M658-G1 Review: A 65-inch VIZIO TV with Outstanding Features

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M658-G1: At First Glance

Over the years, by releasing brilliant televisions, VIZIO has proven to be a major competitor in the TV market. So, in 2019, to expand its collection, VIZIO released the M-Series, a lineup of mid-range 4K HDR televisions.

The VIZIO M658-G1 is among this M-Series. This television offers an adequate performance that I know both movies lovers and gamers would appreciate.

However, this VIZIO television is somewhat expensive. To give more details, the VIZIO M658-G1 had a price tag of $1,199 when I wrote this review article in February 2022.

The price might not actually be the problem, but does the television offer features that make it worth the price? Well, the only way you can find out is to read the remainder of this review article.

M658-G1: Design, Dimension, and Weight

From the front, the VIZIO M658-G1 is really sleek and appealing to look at. To give more details, this television features super-thin bezels that surround its display screen.

These bezels are made out of plastic and they feature a glossy-black finish. However, the bottom bezel is a bit thicker than the other bezels.

The reason for this is that the bottom bezels feature a silver “VIZIO” logo at the right corner.

Moving to the rear, the back of the VIZIO M658-G1 has a combination of metal and hard plastic. Specifically, the top part of the TV’s back is made of plastic while the bottom part is made of metal.

Sadly, VIZIO failed to include a cable management system on this television’s back. On a bright note, the television comes with a pair of matte-black metal legs.

These metal legs are quite sturdy and should support the VIZIO M658-G1 pretty well. However, the legs are situated at the extreme edges of the television.

As a result, you will require a fairly large desk or tabletop to place the television on if not wall-mounted. Speaking of which, if the VIZIO M658-G1 is mounted on the wall, it shouldn’t bulge out or look odd.

This is because the television’s back is somewhat thin.

When it comes to the dimensions and weight, the VIZIO M658-G1 measures 1454.9 x 72.1 x 840.4 (W x D x H) and weighs 24200 g. In comparison, this TV is a bit heavier than its predecessor (VIZIO M65-F0) which weighs 23600 g.

Therefore, I will be rating the VIZIO M658-G1 an eight out of ten in this design review section

M658-G1: Display Features

To start with, televisions in the VIZIO M-Series including the M658-G1 offer excellent color accuracy and picture quality. This is because they feature a picture technology called the quantum dot technology.

This display technology allows these VIZIO televisions to offer a cinematic viewing experience.

That said, now let us discuss the display specs of the VIZIO M658-G1. First and foremost, this VIZIO television features a 65-inch LED VA display with a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution.

Thanks to this 4K resolution, images on this television’s display should appear vivid, realistic, sharp, and detailed. Moreover, compared to a standard HD display, the 4K resolution display is about 4x better.

Impressively, as a VA display, the VIZIO M658-G1’s display offers an outstanding contrast ratio of 7000:1. Contrast ratio is the difference between the deepest black and brightest white that a display is capable of producing. 

Moreover, a display’s contrast ratio is the major factor in determining the black level of the display. Thus, with a contrast ratio as high as 7000:1, the VIZIO M658-G1’s display should be able to render deep blacks.

Therefore, the VIZIO M658-G1 is a perfect television for viewing movies with lots of dark or shadowy scenes. Also, thanks to its high contrast ratio, the VIZIO M658-G1 is ideal for dark room viewing.

Interestingly, despite having an impressive contrast ratio, this television’s display supports local dimming. Briefly, local dimming is a picture technique that LCD/LED displays use to boost their contrast by dimming their backlit zones.

Basically, with local dimming, blacks on the display will look darker and deeper than they would without local dimming. Therefore, improving the overall picture quality and the black level of the display.

The VIZIO M658-G1’s display doesn’t only support local dimming, this display also supports numerous HDR formats. These formats include HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

For clarity, HDR (High dynamic range) is a picture technique that enhances the color accuracy and brightness of a display. Basically, when viewing HDR-supported content on an HDR display, colors will look more realistic and bright.

For the record, most times you will find HDR-supported content on streaming apps like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.

Unfortunately, despite supporting HDR, this television’s display offers average maximum brightness. To be more specific, this display comes with a maximum brightness of 387 nits.

Although this brightness is decent, it won’t be enough for you to comfortably view the VIZIO M658-G1 in a well-lit or bright area. However, in a dark room, this display’s maximum brightness is more than enough.

Sadly, as a VA display, the VIZIO M658-G1’s display offers poor viewing angles. Therefore, picture quality and accuracy will reduce drastically when viewing this TV off-center or at extreme angles.

Thus, you are better off viewing the VIZIO M658-G1 directly from the center. On a positive note, due to its semi-gloss coating, the VIZIO M658-G1’s display handles reflection effectively.

As a result, in bright areas, you shouldn’t have to worry about reflection or glares when viewing the VIZIO M658-G1.

Moving on, the VIZIO M658-G1’s display comes with an input lag of 20.6 milliseconds. Although this input lag isn’t particularly “low”, it is low enough to offer a decent gaming experience.

For clarity, input lag is the amount of time that it takes a display to respond to a signal input – for example, input from a wireless gamepad. Therefore, the lower the input lag, the better the gaming experience.

In addition to its input lag, the VIZIO M658-G1’s display features a fast response time of 11.4 milliseconds. Briefly, the response time of a display is the time that it takes the display to change from one color to another.

Therefore, with a response time as fast as 11.4 milliseconds, the VIZIO M658-G1’s display is very ideal for viewing fast-motion content. This is because there will be minimal to no blur trails when viewing fast-motion content like sports or combat movies.

In conclusion, the VIZIO M658-G1 has an above-average display that should offer an ideal viewing experience. However, this television’s display has bad viewing angles.

