A new TV brand called Caixun has entered the market. They’re stocked exclusively on Amazon, and I was fairly hesitant, but after using their high-end Series S Android TV model, I was actually quite impressed with it. As a secondary TV being one for the bedroom, garage or second living room, you’ll struggle to find better bang for back.
Pulling the TV out of the box, you won’t be blown away by the design, but it’s actually fairly thin, the bezels are quite thin and there’s nothing that stands our or makes the TV feel cheap looking. The legs screw in easily to the bottom and again, are a nice feature that won’t look off in any room.
As far as inputs go, there’s three HDMI ins (obviously you’re not getting HDMI 2.1 in a TV like this), an ethernet port, two USB ports and a TV antenna port. You’ve also got Wi-Fi built in and I had no issues with signal strength during my testing.
The TV is running Android TV OS9 and that’s the biggest benefit. It means that you have access to the Google Play store which means that you have access to pretty muuch every smart TV app that you’ll need including the big hitters such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime but also Australian apps such as Stan, Kayo, Binge and iView, 10play, Seven Plus and the likes. The only omission that I could think of was the Apple TV app, which is still slowly rolling out.
Whilst using the TV to navigate the Store and between apps, there was the occasional slowdown, which I presume is due to the chip inside and the fact that it’s not running the latest version of Android OS, but honestly, for most people it will be fine.
There’s also a Chromecast built in, so you can send anything from YouTube on your phone for viewing. There’s also a Microphone in the remote, so you’re able to use Hey Google to change inputs, head to streaming apps or change the volume. Speaking of the microphone, it has everything you need with Netflix and YouTube buttons at your finger tips as well.
In terms of picture quality, this isn’t going to rival the likes of Samsung’s QLED or LG’s OLED but it actually did impress me for the price range. You’re getting a 4K/60Hz display with HDR10+ so the highlights in both games and movies were honestly great, but obviously due to no local dimming on the tv, the area where the display is let down is obviously the black levels and blooming, which even the most expensive LEDs struggle to handle still.
Out of the box, the TV did require a little bit of calibrating in terms of the automictic settings (mainly to do with colour), but I was able to get a picture that I was relatively happy with once I started playing around.
If you’re using it for general gaming in your garage or gaming room, the TV does have a game mode and handles input lag and motion quite well, so there weren’t any huge issues there.
The speakers in the TV were a lot better than other budget TVs that I have used with it being able to get quite loud and still remaining clear when listening to music or dialogue. Obviously, if you’re somebody who wants crystal clear sound, then you can pair a soundbar with this TV.
When it comes to pricing, you’re looking at $459 for the 43“, $549 for the 50″ and $649 for the 55″ model. You won’t find thing cheaper at JB Hi-Fi and the like, so it all depends on if you want to spend more for a name, or if you’re looking for the cheapest.
