Vizio OLED 4K HDR TV test (OLED65-H1): OLED for everyone
"Vizios H1 OLED is a great TV at a great price."
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Perfect black levels
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Excellent out-of-box color
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Ideal for playing
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Sleek, sleek design
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Difficult cable management
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Low risk of burn-in
It's been over a year since Vizio unveiled the OLED65-H1 TV at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show – and the longest we've ever waited for a TV to be checked. And while it took a long time, we still think it's a tough competitor that brought OLED TVs to the lowest prices we've ever seen. Was it worth the wait?
Details about the 4K HDR television from Vizio OLED (65-H1)
While we tested the 65-inch model OLED65-H1, our test also applies to the 55-inch model.
| Screen size | Model no | RRP |
| 55 inches | OLED55-H1 | 1000 dollars |
| 65 inches | OLED65-H1 | $ 1500 |
Out of the box
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
The package contains a remote control (not a voice remote control), batteries for the remote control and several parts for the TV stand. While there was a product information brochure for the TV itself, we couldn't find any instructions on how to assemble the stand. Perhaps that was an oversight for our test device, but luckily we were able to sort the assembly without too much trouble.
Physically setting up the Vizio OLED65-H1 is a two-person job. And to be honest, this is a bit of a fearful proposition, as evidenced by the huge stickers on the front warning you of where to (and where not) to hold the H1 while handling it. It boils down to having a really expensive, somewhat flexible OLED screen that needs to be laid flat to assemble properly. That can be tricky to say the least. You can feel the screen flex a little in your hands when you hold it and move it. Hence, one has to be incredibly careful with assembly and placement. Ideally, as already mentioned, it would be a two-person job.
Ports and cable management
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
The Vizio OLED65-H1 has three downward facing HDMI ports (one is an eARC and the other two are labeled 4K 120 Hz). There are also some ports on the side (composite, HDMI and USB) for easier access. Vizio has gone to great lengths to keep the back of the H1 clean and tidy by using various access panels and channels to manage the cables, including the power connector. The channels route the cables to the center of the device and down through the stand to keep it looking neat and organized. This makes for a neat job, but it also cuts the cable length in half, which can make hooking up your components a problem.
A note about these HDMI connections: While only two are labeled as 4K 120Hz, Vizio assures that they are all HDMI 2.1 connections, which in addition to a 4K resolution of up to 120Hz also have a variable refresh rate (VRR) and support an automatic low latency mode (ALLM). At the time the television was evaluated, this did not appear to be the case. However, since then Vizio has released a firmware update that addressed the issues it encountered while testing the TV with a Sony PlayStation 5 (see below).
The curved stand on the OLED65-H1 looks great, although the idea of putting most of the weight on the little foot sticking out from the center and back doesn't exactly instill confidence. And while the plastic access covers look great after being pressed in, they are difficult to snap into place and are used to shorten the cables, as mentioned above.
Black levels
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
The black levels of the Vizio OLED65-H1 are impressive – after all, it is an OLED television. So when you turn the pixels off, you get real black perfection. But that's not the whole story of a good image – you also need good gradients that result in dark grays, shadow detail, and dissolves. And here the H1 struggles a little. You may actually have trouble seeing dark pictures unless you have a very dark room. It doesn't go smoothly out of the black so there is a lack of shadow detail, which makes viewing really dark scenes in any location other than a completely dark room a challenge.
Other than that, the black uniformity is perfect and sets the TV for excellent contrast. The gray uniformity was also nearly perfect.
brightness
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
The interesting thing about the H1 is that with the ready-to-use calibrated picture presetting, the television did not get very bright – only about 400 nits at its peak for HDR and about 300 for SDR. That's not much of a difference between HDR and SDR. However, after resetting the TV and changing some settings, the performance was significantly better and was as expected: closer to 400 nits in SDR and almost 650 in HDR with a 10 percent window for the measurement.
Color accuracy
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Adjustments in brightness can often have a negative impact on color accuracy. However, the OLED65-H1's ready-to-use color is fantastic in calibrated image mode.
Motion handling
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
While the OLED65-H1 handles colors well, it could do better when it comes to handling movement. It has a bit of an issue with motion blur, and we noticed a stutter in the content at 24 Franes per second (fps). Admittedly, this was with the motion and jerk compensation settings turned off. However, when these settings are enabled, even at the lowest level, they will introduce the “soap opera effect”. In our opinion, this is not worth compromising on.
Image processing
Image processing is an area where Vizio still has little room to grow. It's just not as pristine as LG or Sony OLED TVs are. Vizio's processing has come a long way this year, but the H1 hasn't cleaned up low-resolution, shallow bit-depth content as flawlessly as some competing OLEDs. The H1 looks amazing with high definition content, but you may notice a bit more streaks in wide color ranges when streaming content from Hulu, YouTube, or other sources that is limited to 720p or otherwise heavily compressed than you might do with other OLED TVs.
Burn-in potential
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
It wouldn't be an OLED TV review if we didn't talk about the burn-in potential. While burn-in is nowhere near as much of an issue as it has been in the past, there are risks involved in running an OLED TV really hard. So, if you're the type of person who plays the same video game eight hours a day, or watches the same cable news channel every day / all day, you may have an issue with graphic banners or chyrons burning into your screen. Even so, the OLED65-H1 does a lot to combat burn-in. If you rest on a static screen for more than 30 seconds, the H1 will go dark. It also features pixel shift technology and a brightness limiter to prevent burn-in.
Audio quality
We initially had a bad experience with the H1's sound quality, but restarting the TV improved the audio performance significantly. However, we believe that such a great TV deserves a soundbar for a sound experience that matches the picture quality. Thankfully, Vizio makes some of the most affordable, high-performance soundbars on the market. In our experience, the Vizio Elevate soundbar in particular is an excellent choice.
Play
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
When we plugged in our PlayStation 5, we expected a fairly automated experience. And while the H1 automatically recognized the console and labeled the entrance, the image quality didn't look too good. After looking at this, we realized we weren't getting HDR, which the PS5 does by default. After tinkering with the settings on the H1, we managed to brick the entire TV. Although we could go into the PS5 settings and manually toggle a few things to produce 4K HDR at up to 120Hz, the experience wasn't what we expected at all. It turned out that some bugs needed to be fixed. Since our initial testing, Vizio has released a firmware update that has resolved any issues we encountered. We can confirm that the H1 OLED is an excellent choice for a gaming TV.
Our opinion
The wait for the Vizio H1 OLED is definitely worth it. Kudos to Vizio for reducing the image quality of OLED to an affordable price. While Vizio has cheap competition later this year in the form of the expected LG A-Series OLED, Vizio cut OLED below $ 1,000 first, and we're grateful for that. It took a while to wait for some firmware patches, but in the end the Vizio H1 OLED turned out to be a fantastic TV.
Is there a better alternative?
The LG CX OLED is an inexpensive competitor of the H1 OLED from Vizio, but costs more. For the extra cash, you get a little bit more sophisticated image processing, but we think the image on the Vizio H1 OLED is so good that most people would love to save money while getting great image quality.
How long it will take?
Given Vizio's track record and the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 One inputs through the H1 OLED, this TV should last for many years.
warranty
Vizio grants a one-year guarantee on its TV products. Please refer to the Vizio warranty page for more information.
Should you buy it?
Yes. The Vizio H1 OLED is an excellent value because of its premium OLED image quality and relatively easily accessible price.
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