Vizio 86-inch smart TV and 2.1 Soundbar review

The 86-inch size is huge, and with a suggested retail price of $1,000, it’s an interesting choice. By comparison, the TCL 85S551G Google TV 85-inch has a suggested retail price of $1,300 (though you’ll often find it on sale for hundreds of dollars less). Still, most people don’t have the space for a TV this big, and those who do will still give up the quality advantages of mini-LED. The price of the large Vizio Quantum and Quantum Pro QLEDs is equal to or lower than Vizio’s 86-inch LEDs. Don’t walk away from a deal because of size. You can find good-sized, good-quality LED TVs from other budget TV manufacturers, such as Hisense U7N If you shave off a few inches, the cost can be reduced by hundreds of dollars.

There is a use case for these types of displays. My office used Vizio’s 86-inch 4K TV to watch the 2024 Paris Olympic Games for a week and a half. The screen was so big that it didn’t even fit on the desk we brought to our new office space. Instead, it sits on the floor, but it’s too big, with a few spare chairs and a loveseat to entertain the entire Giz staff. As far as my colleagues were concerned, the size meant they could sit back and enjoy it, although the viewing angles were very limited.

While it’s great to have the whole group enjoying TV at the same time, it’s far from a perfect experience. For one, Vizio’s TVs don’t have an Ethernet port. This is a well-known trade-off with cheaper TV brands, but it means my enjoyment of this quadrennial event depends on my WiFi speed. If the TV doesn’t recognize my office WiFi, that’s not a big deal. Instead, I logged into the unreliable “guest” WiFi at slower speeds. If I wish to use Peacock’s multi-view streaming of four events simultaneously, I encounter constant aliasing and interruptions.

But there’s a lot to like about it, especially when you spend a measly $1,000 on a 4K TV that’s as wide as a golf cart. This is a DLED TV, so you can’t expect such high picture quality on 4K QLED Sony Bravia 7, but You also don’t have to pay more than $2,000 MSRP for a 65-inch or larger TV. That’s about what you’d pay for a big TV from a budget brand like TCL

Vizio 86-inch 4K Smart TV review: Design and UI

Severe lack of HDMI and Ethernet ports

You can configure your 86-inch TV in a variety of ways. The feet extend to both ends of the TV, 63 inches apart. You’d better have a big TV stand to mount it on, otherwise be prepared to drill into the wall mount.

You may need a little help getting your feet on this big boy, but once they were on, I found the 86-inch screen to be very, very stable. I could hold it with most of my strength and not even hear the plastic strain. Part of that is because it’s a thick TV. The thickest end is nearly 17 inches deep. This isn’t really a big deal unless you plan on hanging it on the wall.

This is another TV that decided to stick the power cord at the other end of the relatively few HDMI ports. Additionally, only one eARC HDMI port will be your main choice for gaming consoles. However, if you choose a Vizio soundbar, you’ll have a tough choice to make, since Vizio requires you to connect the audio via the eARC port. This leaves only two HDMI ports available for any other device.

Finally, the TV’s port selection leaves a lot to choose from. Just to point out the lack of an Ethernet port, there’s no real way to install drivers to get the internet over HDMI or the single USB-A port. The United States is littered with zip codes and certain telecommunications companies have a monopoly on the Internet. If you’re constantly troubled by WiFi interruptions or poor connections, this budget TV isn’t going to make it any easier.

At least, Vizio redesigned UI Navigation is now easier than ever. My internet connection didn’t help, but once I loaded the homepage, it was easy to find my most used apps and services from the folders next to Apps and Inputs. Vizio’s updated UI makes it easy to access apps without any cluttered menus or unnecessary clicks – and that’s the most important thing. The TV and settings menus are also simple and they avoid all the unnecessary clicking I do on LG TVs. In short, the UI does the job.

This TV doesn’t have all the Game Bar features found on the latest Sony and Samsung TVs, which let you quickly modify VRR, check HDR settings, or switch resolutions without having to navigate through too many menus.

