Vizio M-Series Quantum MQ6 review: QLED for a good price
Our Verdict
The Vizio M-Series MQ6 is a decent 4K smart TV at a reasonable price, but those savings come with some compromises.
For
- Keen color quality with quantum dot display
- Speedy response times and HDMI two.1 connectivity make information technology a great gaming TV
- Supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+
- Vocalisation control makes SmartCast amend than ever
Against
- Modest brightness and lackluster HDR performance
- 60Hz panel doesn't support higher frame rate gaming on new consoles
- Mediocre audio
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Vizio Yard-Series MQ6 is a decent 4K smart TV at a reasonable price, but those savings come with some compromises.
Pros
- +
Swell colour quality with quantum dot brandish
- +
Speedy response times and HDMI ii.1 connectivity go far a great gaming Tv set
- +
Supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+
- +
Vox command makes SmartCast better than ever
Cons
- -
Modest effulgence and lackluster HDR operation
- -
60Hz panel doesn't support higher frame charge per unit gaming on new consoles
- -
Mediocre sound
Vizio M-Serial Breakthrough MQ6: Specs
Price: $579
Model number: M55Q6-J01
Screen size: 55 inches
Resolution: 3840 x 2160
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG
Refresh rate: 60 Hz
Ports: 3 HDMI 2.1; 1 USB
Audio: ten watts x 2
Smart Tv set software: Vizio SmartCast
Size: 48.3 x 28.1 10 3.two inches [w/o stand]
Weight: 29.iv pounds [w/o stand]
The Vizio M-Series MQ6 is a budget-friendly 4K smart TV that drives dwelling house how much value yous tin get for your money when yous aren't paying for some of the premium features that are and so prominent in the all-time TVs nosotros review. By embracing technologies like QLED and voice control, the M-Series delivers decent functioning for the whole family unit to enjoy, but skips out on the giant app selections and more technical smart features that pricier competitors might offer.
But the M-Series as well demonstrates some of the limitations that come with a depression cost, missing things similar local dimming and extra ports that are easily found on TVs that don't toll a lot more. Our Vizio K-Serial M55Q6-J01 review makes it clear that the MQ6 is a practiced Television at a decent price — information technology's on our listing of the best Vizio TVs — but shows how upkeep shoppers frequently need to exist ready to make some merchandise offs in the name of toll.
Editor's Note: Since this review was written, Vizio TVs take been updated with back up for HBO Max . We've updated the language in this review to reflect this change, but the general recommendations and rating of the review are unchanged since it was initially published in July 2021.
Vizio Thousand-Series MQ6 review: Pricing and availability
At the time of this writing the Vizio Thou-Series MQ6 is simply existence sold in ii sizes, the 55-inch model reviewed here and a 65-inch version. All the same, inside the coming weeks Vizio volition launch boosted sizes, ranging from every bit minor as 43 inches up to a giant 75-inch screen size. Finally, a 70-inch model is too slated for this summertime, but won't hit stores until August.
- 55-inch (Model M55Q6-J01) - $579.99
- 65-inch (Model M65Q6-J09) - $679.99
The Vizio M-Series consists of two carve up model lines, the MQ6 highlighted in this review, and a more than expensive MQ7 model. Both are 4K smart TVs that offer quantum-dot displays and Vizio SmartCast smart TV functions, consummate with the new voice search capabilities.
Though the overall design looks like, the two models have some important distinguishing features. Namely, the more premium MQ7 boasts dimmable backlighting zones and advanced motility processing that aren't available for the MQ6, non to mention an extra HDMI port.
Equally a result of these differences, our recommendations but utilize to the MQ6 models in the Vizio M-Series, not the MQ7 models. We'll review the MQ7 separately to provide a closer expect at that smart Television'southward features and capabilities.
Vizio One thousand-Series MQ6 review: Design
The Vizio K-Series M55Q6-J01 is new for 2021, and Vizio has updated the TV in several respects, including a few slight refinements to the physical design. The unabridged Idiot box has a sleek (if not svelte) wait, with tapered edges all around, and some unexpected curvilinear stylings on the back of the chassis, all washed in standard black plastic.
The stand is a pair of feet that adhere on either end of the Boob tube, and fix is relatively elementary without any complicated assembly or involved software setup. With the 55-inch model measuring 48.3 x 28.ane x 3.2 inches and weighing 29.iv pounds earlier attaching the stand up, information technology'south possible to ready the MQ6 with ane person, but we'd still recommend getting a hand with it.
