VIZIO - 55" Class - LED - P-Series - 2160p - Smart - 4K UHD TV with HDR

The Vizio P55-F1 matches a great display with poor user-facing software. __[ Display / Hardware ]__ As someone that tends to lean heavily towards a popular competitor known for their display quality, I was surprised by the quality of the display in this TV. While the settings of the default picture modes seemed rather lackluster, manual calibration using the wide array of available picture adjustment settings met with great results. The display provides great contrast, brightness, surprisingly dark black levels (aided by the full array local dimming zones), clarity, fast update frequency that allows smooth motion, wide viewing angle, and important inclusion of a low-latency gaming mode, which all combine into a first-rate visual experience among current generation LCD displays. Backed by a wide array of new video and display technologies, this unit represents a significant jump from older generation LCD displays. The complement of physical connection options is extensive, though I found the placement and orientation of the coaxial cable port to be somewhat problematic. It is important to be aware that like many mid-to-large size TVs, this unit is supported by legs that are located near the side edges (as opposed to a central pillar), and thus smaller TV stands and similar furniture may be unable to accommodate this TV. About 50” width would be the bare minimum to support the legs, which gives about 1” margin on both sides. __[ UI / UX / Software Design ]__ I found the user interface and general software design to be quite disappointing. The responsiveness to remote control input and UI updates in general feels sluggish. The vast majority of the space of the home screen is taken up by the marquee content carousel and content discovery panes which advertise both free and premium content available across the various streaming service apps (whether you use them or not). These seem designed purely for monetary kickbacks to Vizio, with no apparent means for customization or use-based personalization. Tucked away on a single row at the bottom are the available apps. It takes 19 directional movement clicks of the remote to arrive at an app I use frequently: Plex. While the remote control has six quick launch buttons for apps (which also happen to be the first six apps listed on the home screen), there seems to be no way to re-designate these buttons. Vizio had the opportunity to help alleviate navigational issues with their remote control mobile app, but instead of taking advantage of increased flexibility afforded by touch screen input powered by a highly programmable device, they opted to make the app merely mirror the functionality of the physical remote control--a major disappointment. On the subject of the remote, not only does it feel cheaply made, but the buttons have the same color as the rest of the remote, are labeled using a font that is thin and hard to see, and have no back-lighting option. The Alexa/Google Home integration may seem like a nifty addition, but seems almost completely useless (though I only tested the Google Home integration). I wasn’t able to launch most apps (only an extremely small subset of available apps are supported), switch inputs, or change over-the-air (OTA) channels using voice input commands. Instead, most voice commands I tried were interpreted as YouTube searches. While inclusion of an OTA tuner is an improvement over other modern Vizio models, this seems to have been hastily tacked on as an afterthought, with absolutely minimal effort dispensed in its implementation. This TV doesn’t even appear to have a visible channel list that can be navigated through. OTA broadcasts include programming guide (EPG) data (which doesn’t require an Internet connection to receive) which includes information such as program/episode descriptions, program line-up and time-slot scheduling. While many TVs are able to display this extensive data, the only EPG data this TV seems to display is the description of the current program/episode of the currently tuned channel, when you press the ‘info’ button twice. __[ Conclusion ]__ This TV is a prime example of why you should be skeptical of smart TVs. You are paying a premium for inclusion of features available in external media streaming units and tuners, but are rolling the dice on feature implementation and software quality which are permanently married to the display hardware. Most casual users will likely find most of the smart TV features of this unit adequate, if a bit clunky. Power users might instead consider going with a ‘dumb’ display paired with their media streaming device(s) of choice. ‘Smart’ features aside, this TV boasts great display hardware that provides a top-tier visual experience that any viewer can appreciate and enjoy.

