Cheapest 43-Inch 4k UHD Smart TV in Lazada and Shopee!?

The PlayStation 5 is right around the corner but you still don't have a 4K TV yet? Then the Avision 43UL800 / 43UL80C might be the perfect match for you– it's the cheapest in the market but it's surprisingly good.

Watch the video:

Category: 4K UHD LED TVs
Price: P12,999
Bought at: Shopee / Lazada

EDIT: I mentioned in the video it has fake HDR. I was wrong. It can 'emulate' HDR if your cable can only do SDR. BUT it can actually do HDR if you use HDMI 2.0. I used a random 1.x HDMI cable on the video hence the option being greyed out. Sorry for this misinformation. I recently used an HDMI 2.0 cable and I can confirm it has HDR features.

Why get a 4K TV?

In all honesty, it's not a necessity. 1080p is still enjoyable and is very much relevant. So relevant that in fact, 65% of Steam users still use 1080p while a measly 10% only comprise the 2K and 4K crowds.

But if you have the extra cash, then it's a great time to upgrade for that next level visual entertainment and gaming experience. Because before, 4K TVs used to cost around 50,000php. Now, thanks to Chinese products making everything accessible and affordable, you can get a good one for 13,000php like the Avision unit featured here.

Let me try to explain the comparison: everyone knows the more the pixels, the clearer the image, right? Let's say a 43" 1080p TV has 51 pixels per inch on the TV. That means a 4K TV would have 102 pixels in every inch. You can say double the image quality, but the best way to appreciate the difference is to see them side by side.

Here's a hands-on test to see if a TV is 4k playing 4k footage: from 5 feet away from the TV, you can move in to point blank and still see the little details. In this photo, you can still see the helipad as well as the cars moving about. If it's not 4k, they should only be indistinguishable pixel blurs.

Also remember that you'll need hardware that supports 4K as well. Netflix and PS5 are good on their own, but if you're planning to play PC games in 4K with decent frame rates, you'd better have a monster gaming setup.

Specifications

Screen Size: 43"
Resolution: 3840 x 2160 (Native)
Refresh Rate: 60hz
Response Time: 9ms
Contrast Ratio: 30,000;1
Brightness: 220 nits
Color: 1.07 billion (10-bit)
Power Supply: 100-240v
Power Consumption: 85 watts
Input Ports: 4 HDMI, 2 USB 2.0, 1 ethernet, 1 AV in, 1 antenna in, 1 audio out, 1 digital audio out
Operating System: Linux (with Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, etc.)

Unboxing

Here's what's inside the package:

• Guide how to hold the TV
• Manual
• Warranty Pamphlet
• Remote Control w/ 2 AAA batteries
• Stand and screws
• Free wall bracket

Measurements

Thickness from front to back: 3"
Length: 38"
Height without the stand: 22"
Bezels on the top, left and right: 1/2"
Bottom bezel: 3/4"
VESA wall mounting holes: 100x100mm

Other Pictures

Features

Watch the video above for the full review of the TV's features.

Verdict

Okay so in conclusion, for 13,000, or 264USD, it's just ridiculous. It's legit 4k and image quality is really good. Obviously they cut corners- they have to if they want to bring it down to this price. You can't complain. But I bet they've carefully thought about which corners to cut best since most of them are negligible. 

Let's list the pros and cons.

Pros:

• Cheapest in the market. You just won't find any 43" 4k that's cheaper than this. It's the cheapest, but definitely not the worst.
• Image quality is good enough. I constantly find myself in awe when watching 4k footage.
• It has lots of customizable color settings for video so if you don't like the colors out of the box, you can change them to your liking
• Surprisingly, it has very good audio quality. And it's loud. Volume turned to 3 is enough for my room.
• It's a smart TV. It has a built-in media player, Netflix, YouTube, and a lot of other apps like those I've shown you earlier
• It has a fast and responsive navigation. It feels the same as using a high-end Smart TV with a strong processor
• Easy installation of stand, and there's a free wall bracket
• It's sold straight from the company. It has warranty and has many local service centers around the country, so there's some peace of mind.

Cons:

• Okay-ish brightness at 220 nits. 200-300 is an average number for lower end TVs. It won't matter if it's dark and indoors, but there will be problems if there are lots of bright lights around
• The screen build-quality is of lower-tier and glossy, meaning it's a bit reflective. If you have bright lights directed at the TV, chances are you'll see some form of reflection when viewing dark videos.
• It's probably 8-bit and not 10-bit. I haven't confirmed yet but that seems to be the case. But hey, average non-techie people won't see the difference and won't care so let's not dwell in that.
• The user interface is not 4k, so expect the graphics of the menu and settings to be a bit blurry, including YouTube and Netflix. But that's just the menu so I don't really mind. Just saying that it lessens the experience a  bit.
• OS is limited- unlike Android, you are stuck with the pre-installed apps and you won't have the plethora of apps Google Play has to offer
• Codecs are a bit lacking. I was kind of disappointed it couldn't read subtitles embedded in an MKV file when that's been a common format for years now. But it doesn't matter since I'll just be playing my anime from my PC.

There you go- the pros and cons. Lots of pros that will give you the bare minimum, BUT legitimate 4k experience. While there may be a lot of cons, like I've mentioned. The important part here is that it's 4k with a good enough image quality- the rest are just icing on the cake.

Right now it's still at 12,999 at Shopee. Of the 256 that bought this TV, 153 of them gave an average of 4.8 reviews. That's customer satisfaction right there. 3, 4 years ago you can only buy 4k TV's at around 50,000 pesos or a bit over 1000 US dollars. 13,000 pesos? It's mind-blowing. It's a great time for entertainment technology.

Anyway, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this review. See you in the next one!