If you don't want to use the included feet for tabletop use, the MQ6 is also wall mountable, using a 300 x 200 millimeter mountain. (Bank check out the all-time Boob tube mounts for some of our favorite wall mounting hardware.)
Vizio M-Series MQ6 review: Ports
On the back of the MQ6 you'll find the connector panel, which has a smaller selection of ports than we'd similar. The Television has only three HDMI ports, but all three are HDMI 2.1, with one offer eARC for connecting a soundbar or speaker ready. Even better, the audio output supports uncompressed Dolby Atmos sound, so pairing the Tv with an Atmos-ready soundbar will offering a huge upgrade to the quality and realism the TV can offering.
There's a single USB port, composite video input and a coaxial connection for antenna or cable. The set too has digital sound output for older sound systems and an Ethernet port for wired connectivity. And you may desire to use information technology, since the TV itself is equipped with 802.11n Wi-Fi rather than the more current 802.11AC or the newer Wi-Fi half-dozen. That Wi-Fi standard is sufficient for most streaming uses, but you might observe slower performance when streaming 4K video. It's odd to come across a mod 4K smart TV opt for an older, slower wireless standard.
Aside from the Wi-Fi, the Tv is likewise outfitted with Bluetooth 5LE, which volition allow you wirelessly connect headphones or speakers, and also handles connexion to the voice-enabled remote command.
Vizio K-Series MQ6 review: Performance
The Vizio MQ6 boasts a 4K panel with quantum dots for better color and a 60Hz refresh charge per unit, all in line with what we consider to exist the better cease of affordable TVs.
The set uses full array backlight just none of the local dimming control that yous would run into on competitors like the TCL 5-Serial Roku TV (S535). While that'due south a common toll-cut motion by manufacturers on TVs in this cost range, it means that overall contrast won't exist every bit impressive, and high dynamic range (HDR) operation is muted considerably.
That's a bit of a double-edged sword, because it means that black darker images may come out looking a fleck more than grey, thanks to the backlight, it also means that you go fewer of the distinct halos around bright on-screen objects that so many high-end sets struggle to eliminate. Only the HDR limitations are especially disappointing on the Vizio M-Series, since it'south one of the few TVs on the market to offering support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ formats.
That said, watching movies and video samples on the MQ6 did let us quickly run into what the Idiot box did well, and the few areas where information technology needs to improve. Despite the undifferentiated backlight, the Vizio made things look skillful in the opening scenes of Bract Runner 2049, with well-baked detail, even in shadowy scenes. Every bit Ryan Gosling and Dave Bautista squared off in the cramped confines of a dimly-lit farmhouse, the nighttime shadows weren't quite every bit dark as nosotros've seen on other sets, and the bright highlights of light through the windows or glowing elements on K'south heart-scanner weren't quite every bit brilliant as nosotros've seen on the competition.
And it's not to say that the contrast is bad or that HDR is entirely absent. Watching the opera scene in Tenet, the blackness on black of special ops soldiers' uniforms could hands have turned into an ambiguous blackness blob, losing the details of object edges and clothing seams, simply everything seemed pretty articulate. And you lot even so saw some benefit from HDR back up, with the glow of highlights like windows and lighting offered decent brightness that stood out in the scene.
The Vizio had far better functioning with color, thankfully. When watching 4K samples of nature footage, both the color and particular looked very good. A vivid green tree frog looked vibrantly verdant, and a pink-hued tree snake looked surprisingly realistic. Whether it was the tiny textures on the back of a spider or the scales on a snake, the 4K resolution delivered all of the particular you would expect. Colors did looka little oversaturated when displaying yellows and greens, but non glaringly so.
A dusk scene gave the TV an excellent examination of its color reproduction and it passed with flying colors. Brilliant pastels and bright hues looked just as gorgeous as a tropical sunset should look, and the subtle color transitions that we would look to see some mild banding in came through reasonably well, without the harsh posterization that is sometimes seen on less expensive models.
The TV's full array direct backlighting was consequent, with none of the shadows at the edges of the panel that we expected to meet, and no variance when showing broad blocks of color like a bluish sky.
