Sylvox Deck Pro QLED review: One of the best outdoor TV choices you could make-techaeris.com
Outdoor TVs aren’t new, but they are getting more attainable by us average users. In the past, you could buy a flat-screen TV and have it outfitted with a weatherproof chassis. Soon after that, you could buy TVs already made for outdoor environments. But those options were costly. Now, companies like Furrion and Sylvox have made outdoor TV more accessible, and the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED TV is one of the best outdoor TV choices you can make.
I admit that the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED TV is only the second outdoor TV I have reviewed. I had a good experience with the Furrion Aurora 4K, but this Sylvox Deck Pro is slightly better in a few different ways. We’re going to go over the good and bad of this affordable outdoor TV so let’s get right into it.
Specifications
The Sylvox Deck Pro QLED has the following features and specifications:
What’s In The Box
- Sylvox Deck Pro QLED
- Two remote controls
- Batteries for both remotes
- Power Cable
- Microfiber cleaning cloth
- Screws and Spacers for VESA mounting
- Quick Start Guide
- User’s Manual and Warranty Card
Design
As I mentioned in my Furrion review, outdoor TVs do not look much different than their indoor counterparts. The Sylvox Deck Pro QLED looks like any other TV except beefier, with the weatherproof IP55 chassis surrounding the display and internals.
However, it does look significantly different than the Furrion Aurora. The way Sylvox made the chassis on the Deck Pro seems far more precise and with little tolerances. There are no buttons, antennas, or anything else on this TV. It is buttoned up tight, including access to the inputs and outputs, which is my only beef with the design of Deck Pro.
The input and output door has a dozen or more small screws holding it in place. I like that the screws have gaskets on them and that the door has a gasket surrounding it; this keeps it within its IP55 rating. But the placement of the inputs and outputs (I/O) and the door was not well thought out.
The Furrion had its I/O off to the side and held in place with three screws/gaskets that worked very well. Sylvox placed the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED I/O door was placed bottom center under the VESA mount. This means that you must be sure to plug in all of your I/O before mounting and closing the I/O door. I mounted the Deck Pro on a VESA stand, and the stand covers the I/O door leaving me no access to the I/O unless I remove the stand. This is the biggest miss of this TV. For me, it’s not a huge deal as I only have the power cable plugged in, and I use Wi-Fi to stream my content, but some might find it inconvenient.
The rest of the TV design is relatively basic and bland; it is rated IP55, which is better than the Furrion and looks better made.
Sylvox included two remotes; I was initially confused as to why. One is a rebranded LG Magic Remote, and the other is just the basic remote. The Magic Remote has voice and mouse functionality, which I did not find helpful; they’re ugly and have more buttons than the cockpit of a jet airliner. They work fine and do what they’re supposed to, but they could have been less busy, and the dedicated Netflix and Prime Video buttons are overkill to me.
Sylvox does include batteries for both remotes, but they do not provide a silicon cover, which Furrion does do, which helps if you leave the remote outside because these remotes are not IP55 rated.
Overall, the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED TV is a straightforward, no-nonsense design that packs phenomenal IP55 weatherproofing. I’m not too fond of the placement of the I/O door, and the remotes are ugly.
Display
I have mentioned the Furrion Aurora in this review multiple times, but I have a hard time not mentioning it. Why? Because the Furrion and Sylvox are so similar in so many ways. One of those ways is their displays. Like the Furrion, the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED has a 4K LG QLED 700nit LCD as the heart of the TV. I would say they are the same display, but the Sylvox display looks slightly better. Although the Furrion claimed 750 nits of brightness, the Sylvox looks brighter with its 700 nits.
The Sylvox Deck Pro QLED is a full 4K HDR10 and is classified as a partial sun panel. The Furrion and the Sylvox fall behind Samsung’s The Terrace at 2,000 nits, but the Samsung is also significantly more expensive. Like the Furrion, the Deck Pro does well in partial sun with bright and vibrant scenes. It is harder to see dark and more contrasty scenes in partial sun.
Sylvox did not advertise a refresh rate, so I assume it is 60Hz. This is perfectly fine for basically all normal content viewing. Gaming is better at a higher refresh rate, but it is highly doubtful that gamers will connect their gaming consoles to this outdoors. I guess it’s not impossible, but gamers should be aware that they won’t get 120Hz here.
