EKO Android 4K UHD Smart TV review – value and quality at an affordable price

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• VERDICT

For the price, the EKO Android TV represents decent value for customers looking for a connected smart TV, second TV or a television for the kids to enjoy.

If you’re on a budget and are looking for a TV – the 55-inch EKO 4K UHD smart TV might be worth a look. It offers quality and value and, at $699, is an affordable choice.

Available through Big W, the EKO is running the AndroidOS TV operating system and has a minimal design with thin bezels and a discreet stand for positioning on an entertainment unit. It can also be wall mounted.

The 4K UHD TV has a 60Hz refresh rate with a 5000:1 contrast ratio and can display 1.07 billion colours.

Right out of the box the EKO TV has Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube pre-installed.

In fact, it has Netflix and YouTube shortcut buttons on the remote.

Viewers can enjoy respectable 4K quality through Netflix, Amazon and on YouTube.

Contrast ratio is OK but not too bad for a TV of this price.

You can expect a Mercedes Benz engine in a Hyundai but the EKO TV still provides the essential features for customers on a budget.

In terms of watching sport, the TV lacks the necessary higher refresh rate for a smoother viewing experience but it does have a high motion processor that does a decent in reducing the judder of the fast moving images.

What’s attractive to customers is the connectivity through the onboard wi-fi (there is also an Ethernet port if you have a cable handy) so you can easily download other apps like free-to-air catch-up TV apps like 9Now. Users can also stream live TV through these apps as well.

The connection will also serve users well to stream their content to the onboard streaming apps as well.

There are four HDMI ports in total on the TV and when we first connected the TV these HDMI ports were non-responsive so we couldn’t display our sources like a gaming console or Apple TV.

But a factory reset did get things working again. A reboot works not just computers but, evidently, for TVs as well.

We didn’t have the same luck with the USB ports which wouldn’t display our thumb drive contents despite it containing compatible formats like MP4, MOV and AVI.

The only option we were given was reformatting the drive each time we connected.

EKO says you use the USB port to record content as well so it can also be your PVR.

Another frustration was not being able to turn the TV on with the remote a few times.

We were pressing the on button with the remote less than a metre away and the TV refused to respond.

A few minutes later, the EKO TV decided to work. We couldn’t explain why this was happening but it occurred on more than one occasion.

We did contact the supplier about these issues and they offered to immediately replace the unit as they were concerned it was a faulty unit which is the likely explanation because I haven’t seen other reviewers experience these problems.

Those issues aside, the TV performed perfectly well and offered decent quality when watching 4K content.

The speakers on the TV are adequate and offered acceptable quality so music and speech and other sounds were loud and clear.

But one of the HDMI ports has ARC (audio return channel) so you are able to add a soundbar to improve the audio quality if you like.

Having the Android operating system onboard means you have access to the Google Play Store so you can easily download other streaming apps like Kayo and Binge.

Other TVs running their own operating system like Samsung, LG and Hisense don’t even have this convenience.

They have to develop their own apps for these services that run in their respective operating systems.

And with Android onboard, users also have access to Google Assistant so you do have a range of voice control – another feature that you will find in TVs that cost a lot more than this one.

The EKO 55-inch 4K UHD Android Smart TV is available now for $699 from Big W.

VERDICT

For the price, the EKO Android TV represents decent value for customers looking for a connected smart TV, second TV or a television for the kids to enjoy.

Product Features: 

– Built-in 4K Netflix, 4K Amazon Prime Video 4K YouTube

– Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube buttons on remote for easy access

– 3 x HDMI, 1 HDMI (ARC)

– USB port to record, playback of video/music/photo

– Ultra-dynamic engine for crisp picture

– High motion processor for the ideal sports experience

– Vesa mount compatible

– Display Colours 1.07 Billion

– Contrast Ratio 5000 : 1

– Refresh Rate 60Hz

– Aspect Radio 16 : 9

– Ethernet

– Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n

– Power Source 100-240V 50/60Hz

– Power Consumption <135W

– Multimedia Playback Format (USB)

– Movie avi, mp4, mov, mpg, mkv, dat, vob, rmvb, ts, tp, trp

– Music mp3, wma, wav, m4a

– Photo jpeg, mpo, png, bmp

– Dimensions With Stand 1235.5 (w) x 250 (d) x 776 (h) mm

– Without Stand 1235.5 (w) x 68.2 (d) x 715 (h) mm