First off, this TV looks fantastic right out of the box with little adjustment needed. For me this was an exchange from a TCL 6 series, which I was not satisfied with. Dolby Vision and HDR Content looks impeccable, motion handling was very good for sports, and I actually was quite pleased with the aesthetics of this TV. For the first couple of weeks I could not be happier with my purchase, but I did end up returning this set after I began having an issue with horizontal white lines flashing across the screen, more on that below. Despite having a fantastic picture, I was less than thrilled with the Vizio Smartcast experience. It was not fluid by any means, and I was a bit disappointed that the app selection is limited to only what is installed on the tv. Granted all of this can be remedied with a streaming media player, but at the expense of the user. As a side note most of the media platers are not capable of streaming Dolby Vision as of now (except for fires stick 4k and Apple Tv 4k). Until I began experiencing an issue, I was overall extremely pleased with my purchase. 4K and HDR content looks great, and the Smartcast system was bearable, but it did have it's limitations. About 3 weeks after the purchase, I began noticing flashing horizontal lines that would appear, but only for an instant. They were at random times and I was unable to recreate them intentionally. It might do it 10 times in 2 minutes, or it might not do it for 4 hours. After noticing these it was impossible not to look for them, and eventually I was looking for flashing white lines more than enjoying the picture on the TV. After doing some reading, apparently this has been an issue with Vizio P series TV's for some time now, and although I have seen Vizio Support techs on the forums claiming the issue was fixed through a firmware update, I had it on a 2018 model with the latest firmware installed. After phoning Vizio Customer service, they acknowledged that it occasionally happens, but not that it was common. At this point the rep requested that I take a photo of the issue that was occuring. I explained that this occurred as quickly as a flash of lightning, and that it was erratic in it's timing. If I could have reproduced the issue and been waiting with a recording device I would have attempted this, but working all day then coming home to video the tv acting up did not jive well with me. Being an elite member, I still had time to return the TV before the deadline, so I did so and purchased a Sony X900F and I am pleased with it. I will admit that while I do enjoy the picture of my new set, I do not see a tremendous increase in picture quality from the Vizio. Personally for me, it was not worth taking the chance on getting another set, only to have issues occur after the return deadline. If my only chance at receiving support from Vizio was going to be trying to capture the issue on camera, then sending it to them to analyze, I preferred to try another manufacturer. Unfortunately that meant another bump up in price range as well... Overall I would still recommend this set based on the brilliant picture quality alone. As long as the set is working correctly and without any glitches I believe it would be quite difficult to find a better set for the money.

Great TV! I am moving from a recent mid-range Samsung 4K and I think this outshines it in nearly every way. From looks, to performance, features and finally value, I think Vizio brought the goods here. For starters, I like the look and design. It is a fresh, sleek, and metallic bezel-less appearance on three sides with a solid feel that rests on sturdy aluminum legs. It is a very modern edge-to-edge, yet not over-the-top look. Beyond the looks, it comes with quite a few connection options. Further, all 5 HDMI ports support 2.0a which help with 4K HDR connectivity. Another nice feature is built-in ATSC tuners, for those not tied to a cable plan. Once you are up and running (set-up is an easy process), you get a look at that picture. The picture is clear, crisp, bright, and detailed while the colors are brilliant, pop and are both rich and alive. It is a VA panel, so there is a little distortion when at extreme viewing angles, as opposed to an IPS, but it is a tradeoff, as the VA brings better blacks and much better contrast levels. For my money, that is what one would prefer. The TV also has full array local dimming (FALD) (Vizio calls it Active Full Active Array) with 56 local dimming zones which is crucial for HDR. It is not perfect, but it is much better than edge and nice to have at this price point. As for HDR, Vizio has most of the current formats covered with this set. Dolby Vision (with UltraBright 1000), HDR 10 and HLG are all there. Beyond that, they offer something they call Ultra Color Spectrum which brings more accurate color detail and a wider range of the color spectrum. What does all this mean? As I said, it means a great picture. 4K content is out of this world. Details, colors, blacks all look outstanding. Up-scaled content also looks great, which is important, given I watch a lot of non 4K content. There are countless options and calibration settings to fine tune everything. I spent a great deal time of time here, but I think it is time well spent. You can absolutely get the most out of your purchase/experience. The speakers are acceptable to good. They should be good enough from most people, but if you are looking for immersive sound for theatre etc…you will probably want to turn to a surround system or sound bar. Not really a knock, as they are good for everyday use, but just something to think about. Given it is 2018 and streaming is so important, it is nice Vizio brought quite a bit to the Smart TV aspects of this set. They offer their Smart Cast OS, with apps already on the TV and their Smart Cast mobile app. In addition, Google Chromecast is built in. Honestly, Smart Cast can feel a little slow at times, and I did not have the best experience with the mobile app, but things worked great with the pre-installed apps (Netflix and VUDU are what I use) and while using the Chromecast. I will have to give this more time to see how it plays out. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integration are also nice smart features. While I found they work fine, it is just something I am not used to doing in my day to day with regards to my media consumption. I will also have to give that some time, but I like that it is there. Lastly, the included remote works well enough, but is a little basic. There are buttons for several streaming services (Netflix/VUDU/Amazon…) and it does what you expect, but it doesn’t have any advanced features and lacks any backlighting, which would have been appreciated. Ultimately, I really like this TV. Most importantly, it has a great picture, with clear and brilliant details, great black levels and fantastic HDR performance. Its specs hold up, if not shine, and it has a nice design. If you are looking for a large 4K display with all the HDR formats and full array dimming at a great price you can’t do much better than this TV.

