4 features not to be missed when buying a cheap 4K Smart TV

People are always looking to save money when they can, especially when it comes to tech, but many people regret buying a cheap 4K Smart TV. It took less than a year for it to become obsolete - but on the bright side, people now know what to look for when they next buy.

4. More updated video features and portals

The prospect of gaming at 120FPS on the PS5 sounds fantastic, but as a future-oriented tech enthusiast, owning a cheap 4K Smart TV will prevent you from taking advantage of the higher refresh rate and gaming features.

In addition to not being able to go above 60Hz, the TV doesn't support 1440p. And even if it could, the Smart TV doesn't have any kind of VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) to smooth out the frame rate. It only has Game Mode, which reduces input lag and improves the picture (slightly). Unless you're playing a competitive game right now, that feature won't be useful. You'll have to manually set the picture settings.

3. The operating system can be easily customized

Some people who used to own a Vizio TV should have looked into the company's Smart TVs. They should have known that Vizio Smart TVs don't run Android, they run Linux. And because of that ignorance, they missed out on the biggest reason to buy a Smart TV: Sideloading apps.

With a Vizio Smart TV running Linux, you can't sideload apps like you can with an Android Smart TV. Instead, the apps you can install are pre-defined and can only be downloaded from Vizio's app store. Many popular apps are available, like apps for popular streaming services, but you can't experiment with anything outside of Vizio's ecosystem.

2. Surround sound is a must

The same goes for the audio ports available on budget TVs: ARC, optical, RCA, and coaxial. Most of these options come standard on just about every TV you can buy today, and ARC makes setting up a soundbar incredibly easy. But you'll miss out on ARC's successor: eARC.

Upgrading to eARC is like upgrading audio from 1080p to 4K. The bandwidth is significantly higher, and eARC supports a wider range of higher-quality audio formats. Now that I'm more invested in my physical media library, having Dolby Atmos , DTS:X , or 7.1 audio is much more important. ARC supports 5.1 surround sound, but it's compressed, and you don't want to compromise on that.

1. HDR performance is top priority

Given the chance, many people would go back and try HDR on their Smart TVs. While it may not be terrible, there are other budget 4K Smart TVs that perform better. If they had the chance, they might have discovered its shortcomings sooner.

While the HDR color palette looks vibrant, the contrast is often so dark that details are lost. Sometimes the contrast looks gray or washed out, even when viewing HDR content. It doesn't take any changes to the picture settings to make a noticeable difference.

Finally, and more importantly, the HDR peak brightness is only 300 nits, which is a miserable number. The glare killed the display so many times that many people just didn't want to look at it, especially with games like Elden Ring, where dark areas are frequent.

Buying a 4K Smart TV on a budget isn't the worst way to spend your money - you can still use it to stream movies. But if you've been patient, you won't be looking for a replacement TV right now.

Kareem Winters

Update 31 July 2025