When you think of LED TVs, Kodak is definitely not the brand that springs to the mind, but that may just change now…
Kodak is a famous brand that’s mainly known for its imaging products – in fact, it’s one of the pioneers on that front. Now, though, Kodak has ventured into a completely unknown territory as it has entered the flourishing, albeit highly competitive, business of LED TVs. And what’s more, Kodak’s latest LEDs are now readily available on the Indian market. The American brand launched 5 new LED TVs recently, ranging from 32-inch to 55-inch.
To see how competent Kodak’s new offerings are, we sampled one of the entry-level LED TVs by the brand – which is billed as 32HD XSMART. Now, its name is self-explanatory, isn’t it? It’s a 32-inch HD ready (720p) LED TV that is also ‘SMART’. What the latter bit means is that it comes with WiFi connectivity and runs on Android V4.4.4. As a result, it comes pre-loaded with apps such as YouTube, a web browser, Netflix, Skype etc. We’ve to say that the TV works flawlessly when connected over the internet without any perceptible flaws.
It may not be the best looking thing out there on the television market – and that’s a given since it’s a budget LED TV – but the fit and finish levels are satisfactory. The 32HD XSMART comes with 2 USB Ports, 2 HDMI ports, 2 AV inputs, a VGS port and best of all, an Air Mouse among other highlights. The Air Mouse basically works like a wireless mouse to access different on-board functions of the TV. But in addition to that, it also has a full-keyboard once you flip it over. It’s really a clever thing and works pretty efficiently.
The 32HD XSMART has a resolution of 1366×768, and from what we observed, the display offers vibrant and sharp images. However, high-quality videos do tend to distort a bit, but that’s only noticeable when you’re really keen on finding flaws with it. What really needs to be worked upon is the sound quality. The 2x10W speakers produce muffled sound which is a real killjoy.
All told, the Kodak 32HD XSMART is a really good budget LED TV, and one which doesn’t have many shortcomings. And with an attractive price-tag, it’s a really good value-for-money proposition – even when you compare it with other established brands.
