Thomson Oath Pro 55 review: Miserable barebone Android-certified smart TV

On paper, the Thomson Oath Pro 55 smart TV seems to offer good value for money. But does it? Let’s find out

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Smart TVs | Thomson Reuters

The Thomson Oath Pro is one of the three Android-certified smart TVs launched by Super Plastronics, the brand licensee for Thomson in India. It comes with both Dolby Vision and HDR10 support, a combination rarely seen in budget TVs. It also has Google Play Store for TV, Chromecast and Google Assistant all built in. The Thomson Oath Pro is available in 43-, 55- and 65-inch screen variants. I reviewed the 55-inch, which has thin screen bezels with a rose-gold strip at the bottom. Its I/O ports are easy to access even if the TV is wall-mounted. A minimal, functional design.

The TV has a 10-bit LED panel of a UHD 4K resolution. The panel supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG. It has a rated brightness of 550 nits and contrast ratio of 500000:1. The panel is glossy and has 178-degree viewing angles. But the display suffers from backlight bleeding and image ghosting issues. And there is no option for auto brightness or auto dimming.

The speakers — bottom-facing dual 30W stereo speakers with DTS TruSurround and Dolby Digital Plus audio support — are loud, with decent treble and bass. Suitable for casual viewing, but inadequate for documentaries or music videos.

A quad-core processor, paired with 1.75GB RAM and 8GB built-in storage, powers the TV. The performance is nothing spectacular. The set does not support quick boot and there is a software glitch. Some OTT apps automatically shut down as the TV enters standby mode. Also, the 2.4GHz WiFi limits its overall utility, especially if you have IoT devices connected to a dual-band WiFi router and want them to connect with the television.

Verdict

Priced at Rs 32,999, the Thomson Oath Pro 55-inch is a barebones smart Android TV. It’s a hard one to recommend. You might instead like to try the Vu Premium Android TV 55, which costs less and performs better.