Kodak 65-inch CAPRO 4K LED Smart Google TV Review: Immersive experience on a budget, but with a few trade-offs

The Kodak 65-inch CAPRO 4K LED Smart Google TV offers a large and decent 65-inch display at an affordable price point. While it may not boast cutting-edge technology, it supports popular features and manages to provide a satisfactory viewing experience for those seeking a budget-friendly option and especially those who will be viewing high-resolution content from OTT apps. All said and done, Its flaws are easier to overlook for the price. 

For consumers who prioritize color accuracy, the SDR content in Movie preset and Dolby Vision HDR should meet their expectations. However, the HDR10/ HDR10+ experience on the TV is not as impactful. As for the sound quality, it is acceptable considering the price range.

Kodak 65-inch CAPRO 4K LED Smart Google TV: Specifications

Panel Size: 65-inch (available in 43, 50, 55, and 75-inches)

Panel Type: LED LCD

Panel Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - 4K

Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz

Supported HDR Formats: HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision

Speakers: 40W

Audio formats supported: Dolby Atmos, DTS HD

Software: Google TV

Weight (with stand): Approx. 18 kgs

Connectivity options: 3 HDMI ports (HDMI 3 has ARC), 2 USB ports, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, Ethernet, AV In

Built-in storage: 16GB

Price: Rs. 44,499

Kodak 65-inch CAPRO 4K LED Smart Google TV Review: Design, Remote, and Software

The TV is manufactured by SPPL in India, which also licenses other brands like Thompson and Westinghouse. This Kodak CA Pro -series TV has extremely slim bezels on the side. The gold-finish metal stands are positioned a little away from the corner, which is why the TV will easily fit on moderate to large-sized tables. 

The stand rests sturdily on our table, but since this is a large 65-inch TV it expectedly exhibits a slight wobble upon being flicked. The rose gold colour of the bottom bezel has a subdued tone that doesn’t feel tacky and doesn’t get distracting. The power chord is detachable and you should be able to easily replace it with a suitable length alternative if needed. 

All ports are side-facing and positioned on the left, which makes them easy to access. The TV has three properly spaced HDMI 2.0 ports with HDMI 3 supporting ARC. There are two USB ports positioned back to back, AV In, optical output, Antenna port and an ethernet port. As for wireless connectivity options, you get dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0.

The remote feels a bit flimsy but is quite ergonomic and has 4 hotkeys for popular apps. We liked that the fourth key is a ‘Daily Key’ that you can remap to open any app of your choice.  The Frequently used keys, such as the home button and D-pad, are conveniently distinguished in low light by their white color, which should be quite helpful - at least until your muscle memory adapts to the layout.

The software is a Google TV interface powered by a MediaTek quad-core processor backed by 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. This is a powerful configuration and perfectly apt for TVs in this price segment. UI transitions felt responsive and features like screen mirroring via Chromecast built-in and voice commands worked smoothly. 

Kodak 65-inch CAPRO 4K LED Smart Google TV Review: Picture Quality

This is a 4K LED LCD TV that supports all popular HDR formats including Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+. There are several picture modes and during our testing, we noticed that the TV could randomly switch to presets like HDR (energy saving) or User mode which are not properly tuned. For the best experience, you will need to switch to movie mode in SDR and HDR content. 

Color accuracy is excellent in SDR in the Movie mode as measured by Claman Ultimate Colour Checker using Spectracal C6 HDR2000 colorimeter. We recorded an average Delta Error of just 2.3, with maximum error in the greyscale region.

Bright and dark SDR sequences are rendered faithfully and skin tones look natural. 

We recorded a maximum brightness of 345 nits for the panel, but in the cinema mode, you will get an average of approx 288 nits. We measured a contrast of around 930:1 which is standard for LED LCD panels in the segment.  

In spite of great chromaticity performance, the overall quality was slightly let down with the greyscale performance in SDR. The TV is using a basic LED LCD panel where the screen uniformity is about average and you can see the light from edge LEDs bleed in the letterbox bars when viewing content in the dark.  

We didn’t notice any unnatural motion smoothening by default. The upscaling for legacy 480p content is also about average.

Due to the low native contrast and low brightness of the panel, the overall HDR experience isn’t very impactful. When it comes to different supported formats, Dolby Vision works best. Colours look natural and scenes with average APL are properly displayed.

With HDR10 and HDR10+, the skin tones look slightly reddish and shades of blue in sky and water look a bit unnatural. As you can see in the greyscale analysis, the TV doesn’t track EOTF diligently for mapping luminance values in HDR10 in the Movie preset.

The TV covers 98% of the rec 709 colour space, which is to say it can reproduce most of the colors in content mastered in SDR. As for HDR, we recorded a BT2020 colour volume of 59.28 in UV terms, which is again standard for affordable LED LCD TVs. 

Kodak 65-inch Ultra HD (4K) LED Smart Google TV: Audio Quality

The TV comes with 40W speakers that can get loud enough for listening in a large hall. Dolby Atmos is supported, but don’t expect much in terms of surround sound from TV speakers. The dialogue clarity is decent enough in the movie audio preset, but if you are particular about audio, you will need to invest in an external soundbar or sound system. 

Kodak 65-inch Ultra HD (4K) LED Smart Google TV Review - Verdict 

The Kodak CAPRO  offers a large and decent 65-inch display at an affordable price point. While it may not boast cutting-edge technology or the most advanced features, it manages to provide a satisfactory viewing experience for those seeking a budget-friendly option and will be viewing high-resolution content from OTT apps. All said and done, its flaws are easier to overlook for the price. 

For consumers who prioritize color accuracy, the SDR content in Movie mode and Dolby Vision HDR settings should meet their expectations. However, the HDR10 and HDR10+ capabilities of the TV might feel somewhat underwhelming. As for the sound quality, it is acceptable considering the price range.

If you are looking for alternatives, you may also consider the Nu 65-inch Ultra HD (4K) Smart TV that runs LG’s WebOS TV interface and ships with LG’s magic remote. This one too lies in the same price segment and offers decent value for money. 

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