VIZIO - 65" Class M-Series Quantum Series LED 4K UHD SmartCast TV

>> Summary We were looking for an upgrade to our main old 55” 4K TV set with something bigger but not too big. This TV feels like the right upgrade size-wise while still providing a remarkable image once you adjust it with the proper settings. Favorable: Big screen, 4K, wide range of colors, decent number/selection of inputs, easy menu options to choose from, easy access to a myriad of free/unlimited streaming channels in one place. (5 stars for this) Not-so-favorable: The only issue I see is that, without doing image adjustment, the image comes out as a little washed out, even in actual 4k video. (4 stars for this). >> Unpacking (two people needed) This unit is heavy, so if you do not want to risk dropping it on the floor and/or damaging it (or harming yourself), you do need a helping hand to lift the box, unpack it, attach the legs and place it at the intended area. For attaching the legs, it is best to follow the instructions to lay the TV on a flat surface that leaves space to attach the legs (without removing the screen protecting padding it came with). We have a two-level floor, so we went by laying the TV on the top section of the floor and then attaching the legs above the bottom section of the floor. To be repetitive, we were two people doing that and even then, we were very cautions in not damaging the TV. >> Setup Make sure you measure your entertainment center or furniture to make sure it fits in/on it, take into consideration that the legs on the TV adds about 2” to its height and that the legs rest almost at the end of the sides of the TV (so a very wide top area is needed for this TV, unless you plan on placing it on the wall). Our TV furniture has an area at the center for the TV, and it ended up coming short by 1”, it currently holds a 55” 4k TV fine, but cannot hold this one. I’ll need to buy a TV stand to try to close the 2” gap, or a new furniture for this TV. I don’t plan to place it on the wall, it is just too heavy and my house walls have several decades on them already. Easy and painless setup, no major hurdles going through the setup menu, so not much to say, enter your WiFi (or connect your network cable to your router/switch) and ready to enjoy your favorite videos/channels. >> Image/Color The Vizio M-Series Quantum is advertised as having more colors than “regular” 4k TVs, this looks to be true when compared with my old 55” 4K TV, but with one caveat, without any adjustments, the image comes out as a little washed out, even in 4K and Dolby-Vision. This image washed-out is noticeable when compared to my other 55” 4K Toshiba TV (see one of the images comparing the two). As a result, I am not really sold on the claim that the Vizio Quantum TV has vibrant colors out of the box. In order to get vivid and vibrant colors one has to tinker with the image options for some time (I am not an image expert, so it was, and it is, a trial-and-error effort). HD/1080 Video: I can tell that there is some upscaling when playing in HD format, there seems to be some micro pixelation when I get very close to the TV. We tried sitting close (but not to close) to the TV, initially the bigger “pixels” are distracting, it took us a couple of days for our brains to adjust to it, so this is one more justification to respect the proper distance to the TV. Ambient Light Sensor: It makes a difference for situations where you do not want any lights when watching TV. The brightness is a more bearable with that setting on when watching TV in the dark (I prefer having ambient lights while my wife prefers a dark room). Backlight: really nice to have this option, I find it useful specially to get rid of some of that washed-out feeling off the image. Picture Mode: Picture Mode suggested is always "Calibrated". Sometimes, especially for HD cable TV, I find that "Vivid" mode is the best one (combined with some other adjustments). Calibrated mode seems to work better for Netflix. It is nice to have this option though. Color Temperature: easy three modes for some predefined settings, whether you want more vivid color or darker color. Very convenient. >> Sound I didn’t expect much about the sound to be a major selling point, since I will most likely use a good sound system on such good quality TV, but it is worth paying attention to it to assess the overall quality of the product. A bad sounding device would shine-me-away from buying it. I am actually pleased and so is my wife with the sound quality. Sound is enough to fill a big room, but you’d know that the sound is coming from the TV, not from your sound system. Bottom line, to give this TV its proper credit attach it to a good sound system. >> Connectivity Plenty of connections, 4HDMI, antenna, among others. Cable TV runs from the box through and HDMI cable to the TV, no complaints so far. TV Antenna: I have an HD TV antenna which I do not really use, I decided to give it a try with this TV. I’d say that the image quality is very good for the couple of non-telemarketing HD Channels available on open air TV; standard format is fine despite the size of the TV, just some pixelation (expected). The best of trying the TV antenna, though, was that we got one Latino channel (Telemundo) we like for free, so we didn’t need to put extra money on the coffers of our cable provider for that channel. There is also free Latino programming on Vizio’s WatchFree (there is plenty to watch in WatchFree!). Miracast: Used Microsoft’s Miracast to connect to the TV through HDMI, nice quality! See picture attached. >> Apps Well the main app we use is NetFlix, we are just impressed about the quality the picture comes out, well of course some image adjustment needed, so far very content with the performance of this TV. Wireless works like a charm and we can watch our favorite Netflix movies and shows. This is the first time I heard about Dolby-Vision content, and quite impressed that Netflix provides such content and this TV supports it. Only complaint is that with Dolby-Vision, the backlight option is not available. >> WatchFree! Amazing the variety of programming you can watch here! This is just worth the whole TV price! Mixed variety of SD and HD definitions for the most part, but excellent programming nonetheless. I wouldn’t mind watching a good history program in SD definition. I am delighted with this. >> Not-tested There are several things not tested thoroughly or not tested at all, such as gaming, I would need more pages and time to provide that. My focus was the size and image quality for my intended main TV.

I've only owned Vizio TVs because I've never been disappointed with their product. From a 19" back in 2009, to a 32" back in 2011, a 40" last year and now this 65"... all of them are amazing. The 40" V-Series to the 65" M-Series doesn't have any major difference in the interface or anything like that, but the picture quality is much nicer on the 65"... the size doesn't hurt either - great for a larger space. The sound quality out of the box isn't the best, but that's not what TVs are for, so that was expected. I did buy a Vizio soundbar to accompany the screen and that added to the overall experience quite a bit. This TV also has everything you need. I use the SmartCast all the time, and I've set it up with my Google Home to turn on and off with my voice. I am still learning the full capabilities there, but just that feature alone is amazing.

Initially our reaction to picture quality was total disappointment, but we ordered an updated cable box with hdmi cables and it made a total difference!! I was ready to exchange it for a Samsung that was double the price.... just to get QLED on a 65” tv. I’m so glad we waited on the new cable box!! Very pleased with this tv!! 65” Qled tv with full array backlight for $600........ outstanding!!

This TV is big and beautiful. Great color and deep blacks. Movies look fantastic. Don’t use it for games but I can imagine it would be great for that too. Definitely perfect for movie night. The smart features seem good but I use Apple TV. The TV connects to my Alexa so I can turn it on and off with voice control. Very cool.

We are very happy with our new t.v . Glad that we picked out Vizio its our second 1 the first one lasted 5 years

Got this tv for my parents and they like it. On sale for $579 is not a bad deal. Colors are great and for the price you can’t beat it.

Great tv at a good price, perfect for my new Xbox Series X.

Awesome TV the quality is exceptional and easy to operate