Huawei Vision S Series Smart TV Hands-on

Huawei has officially launched in the Philippines its Smart TVs, the Huawei Vision S Series. It comes in two models, 55-inch and 65-inch, featuring a 4K screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and powered by HarmonyOS. Check out our initial thoughts below.

At first glance, the Huawei Vision S looks just like any premium Smart TV, sleek with a minimalist design, slim bezels, and a thin body. It uses a high-class stainless steel frame with a brushed finish. You can mount it on a wall or place it on a TV console using its stainless steel stands.

At the bottom, just beneath the Huawei logo, is the 6 far-field microphones, and at the center is the LED indicator. Under it is the power button.

Up top, behind the screen, are metal contacts for the 13MP magnetic camera that you will use for MeeTime Video Calls.

Again, from the back, on the left side, is the socket for the power cable, and on the right are ports for the USB-A, three HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack, RJ45, and AV in.

For the screen, the model we have on hand is the 55-inch LCD model. It has a 4K resolution, 92% DCI-P3 color gamut, 120Hz refresh rate, and 350 nits of brightness. It is also equipped with Low Blue Light and Flicker-free technology, as well as Dynamic Contrast Improvement.

For audio, it is powered by Huawei Sound with 4 built-in speakers placed at the bottom of the TV. In addition, it features Huawei Histen audio algorithms to provide loud and rich sounds, Virtual Surround Extension, Voice Enhancement, Sound Calibration, DTS HD, and Dolby Audio. It also has an AI Speaker Mode to perform as a speaker when the screen is off. In other words, audio is great on the Huawei Vision S that we don’t find the need to connect our soundbar.

Setting up requires several steps but easy to follow. First, you’ll need to pair the remote by holding down the Home and Menu buttons. Next, select your language and region. Third, enable Huawei Mobile Services. Fourth, select your TV setup, either on a stand or wall-mounted—lastly, log in with your Huawei ID.

If you have a Huawei smartphone, you can use it to log in your Huawei ID to the Huawei Vision S and control the TV from it. Once you’ve completed the steps, you can now start exploring the TV.

When it comes to quality, the Huawei Vision S can display really sharp images thanks to the 4K resolution. If you have a collection of 4K movies or like streaming videos in 4K, you’re going to benefit from this resolution. It’s not OLED, but it has nice contrast and punchy colors.

What improves the experience is the 120Hz refresh rate. Even if you’re playing a low frame-rate video (24 fps or 30 fps), the Huawei Vision S can transform it into 120fps using Smart MEMC (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation) algorithm. It works by artificially adding frames to a video for a smooth effect. It’s not perfect, especially during fast-paced scenes, but it’s a visual treat when it starts working on slower scenes.

Running the software side is HarmonyOS, which is Huawei’s own operating system of IoT devices. It has Huawei AppGallery and features its own Video Streaming and Music Streaming platforms. While it doesn’t have Google Mobile Services, you can sideload apps on it via a flash drive or by sending an APK from a Huawei smartphone via Huawei Share.

Author’s note: We’re using an early version of the firmware at the time of writing, so our experience could be different from the retail units. Huawei will soon push a firmware update to all units to improve the experience.

Let’s talk about its exclusive features. It has Huawei MeeTime Video Calls that lets you make video calls with contacts using Huawei Vision S or Huawei smartphones or tablets straight from the TV with the help of the 13MP Magnetic Camera. It also has OneHop projection to let you mirror your Huawei smartphone to the Vision S, and as mentioned earlier, Huawei Share, so you can transfer files wirelessly. Just tap your smartphone’s NFC to the remote’s NFC to initiate pairing.

The Huawei Vision S is an enticing offering as it is not like your typical Smart TV. If you’re already in the Huawei ecosystem, you’ll enjoy the exclusive features and interconnectivity between devices.

The Huawei Vision S Series is priced as follow:
• 55-inch: PHP 36,999USD 630INR 53,449EUR 600CNY 4,592 (SRP) / PHP 32,999USD 562INR 47,670EUR 536CNY 4,095 (Cash/Straight)
• 65-inch: PHP 56,999USD 971INR 82,341EUR 925CNY 7,074 (SRP) / PHP 49,999USD 852INR 72,229EUR 811CNY 6,205 (Cash/Straight)

Huawei also offers a free Android smart box worth PHP 3,999USD 68INR 5,777EUR 65CNY 496 from May 22 to September 30, 2021, and free delivery from May 7 to 31, 2021.