VIZIO E320i A0 Review: A Decent Performing HD Television

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VIZIO E320i A0: At First Glance

VIZIO’s consistency in the television market has earned it a place alongside big names like TCL, Samsung, and LG. Besides, in recent years, the brand has expanded its scope to making 4K televisions with high performances.

However, the brand used to manufacture HD televisions, one of which is the VIZIO E320i A0 that was released in 2012. The VIZIO E320i A0 is a 32-inch smart TV with an HD resolution display and some amazing features like a high contrast ratio.

Furthermore, this TV comes with a good number of ports and a decent smart platform. However, like most VIZIO smart TVs that I have come across, the VIZIO E320i A0 features some major flaws that cannot be easily overlooked.

In that regard, can this ten-year-old TV withstand the harsh competition in the television market today? One way to find an answer to that question is to read this review article all the way through.

VIZIO E320i A0: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Design-wise, the VIZIO E320i A0 isn’t particularly a sleek or modern kind of television due to the fact that it is quite old. To give more details, the television features relatively thick bezels that surround its 32-inch display.

These bezels are about 0.61-inch thick and made entirely out of plastic material with a matte-black finish. Moreover, the bottom bezel is slightly thicker than the others because it accommodates a “VIZIO” logo.

However, the VIZIO E320i A0 isn’t like most TVs that have the brand’s logo at the center of the bottom bezel. Instead, the logo can be found on the right corner of the television’s bottom bezel.

Nonetheless, due to the extreme thickness of these bezels, they might cause distraction when watching the TV.

That said, unlike most modern TVs that have a pair of legs, the VIZIO E320i A0 features a short plastic stand. Like the bezels, this stand is significantly thick and has a matte-black finish.

Due to its thickness, the stand is quite sturdy and prevents the TV from wobbling too much. Besides, the stand has a wide base/footprint that allows it to support the TV to stand straight and firm.

In terms of size and weight, the VIZIO E320i A0 measures 731.5 x 78.7 x 444.5 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 6441 g. Compared to the Hisense 32H4F, this TV is quite chunky and heavier.

Specifically, the Hisense 32H4F measures 728.9 x 73.6 x 431.8 mm (W x D x H) and weighs just 3810.1 g. Moreover, because of the chunkiness of the VIZIO E320i A0, it tends to stick out and look awkward when wall-mounted.

Speaking of wall-mounting, the television’s back panel features four 100 x 100 mm VESA mount holes. These holes enable you to safely mount the VIZIO E320i A0 on the wall.

Besides, the TV’s back panel is made of plastic with a matte-black finish. However, unlike most modern televisions, this plastic back panel does not feature any form of a cable management system.

Hence, you will need to manually arrange the cables attached to the TV in order to ensure a neat setup.

In conclusion, the VIZIO E320i A0 features a boring matte-black design with a chunky and thick plastic build. Moreover, this TV is heavier than most of its competitors and lacks a cable management system.

Considering all these, I will offer the VIZIO E320i A0 a rating of seven out of ten in this design review section.

VIZIO E320i A0: Display Features and Picture Quality

For display, the VIZIO E320i A0 comes with a 32-inch LED display with an HD (1366 x 768) resolution. Although an FHD or 4K resolution would have done a better job, the HD resolution allows the display to render decent picture quality for casual viewing.

However, in today’s world where picture quality is paramount in televisions, the VIZIO E320i A0’s display is quite far behind. On a positive note, this TV’s display offers an incredible contrast ratio.

To be more specific, the display comes with a contrast ratio VIZIO calls the “DYNAMIC contrast ratio” which is 200000:1. Frankly speaking, there are numerous modern 4K televisions out there that don’t have a contrast ratio as high as this.

In brief, contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest white and the darkest shade a display can produce. Furthermore, the contrast ratio is the sole determinant of the black level of a display.

Basically, the higher the contrast ratio, the darker/deeper the blacks the display will render. Hence, with a DYNAMIC contrast ratio, the VIZIO E320i A0’s display will be capable of rendering extremely deep blacks.

As a result, movies such as The Walking Dead that has lots of dark and shadowy scenes will be appealing to watch on this VIZIO TV. Also, the television will be very much ideal for dark room viewing.

Impressively, despite having an incredibly high contrast ratio, this TV supports a local dimming feature called smart dimming. This local dimming feature dims the LED backlight zones behind the display’s panel in order to enhance the display’s black level.

Hence, with this feature, blacks on the TV’s display will appear darker and deeper than they would without the feature. Thereby, improving the overall picture quality and dark room performance of the VIZIO E320i A0.

Moving on, the VIZIO E320i A0’s display has wide viewing angles. Thus, the display’s picture quality and color accuracy will remain intact without reduction even when you watch the TV off-center.

Therefore, the VIZIO E320i A0 is ideal for a large room setting. However, using the TV in a very bright room is not the best move to make.

This is a result of its display’s average maximum brightness of 300 nits. Nevertheless, this maximum brightness is enough for you to comfortably use the TV in moderately-lit areas.

That said, unlike modern TVs, the VIZIO E320i A0 doesn’t support HDR (High Dynamic Range). In case you are wondering, HDR is a picture technique that improves a display’s color accuracy and brightness.

Looking on the bright side, the VIZIO E320i A0’s display offers a fast response time of 6.5 milliseconds. Hence, fast-motion content like sports will be a joy to watch on this TV as there will be minimal blur trails.

In brief, response time is simply the total amount of time it takes a display to switch from one color to another.

Sadly, because the VIZIO E320i A0 is a 10-year-old TV, I couldn’t obtain its display’s input lag value to prove if it is good for gaming. Although there are other factors that can prove a television’s gaming ability, the input lag is quite important.

