually offers a wider viewing angle.
For the Singapore market it may be more beneficial to have a slightly brighter QLED display as we get a lot of sun here, but this comes with a price increase so bear that in mind.
Few other new features include support for HDR10+ and Filmmaker mode. As a movie and TV show enthusiast, I appreciate Filmmaker Mode because it presents content in the most accurate and authentic way possible, without any distracting visual elements. This creates a more cinematic and immersive viewing experience that allows me to fully enjoy and appreciate the movie or TV show that I'm watching.
Lastly the new 2023 TV’s come with Google TV (compared to the Android TV on the older ones). As someone who has used both, I can say that the new Ultra series with Google TV is a significant improvement over the older Android TV platform. The user interface is more modern and intuitive, with personalised content recommendations and a universal search feature that makes finding new content much easier. Plus, the wider range of apps and services, including support for Google's own content like YouTube and Google Play Movies, is a big advantage.
That being said, switching to Google TV may take some getting used to if you're accustomed to the older Android TV interface. Some users may also prefer the more traditional interface and limited personalization options of Android TV.
One thing that really stood out is the speakers - they actually don’t sound bad. Have a listen to the sound samples provided in the video (starting from 3:34). Not bad at all right? I would still recommend getting a proper soundbar for better experience but if you are on a tight budget, the built-in speakers are usable. For comparison, have a listen to this on our sound system…
This leads us to performance and we can start with picture quality. From using the TV as a general consumer I had no obvious things that stood out, which is a good thing. We watched some shows and movies as well as YouTube. By the way - make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss our new videos on the platform.
With that being said - let’s delve deeper into our testing with things that general consumers may not be able to tell with a naked eye such as colour reproduction. To test this TV for colour accuracy we used Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software. The first test is colour coverage which demonstrates good results. We have 157% coverage of BT709 colour space and 105% of DCI P3. Both of these are important as most content online such as broadcast TV, streaming and Blu-Ray disks are using BT 709. While the film industry and higher end streaming services use DCI P3 as it provides wider colour space.
While colour coverage is an important aspect of a TV's colour capabilities, it is not the only factor to consider when evaluating a TV's colour performance. Colour accuracy is equally important, as it refers to the TV's ability to reproduce colours in a way that is true to the original content. A TV with high colour coverage but poor colour accuracy may display a wide range of colours, but those colours may not be accurate or true to the original content.
Our unit unfortunately is not particularly colour accurate. It has an average delta E value of 8.7 and Maximum 16.7 which is quite normal for cheaper priced TV’s. For context, check out this chart by Rtings. The results we found would be noticeable if you know what to look out for, but one thing needs to be considered - this is a relatively cheap TV and there must be cuts somewhere so some panels will be better than others. Since we have a calibrator we did a quick setting tweak and actually improved the results. After our tweaks we brought down the blues and got an average delta E value of 6.2 and maximum 9.9. This can be improved further with tinkering but we just wanted to show that all is not lost.
The other thing we tested is screen uniformity, here results are not too bad. In general, a delta E value of 3 or less is considered to be imperceptible to the human eye, meaning that the colour difference is not noticeable in normal viewing conditions. We are above that in some places but not by loads. We did find a little bit of light bleed from the sides though while watching movies. If you watch something full screen you likely won’t notice but when you have black bars, you tend to see some light coming through if you look really closely. Here is an exaggerated version of this with just black image, but I am not sure how many of you will look at a blank image and enjoy it anyway.
From general observations we found that TV in its default settings comes with ECO mode enabled which reduces maximum brightness so depending on your needs you may want to disable that. Do bear in mind that it could make the colour accuracy get worse - your mileage may vary.
It also has filmmaker mode turned off by default. This is one of the things I recommend you to test on and off and see how you like it.
Overall, considering its price, it is still a pretty good device. And Prism+ has ongoing promotions where they do provide pretty good value. I would ignore the 1299 price point and consider it a 999 dollar TV, just make sure to use up all the promo codes.
What do you guys think about this - does the price meet performance and would you consider buying it?