The MQ6 too has decent viewing angles, though at that place is some perceptible color shifting once yous're out at a 45-degree angle. But this isn't desperate color shifting, merely a subtle shift in tone when seen from besides steep an angle.
Vizio Grand-Serial MQ6 review: Test results
Our lab testing highlighted how well the MQ6 did in terms of raw operation, offering fantabulous color and accuracy, but without the brightness nosotros're used to seeing from QLED displays.
Color gamut was very good, thanks to the use of quantum dot enhancement. The Vizio reproduced 99.96% of the Rec 709 color space, putting information technology right up in the almost-100% range we expect from a good TV. That's a hair ameliorate than the Hisense U8G Android Tv set (99.95), while giving the MQ6 a solid pb over both the TCL five-Series Roku TV (99.85) and final year's Samsung Q60T QLED Tv (99.72). You can observe TVs that will really exceed the Rec 709 specification with higher than 100%, simply those are exclusively OLED models with much higher prices.
Color accuracy was also excellent, with the MQ6 scoring a Delta-Eastward average of one.47 (lower scores are better) in calibrated night way. Nosotros used to consider annihilation that scored lower than 2.0 to be first-class, but recent scores testify improving accuracy beyond the manufacture, so 2.0 is sort of a low bar to clear. Nonetheless, that makes the MQ6 a pilus more authentic than both the TCL v-Series (1.76) and the Hisense U8G (1.57), and noticeably better than the Samsung Q60T (2.7).
One area where we expected the Vizio to exercise better was brightness. Even with the improver of brightness boosting quantum dots, the K-Series MQ6 registered a pinnacle brightness of 299.half-dozen nits. While 300 nits isn't terrible for a budget-friendly Tv, it's not a neat showing compared to all of the other QLED competitors out there, like the TCL v-Serial (391.nine), the Hisense U8G (722.7) and even last year'due south Samsung Q60T (414.8501).
Vizio M-Series MQ6 review: Gaming
When we tested the MQ6 with our Leo Bodnar lag tester, the Boob tube registered a pretty speedy response time of 13.7 milliseconds, i of the best times in recent testing. Where anything nether 20 milliseconds is considered adequate for gaming, the shorter lag time offered by the MQ6 makes it an peculiarly adept gaming Tv, merely the Tv set'southward lack of local dimming and 60Hz refresh charge per unit mean that some of the best features of modern gaming are out of reach.
The biggest limitations come from the display itself. Without local dimming, the HDR performance is lackluster, and that will be true in gaming as well, even as HDR becomes more prominent in current games. The bigger event is the refresh rate of the set, which has a 60 Hz console. If yous're using a newer console like the Xbox Series X or the PS5, that means y'all won't be able to enjoy the potential 120 Hz refresh rates that current generation hardware supports. But for nigh games, and for pretty much all older consoles, that 60 Hz refresh rate volition be fine.
The TV as well uses what Vizio calls 5-Gaming Engine, an umbrella term for gaming features like AMD freesync, variable refresh rates, and auto game mode, which is Vizio's term for motorcar depression latency style. With VRR and a LLM features that are built into HDMI 2.1, it's not anything unusual, simply having that support and the necessary connectivity is notwithstanding of import to have.
One unexpected quirk nosotros ran into during testing was that the default automatic HDMI setting failed to register our Xbox connecting over HDMI ii.1, despite using the appropriate cablevision and the Vizio having full HDMI two.1 on all three of its ports. Until we went into the settings and manually enabled HDMI two.1, the Telly failed to fifty-fifty recognize the Xbox Series X equally a 4K-capable device. Once this setting adjustment was made, however, the TV supported 4K gaming at up to 60Hz, with 10-scrap color and full HDR back up.
Vizio M-Serial MQ6 review: Audio
I area where corners get cutting on even premium TVs is the sound organisation. It's expensive and hard to produce great sound from the narrow confines of mod TVs, so nosotros can exist pretty forgiving of TV sound at times. But we were still a little disappointed past the M-Series, with its pair of 10-watt speakers.
That's not a lot of power, and the volume the Television provides might be fine for hearing dialogue in TV shows, but information technology won't give y'all whatsoever low-cease and won't fully deliver the rich sound effects and audioscapes that modern movies offering. Nosotros would definitely propose picking up 1 of the best soundbars to go with this TV, and it would be worth paying a picayune extra to go 1 with Dolby Atmos.
