The OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro: A Big Screen Bargain or a Compromise?
OnePlus has been steadily building its presence in the Indian television market, focusing on value-driven offerings with large screen sizes and competitive prices. The OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro, a recently released addition to the Y1S Pro series, aims to capture the attention of budget-conscious buyers seeking a big-screen Ultra-HD experience. Priced at ₹39,999, it directly faces off against formidable contenders like Xiaomi, Redmi, TCL, and Hisense, all vying for dominance in the highly competitive affordable TV segment. But does the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro rise to the challenge or fall short in this price war? Let’s dive into this detailed review and find out.
Design and Specifications: Keeping it Simple
The OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro, part of the Y series, sits comfortably within OnePlus’s more budget-friendly range. It’s available in three sizes: 43 inches, 50 inches, and the 55-inch variant we’ll be focusing on, which comes in at ₹39,999. While the design isn’t particularly flashy, it holds its own against other televisions in this price segment.
The TV boasts a slim black frame surrounding the screen, maximizing the screen-to-body ratio. A subtle OnePlus logo adorns the bottom bezel, and a slightly prominent module graces the lower portion. Overall, the design is distraction-free, keeping the focus squarely on the content.
Weighing around 10.9kg without the included stand, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro can be wall-mounted using standard VESA-compatible brackets (not included). While not remarkably slim, the TV doesn’t appear overly thick either. However, the ports located on the left side are positioned far inward, making access challenging if you’ve opted for a standard low-profile wall mount.
Connectivity options on the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro include:
- Three HDMI 2.1 ports (one supporting ARC/eARC)
- Two USB ports
- Digital Optical (Toslink) port
- Ethernet port
- AV input socket (using a 3-in-1 adapter)
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Dual-band Wi-Fi
The 55-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED screen boasts support for HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG, ensuring a richer viewing experience with high dynamic range content. The speaker system comprises two drivers, delivering a total of 24W of power and supporting Dolby Audio. Under the hood, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro packs 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage for apps and data.
OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro Remote and Features: Back to Basics
Minimalist remotes are increasingly prevalent, and the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro follows suit with a simple remote that prioritizes the smart TV essentials. Interestingly, you won’t find a dedicated power button; the button with the OnePlus logo handles both power and standby modes, as well as quick access to the Oxygen Play interface.
Beyond its power controls, the remote offers a standard D-pad and a selection button for navigation, home and back buttons, volume and Google Assistant controls, and hotkeys for popular streaming services like Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. Connectivity relies on both IR and Bluetooth, and the remote is powered by two AAA batteries.
The remote’s design is appealing and comfortable to hold, and the learning curve, especially regarding the power controls, isn’t overly steep. It’s generally a positive experience. However, it’s worth noting that keeping the TV in standby mode most of the time rather than powering it down entirely allows for a quicker boot-up. A full shut-down every few days is still recommended for optimal system performance.
Feature-wise, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro aligns with other budget Android TV devices, incorporating Ultra-HD Chromecast built-in, support for Miracast and HDMI CEC, and voice assistant integration through Google Assistant using the remote’s dedicated button and microphone.
OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro Software and Interface: Dual-UI Approach
Similar to Xiaomi’s dual-UI strategy, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro runs on Android TV 10. It presents users with a refreshed version of the stock Android TV interface as the primary user interface, but adds the company’s custom Oxygen Play launcher.
Oxygen Play forgoes its own content library and focuses on curating content from various OTT platforms and services, including movies, shows, sports, kids’ content, and news, pulling from services like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, Sony Liv, and more.
As with other curation-focused launchers, accessing most of the content requires paid subscriptions, and you might need to install additional apps depending on your preferences. Apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Sony Liv, and Voot come preinstalled, but you can uninstall those you don’t use to streamline the experience. While it may seem redundant, Oxygen Play excels at recommending content, especially popular Indian programming, while also offering curated lists for universally recognized movies and shows.
If you prefer browsing content within specific apps or already know what you want to watch, the stock Android TV launcher might be a better fit. However, we recommend decluttering the system by removing any unused apps and keeping only essential ones.
To enhance interconnectivity, you can download the OnePlus Connect app (available on Android and iOS), which lets you use your smartphone or tablet as a remote when connected to the same Wi-Fi network. The app also grants access to features like screen casting, local video casting, and file transfers to the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro. If you own other OnePlus devices like earphones or smartwatches, they seamlessly integrate with the TV.
There’s only 8GB of internal storage on the device, and during our testing, we were prompted to clear some space to install a 1.2GB firmware update. This is concerning when considering the size of preloaded applications like Oxygen Play and essential apps like Netflix and YouTube, which cannot be uninstalled. While 8GB of storage may be sufficient for many Android TV devices, OnePlus’s software package strains its limits, and 16GB would have been a more desirable choice for the Y1S Pro.
Performance and navigation through the user interface exhibited occasional sluggishness, but once streaming started, content generally played smoothly with minimal lag. During our testing, we received a firmware update, and most popular apps for Android TV are readily available on the Google Play Store. Apps tend to display content at the highest possible resolution (based on availability and your subscription plan), with Ultra-HD HDR content available on services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar.
OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro Performance: Picture and Sound Quality
The affordable big-screen television segment often prioritizes specifications and format support. However, OnePlus takes a slightly different approach. While the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro is an Ultra-HD TV with HDR support, it opts for better overall picture and sound quality for the price, foregoing the inclusion of Dolby Vision.
Compared to OnePlus’s more expensive Q1 Pro, which boasts a front-firing soundbar speaker system and support for Dolby Vision and Atmos, the Y1S Pro is understandably simpler due to its lower price point. On paper, it might appear less equipped than competing models from brands like Xiaomi, Vu, Hisense, and TCL. Still, the overall experience largely matched what we’ve witnessed on other 55-inch televisions priced around ₹40,000.
While the absence of Dolby Vision might seem like a significant omission considering the widespread availability of content in the format through platforms like Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, and Apple TV+, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro performs admirably with HDR10 support. Some content on platforms like Amazon Prime Video is available in HDR10+, but the differences between the two formats weren’t truly noticeable and seemed more dependent on the content’s inherent quality.
To assess performance with high-quality Ultra-HD HDR content, we watched a variety of TV shows and movies across various services and formats, including:
- The first season of Andor and Rogue One on Disney+ Hotstar
- Season three of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime Video
- Kaleidoscope on Netflix
We also explored various other HD and Full-HD content, including the Football World Cup final, various episodes of Modern Family, and YouTube videos.
Among the Ultra-HD HDR shows we watched, picture performance was particularly impressive with Jack Ryan, especially during well-lit, daytime scenes. The scenic cities of Europe and the Greek coastline featured in the third season looked fantastic, showcasing decent brightness levels, reasonably accurate colors, and a wealth of visible detail.
While the typical punch and vibrancy found on more expensive TVs with superior displays were understandably absent, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro still provided an enjoyable viewing experience, especially when sufficient ambient light was minimized. However, there was a noticeable variation in the way the TV handled bright and dark scenes, impacting certain genres like action shows and thrillers, leading to a less consistent visual experience.
A unique feature of the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro is its LED backlight dimming. However, it utilizes what’s known as "global" dimming, where a single backlight zone automatically adjusts the entire backlight for the LED display based on scenes and detected color levels. The settings allow for intensity adjustments, and it did make a slight difference with dark scenes, although not drastically.
Being an affordable LED TV, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro doesn’t benefit significantly from this dimming, and black levels weren’t particularly impressive in dark scenes across the shows we watched. Darker scenes in Kaleidoscope and Rogue One appeared "grey washed" with noticeable noise even during the gentlest movements. While still watchable, it was necessary to minimize ambient light as much as possible, and we found ourselves watching mainly at night to mitigate these shortcomings.
Lower-resolution content performed similarly to Ultra-HD content in terms of brightness, black levels, and the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro’s overall adaptability to dynamic scenes and picture conditions. Naturally, a difference in sharpness was evident due to the larger 55-inch screen size, but this is expected from any television of this size and didn’t significantly impact the viewing experience.
The Football World Cup final, with its bright lights and colors, looked good, as did episodes of sitcoms like Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory. Conversely, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 didn’t fare so well due to its generally dark tone and the TV’s struggles with dark scenes, further highlighting the limitations of its upscaling capabilities.
Gaming on the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro with the Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen) was also a decent experience, with the TV generally handling the bright, sharp imagery of the games we played well. While the TV lacks specific features for current-generation console gaming, it should perform adequately for basic gaming needs.
Sound quality on the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro might seem underwhelming based solely on the specifications. However, we were pleasantly surprised by its actual audio performance. The Y1S Pro TV delivers well-tuned audio, making the most of its simple two-channel speaker system. Dialogue was clear and sharp, the low-end exhibited a reasonable amount of drive and punch, and audio levels remained consistent across various volume points.
Even with the volume lowered at night, dialogue and sound effects remained clear and audible. While the lack of Dolby Atmos support might appear as a drawback, OnePlus’s commitment to delivering straightforward, well-tuned audio with its basic speaker system is arguably a better approach in this price segment.
Verdict: Big Screen, Small Compromises
The Y1S Pro series from OnePlus has positioned the brand in a critical price segment. The latest 55-inch size option finally provides the company with a large-screen Ultra-HD option at a competitive price, challenging offerings from brands like Xiaomi and Vu. While the spec sheet and the omission of Dolby Vision might seem like drawbacks, the reality is more nuanced. The 55 Y1S Pro is a competent television that largely matches up to its competition.
We did experience some user experience shortcomings, and picture quality in dark scenes was truly watchable only in a darkened room. However, the TV delivered a satisfactory performance overall when it came to high-quality content and sound quality. The OnePlus ecosystem benefits might be appealing if you already own a OnePlus smartphone or earphones. But if you’re looking for a large screen at a reasonable price, the OnePlus TV 55 Y1S Pro is a solid contender.