One of these factors is the refresh rate. Basically, if the display has a refresh rate of 120 Hz (Hertz) upward, the TV can be considered ideal for competitive gaming.

Unfortunately, the VIZIO E320i A0’s display has a refresh rate of 60 Hz. Hence, the TV isn’t good for competitive gaming but should be okay for casual gaming.

In case you are curious, the refresh rate of a display is how many times per second the display can draw a new image. Meanwhile, input lag is the amount of time it takes a display to register signal input from external sources like a wireless gamepad.

All things considered, I will offer the VIZIO E320i A0 a rating of seven out of ten in this display features review section.

VIZIO E320i A0: Sound Features

If you aim to get the best sound experience from a television, the VIZIO E320i A0 might not be the one for you. This is because the TV comes with only a pair of 10-watts speakers that delivers average sound quality.

Moreover, with the combination of these speakers, the TV can only deliver a total sound output of 20 watts. Hence, the TV cannot get loud enough to fill a large room with sound.

On the bright side, you should be able to enjoy watching talk shows and movies with lots of one-on-one conversations on the TV. This is because the television’s speakers are capable of producing clear and audible dialogue.

In case you are wondering, dialogue is the exchange of words between one or two people in a movie or TV show. Sadly, the VIZIO E320i A0 lacks a built-in subwoofer.

A subwoofer is a sound device that is able to produce low-frequency sound signals known as bass. Hence, due to its lack of a subwoofer, the VIZIO E320i A0 won’t be able to produce an adequate amount of bass.

Therefore, watching bass-heavy movies on this TV isn’t advisable as it won’t be enjoyable. Nevertheless, even though it would attract an additional cost, buying a soundbar alongside the TV can solve the poor bass production issue.

That said, the VIZIO E320i A0 comes with several technologies to enhance its sound production. To be more specific, the TV features Dolby Digital Plus, SRS StudioSound, and SRS TruSurround.

These sound technologies all play different roles in enabling the TV to deliver a better sound output and quality. For instance, the Dolby Digital Plus and SRS TruSurround improve the surround sound production and loudness of the VIZIO E320i A0’s speakers.

Thereby, allowing them to produce a cinematic and immersive sound quality. Meanwhile, the SRS StudioSound removes fluctuations and unwanted signals from the speaker’s audio frequencies, enabling them to deliver a clear and enticing output.

Regrettably, despite these sound technologies, the VIZIO E320i A0’s speakers produce a noticeable amount of distortion. Thus, when watching loud movies on the TV, you will experience some annoying unwanted noises and unpleasant sound quality.

All in all, I will rate the VIZIO E320i A0 a seven out of ten in this sound features review section.

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VIZIO E320i A0: Ports and Connectivity Features

To start with, the VIZIO E320i A0 features a decent number of ports which is quite impressive for a 32-inch TV. Moreover, some of the ports are right-facing while the others are down-facing on the TV’s back panel.

Starting with the right-facing ports, these ports include a USB port and two HDMI ports. As with modern televisions, one of these HDMI ports supports ARC (Audio Return Channel).

Therefore, using that specific ARC-HDMI ports, you can easily connect a soundbar to the VIZIO E320i A0. That aside, this TV also comes with optical audio out and a 3.5 mm audio output among its right-facing ports.

Meanwhile, the down-facing ports include an Ethernet port, an antenna port, and a shared component/composite input. For wireless connectivity, this VIZIO TV features an in-built 802.11 WIFI but lacks Bluetooth.

Moving on, the VIZIO E320i A0 comes with a basic XRT112 remote control. In terms of design and build, this remote is quite small and made of plastic with a matte-black finish.

However, despite its small size, it features quite a number of buttons including a square-shaped navigation button and a full number pad. Furthermore, the remote comes with vertical volume and channel rockers.

Also, it has a dedicated button that allows quick access to the VIZIO V.I.A smart platform. Sadly, unlike modern remote controls, this remote fails to feature dedicated buttons for quick access to certain streaming services.

Moreover, it does not come with a built-in mic for voice input.

Hence, to wrap up this ports and connectivity features review section, I will rate the VIZIO E320i an eight out of ten.

VIZIO E320i A0: Smart Features Review

Quite different from most modern smart televisions, the VIZIO E320i A0 doesn’t come with an operating system. Instead, it comes with the V.I.A (VIZIO Internet Apps) smart platform.

To give more details, this smart platform is usually found in much older VIZIO televisions before the introduction of SmartCast in 2016. Besides, the smart platform offers a user-friendly interface with an easy-to-use navigation system.

Moreover, the VIZIO Internet Apps platform is home to a diverse collection of streaming services and applications. To mention a few, there is Netflix, YouTube, HBO, Vudu, and Prime Video.

However, the V.I.A features a limited amount of apps and streaming services compared to operating systems like the Roku OS. Nevertheless, this smart platform support mirroring and casting multimedia content from your smart devices.

As a result, I will offer the VIZIO E320i A0 a rating of eight out of ten in this smart features review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The VIZIO E320i A0 is a 32-inch HD smart television with decent picture quality and adequate overall performance. To give more details, this TV comes with an amazing contrast ratio and a fast response time.

Also, the TV features a decent number of ports and offers wide viewing angles. However, the VIZIO E320i A0 comes with its own share of downsides, such as its chunky build.

Also, the television offers a poor maximum brightness and below-average sound performance. That’s not all, this TV also lacks Bluetooth and doesn’t support HDR.

Hence, if you need a TV for casual viewing or for your kids’ room, the VIZIO E320i A0 is worth considering.

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