Vizio M-Serial MQ6 review: Smart Features
One area where the G-Series MQ6 is significantly improved over by Vizio TVs is the smart Telly functions. Vizio'south SmartCast doesn't have the same ecosystem of apps you'd get on an Android or Roku-powered smart TV, but the Vizio's 77 apps offer a lot more than past Vizio sets did, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple Telly, Disney Plus, YouTube and YouTube Telly, Peacock, Tubi and Crepitation. Vizio's WatchFree service gives you plenty of free content to scan as soon equally you plough on the TV, and information technology seems to have most of the bases covered for popular streaming apps.
Not every popular app tin can be installed on the TV, but that doesn't mean you lot can't enjoy the service on the TV. The Vizio has both Google Bandage and Apple Airplay ii built in, and so it's easy to make full in whatsoever gaps in app option past casting your favorite content and apps to the Telly from your phone or tablet.
Merely the biggest improvement to the SmartCast platform is the addition of voice command through the mic-equipped remote. The voice feature lets yous search for content and control elementary features similar volume and input choice with voice commands — it'due south quite like to what you lot'd get on a Roku Television set. Yous may not be able to retrieve sports stats or check the atmospheric condition with voice search, but information technology's plenty to make navigating to your favorite shows easier than it's ever been.
The voice feature isn't perfect though. When the TV registers voice input, it displays text on screen to show you lot what the TV heard – a handy touch that helps eliminate defoliation when it mishears tricky words – but the style the text is displayed overlaps with other text on the home screen menu, making things difficult to read at times. That's a small issue, and one that volition likely be cleared up with an automatic software update, but it's still an irritant in an otherwise welcome new characteristic.
Vizio M-Serial MQ6 review: Remote control
With the movement to include voice interaction comes a redesigned remote control that adds a born microphone and Bluetooth connectivity rather than the IR-based remotes of years past. The new Vizio Vox remote is a simple rectangular black plastic wand with a prominent circular navigation pad. Power, Input, Dwelling, Settings are at the acme, while a volume rocker, mute push, and microphone button sit below the navigation pad. It'due south a far more than minimalist await than past Vizio designs, ditching the number buttons and switching away from the distinctive oval-shaped profile for last twelvemonth'south model.
Only above the navigation pad is a cluster of dedicated app buttons. That's not a huge surprise, since we've seen the aforementioned thing from every other Television set manufacturer. But where most Idiot box makers have four app buttons, Vizio has six. On our remote were buttons for Amazon Prime Video, Crackle, Disney Plus, Netflix, Peacock, Tubi, and Vizio's own WatchFree free streaming TV assemblage app.
Given that apps like Netflix, Disney Plus and and Amazon Prime are included every bit something of a paid placement equally much equally providing a convenience to users, I was surprised to run across buttons for free services like Crepitation and Tubi. Whether the inclusion of these apps is too part of a paid deal or a fashion to highlight some of the free content options Vizio heavily promotes isn't articulate, but it's the just remote I've seen to offer these services in the app buttons on the remote. If y'all're a big fan of free shows and movies, that's something of a plus.
Vizio M-Series MQ6 review: Verdict
Upkeep-friendly TVs e'er walk a line between providing all of the capability users want and trimming superfluous features to go on costs downward. Vizio's TVs take gotten better at this balancing act in recent years, but the Vizio K-Series MQ6 shows how precarious a balance it is, with great additions, like voice control and broader HDR format support on the positive side and blunted brightness and contrast operation on the other. All in all, the Vizio Thou-Serial MQ6 offers a decent amount of capability for upkeep shoppers, simply it has some existent limitations if you're looking for more advanced gaming features or a deep demote of smart capabilities.
That said, the M-Series MQ6 delivers most of what is most important in a Tv set – swell color reproduction and picture show quality, a expert app option, and plenty smarts to satisfy Goggle box shoppers that aren't picky well-nigh their smart TVs. For a competing set with similar features and price, the TCL 5-Series Roku Tv S535 is a slightly meliorate option, thanks to larger port selection and superior HDR performance, but it's a close match. If you lot have access to the Vizio only not the TCL, it'south still a safe purchase, and gives a solid 4K smart Telly that will fit inside all but the tightest budgets.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/vizio-m-series-quantum-mq6
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