SYLVOX DECK PRO QLED REVIEW: AN AFFORDABLE OUTDOOR TV FOR ALL SEASONS-geekspin.co

If you’re in the market for an affordable outdoor TV, the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED has a lot to offer. It’s a 4K QLED TV that is ultra-bright, waterproof, smart, and not to mention, pretty good-looking.

The Sylvox Deck Pro QLED can handle sunlight, any sort of weather, and temperatures of -22° to 122°F. It is powered by LG’s WebOS so the TV is loaded up with features and functionality. For the extreme specs the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED offers, the price tag is quite reasonable.

To that effect, sit tight and read up on everything this 55-inch smart TV has to offer quirks, and all in our Sylvox Deck Pro QLED review.

Water-resistant design

We’d describe the TV design as industrial looking. It’s built like a commercial-grade product. We found the boxy all-metal frame to be pretty refreshing given that TVs mostly look the same these days.

The television has perfect 90-degree corners and zero curves and the “diamond paint” anti-scratch coating adds some nice texture and shimmer to its body.

The Deck Pro is IP55 waterproof. This means it’s officially rated to be protected from dust and “low-pressure” water streams. The design is visibly weatherproofed. There are almost no openings outside of some vents angled down. The television set should be able to handle any type of weather so long as you don’t submerge it in water.

Sylvox even pulled off the TV’s design without skimping on ports. The Deck Pro’s cables are able to run through a tight sandwich of foam coming out of the bottom of the TV. The back panel to access the ports is secured with a number of small screws.

Speaking of ports, there are probably more ports than you’d need on an outdoor TV. There are 3 HDMI ports including one that supports ARC and CEC for easier and smarter control of your HDMI device.

The Deck Pro also has two standard USB ports, an optical audio out, an Ethernet port, an antenna input, and RCA inputs. We like having the classic red/yellow/white RCA inputs, but the 5 plug component cables would have been nice too.

In case that’s not enough ports for an outdoor TV, there’s also Bluetooth 5 and WiFi so you can reasonably just use a single power cable and still have a ton of connectivity with different types of speakers and devices.

Remote control

The TV has no buttons as they could potentially create weatherproofing issues. Sylvox  compensates for this by giving you two remotes. There’s a basic remote control with all the controls you could ask for, and a smart remote with a built-in mouse-pointer and voice control button.

You can press the voice button and search for and control just about anything on the TV. LG’s WebOS has had years to perfect its voice commands. When you point the remote at the TV, you’ll see a Wii-style mouse pointer.

We like the optionality of the air mouse as it is convenient to switch between that and the arrow buttons.

Sadly, the remotes don’t seem like they are weather-resistant. If you happen to destroy both remotes you can still control the TV wirelessly with your phone, or any universal IR remote control. We like the fact that both remotes are normally sized and they are not one of those tiny ones with minimal buttons.

Mounts and additional accessories

You can buy the TV with a mount, but you can also just buy a compatible mount online since it supports the VESA standard. We opted to buy a stand instead of a mount since mounting is a commitment and doing so outside wasn’t going to be easy. For less than $50 and maybe 30 minutes of work, we were able to add a beautiful stand.

The biggest factor to consider before purchasing an outdoor TV is its weight: The Sylvox Deck Pro QLED weighs 57lbs. This TV definitely requires 2 people for any sort of movement or setup. Given the weight, it would have been nice if there was a built-in handle or anything to help you get an easier grip.

Picture quality

The Sylvox Deck Pro offers 700 nits of brightness, which is brighter than almost all indoor TVs. Samsung’s The Terrace TV boasts up to 2000 nits of brightness, and Sylvox also makes TVs with 1500 nits of brightness. This is likely why this model is called the “Deck” Pro as it’s not actually designed for direct sunlight.

In any case, we found the TV to be perfectly viewable outside even in sunny conditions. If there’s actual direct sunlight pointed at the TV, you’ll notice glare and reflection, but the TV is usually still watchable.

Overall, the picture quality on the TV is excellent. It’s very bright and vivid with excellent contrast. The 4K 3840×2160 resolution is indeed high resolution. As self-proclaimed OLED snobs, we were impressed with the contrast and brightness of this QLED.

