Good colours, but not value for money

Over the past few months, we’ve seen the launch of a bunch of 43-inch TVs. This is also the only screen size that offers both an FHD and a 4K option in the resolution. We recently reviewed the Redmi Smart TV 43 (review) which is a 43-inch FHD SDR TV and also reviewed the Redmi Smart TV X43 (review) which is a 4K TV with support for HDR. Today we have with us the OnePlus Y1S Edge. OnePlus has launched a 32-inch HD ready and 43-inch FHD HDR TV in its Y1S and Y1S Edge portfolio. The difference between the Edge and “non Edge” versions of the TV is that the Edge supports TUV Rheinland Certification while the other does not and the Edge comes with 24W of sound output while the Y1S comes with 20W of sound output. The 43-inch OnePlus Y1S Edge is priced at Rs 27,999. To put things into perspective, the Redmi Smart TV X43 is priced at Rs 28,999 while the Redmi Smart TV 43 (FHD SDR TV) is priced at Rs 23,999 as of writing this review. So how does the OnePlus Y1S Edge compare to the two Redmi offerings?

OnePlus Y1S Edge Specs at a glance

Panel Size: 43-inch (Also available in 32-inch screen sizes)

Panel Resolution: 1920 x 1080p – FHD

Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz

HDR 10 support: Yes

HDR 10+ support: No

Dolby Vision Support: No

Weight: 6.1 kgs

HDMI Ports: 2

USB Ports: 2

Bluetooth: Yes, 5.0

Wi-Fi: Yes, dual-band

Ethernet: Yes

Speakers: 24W 

Built-in storage: 8GB

RAM: 1GB

Price: MRP: 27,999

OnePlus Y1S Edge Display Panel and Picture Quality

The OnePlus Y1S Edge has D-LED backlighting. As far as peak brightness is concerned the TV clocks in at about 250 nits in our tests which is quite underwhelming for HDR content. To put things into perspective, the Redmi Smart TV X43 can hit a peak brightness of about 280 nits. However, in our Colorchecker Analysis we found the TV has an average delta error of 2.7 which is lower than the Redmi Smart TV X43 and that’s a good thing. Overall, in our Calman analysis, we found that the TV has good colours but low peak brightness for HDR. So how does this translate to real-world performance?

Above: Saturation Sweeps

Above: Colour Gamut Coverage

HDR

The peak brightness of the TV is quite low to truly enjoy specular highlights when consuming HDR content. On budget TVs, we’ve found that 400 nits is still somewhat acceptable to enjoy HDR content. However, the colours on the TV do a decent job to make HDR content enjoyable. So, while you won’t see the true specular highlights of some HDR sequences in Ready Player One, for example, you will be able to enjoy the colours on offer. We noticed this across the board with content on Netflix and Prime Video as well. Even in a show like Jack Ryan, we found the performance of our test sequence to be almost at par with the Redmi Smart TV X43 in terms of colours. The downside to the OnePlus Y1S Edge is that it supports HDR 10 only with no support for Dolby Vision. 

A unique thing about the OnePlus Y1S Edge is that you can switch the HDR on and off from the settings menu. 

In terms of picture presets there is no specific HDR picture preset. Instead, you get the standard slew of presets such as Standard, Movie, AI, Game, Sports and more. We found that the AI picture mode defaulted to the Standard picture preset settings, so you can avoid that. The Movie preset worked well for most pieces of content we consumed on this TV in HDR.

SDR

The SDR playback on the OnePlus Y1S Edge is on par with other budget 43-inch TVs we tested and that’s a good thing. Remember, SDR content and SDR TVs have been around far longer than HDR and the technology is at a level that even budget TVs offer a good SDR experience and it’s the same case here. Be it in shows like Young Sheldon or movies like Mission Impossible or Spider-Man Far From Home, the skin tones and colours looked punchy. You can see some haloing and blooming on the TV but that’s nothing a little bit of biased lighting can’t fix. 

Gaming

We faced the same problem with the OnePlus Y1S Edge that we faced on the Redmi Smart TV X43 – HDR calibration. When you connect a PS5 (review) to the TV for the first time, you are asked to calibrate the brightness. After the calibration, we fired up Dirt 5 (review) and found the content to look quite burnt. We had to go into the settings of the game and reduce all HDR settings to get the best output. Again, we’ve seen this on many budget HDR TVs. The OnePlus TV produced good colours in a game like Spider-Man Miles Morales with decent details visible on Spider-Man’s suit. 

The one thing to note is that when you connect an external device like a PS5 or a streaming stick to the TV, you get access to a quick-select menu on the left. This menu helps navigate settings such as the input, brightness, picture mode, sound mode and signal format. I do wish this quick menu was there when navigating the native streaming apps as it would make changing picture presets and audio settings a breeze. 

Audio Performance

The one place where the TV works well and better than the Redmi Smart TV X43 is with its sound output. On paper, it has 6W less than the Redmi Smart TV X43 but in real-world use, the speakers sound good. There is a lack of channel separation and you will miss the thump in an action movie but the overall sound is quite acceptable. The dialogues are clear, and there is a good separation between background score and vocals in high octave action sequences. 

Where there are a bunch of audio presets available on the TV, I recommend leaving the TVs sound mode on Dolby Audio as that gives the best output overall. There is also an option to enhance the dialogues as well if you need. 

UI

The OnePlus Y1S Edge runs on Android TV 11 and also comes with OnePlus’ own OnePlus OxygenPlay UI. Just like Xiaomi TVs it gives you the option to switch between the 2 UIs with dedicated buttons on the remote control. The OnePlus OxygenPlay UI is similar to PatchWall in its content-first approach. However, OnePlus has added the ability to seamlessly pair your OnePlus Buds to the TV just like you would on the phone. There is also a companion app that lets you navigate the pass on the TV, take screenshots and do more. Needless to say, those in the OnePlus ecosystem have a decent set of features to exploit on the TV.

Remote control

While the ergonomics of the remote control are the same as the one we saw on the OnePlus U1S (review), the button placement has changed slightly. The mute button has been replaced by the menu button and the menu button has been replaced by the Disney+ Hotstar dedicated button. The remote control is overall well-built and ergonomic. Just like on the U1S, you have to long-press the menu button to bring up the settings options. 

Build and design

The build and design of the OnePlus Y1S Edge also draws inspiration from the U1S. The OnePlus Y1S Edge has a metallic finish on the bottom bezel giving it a premium look. The feet also have a sharp angular design and hold the TV in place quite well. 

For connectivity, we have 2 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, an optical port, mini-AV in and an ethernet port along with an antenna port. There is also Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi. 

Bottom Line

Overall, the OnePlus Y1S Edge produces some good colours for SDR and HDR content and has good sound output. It has a Full HD resolution and the UI is easy to navigate with minimal lag and stutter. The design is nice too. Those in the OnePlus ecosystem can also take advantage of some of the features like easy pairing with OnePlus buds. The companion smartphone app is feature-rich too. However, for a mere Rs 1,000 more you get the Redmi Smart TV X43 which has an additional HDMI port, support for Dolby Vision and a 4K resolution making the OnePlus Y1S Edge slightly hard to recommend.