Shinco delivers when it comes to looks and design.
Price: Rs 36999 Rating: ***1/2
Specifications: 55-inch IPS A+ grade panel, 3840 x 2160 pixels, 60hz refresh rate, 350 nits brightness, 8ms response time, 6000:1 contrast, HDR 10, 3 x HDMI ports, 2 x USB port, microSD card, optical audio, 20W speakers, built-in WiFi, Android 7.0, dual core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, 14.5kg
Pros: Sleek design, good picture quality with HDR 10 support, soundbar audio output, Android 7.0 with 4k YouTube support, works with harddrives, handy remote with built in QWERTY keyboard. Cons: Near identical to a phone launched in 2017 (with several omissions), limited internal storage (most users will need to buy a memory card eventually), experience suffers with regular apps not optimized for Android Go, two 4G networks cannot be used simultaneously, no gyroscope.
Shinco is a TV brand that started operations in 2018. It pitches itself as a brand for smart Indian customers. Their TV range currently consists of 10 TVs ranging in size from 24-inch to 65-inches. We received the 55-inch 4k smart TV offering that is priced aggressively, hoping to make a dent in Xiaomi’s TV sales.
Shinco uses a proprietary Sensy Interface which is based on Android 7.0.
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Even though the price is low, Shinco delivers when it comes to looks and design. We liked the sleek bezels with metal finish around the screen and the soundbar grill at the bottom. Our review unit was set up on a table and there was enough space under the TV to place a set-top box and a gaming console.
There is an HDMI port, 2 x USB ports, microSD slot, optical audio and a headphone jack on the side. One of the USB ports is used up for the dongle of the remote — so you might as well assume that you only get one port.
We were impressed by the 55-inch screen’s brightness, contrast level as well as saturation. However the blacks could have been better. To evaluate the TV, we used it with an HD set-top box, various streaming services and media from a USB hard-drive. As long as we played full HD or 4k content, it offers a good experience. For anything lower than 720p or even at 720p HD resolution, you can start to see loss in detail — this is mainly because it doesn’t have any sort of video enhancer (we confirmed this after speaking to a company spokesperson). This means that the picture quality of standard definition channels is not so good and you’ll also get choppy video every now and then — not a very great viewing experience.
The good part is that you don’t have to worry about the same from streaming services. It supports 4k playback on YouTube as well as Netflix using the built in apps. Audio quality is surprisingly good — it has 20W of total output power which is enough for a large room. We faced no issue with clarity and there was also some decent bass which results in a better experience for music and movies. There is no Dolby support for surround sound output — something that other TVs in this price range can do.
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Shinco uses a proprietary Sensy Interface which is based on Android 7.0. We liked the colourful interface and large tiles. The tiles are thumbnails of content from various streaming services. You get the commonly used apps pre-installed including Amazon Prime, HotStar and Netflix. There’s also an Aptoide App store to install additional apps. However, there is no way to access the Google Play Store.
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As for hardware, it has a dual-core processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage — the interface is generally smooth but shows signs of sluggishness every now and then. We liked the Shinco companion app that made it easy to control the TV over WiFi and stream content from phone to TV. What we didn’t like was the limited accessibility to advanced settings on the TV. For instance, there is no way to enable or disable features like surround sound, video enhancer or HDMI ARC.
Also, there is no Bluetooth, so you cannot use accessories like a wireless keyboard/mouse or headphones. We liked the Air Click remote that Shinco provides. It has the standard TV control buttons on one side along with dedicated buttons for Netflix and YouTube. Flip it over and you’ll see a full QWERTY keyboard for text input. The remote also has an air-mouse function for navigation (just wave it in the air to control the cursor). In the box, you also get an IR emitter cable that can be set up to control your settop box using the TV remote.
At Rs 36,999, the Shinco 55-inch TV seems like a value for money proposition. Trouble is, playing the price game is no longer the best way to score customers. The Shinco TV delivers good performance in video and audio but also has a number of shortcomings. For Rs 35,999, you can consider the TCL 55-inch 4k smart LED TV that gives similar features plus Dolby Audio support, better picture enhancement and micro dimming.
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