Philips 43PUS6503 TV — 2018 model. A fairly simple development of the manufacturer with good performance and low price. The Philips 6 series differs from later models in the absence of Ambilight backlight. But according to experts, there is no significant difference. Someone to their liking, perhaps, will have the absence of additional highlighting of the screen. I studied the specifications of the model, compared them with several well-known brands in the budget segment, and worked through customer reviews to prepare a truly detailed and objective review of the TV.

This model participates in the ranking of the best 4K UHD TVs.

Screen

The Philips 43PUS6503 TV with a diagonal of 42.5” (108 cm) has a resolution of 3840×2160 px. HD resolution — 4K UHD, HDR. The IPS matrix reproduces colors well, provides deep blacks and allows you to expand the viewing angle up to 178 °.

Brightness — 350 cd / m². According to this indicator, the TV outperforms the LG 43UK6300 (200 cd/m²). In color scenes, highlights look sharp, contrast is decent, giving ample color range with improved detail. The colors are natural, close to the standard. Low brightness will be a disadvantage when viewing HDR content, but in dark scenes, black tones are reproduced perfectly.

Micro Dimming technology is responsible for improving contrast. At the same time, 6400 zones of the picture are analyzed and adapted, taking into account the change in details for a more realistic image. The Pixel Precise Ultra HD processor does not have good image processing. There may be noise, reduced contrast, sharpness and color reproduction compared to Philips 7 series TVs.

A 50Hz refresh rate is typical for most TVs. To improve the smoothness of movement in dynamic scenes, the Picture Performance Index is used, which raises the index to 900 Hz. This ensures that there are no jerks, loops, etc. For comparison: the LG 43UK6300’s enhancement technology increases the frequency to only 100 Hz.

Backlight — Direct LED, the diodes are located behind the screen over the entire surface. This provides the most uniform illumination. But there is no full-scale dimming. Such a backlight prevents the appearance of lights on the sides when watching TV in the dark, as, for example, in Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 43 (according to customer reviews).

Appearance

Dimensions — 971 × 564 × 67 mm, thin frame. The body is made in black. For wall mounting, a VESA 200×200 mm mount is provided. The TV will not fit snugly against the wall due to the location of the connectors.

Two Y-shaped legs can be attached to the cabinet for installation. With a stand, the dimensions of the TV increase to 971 × 586 × 218 mm. It weighs 8.8 kg.

Connectors

The TV is equipped with a standard number of connectors: AV, component, 3 HDMI, 2 USB, MHL, Ethernet, Miracast, CI + slot, optical output, headphone jack. There is Bluetooth, Wi-Fi. For comparison, Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 43 has only 2 HDMI ports, while LG 43UK6300 does not have MHL.

Sound

The sound is provided by 2 speakers of 10 W each, like many budget TVs, for example, the LG 43UK6300. And Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 43 has less sound power. It has 6 watt speakers.

Thanks to Dolby Digital and DTS decoders, the sound is realistic, voluminous, deep. When you change channels, the sound level is automatically equalized (AVL).

Functions

Philips 43PUS6503 has Smart TV. The Saphi operating system, although quite simple, is distinguished by normal functionality and a simple, intuitive menu. Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 43 Smart TV on Android, LG 43UK6300 — webOS. It is difficult to say which platform is better — it depends on preferences. Philips started using Android only starting from the seventh series. But some buyers find such a platform not very suitable for a TV due to the complex menu. But it provides more accessible software.

You can connect home devices to TV, display images on the screen. It is possible to record to USB-drive. Reads almost all formats: MP3, WMA, MPEG4, HEVC, MKV, JPEG.

Management is by remote control. It has shortcut buttons to access popular apps (YouTube, Netflix). But competitors Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 43 and LG 43UK6300 can be controlled by voice, which is more convenient when searching for content.

There is a TimeShift function that allows you to pause the viewing of the on-air channel and start watching from the moment it was stopped. Sleep timer. Blocking from accidental interference by children is provided.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• a full-fledged 4K TV with good technical equipment;
• low price;
• quite smooth, bright and realistic picture with natural colors;
• excellent sound;
• many connectors;
• convenient Smart TV;
• large viewing angle;
• simple menu.

Flaws:

• the backlight has barely noticeable dimming in the form of vertical pillars in the central part of the screen;
• very inconvenient browser;
• no laser pointer or voice control for ease of operation in Smart.

conclusions

The price of Philips 43PUS6503 is 30 thousand rubles. The picture quality is decent for a budget segment model. Good contrast, high color reproduction. It is possible that a low brightness value will not provide excellent quality HDR content. It differs from the LG 43UK6300 for 31 thousand rubles in a smoother image in dynamic scenes. Compared to Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 43 for 25 thousand, it differs in the quality of the backlight, the absence of light on the sides of the matrix. But loses to competitors due to the lack of voice control. OS Saphi from Philips is somewhat simpler in terms of menus. In general, the TV has a fairly high-quality picture and sound. At a low cost, it can become a competitor to more expensive models.