Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 43-inch offers the right balance of modern features, picture quality and performance at an affordable price. The TV offers a 4K display and excellent colour accuracy in SDR. The HDR performance is rather basic but that’s perfectly fine considering the price segment. The Fire OS on the TV is an intuitive interface that also has a smart home advantage in India. So, overall, the Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43 has all that you’d expect from an affordable 43-inch TV.
Pros
- 4K resolution
- Excellent SDR Colours in movie mode
- FireOS is well-designed
- Decent Audio experience
Cons
- Ads on the FireTV interface are off-putting
Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43-inch review: Specifications
- Panel Size: 43-inch
- Panel Type: LED LCD (mix of VA and IPS panel types)
- Panel Resolution: 3840 x 2160 – 4K UHD
- Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz
- Supported HDR Formats: HDR10, HLG
- Speakers: 24W
- Audio formats: Supports Dolby Audio, DTS Virtual:X, DTS-HD
- Software: Fire OS 7
- HDMI Ports: 3x HDMI 2.1
- HDMI 2.1 features: eARC
- Other connectivity options: 2 USB ports, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5, Ethernet, RF connection input, Headphone out, optical input
- Processor: Quad Core Cortex A55, Mali G52 MC1 (MediaTek)
- Built-in RAM and storage: 2GB + 8GB
- MRP – 42,999; Best Price: Rs. 24,999
Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43-inch review: Design and Remote
In terms of design, this 43-inch Fire TV looks like a mini version of the Xiaomi 65-inch X-series TV (2023) we recently reviewed. The TV features a functional design with narrow bezels on the sides and a metal frame for durability. There is an LED indicator and a button underneath for manual power control.
The plastic feet included in the box effectively stabilize the TV. The ports are situated on the centrally positioned rear chassis, but the frequently used ports are side-facing and easily accessible. So, considering the price, we are perfectly satisfied with the design and build of the Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43.
Xiaomi also provides various connectivity options, including three HDMI ports on the rear. Xiaomi mentions that these are HDMI 2.1 ports with limited bandwidth. HDMI 2 supports eARC for higher bandwidth audio transmission to supported soundbars or other external audio systems.
The Alexa Remote that comes with Xiaomi’s Fire TVs is a well-designed remote. It includes a mute button and dedicated media playback controls. These playback controls are handy when switching picture modes and controlling playback simultaneously. However, the forward and backward buttons didn’t work with the side menu overlay on the screen (the only time we needed them to).
You can long-press the home button to access a quick settings menu on the right, offering options to switch inputs, change the picture mode, mirror the screen, and more. The good thing is that, compared to regular Xiaomi TV remotes, there is no confusing Patchwall key next to the home button.
Xiaomi also adds buttons to flip through channels and pull up channel guides for regular DTH TV. As for hotkeys, you have options for Netflix, Prime Video, Amazon Movies, and a shortcut to All Apps.
As you may have noticed, there are plenty of dedicated buttons on the remote that you might not use very frequently, but they are super convenient whenever you need to.
Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43-inch review: Performance and software
Fire OS 7 is a well-optimized interface, and during our review period, the performance felt snappier than Android TVs with similar configurations, i.e., 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. The Fire TV OS remains the same as what you’d find on other Fire TV devices, such as the Fire TV sticks or Fire TV Cube. Performance will vary according to the device’s RAM and storage.
Personally, I find the Fire TV interface a lot more appealing and intuitive than Google TV. The menus are neatly arranged, making it easier to navigate to the options you are looking for. The TV also has AirPlay 2 support and you can cast videos seamlessly from both Apple iPhones and Android phones. For screen mirroring, the TV integrates Miracast.
Another advantage is the smart home functionality. Google Assistant and Alexa are widely recognized as the leading smart assistants for driving smart home features. Amazon has demonstrated a greater commitment to adapting and promoting its Echo devices in the Indian smart home market. As a result, Alexa has gained significant popularity among Indian smart home users, providing an advantage for Fire TV.