I researched for weeks, and settled on this TV. It was between this model, the Sony X900F, or the TCL 6 series. I avoided the TCL as I read way too many reviews, and blogs concerning the panel lottery, and wanted to avoid having to return/exchange a TV. I decided on the Vizio over the Sony as the Vizio went on sale, and according to rtings.com the Sony was only slightly better picture wise. Bang for buck the Vizio was the better choice. I was reluctant to purchase the Vizio as I have been reading more, and more reviews of the TV freezing, and restarting when changing inputs. This issue has been written about, and going on for months, and I was hoping they had the issue fixed by now whether it is a hardware, or software issue. Again I decided against the TCL as I didn't want to have to return the TV. It appears I may have to do that anyways. I have apparently received a TV that has this input changing issue. The TV freezes, and takes anywhere from a minute to three minutes to restart before I can do anything with the TV. I have been reading that if I disable the CEC option in the settings this would remedy the issue, but one of the reasons I was upgrading my TV was to use the CEC option. I have tried multiple HDMI ports, I've updated the firmware, and I've factory reset the TV twice to see if the issue would resolve itself. Unfortunately this is not the case, and I'm riddled with the TV freezing/restarting several times a day; this is unacceptable from a brand new TV that costs $700+. The picture is great when viewing HDR/4k content...especially Dolby Vision! 720p, and 1080p is average if not flat looking no matter what settings I've tried. The picture is one thing, but I should be able to use the settings, and options the TV has without the TV freezing, and restarting several times a day. I can't believe out of the 120 reviews I've read on here no one has mentioned this input issue. I've seen some reviewers on reddit and AVS Forum returning their Vizio TV 2 or 3 times and having the same issue with the new ones before giving up and going with another brand. What a hassle to have to unmount, box up, and return a large 55 inch TV several times. Other reviewers mentioned the OS being clunky, or slow, but I think it's passable. I have a Samsung, and an LG which are both smart TVs with different operating systems, and I don't prefer one OS over the other; I just want them to work, and they all do. I've had this TV a week, and will decide before the return window closes whether, or not I will be returning this for the Sony. So far I'm a bit disappointed with this TV....I had high hopes, but not being able to use an option the TV offers is less than desirable.

Luckily Vizio decided to release the new P series tv around the time I was shopping. I was replacing an 9 year old Vizio that was lost in my home due to a thunderstorm and subsequent lightning strike close by my home. Up to that time my Vizio performed flawlessly and was my first experience and a positive one with the brand. I was cross shopping the q6 QLED Samsung as well as the NU8000 Samsung. After reading numerous reviews and viewing all 3 TVs in the store simultaneously, I went ahead with the 55 P55-F1 Vizio. My main reasons were due to it having a true 120hz refresh rate vs the Samsung 60hz which they try to claim as a 120hz. To be fair Vizio also markets their's as 240 but its 120. I wish all manufacturers would stop playing games with the true refresh rates on these sets. Our main TV is a Plasma Panasonic ST60 which still produces an amazing picture. So far in fast action scenes and sports I have not noticed any judder/lag. I do have motion blur reduction settings on. Very happy in this aspect. I didn't want any motion blur issues with the new tv for my office so the 120hz was a big factor for me in this purchase. Next is the brightness and the color on this set. The samsung Q6 had a great picture as well, but the brightness on this set in the store just appeared better to my eyes. Now overall I think the Q8 Qled would be fantastic, but way beyond the $1,000 price point I wanted to spend. So far in my home the blacks appear to be very good for the LCD sub 1,000 price point. It still isn't as ink deep as my Plasma Panasonic, but comparing LCDs Ive been accustomed to this gets pretty darn close and for my amateur eyes appears just fine. Local dimming appears to work as well. They tout 120 dimming zones and I didn't notice a huge issue compared to my old Samsung LCD upstairs that is over 10 years old. Again technology is amazing. Finally the features are great. Short of the TCL, this TV combines Dolby Vision, HDR10, 4K UHD along with it's smart apps at an unbeatable price. Other reviews here and online talk about the vizio interface lacking. I'm not sure why? It has all the main apps I frequently use ( netflix, hulu, youtube). All of them startup quickly and without issue. The wifi connectivity is pretty decent overall. My home wifi signal is weak downstairs and the TV has had some issues connecting and getting a signal, but as soon as I connected it to ethernet, performance has not been an issue. Shows load very quickly. I'll update my review after I put in a range extender if there are still wifi connecting issues. Dolby vision movies/ shows on Netflix so far have been superb. Only 1 of them appeared grainy and I think that has more to due with the network vs the TV. All others have look stunning. Design- Looks great in the office. Bezel-less frame and nice chrome on the bottom which gives it an upscale look. The stand is basic and elegant with metal legs. I didn't think I would watch much 4k, but after having so much content on Netflix, its amazing how great the picture is. Watching standard HD is almost disappointing now. Cons: Sound-- pretty much all the new flat LCD's suffer from this. I'll get a sound-bar at some point. Remote- Pretty flimsy. Again not a huge deal as I mainly use my Xfinity remote. Overall..I think this tv is going to be a great value for the year. I was the first one to buy one at my local store and have been very pleased to get the latest from Vizio. For the price you get so much in the way of picture and features. Their quality seems to be fantastic and hopefully will last me as long as my previous Vizio TV did.

