CompaQ CQ55AOQD 55-inch Ultra HD 4K Smart QLED TV

Prabakaran SK

@prabakaran_siwogeji

Literally out of the world product !

TL;DR - Go for it if you are a Software pro (albeit it is Android 8)! Bought in 2021 August. Reviewing it after just couple of days of usage. Why I chose Compaq HEX (over Mi, Sony, Samsung, TCL etc)? In today's fast pace Digital era, the Smart TV will easily get outdated in just a matter of 4-5 years, so I didn't plan to go for a higher-end TV now. Had to choose between Mi Q1 and this one, but one major factor that took to select this one is its power wattage: 150 Watts vs 180 Watts of Mi (whopping 18% power savings) Not worried about stock speakers' efficiency as I had planned to go for Soundbar with Subwoofer setup for good bass Theatrical effect. Delivery & Installation Came in typical TV box (delivered in a Tata Ace kind of a Van), but shocked to see there's no wood based protection cover. Better carefully check the TV for any damage before giving your consent to delivery personnel. TV is delivered in two days and installation is done at your convenience (Jeeves personnel will call you daily for installation until you say OK). Per him, Table mounting is free whereas Wall mounting costs 600 Rupees and adjustable wall mount costs 2000 Rupees. Didn’t opt for additional protection cover for 3.8k, because I really didn't see any real value of it. The TV: Quality of metal and plastics is awesome ! Really slim profile, sure-shot improves the aesthetics of the living room. My son played a in-built Asphalt Nitro high-end game for hours, but I couldn't see the TV got heated at all! A big wow! The compaq logo on the bottom-centre of the TV unit turns on dull-white color when turned on (constant burn not blinking, but you can change it to blinking in the settings). It is not completely bezel-less, the bezel albeit slim does has a prominent presence around the TV (a black border) I table-mounted it for now, but planning to wall-mount asap. Pros: TV is absolute killer in stylish looks ! Build quality is beyond expectations - 10/10 Performance is satisfactory, haven't found any TV freeze, no lags, or any such similar glitches! - 8/10 Display is out-of-the-world, top-notch quality, vibrant colors and brightness, the Q in QLED does make a difference! - 10/10 Surprised to see the Mouse-like point-n-click feature in the small Bluetooth remote! Never expected it to be given in such a budget-range TV ! (even many latest Sony TV's doesn't provide this feature), but it is very sensitive to hand movements, so you may miss a small button clicking elsewhere sometimes - 9/10 ESE (Experience Stabilization Engine), a Compaq's naming of MEMC (Motion Estimation Motion Compensation), does an excellent job avoiding the blur while playing HQ videos (4K, Youtube, etc). This is a big surprise for me, as this I saw perfectly worked on only Sony TVs (I don't know about other TVs, may be Samsung, LG, TCL also might be good here). - 8/10 24W Sound from speakers is just perfect, loud enough (even in 15 point volume), dialogues are crisp but Bass is less. - 8/10 My internet is around 37 Mbps and the TV plays 4k videos without any noticeable buffering/lag. - 8/10 TV Stand is in glossy chrome finish (not the black ones as seen in 65") and sturdy. Looks up-market and premium.-10/10 4 HDMI ports compared to 3 in other TVs (both USB 2 and USB 3 are provided) - 10/10 Google Assistant is very fast (it appears as soon as you press the dedicated button in the remote) and it always hears your commands correctly. - 10/10 Chromecast works flawlessly - 10/10 Cons: Android 8, come on Compaq Android 8 came in 2017 and it is 4 years passed - no dates of when it will be available (or whether it will be released by Compaq any time in future) - 6/10 Amazon Prime Video can't be installed from Play store, you need to Side-load it. - 8/10 Side-loaded Apps (APK installed) are not shown in "Apps" drawer. Workaround: We have to go to Settings (gear icon) > Apps to launch them. Whew! - 5/10 ESE (Experience Stabilization Engine) does the work only for high-resolution videos for smooth transitions (very much noticeable), whereas for normal TV channels and SDR quality ones, it doesn't seem to make any major difference. - 8/10 Mimi sound personalization doesn't seem to give any difference to me (at least). Or is it there only for 65"? - 8/10 If you are Bass lover, you definitely need a speaker system (such as a Soundbar), as the native ones' Bass is not that great. - 7/10 Power off button shuts down the Android OS and the TV! So if you start it again, it takes the whole process of booting up (taking about 30secs). A quick-wake feature like Mi would be super useful here! - 8/10 No Mute button in small remote ! Suddenly guests came home and you wanted to mute? Alas! - 5/10 Two remotes! Big one for DTH TVs and small one (bluetooth) for Android/Net based App usage. Not a real disadvantage, but you need both Remotes with you all the time (for example, the Mute button is only present in the big remote and one-touch Google Assistant voice control and mouse-point-n-click are present only in Small remote). - 9/10 No one-touch buttons for Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc (The Big remote does have a dedicated button for Youtube though) - 6/10 No ambient based screen light adjustment (like "dark" room) and not having a quick Picture/Sound dedicated buttons in remote means, you have to struggle through many menus to get the apt audio/video settings. - 5/10 Trivia: One side of the TV box showed "LED" TV but other side shows QLED (with "Q" having the style font of "Q" in Compaq). Even the Energy star rating label shows it as "LED" TV (5/5 stars for Energy rating!) Flipkart must revisit their exchange rates of old TVs, they are giving less than 50% compared to their main competitor. No PatchWall kind of stuff (like Mi), however it gives unpolluted pure Android experience. I connected my old Woofer's 3.5mm cable with an RCA cable for L&R channels in TV, but it didn’t work, so I directly connected the 3.5 mm cable to the Headphone jack in TV, which does the trick. When table mounted, when you push the TV, the TV does shake a little bit, but it won't fall, prefer wall-mounting little higher if we have children. CI (Common Interface) slot also provided, but can't see its real value in India. Has 2RCA (L & R channel) Female port (so it supports 2RCA Male pins). SPDIF & YPbPr port also available. As the TV stand gets fixed at both the edges, you definitely need a TV unit that supports the total width of the TV ! Not really worried whether the TV supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as I believe it is based on the external speakers you use (like a simple 2.1 speaker setup or a Soundbar can't bring the Surround effect you expect in Atmos). I asked Jeeves personnel to side-load Amazon Prime Video, but he forgot to do it. However, it is very simple to do it, I did it myself. You can turn on TV with any remote, but you end up using the small remote most of the time! Big remote is huge! Found that most buttons can be eliminated in it to make it simple (just my personal thought)! Words to Compaq team/technicians: What a great work you guys did to produce such an awesome product! If you can fix those suggested in "Cons" section, then without a doubt, this product is the best seller for Compaq! Overall, I am very happy with the purchase. Go Compaq Go !