Vizio V5 Series 2021 – a worthy successor?

As an entry-level TV, the Vizio V5 Series has a solid build and looks like its 2020 predecessor. The plastic casing is a bit thicker at the edges than in other models, but that doesn’t affect the picture experience. The V-shaped stands leave enough room for a soundbar, but are a bit wobbly in their shape. The back panel is plastic and the bottom sticks out more for the inputs.

Unfortunately, the Vizio V5 doesn’t have a cable management, but the ports are still easily accessible on the back.

Deep blacks and a very good contrast ratio characterize a VAVertical Alignment, type of LCD Panel panel – and so does the Vizio V5. The 10bit-VA-panel has 60 HzHertz is the derived SI-unit of frequency with 1Hz=1/s – When talking about TVs this means how many different pictures a TV can display in one second. and a direct LED backlighting. Local dimming is not available in this device. Nevertheless, the contrast is impressive with a ratio of over 8000:1.

One weak point of the V5 Series is the poor HDRHigh Dynamic Range – image/video with more dynamic range (contrast range) peak brightness. The picture does not get much brighter than with SDRStandard Dynamic Range – image/video with a conventional gamma curve (opposite: HDR) – “normal” videos content, which means that many highlights are lost with only 240 nitsSI unit of luminance: 1 nit = 1 cd/m² – The best way of measuring and comparing a TVs brightness  . The TV has a narrow color gamut, which matters in HDR content but the gradient handling is excellent. High-definition movies and series are less effective with these poor rates. At least the reflection handling ist good and the panel absorbs light well.

Another negative point is the poor viewing angle of the VA panel. Losses in picture accuracy become visible from different positions, where the blue hue is particularly prominent. So if you want to watch sport events with several friends, the picture quality won’t be that good in wider angles.

Compared to its predecessor, the Vizio V5 Series has improved in response time to 7 ms, but only has a 60 HzHertz is the derived SI-unit of frequency with 1Hz=1/s – When talking about TVs this means how many different pictures a TV can display in one second. panel. Still, there are noticeable motion blurs that occur during dark transitions due to the slow response time. One advantage of this response time is that there is almost no stutter at low frame rates. Unfortunately the Vizio doesn’t have Black Frame InsertionProcess that inserts black “blank images” as intermediate images. This makes movements appear finer and clearer. which is useful to make motion look clearer when viewing 60 fps content (sports, video games) and no Motion Interpolation for he look of smoothed videos.

The backlight is flicker-free and can be calibrated for extra dark scenes. 24p judder is fixed for apps and native sources, but 60p/i sources are only managed by the Vizio V5 Series with certain settings.

No 120 HzHertz is the derived SI-unit of frequency with 1Hz=1/s – When talking about TVs this means how many different pictures a TV can display in one second., no HDMI 2.1 and other important functions for the perfect experience: Gamers have to do without some features with the V5 Series. The 60 Hz panel doesn’t support FreeSyncVariable Refresh Rate with AMD graphics cards or consoles and VRRVariable Refresh Rate – synchronizes the display’s refresh rate with the output refresh rate of the graphics card, which is especially important for consoles. Gamers should therefore expect tearing. With an input lag of 11 ms at 4K@60 Hz, the Vizio V5 is quite responsive and gaming is therefore quite fun with the TV. The high contrast is also convincing when playing in dark rooms, but local dimming is missing.

The Vizio has an Auto Low Latency Mode that automatically switches the TV into Game Mode when a switched-on console is detected to keep the input lag as low as possible.

The internal 2.0 Soundsystem of the V5 Series have a good volume with 20 W, where dialogs can be heard well. The sound profile is very balanced, only the bass could be a bit stronger. Distortions are not audible at normal volumes, but there can be slight distortions when turned up to full volume. However, that depends on the content.

The Vizio has eARC support, which allows you to play Dolby AtmosObject-based surround sound format with 3D-Sound from any direction and DTSMulti-channel-sound-system (Surround Sound) competing with Dolby Digital content. Additionally, you have the option to connect older devices with an analog audio output.

The Vizio SmartCast system is very simple and has all relevant apps e.g. Netflix, Amazon prime video or YouTube but unfortunately, you can’t download any extra apps besides the ones that come pre-installed. The SmartCast interface has a minimalistic design, but there could be delays in the menu navigation in between. Apple Airplay can be used to connect to an iOS device, and recording via USB is also available – but there is no twin tuner. The time shift feature allows you to watch your movie or series later.

The remote control has been redesigned, removing the numeric keypad and adding a microphone for voice control. Although it can be used to open apps or check the weather, but it can’t be used to control certain content in apps. The integrated Google Assistent and Amazon Alexa is perfect for this feature.