Kodak recently introduced a new TV in India. To recall, recently the company had updated many features on its TV-line up, made it more friendly for the users and released a 55-inch UHD version. Furthering the line-up of its smart TVs, Kodak has launched a smaller 43-inch UHD Smart TV. Like you would expect, the new TV from Kodak has been introduced for the more price-conscious buyers in India as it is available with a price tag of Rs 23,999. In case you are wondering whether the new Kodak 43-inch UHD Smart TV will be a worthy buy for you or not, look no further. Read ahead to check out our review of Kodak’s latest smart TV.
Kodak 43UHDX Smart TV Review: Hardware and Picture Quality
The 43-inch UHD panel on the Kodak TV is the highlight of the latest offering, and it is worth noting that the panel has been manufactured by the South Korean giant Samsung. The screen renders a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and streaming at 1080p is quite impressive. Kodak has also asserted that the TV features the Auto Depth Enhancer technology to improve visual experience. It is visible when the TV is switched on, the colour reproduction is accurate, and the blacks are deeper as compared to other TVs in the same price range. The brightness of the screen is also bright enough to make the clarity stand out. One drawback, which the buyers might notice is that the TV lacks native 4K support playback on YouTube and you might have to put a USB to watch 4K videos.
Coming to the external aesthetics and the body of the 43-inch Kodak UHDX TV, it is safe to say that Kodak has decided to stay true to its conventional design, and the TV comes with the slim bezels all around. The bezels have been given a gloss black finish which blends well with the display panel. The weight of the screen is also very light thanks to the plastic frame. The TV can also be very easily mounted on the wall or placed on a surface with the stand which has been tweaked by Kodak to provide a more sturdy feel to the base.
Kodak 43UHDX Smart TV Review: User Interface and Software
Now talking about the software on the TV, it is worth noting that although Kodak has updated the UI to include new functions, the UI is far from what should be ideal. The apps crash a lot and the overall experience of navigating through the various applications is not so pleasant on the TV. Also, the remote which the TV ships is not compatible with full-fledged smart TV experience. Notably, the remote works over Infrared technology, meaning you'll have to point it out to the TV every time to perform an action. Xiaomi's TV range comes with Bluetooth remote which adds to the overall convenience.
Moving back to the user interface, it's half-baked, to say the least. Compare this to Xiaomi’s TV, and you notice that Xiaomi has ventured far beyond other competitors to offer a fantastic UI and UX on its television screens. The same is true for Xiaomi’s Bluetooth remotes. Xiaomi's PatchWall interface is miles ahead of the UI we found on Kodak's Smart TV.
The good thing about the Kodak 43-inch UHDX TV is that it comes pre-loaded with apps like Netflix and YouTube. Further, if the viewer wants, he or she can install the Amazon Prime Video app, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and more via the App Store that's pre-installed in the Smart TV. When it comes to hardware, the 43-inch 4K UHD Smart TV is powered by a dual-core 1.4 GHz processor paired with just 1GB RAM. The lack of more memory and also a powerful processor comes off as one of the pain points of this TV. We have reached out to Kodak on the software tweaking aspect and the company revealed it will remain the same for a while now.
The audio quality of 43-inch Kodak UHD TV also lands in the sub-standard levels as it is not able to create room-filling sounds with proper equalisation. Pair this with the fact that the TV does not support Bluetooth speakers because of lack of Bluetooth support might definitely be the reason for some disappointment. For connectivity, Kodak's 43-inch UHD TV has Wi-Fi, LAN, Miracast, HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, an SD card slot, coaxial TV antenna slot, an Ethernet port, two AV ports, and an S/PDIF port.
Kodak 43UHDX Smart TV Review: Verdict
Summarising, the Kodak 43-inch UHDX TV will be a good buy for someone who would like to have a 4K viewing experience with a budget price tag of Rs 23,999. However, that being said, the Kodak UHD TV also has its drawbacks like the mediocre sound quality, an underdeveloped UI and lack of Bluetooth. In case you don’t mind watching shows and movies in 1080p HD, the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A Pro 43-inch Smart TV is also a good option in the same price range.
