VIZIO M558-G1 M-Series Quantum 55” 4K HDR Smart TV

It surpassed my expectations. I am replacing a cheap LG 1080P LED TV that I got about five years ago I and am super impressed with the blacks and the colors. I wanted a step up and I would say this is probably a few steps up from what I was working with. The last TV never really got down to black, at its darkest the blacks were grey even when there was no picture on the screen, so I am happy to report that the local dimming makes a huge difference. With the local dimming getting so good I don't think it really makes sense to get an OLED at their current prices. I'm sure they are better but if money is any consideration, it doesn't seem to make sense to pay at least three times as much for a 5% difference. Also with OLEDs, you have to worry about burn-in.Besides the OLEDs, the next step up from this TV would be one with a 120 refresh rate or if you need it to be super bright. That seems to be the only trade off with this TV compared the the ~$800 starting local dimming backlight TVs from more reputable manufacturers. LG calls their local dimming TV's "Nanocell", Sony calls their "Triluminos", TCL has them as well and just calls them local dimming, and Samsung calls theirs "QLED". The marketing for these is extremely confusing and it is hard to compare one TV to another because it doesn't seem like a lot of these TVs tell you how many dimming zones their TVs have. They really make it a nightmare to try to figure out what you are actually getting.Based on my extensive research before buying this TV, it does not get quite as bright as some of the others, so if you are in a super bright room, you may want to consider a different one but I have no issues with the brightness and don't even max out the back light with my settings in an average room with two windows. Some of the other reviews below mention some motion blur. This has to do with the fact that this is actually a 60 hertz screen. 120 hertz screens are more expensive and if you think this will be an issue for you, you may want to pay more for one with 120 hertz and do your research to make sure you are not being cheated by false refresh rate claims. In my opinion, you have to really look to try to find the motion blur so it does not affect my enjoyment of the TV at all. Also, there is a feature called "clear motion" that is turned off by default that you can turn on to help with it. This feature adds a frame of black in between every frame of picture so its like a ghetto 120 hertz. The Vizio P series has 120 (even though they claim its 240, 240 effective refresh rate TVs don't actually exist). Those are the main features you are missing out on with this TV, and its up to you whether its worth a few hundred extra bucks to get those things. I was fine with skipping out for this price.A few more nitpicks: This TV does not have HDMI 2.1, and the Smartcast software it has on it is pretty lame. HDMI 2.1 will probably not matter to anyone except hard core gamers that want to connect their computers to this TV (certainly doesn't apply to me). I do game a little and the reviews that I have seen said this TV has very low latency which is good for gaming but I have not had a chance to test it out yet. Despite the bad review for gamers below, it does seem like this TV is totally fine for gaming at 60 frames per second or less. As for the Smartcast, there are barely any apps to chose from and some of them don't work in 4K. This is not a big deal, just get a Roku, problem solved. Some people online hate on the remote but I find the remote to be totally fine, plus this is an easy fix too, you can get a universal remote if you don't like it. By the way, the fact that this TV has a Chromecast and Air play on it is really cool. Icing on the cake but really convenient if I just want to get something up on the screen really quickly.I was concerned about the speakers because I am cheap and have been fighting the urge to buy a soundbar for like 10 years now but the speakers are totally fine. If you turn them up too much they get a little buzzy (I was just testing them out but never actually needed them that loud) but if you are putting the TV in a quiet room and are not expecting audiophile level sound I think you will find them acceptableUnless you get a dud or have some quality control issues, I think you will be very happy with this TV. I did a ton of research before buying mine and learned more about TVs than I ever wanted to know and this really is an amazing bang for your buck.

After much research, and deliberation, I decided upon this specific model, 558-G1. This model has 90 local dimming zones and 600 nit brightness. It's the cream of the m-series crop. So, if various reviews influence your purchasing decision, don't be confused by another QLED Vizio TV that is significantly cheaper. That model has lower brightness and much less local dimming zones. Check the model number to be certain.So, this was highly rated by various tech sites, and the criticisms were few and probably barely noticeable during real world use. Anyway, took the plunge and purchased. A fantastic decision. Relatively light, so easy for 2 people to lift and set upon a wall mount. The packaging and manner of extraction are ingenious and nicely protects the valuable QLED tv.Before you rip open the box, read all the outside information, especially the side panel. It give you directions on how to remove the box from the tv. Follow those directions and you'll be glad you did.The tv is very easy to install, and onscreen setup instructions are pretty foolproof. I chose to use hard wire ethernet to speed up the connection process, and later setup my wireless connection. But, to be honest, I know that using wired connections will be much quicker and reliable than wireless. However, Apple Airplay requires source and tv to be on same wifi to work. So, I'll keep the ethernet connection, and I saved the wifi name/password for selective needs.For some reason, the tv had the picture setting at Vivid, which was a great picture, but very bright. The onscreen instructions said 'Calibrated' was the suggested setting for normal viewing. I chose "Calibrate Dark" which gives me a great picture with a touch less brightness.Interestingly, while watching a Mission Impossible movie, I switched from Calibrated to Calibrated Dark, and then to Vivid. During the scene where Cruise is climbing the glass tower, the Vivid setting gave an unbelievable picture, incredible images of metal and glass, reflections, and scenic nuances. So, for normal tv fare, I think Calibrated Dark is great, for movies the Vivid setting might be best. I am still experimenting with what is best for different source material.There is an issue regarding viewing from an angle. To be fair, this is an issue with most flat screen tv's, except plasma and maybe OLED. If I stand at an acute angle to the tv, yes, the picture is not crystal clear nor color true. Does anyone ever stand at this position to watch tv? No. For a 55" tv, most living rooms will have the sofa at least 7 feet away. Mine is about 7.5 feet away from the screen. My sofa is almost 100 inches wide. At all points on the sofa, the picture is uniformly fantastic. And sitting on the armrests, the same picture as sitting in the middle. So, yes, technically there is a cone of viewing, but it is far from a narrow zone.So, this is a spec'ed out 4k TV, in my opinion. I am actually trying to justify purchasing another for the bedroom.