This latest 4k TV model from Vizio is pretty amazing. I have watched cable TV, played HDR-enabled games via my PS4 Pro, and streamed 4k content via the YouTube app. Everything looks amazing and I could not be more happy with this item. Let me start with the design, which looks very nice and modern. This unit has no bezel on three of the sides and has a silver metallic bezel along the bottom. It stands via two silver metallic V-shaped legs. I found the TV to be very stable sitting on those legs on top of my TV cabinet. This TV has five HDMI ports: 3 along the back and 2 on the side. Not only is that an excellent number of HDMI inputs, but each of the HDMI inputs supports 2.0a/HDCP 2.2 so that it doesn't matter which input you use to plug in your 4k device. There is one ARC-enabled HDMI input which has worked flawlessly. The included remote functions well and I would say it is typical in quality and features for a Smart TV remote. I also controlled the unit by downloading the Vizio SmartCast app. The app was easy to set up and made casting my phone quick and easy. Next, I will discuss the functionality of the TV. No matter what the source, the image on the screen looked amazing. This TV supports the newest HDR formats: HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG. This TV is going to have an excellent image for a long time to come. I have the 55” model and so it comes with 56 local dimming zones. The contrast between the light and dark parts of a screen image were displayed very well. I saw no light bleeding from the edges, and I observed minimal blooming around brighter parts of the image. For this review, I used all of the factory-set picture options to see how they worked. I must say that they are very useful, very handy, and improved what I was watching. Vivid was extremely powerful (1000 nits I believe) and would work very well in a super-bright room. The two picture modes I used the most were Calibrated and Calibrated-dark. During the day, Calibrated was perfect. It was a little less dark than Vivid but still bright enough to make the image clear in moderate sunlight. Once the sun set, I used Calibrated-dark. There is a Gaming picture mode which changes all the appropriate TV settings to minimize input lag but keep the games looking great. I use a PS4 Pro for my gaming, and all of the games looked so good that I found myself going through my library to find old games I had not played in a long time just to see how good they looked on this TV. I did use a soundbar hooked into the TV via the ARC HDMI input, and that worked well. However, I did listen to the TV speakers for a bit, too. I felt they were reasonably good for TV speakers. TV speakers are rarely going to be great, so I recommend at least a soundbar for any modern TV. I just can't say enough good things about my experience with this TV. Everything has worked well, has been easy and intuitive to use, and it just produces an amazing image from every device I have used on it. I highly recommend this TV for all users, for all purposes.

