Skyworth M20 LED Smart TV review: High-quality panel, but sluggish interface and limited apps

Price: Rs 22,999

Rating: ***

Specifications: 43-inch IPS LCD panel, 1920 x 1080 pixels, 60 Hz refresh rate, 20W audio output, 3 x HDMI inputs, 2 x USB, component, composite, Ethernet, VGA, optical audio, ARM Cortex A7 quad core processor, dual core GPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage, Android 4.4.2 with Netrange app store


Pros: High quality display panel with vibrant colours and good viewing angles, sleek bezels around display, sturdy stand, loud and clear audio output, built-in media player

Cons: Smart interface is laggy, poor upscaling, limited third party apps, No Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, no side HDMI port

Skyworth is a Chinese OEM brand that has been around since 1988. They mainly have TVs and set top boxes. The company has recently launched their TVs in the growing Indian market under the M20 Smart TV range. There are three screen sizes available: 32-inch, 43-inch and 49-inch.

Being an OEM, Skyworth understood how important the design is today — it should look good even when powered off. The four side slim bezels around the TV gives it a premium appearance. We used it on a tabletop and the included curved metal legs prop it up without any wobble. The rear of the TV is slightly thicker — similar to most TV’s you see in this price segment. It has various ports lined up at the back (3 x HDMI, optical audio, VGA, component) and few ports on the side (2 x USB, composite, Ethernet). While the ports are enough for most users, we did feel that there should have been one HDMI port on the side of the TV for quick connections.


We tested the 43-inch TV — it has an IPS panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 178 degree viewing angles. We liked the pleasing colours and wide viewing angles. It shows crisp details as long as you have HD content running on it. We used the TV with a Tata Sky HD box, Xbox One, direct USB media playback and various online streaming services. The TV suffers from poor upscaling capabilities —720p HD and above works fine, but anything lower in resolution and you will see a lot of pixelization.

This is also a smart TV powered by Android. However, it runs the older Android 4.4 with a custom skin. The interface has large tiles for various installed apps. There is also a built-in media player for photos, audio and video which works with all the popular file formats. You get a dedicated apk (app) installer app and some apps like Yupp TV and a few other games are pre-loaded. For additional apps, there is no Google Play Store, but you get access to a third party app store called Netrange. The trouble is that Netrange offers a very limited selection — you won’t even find Netflix or Amazon Prime. When we tried downloading these two apps via apk’s, they failed to run on the TV. This limits the smart functionality to YouTube and gaming which many will find frustrating. It is powered by a quad core processor with 512MB RAM and 4GB storage. While the interface is smooth at the start, the experience quickly deteriorates with use.

Audio quality is fantastic: the TV has 10W + 10W downfiring speakers for output. We found the volume level to be loud enough to use in a large size room. We also liked the built-in screen mirroring functionality (called Skyshare) which worked flawlessly with an Android smartphone. The bundled remote control works well but does not offer air mouse functionality.

As a first attempt by Skyworth, we can say that the M20 smart TV gets a few things right and a few wrong. There is a lot of scope of improvement in our opinion and they have the R&D to fix various issues raised. The big advantage for Skyworth is price. It is one of the cheapest 43-inch full HD smart TVs around. At about the same price, you can also consider the 43-inch Mi TV 4A from Xiaomi. It offers 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, a better smart TV interface and superior upscaling capabilities.