For instance, as demonstrated by Xiaomi at a product briefing, you can simply ask Alexa to check the camera feed from any particular camera, even in Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode, without interrupting your ongoing TV feed.
On the downside, ads within the Fire TV interface can be off-putting. The inclusion of advertisements in the central strip and prominent slots within the top carousel feels intrusive.
Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43-inch review: SDR picture quality
4K UHD resolutions make it sharper than a comparable 43-inch Full HD TV, but at times we noticed that the TV didn’t feel as sharp as other bigger 4K TVs that we had in the room even when running UHD resolution. Having said that, our experience with this TV convinces us that 4K on a 43-inch screen is a worthy advantage.
The SDR performance of the Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43-inch is impressive. Right away, we observed that the skin tones appeared natural and lacked the pronounced red bias often found in affordable TVs, including those from Xiaomi. The default contrast is set a tad higher than the standard.
Movie mode is the most accurate colour preset with a colour temperature relatively closer to industry standard D65 and it also disables motion smoothing (at the expense of slight judder in slow panning shots). If you prefer cooler tones, you can switch to the standard mode which is less accurate and with some motion smoothing that can’t be disabled.
Greyscale in movie mode
We recorded a maximum contrast of 4462:1 in standard mode and 4083:1 in movie mode. The colour accuracy in SDR is excellent in movie mode with an average delta error of 2.5, below the humanly perceptible value of 3. Maximum errors were recorded in shades of blue.
The greyscale has some room for improvement, though. The TV undertracks the standard Gamma of 2.4 which means you will lose some details, particularly in light grey shades.
The Fire TV managed to reproduce legacy SDR content really well. The upscaling is also pretty decent. In our tests, the panel supported 99.6% of Rec 709 colour space used in SDR content.
Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43-inch review: HDR Performance
The TV supports basic HDR 10 and HLG. However HDR content pushes this basic panel to its limits.
We measured a maximum brightness of 226 nits which isn’t enough for impactful HDR that evokes an emotional response. Most of the bright highlight details were clipped in our test patterns. This might not, however, be as prominent to average consumers while watching HDR content.
We measured 87.5% DCI-P3 coverage and a BT2020 coverage of 69.86% in UV terms, which are above average. The colour accuracy in HDR is not as great as in SDR content but is still decent. The TV slightly undertracks the standard EOTF curve. We recorded an average delta error of 6. Skin tones have a very slight red tint in HDR content.
So to sum it up, the overall HDR performance of the Xiaomi Redmi Fire TV 43-inch is decent.
Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43-inch review: Gaming and Audio
The 24W audio system performed above average and is suitable for a medium-sized room. Dialogues in movies and TV shows were clean and audible. The TV also supports Dolby Audio, DTS Virtual:X, and DTS-HD. For more impactful Audio, you will need to invest in an external audio system.
This is not a TV meant for gamers and we did notice slight input lag while gaming. This shouldn’t however be a bother for basic gamers.
Should you buy it?
The Xiaomi Smart Fire TV 4K offers great value for the asking price of Rs. 24,990. The TV offers a 4K display, excellent colour accuracy in SDR and decent HDR performance in its class. The Fire OS on the TV is an intuitive interface that also has a smart home advantage in India. So, overall, the Xiaomi Redmi Smart Fire TV 4K 43 has all that you’d expect from an affordable 43-inch TV. If you are looking for a basic option that offers a decent smart TV experience, this one is worth considering. Of course, Alexa integration and smart features are bonus advantages.
Redmi 43-inch F Series Smart LED Fire TV (L43R8-FVIN) Key Specs, Price and Launch Date
| Release Date: | |
| Market Status: | Launched |
Key Specifications
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Deepak Singh
Deepak is Editor at Digit. He is passionate about technology and has been keeping an eye on emerging technology trends for nearly a decade. When he is not working, he likes to read and to spend quality time with his family. View Full Profile