Vizio 86-inch 4K Smart TV review: Visual quality

There are limits to what you can get from DLED, but what works

The quality of DLED technology is limited. We are at a stage where OLEDs and mini-LEDs are so commonplace that we are looking at the future of tandem OLEDs, micro-LEDs and even tandem OLEDs Nano LED as the next big thing. However, a 4K TV is still a 4K TV, and once you hone the right settings, the viewing experience on the Vizio screen is still very good.

I found that I didn’t actually need to change too many settings to get the most cinematic experience. I ended up sticking to Calibration mode for most non-gaming content, as well as Game mode for the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. The Hack It looks much greener than it actually should. My suggestion is to switch it back to “Normal” for a more theater-like experience.

There are some advanced options that you may not want to use. Active pixel scaling will result in over-sharpening of the image with additional unnecessary smoothing effects. For better contrast, you need to keep backlight control. The Black Detail setting is designed to improve detail in dark areas of the screen, but it doesn’t do much for contrast, just boosting brightness more. It could be useful for those who play games and want to spot enemies in the shadows, and it’s the kind of option you’d typically find in the Game Bar settings of modern TVs.

A direct LED TV will never have the same contrast ratio as a mini LED or more expensive TV, but this Vizio one is no slouch. Overall, black people have fairly dark skin tones. Still, in a movie like this Oppenheimer, Even on the Calibrated Dark setting, some scenes look much grayer than they should. The 86-inch Vizio is massive, but you still get great 4K picture quality that’s easy to view across the room. Even better, even though the TV was placed directly next to an open window, there wasn’t as much reflection and direct glare as I expected.

Playing games on the 86-inch Vizio is also a great time. Games on both PS5 and Xbox Series X are smooth at maximum FPS. Colors in the game e.g. Star Wars Jedi: Survivors Beautiful and vibrant, just what you need it to be.

That being said, this being DLED, the viewing angle is limited to directly in front of the TV and nowhere else. Even a few degrees offline, you’ll see color distortion and falloff. You need to keep it within the contours of your TV for the best viewing experience. As long as you follow the rules, it’s a great viewing experience.

Vizio 2.1 Soundbar review: Design and sound quality

This is a relatively cheap and easy to install soundbar

The hardest part of installing the 30-inch SV210M 2.1 Soundbar is getting it out of the oddly shaped box. It’s obviously designed to work perfectly with Vizio’s specific software suite. The Quickfit system is fairly simple and effective, but it doesn’t quite lock the soundbar into place. It’s just a great way to tuck your audio under the TV and make it easier to clean out dust from under the TV and soundbar.

Vizio wants users to plug it directly into their TV’s eARC HDMI port. It instantly takes over your TV’s sound controls and can be operated via the remote or the Vizio app. Thanks to the added subwoofer, it adds a deeper bass feel to the room than just using the built-in TV speakers. The heavy bass does require a little space to get the most out of it, but if you lack the extra space, you probably shouldn’t look for an 86-inch TV.

There’s more depth to the sound, and the soundbar does a good job of staying consistent in different parts of the room. Now, this isn’t as big of a difference as the Vizio 5.1’s stereo and extra surround speakers. It only comes with a $170 2.1 soundbar, which doesn’t feel like it matches the exaggerated nature of the 86-inch screen. Instead, it feels more like a budget-friendly addition to a more conservative monitor. If you want to make the most of this TV’s size, the $220 5.1 Soundbar SE might be a better choice.

Vizio 86-inch 4K Smart TV and 2.1 Soundbar review: Conclusion

Everything works as expected, but few people actually need an 86-inch TV

I would ask anyone considering buying an 86-inch TV to check their living arrangements and get out a tape measure, whether it’s a Vizio or not. If you have enough space in your room for this “budget” big screen, the question is whether the lack of an Ethernet port, three HDMI ports, or image quality is a deal-breaker.

But once you get everything set up to the best of your ability, it’s a great viewing and listening experience. You do need to do extra work to see if your own setup can accommodate an 86-inch smart TV, not just because of the size, but also because of its own limitations. Other than that, you’ll still find the 4K viewing experience to be very good. It’s best not to have any illusions about big-screen bliss, especially if your main hope is to save a few hundred dollars on a monitor.