This set replaces my aging HD TV. I have a small living room so I don't need a huge TV so the 55" is a good size. The TV picture seems very configurable. You can make a substantial set of changes to things like Brightness, Backlighting, Color, Sharpness and many more. Surely there will be some combination that you'll find to suite your taste. When you turn on the set all the inputs are set to Vivid. No doubt Vizio wants you to have your mouth open at how colorful the picture can be. That setting is great when you are viewing landscapes but not so good when viewing people. Each input (HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc) remembers it's picture setting. This is outstanding when you have a game console hooked up because you'll have a different setting for it than you would for your Blu-ray player vs. TV. This model has all the bells and whistles for the latest technology. 4k (Ultra HD), HDR, Dolby Vision. Because this set has Smartcast, you'll be able to take advantage of all of that using several of the included streaming services. I'm seeing that all of this works using Amazon and YouTube but I seem to be having a problem with Netflix. The TV Info is saying it understands Dolby Vision but it's not saying it's showing 4k Ultra HD. The picture looks great but I don't know why it won't show the right setting. I'm a little disappointed in Smartcast. The TV comes with about a dozen installed apps. First, that's all you get. Going to their "store" shows there is nothing else available. Second, there is no ability to reorder them. I watch YouTube daily but that app is about 7th in the order so I have to do a lot of scrolling to get to it. It seems like Vizio limited the apps in Smartcast because this model has Chromecast built in. After playing with it a bit, it generally works very well. Connecting my phone to the TV was really no issue. As has been the case though using the Chromecast dongle, eventually you run into a problem keeping the connection. One of my favorite features on this set is the 5 HDMI ports. It's about time! I'm also very happy with not only the bezeless design, but finally the Vizio name doesn't illuminate! The sound on the set is good. There are a couple of back facing speakers but volume hasn't been an issue. It certainly doesn't have any kind of thumping bass but it's got enough. It also has a surround sound setting and surprisingly you do seem to hear some sounds that seem eminate from areas other than the front of the TV. The bottom line though all comes down to the image. I'm really happy with the images I'm seeing. Nice brightness, good color on people's faces, good contrast. The source does matter though. You'll watch a few shows that are stunning and then change to a show where it's nice but you can see the softness in picture. Hookup a 4k Blu-ray player, get some 4k blu-rays and you are set. 4k is amazing what you see. It's so sharp you can see when a guy has missed a spot when they shaved!

To mostly reiterate what others have stated, it's an okay TV with a decent panel. I don't know how much variance there is between panels or production phases or anything like that, but in general mine looks good. Based on some of the reviews, I was concerned about the viewing angles, but in my case, even at sharp angles I don't see it wash out by any meaningful amount. Other than that, it has inputs and for the most part works like a TV. On the 'cons' side, I present the following... * The integrated ATSC tuner is clearly and obviously inferior to the tuner Samsung included in what was a midrange model in 2009. A lot of people don't use OTA, I get that, but I do, and I find it annoying that this TV, at times, can’t hold on to signals adequately. My USB tuner hooked up to the same antenna shows a quality signal with an “excellent” SNR. (And no, Vizio, I'm not calling support again. I understand how antennae work, and power-failing and re-scanning didn't help. For the record I have an outdoor antenna that works nicely on everything I have, except this TV. To the TV’s credit, most of the time, most of the channels work.) * I have an Xbox One S set to 4K output, plugged into HDMI-1 with a quality 4K capable cable. If I shut down the Xbox One, it will crash and reboot the TV. Perhaps not always, but often enough. Maybe it just serves me right for doing things. How about this: Instead of crashing, just bring up the input screen? * Most of the “smart” TV apps are for services I don’t use, but for fun I tried the YouTube app. In performance terms that was a mixed bag too. This seems to work a lot better on the Xbox One. I suppose that makes sense. * I would define the “WatchFree” Pluto TV system as a "glitchy mess". It didn't matter if I used wireless (my router is about 12 feet away) or plugged in via gigabit Ethernet. (I have 200Mbps internet service, for whatever that's worth.) The silly channel I was watching would lock up periodically, then if I changed channels and went back, it would work for a while. Watching "Supermarket Sweep", although fascinating in its own way, isn't worth the frustration. * I installed the SmartCast app on my phone, saw how it integrated into the notification shade, couldn't figure out how to turn that off, and then uninstalled it. Maybe you can get rid of that, I don't know. I found it obtrusive. * If you look at the back of the TV, below the downward-facing inputs, there is sort of a well, then it goes back to being flush with the back of the TV. If the TV is wall-mounted and you have thicker cables, they can be hard to bend in there just right. * And finally, let us say I'm switching inputs by pressing the "Input" button. It brings up a horizontally-scrolling menu. (A list that I've even pared down by eliminating HDMI inputs I don't use.) Ok, that's fine. I start scrolling. If I don't keep moving, after a few seconds the TV will just change to the selected input before I hit "Ok". That makes the input switching menu disappear, activating an input I didn't want, requiring me to hit "Input" again and keep scrolling. Maybe disabling this "feature" or extending the time before it changes on its own is optional somewhere. If it is, I couldn't find it. I picked it up on sale but wasn't able to deploy it for full evaluation before the return window closed, so I suppose I'll live with it. Many of my issues (related to the TV) could be fixed with software, but I’m not holding my breath. At the price point (on sale) it’s “Fine”, but if I had it to do again, I’d try something else.