Fresh off its announced acquisition by Walmart, Vizio has dropped news of a new 86-inch TV, the biggest screen yet to appear from the US-based TV maker.
Ultra-large TVs are nothing unusual, with the best 85-inch TVs now starting to seem small compared to the 98-inch and even larger models that many brands rolled out at CES 2024. What is unusual about Vizio’s new 86-inch TV is its price: $999. That’s not much more than the 65-inch Vizio M-Series QX model I reviewed in late 2022, and it's a stone-cold bargain for a TV of this size.
The new 86-inch model tops off the company’s 4K TV series, which features screens in other sizes ranging from 43 inches to 75 inches. It has a full-array LED display and supports the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ high dynamic range formats. The TV’s native refresh rate is 60Hz, but gaming at 120fps is possible when played at 1080p resolution, and there’s also support for ALLM, VRR, and Dolby Vision gaming.
DTS:X audio processing is onboard, which typically includes a virtual surround sound option. The new 4K TV also comes with a Vizio Voice remote control with a built-in mic, works with Alexa and Google voice assistants, and supports AirPlay2 and Chromecast for streaming from a phone or tablet.
Big and cheap... but good?
Low-priced large TVs are becoming more common, with even premium brands like Samsung offering affordable 85-inch sets (and now 98-inch ones for 2024). But as we saw when we tested the Samsung CU8000 in a 75-inch screen size, the picture quality of these more basic TVs can be lacking in key areas, especially when it comes to contrast and black uniformity.
Picture quality shortcomings in lower-cost TVs can often be connected to the backlight technology used. Pricier models typically have a full array LED or mini-LED backlight with local dimming, which evenly distributes the lighting across the screen and boosts contrast. But the Samsung CU8000’s basic, edge-lit backlight caused deep blacks to appear as more of an elevated gray tone, and for highlights in movies with HDR to look comparatively dull.
That’s not to say Vizio’s 86-inch TV will suffer the same shortcomings. It does feature a full-array LED backlight, but there was no mention of local dimming in either the press release Vizio shared with us, or in the product listing on the company’s website.
Other budget TV brands such as TCL and Hisense also sell 85-inch models for under $1,000, and like Vizio’s 86-incher, these use basic LED backlights with no local dimming. TechRadar hasn’t tested these models, but it’s unlikely that they’d provide the same level of performance as mini-LED TVs such as the TCL QM8 and Hisense U8K, models ranking among the best TVs for combining picture quality with value.
Both those TVs with an 85-inch screen size cost roughly twice as much as the new 86-inch Vizio. And while we can’t say if the company’s new top 4K TV can rival the TCL and Hisense mini-LEDs without first completing a full review, if it comes anywhere close it will be an incredible value at $999. At the very least, it has an inch of screen size on the competition.