Playing around with the picture settings helps in customizing it just the way you like it. We found the picture and video quality to be great both indoors and out. The viewing angles are near-perfect at every possible angle, which can sometimes be an issue with QLEDs.

Audio quality

We figured the TV would come without speakers due to the waterproofing, but nope! We were surprised and impressed with how loud the speakers can get. Less surprisingly, the speakers don’t sound so great, but they’re fine for an outdoor TV.

The bass is weak and the audio isn’t the clearest around, but for sports and dialog-heavy television in the outdoors, it does the trick. It’s not what we’d opt to listen to music on, but it’s nice to keep your setup simple outside. Should you need more quality and oomph, you can buy a waterproof soundbar. Sylvox makes one too.

Software

From a Smart TV perspective, the TV is an LG TV. It runs on WebOS and seems to have every feature that any new LG would. WebOS is great and offers a ton of functionality. Smart features include an app store with just about every streaming service including Netflix, Disney Plus, Prime Video, HBO Max, Hulu, Youtube, and so much more.

You also get AI voice control, a TV guide, screen-casting, LG internet tv stations, and firmware updates. WebOS is easily on par with Android TV, Roku, FireTV, or Apple TV. We find it to be extremely intuitive and we also like that the home and menu system is overlayed on top of whatever you’re watching.

The phone app is pretty good too. It does everything the physical remote does and more. The app has an awesome feature where you can play your tv audio through your phone. This is nice if you want to watch TV without making noise.

You can also play music, photos, and videos from your phone to your TV. The only thing the app doesn’t offer is the ability to tweak TV settings — you’d have to just navigate through the TV’s on-screen menu to accomplish that.

Using the TV indoors

There are a few reasons why you may want to use the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED in a setting that’s not truly outdoors. To start, it can handle moisture, humidity, extreme temperatures, and a lot of sunlight, so bright rooms, sunrooms, covered or uncovered patios, terraces, or balconies would all be a safe bet.

Moisture-prone rooms like the ones in a spa would make sense too. Since the TV is rugged with no buttons or accessible ports, it could also do well in a public setting. The last spot we thought of is above a fireplace since that’s a location that could easily damage normal TVs.

There’s one big kicker though when using the TV indoors. Something you won’t notice when the TV is outside — you will hear an internal fan the second you turn the TV on. On low volumes, you can hear the fan over the TV. You can still hear your TV, but you’ll also hear unnecessary white noise. The fan helps with heat dissipation, but arguably it should have a sensor so that it’s only being used when needed.

Sylvox Deck Pro QLED review verdict

Overall, we are very satisfied with the Sylvox Deck Pro Qled, but there are a bunch of notable quirks. On one hand, the picture quality, viewing angles, brightness, and smart TV functionality are all excellent and very enjoyable.

However, while the speaker is loud and better than expected, it’s fairly low quality. The TV is very heavy and doesn’t come with a mount or a stand, but at least it uses a standard VESA mounting system that’s easy to set up.

Furthermore, there are no buttons on the TV, even for its power control, which is a little annoying. But Sylvox has included two remotes with ARC control via HDMI, and it’s fully controllable through your phone. The remotes are great but don’t look like they’re waterproof.

One small quirk of the Deck Pro TV is that there’s weatherproofing sealant around the screen and it’s a bit sloppy and jagged in a few spots. The biggest quirk we had though has to do with the internal fan noise which is much more noticeable if you’re using the TV inside or in a quiet environment.

Sylvox sells a handful of outdoor TVs and the design looks the same but the differentiating factor with the 55″ Deck Pro QLED is its internals and the support of LG’s WebOS Smart TV operating system. WebOS really helps you get a lot of value out of the TV, even if you were planning on hooking up an Apple TV or a Roku, or some other streaming device.

Pricing and availability

The 55″ Deck Pro QLED is only available from IndieGogo for $1698 to $1999 depending on how early you purchase. There are different kits and packages that include the waterproof soundbar and swiveling wall mount.

You get a 2-year warranty if you buy it from IndieGogo. The price might be expensive for an indoor TV, but outdoor TVs usually cost more and it’s about $1000 cheaper than Samsung’s outdoor Terrace TV. Ultimately, thanks to its much more affordable price point, the Sylvox Deck Pro QLED is a great Samsung Terrace TV alternative.