The vibrant colors and clarity are fantastic on this LG panel. As I mentioned, it is just a few hairs better than the Furrion display. I still haven’t placed my finger on why it looks better; it just does. The contrast is excellent, as are the whites and the brightness.
Like the Furrion, the Deck Pro performs wonderfully at night and looks fantastic! In direct sunlight, movies and darker content struggle to be seen, but other content, like nature documentaries and news, looks fine. The partial sun performance is also excellent, though movies and darker content can be challenging to view. I think this is to be expected from an outdoor TV.
As for the elements, the TV has been in hot, warm, and cool weather. It has not experienced rain since I set it up, but I have run the hose on it, and it has fared just fine. Overall, of the two outdoor TVs I have reviewed, the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED display is the current frontrunner and winner in my book. It looks fantastic and does very well in partial sunlight, okay in direct sunlight, and outstanding at night.
Setup
The Sylvox Deck Pro QLED isn’t hard to set up physically. Given that I had already been through an outdoor TV setup, I knew what to do, and it went much faster. I strongly recommend a minimum of two people to set the TV up and three to be the safest.
We chose a “Stanley tabletop TV stand mount,” which we secured to our deck railing using pressure-treated wood and bolts. Doing it this way kept holes out the side of my house and made it so I could move the TV around.
If you’re choosing to mount the Deck Pro on an exterior wall, I recommend you carefully measure and plan your project. Drilling into the side of your house is a big undertaking, and a lot can go wrong, do not half-ass it, or you may regret it.
Overall, setting up the Deck Pro is straightforward, although it does take a few extra hands to do it carefully.
The software on the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED is LG’s webOS. webOS is the same interface and software as the Furrion was running, so we’ll recap what we said in that review.
webOS is not unlike Samsung’s UI. When you hit the home button, a dashboard/home screen bar pops up. Here you can find various functions and your favorite apps. There is a search function, Home Dashboard, TV input, Recents, Content Store, and all your favorite apps.
Settings take you to your TV settings, where you can make all your TV adjustments, and apps take you to the app you pick, easy stuff. Home Dashboard pulls up your TV inputs, including Live TV, sound outputs, connected storage, IoT devices, and mobile connections.
It’s all very straightforward stuff and easy to navigate. The LG Thin Q app can be used as well. You can use the app as a remote, mirror your phone, show off videos and photos, navigate through the apps on the TV, and change inputs.
Overall, this is all very easy and helpful stuff, and if you don’t want to use the interface on the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED, you can connect a Firestick or Chromecast to the back and use that instead. I will add that this is now my second experience with the webOS interface, and it is excellent.
Sound Quality
The Sylvox Deck Pro sound is fantastic! This is another area where it outshines the Furrion. We mounted the Sylvox the same way as the Furrion, and the sound was much better. I’m not sure how Sylvox is doing it, but the sound is projecting towards the viewer where the Furrion projected to the rear. I still believe that if you mounted this TV on the wall, the sound would be much better, and adding a soundbar would give you the best sound experience.
The sound from the Sylvox speakers is excellent, and most people will be pleased. Sylvox does offer bundles where you can get the TV and soundbar together, and the soundbar is weatherproof.
Performance
Outdoor weather performance has been excellent. The only real rain we saw was a light 30-minute sprinkle, and the TV survived fine. It has been in the sun and cold and is doing fine. The autumn winds have blown on it, and it stands firm. With winter coming, it will be interesting to see how it fares in cold, snow, and ice.
Software performance has been fantastic. Nothing to complain about, and webOS is excellent.
Price/Value
The Sylvox Deck Pro QLED is priced at US$1,699 on the company’s Indiegogo page. This is a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Furrion, and I believe you get much more value from the Deck Pro than the Aurora 4K.
Wrap Up
Owning an outdoor TV will come with some challenges, like complicated setup, bright sunlight, and sound quality. I may have some gripes about the Deck Pro, but while they look big, they are not. The Sylvox Deck Pro QLED, 4K TV, is the best outdoor TV I’ve used to date. I’m excited to start testing other brands to see who outdoes each other.