All things considered, the VIZIO M658-G1 deserves nothing less than an eight out of ten in this display review section.

M658-G1: Sound Features

To start with, the VIZIO M658-G1 offers a pair of 10-watt built-in speakers that produce decent sound quality. In fact, the sound that these speakers produce is beyond what I expected from 10-watts speakers.

However, the VIZIO M658-G1 doesn’t come with a subwoofer, which implies that the television won’t be able to produce enough bass. Thus, watching bass-heavy movies or playing bass-heavy songs on the television might not be a good idea.

On the bright side, the television’s speakers offer decent distortion performance. Basically, even at the maximum volume level, this television’s speakers produce minimal to no distortion.

To prove this claim, we will now be discussing the television’s performance on a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) test. THD test is a test that measures the amount of distortion that a sound device is capable of producing.

Moreover, on this THD test, a score below 1% is considered good while a score above 1% isn’t good. Basically, the lower the THD percentage, the less distortion that the sound device produces.

Fortunately, the VIZIO M658-G1 was able to score 0.8% on the THD test. Therefore, when viewing a loud or noisy movie on this television, you shouldn’t have to worry about distortion.

In case you are curious, distortion in this context means the change of sound frequencies which results in the production of less appealing sound.

Aside from the impressive distortion performance, the VIZIO M658-G1’s speakers produce clear and audible dialogue. For clarity, dialogue means the conversation between two or more characters in a movie or TV show.

In conclusion, apart from its lack of a subwoofer, there is basically nothing to hate about the VIZIO M658-G1’s sound performance. Therefore, in this sound features review section, I will be rating the VIZIO M658-G1 an eight out of ten.

M658-G1: Ports and Connectivity Features

When it comes to the ports, the VIZIO M658-G1 isn’t that different from most VIZIO televisions. Specifically, this television comes with a reasonable amount of ports.

Moreover, all these ports are situated on the left side of the television’s back, forming an “L” shape. Basically, some ports are down-facing on the TV’s back while some are actually left-facing.

Thus, when wall-mounted, accessing the left-facing ports should be somewhat easy. However, the down-facing ports might be difficult to access.

Having said where the ports are located, now let us get to know the kind of ports this television features. To start with, the VIZIO M658-G1 comes with four HDMI ports – two each among the down-facing and left-facing ports.

Interestingly, one of the down-facing HDMI ports supports ARC (Audio Return Channel). Therefore, by using that particular HDMI port, you can connect a soundbar or external speakers to the television.

Asides from the two HDMI ports, there is also optical analog audio out, digital audio out, RF connector, and an Ethernet port among the down-facing ports.

The left-facing ports, however, include a USB port and composite video inputs in addition to the other two HDMI ports. For wireless connectivity, the VIZIO M658-G1 comes with a built-in 802.11ac dual-band WIFI.

Surprisingly, this television lacks Bluetooth which is something unusual for a $1000+ television.

Having said all that, let us now discuss the television’s remote control. Like most VIZIO televisions, the VIZIO M658-G1 comes with basic remote control.

This remote control comes with a matte-black finish and it is made of plastic. Also, the remote is medium in size and features rubber buttons.

Speaking of buttons, this remote comes with a square-shaped navigation button at the center. Also, the remote features six dedicated buttons for quick access to streaming services.

These streaming services include iHeartRadio, Crackle, Netflix, Xumo, Amazon Prime Video, and Vudu. In addition to the dedicated buttons, the VIZIO M658-G1 features a full number pad.

Moreover, at the bottom part of the remote, you will find a “VIZIO” logo. However, this logo isn’t too visible because its color is almost the same as other parts of the remote.

Sadly, the VIZIO M658-G1’s remote control doesn’t support voice input because of its lack of an inbuilt microphone.

In conclusion, the VIZIO M658-G1 offers a reasonable amount of ports that would meet most users’ needs. However, the television’s lack of Bluetooth is one major flaw.

Therefore, I will rate the VIZIO M658-G1 a seven out of ten in this ports and connectivity review section.

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M658-G1: Smart Features

Just like the latest VIZIO smart televisions, the VIZIO M658-G1 comes with SmartCast 3.0 operating system. This OS offers a smooth and friendly interface that allows for easy and seamless navigation.

Moreover, this SmartCast 3.0 OS offers numerous streaming applications but can’t be compared to other OS like ROKU TV. Some of the streaming apps that SmartCast 3.0 offers include YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, and Vudu.

Interestingly, apart from the SmartCast 3.0 OS, the VIZIO M658-G1 comes with a built-in Chromecast. This Chromecast allows you to stream content from your smart devices to the television.

In addition to this built-in Chromecast, this television supports Apple AirPlay 2. Similar to the Chromecast, the AirPlay 2 allows you to share content from your Apple devices to the VIZIO M658-G1.

To top all these up, the VIZIO M658-G1 supports multiple voice assistants including Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. These features allow for voice input.

However, the VIZIO M658-G1 or its remote doesn’t feature an in-built microphone. Therefore, for voice input, you will need to buy a Google Nest speaker or an Amazon Echo speaker.

All in all, I will be rating the VIZIO M658-G1 an eight out of ten in this smart features review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Looking at all the features the VIZIO M658-G1 offers, I believe the TV is worth its $1000+ price tag. Basically, this television comes with decent picture quality, good sound performance, and a reasonable number of ports.

However, the TV features some questionable flaws which include the lack of Bluetooth and bad viewing angles. Nevertheless, asides from these few flaws, I don’t really think there is anything to hate about this television.

Besides, the television comes with an in-built Chromecast that you rarely see in some $1000+ television. Therefore, if you need a 65-inch TV with decent performance, the VIZIO M658-G1 is worth considering.

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