Vizio V-Series V435-H11 42.5"

The Vizio V-Series V435-H11 is a $300 4K TV with best-in-class HDR format support and a full array backlight. But it's held back by one HDMI port, weak audio, and a panel that ranks near the bottom of our database. Worth it for casual streaming in a secondary room, not for a main setup.

The IQ Active processor does a decent job upscaling 1080p content to 4K, and the full array backlight keeps light distribution even across the screen. HDR performance is genuinely the star here, sitting in the 96th percentile of our database. That's best-in-class territory for a budget panel. But picture quality overall lands at the 37th percentile, which tells you the HDR formats are doing a lot of heavy lifting on a panel that's otherwise pretty average. Gaming sits at the 42nd percentile, so the 60Hz panel and ALLM are fine for casual play but nothing to write home about. Audio is a real weak spot at the 16th percentile, so plan on a soundbar if you care about dialogue clarity.

Stacked against the LG C5 OLED or Samsung Neo QLED QN70F, this Vizio gets absolutely demolished on picture quality, brightness, and gaming performance. Those are $1,000+ sets though, so that's not a fair fight. The more relevant comparison is the TCL QM6K or Hisense U8 Series, both of which cost more but deliver significantly better panels and more HDMI ports. The TCL QM6K in particular is worth the extra cash if you game at all, since it offers 120Hz and VRR. The Vizio's only real advantage is that HDR format support at this price, which is genuinely impressive but not enough to overcome the panel limitations.

At $300, this TV is a solid deal if you know exactly what you're getting. The HDR format support alone is worth the price of admission for streaming fans, and the full array backlight is a nice bonus. But you're making real compromises: one HDMI port, weak audio, and a panel that's not going to wow anyone with brightness or color accuracy. If you can stretch to $400 or $450, you'll find sets with better panels and more inputs. But if $300 is your hard ceiling, this is a reasonable buy.

The Vizio V-Series V435-H11 is a 43-inch 4K TV that punches way above its $300 price tag in one specific area: HDR format support. You get Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG, which is frankly absurd for a budget set. Most TVs at this price make you pick one or two formats and live with it. Vizio just said yes to all of them.

But the rest of the package is a mixed bag. The full array backlight helps with uniformity, but the panel itself sits near the bottom of our display rankings. One HDMI port in 2024 is rough. And the audio is, well, TV speakers. If you're buying this as a bedroom set or a first apartment TV, it makes a lot of sense. If you're building a home theater, keep scrolling.

Skip this if you have more than one HDMI device, since a single port will drive you crazy. Also skip it if you care about audio quality, since the built-in speakers are genuinely bad and you'll need to budget for a soundbar. And if you're a serious gamer, the 60Hz panel and lack of VRR make this a poor choice for anything beyond casual play.

Buy this if you want a cheap 4K TV for a bedroom, office, or guest room and you mostly stream content. The HDR format support is excellent, and SmartCast covers all the major apps. But if you're a gamer, a home theater enthusiast, or someone with multiple devices to plug in, this TV will frustrate you within a week. One HDMI port is just not enough in 2024.