VIZIO M507-G1 Review: A Budget QLED Television

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VIZIO M507-G1: At First Glance

Over the years, VIZIO has been known to produce decent-performing televisions at affordable prices. Hence, it wasn’t particularly a shocker for me when I found out that they produce QLED televisions that are also affordable.

For context, QLED televisions are usually expensive due to the fact that they offer excellent picture quality and performance. As a matter of fact, I have never come across a QLED television that has a price tag of less than 1000$.

Impressively, VIZIO was able to keep the starting price of one of its QLED televisions to as low as $375 in May 2022. The television I am talking about is the VIZIO M507-G1 which was released in 2019 and is the focus of this review article.

With such an inexpensive price tag, it is normal for you to ask yourself if this television would offer the same performance as pricier QLED TVs. To satisfy your curiosity, I urge you to read the subsequent sections of this article.

VIZIO M507-G1: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Design-wise, the VIZIO M507-G1 looks simple but also stylish. To give more details, the television comes with plastic bezels that surround its 50-inch display screen.

These bezels are of average thickness, measuring 0.50-inch. Also, they feature a matte-black finish with a white “VIZIO” logo at the lower right corner of the bottom bezel.

That aside, the VIZIO M507-G1 comes with a pair of V-shaped legs. These legs are quite thin, and they are made of plastic with a matte-black finish.

Despite being thin and having a plastic build, these legs support the television to stand firmly. However, if forcefully pushed, the television might wobble or probably fall off.

Besides, the legs are positioned very close to the edges of the television. As a result, when the television isn’t wall-mounted, you will need a fairly large table to place it on.

Turning to the VIZIO M507-G1’s rear, you will come across a plain plastic panel. This television’s rear panel features a matte-black finish as well as four 200 x 200 mm VESA holes.

Hence, with the help of these holes, you will be able to mount the VIZIO M507-G1 on the wall. Moreover, neither the television nor its back panel is chunky nor significantly thick.

Thus, when mounted on the wall, the television should look just nice without bulging out. However, the VIZIO M507-G1’s rear panel lacks a cable management system, unlike some televisions.

Therefore, you will have to go through the stress of arranging cables manually so as to ensure a neat setup.

When it comes to dimension and weight, the VIZIO M507-G1 measures 1119.5 x 72.2 x 649.7 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 12800 g. Comparatively, this television is thicker and heavier than the Samsung Q60A.

Specifically, the Samsung Q60A weighs 11521 g and measures 1117.6 x 25.4 x 645.16 mm (W x D x H).

In summary, the TV VIZIO M507-G1 features a good design with bezels of average thickness and an overall plastic build. However, this television lacks a cable management system and is heavier than its competitors.

Hence, in this design review section, I will offer the VIZIO M507-G1 an eight out of ten rating.

VIZIO M507-G1: Display Features and Picture Quality

As most of us know, the display is one of the most vital components of a television. In that regard, the VIZIO M507-G1 employs a 50-inch QLED display with a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution.

If you are wondering, QLED displays aren’t quite different from standard LED displays. Basically, just like regular LED displays, QLED displays feature an LED backlight panel.

However, QLED displays come with an additional layer that is called the quantum dots layer. This layer uses numerous small diodes to make images look brighter and more colorful.

Due to this, the VIZIO M507-G1’s QLED display should be able to render brighter and more colorful images. Besides, with the help of the 4K UHD resolution, images should look sharper and more realistic.

Moving on, as with most QLED displays, this television’s display offers a remarkably high contrast ratio. To be more specific, the display comes with a contrast ratio of 5000000:1.

With a contrast ratio this high, the VIZIO M507-G1’s display should have an incredible black level. In other words, the blacks rendered by the display should be very deep and rich.

As a result, this VIZIO television is ideal for watching movies with many dark or shadowy scenes, such as Dark Knight. By the way, contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest white and darkest shade that a display can produce.

To further enhance its display’s contrast ratio and black level, the VIZIO M507-G1 supports a local dimming feature called Full-array local dimming. This local dimming feature dims the backlight zones on the display’s panel so as to increase its black level.

Therefore, with this feature, blacks on the television’s display should be darker than they would be without the feature. Unexpectedly, despite being a QLED display, the VIZIO M507-G1’s display features an average maximum brightness of 400 nits.

Although this brightness is decent, it won’t be enough for users to watch movies in well-lit areas or outdoors comfortably. Nevertheless, the brightness is more than enough for an adequate viewing experience in moderately-lit areas.

Besides, the television’s display features a semi-gloss coating on its surface that makes outdoor usage less bothersome. Essentially, the semi-gloss coating reduces reflection and sun glares around the display when the television is used in well-lit areas.

Sadly, despite all its impressive features, the VIZIO M507-G1’s display has poor viewing angles. As a result, the VIZIO M507-G1 isn’t the ideal television for a large room setting.

This is because any attempt to watch the television off-center will result in a rapid reduction of picture quality and color distortion. On a positive note, the VIZIO M507-G1 supports various HDR effects, such as Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG.

In short, HDR is a picture technology that boosts the brightness and color accuracy of a display when rendering HDR-compatible content. Hence, when watching such content on the VIZIO M507-G1, images should look brighter, sharper, and more realistic.

In case you are wondering, you can find HDR-compatible content on streaming apps like Netflix and Prime Video.

Having said all that, let us now analyze the motion handling performance of the VIZIO M507-G1’s QLED display. Starting with the input lag, this television’s display comes with a low input lag of 14.4 milliseconds.

In brief, Input lag refers to the time a display is able to respond to signals input from external sources such as a wireless gamepad. Furthermore, the lower the input lag, the better the gaming experience.

Hence, with an input lag as low as 14.4 milliseconds, the VIZIO M507-G1 is suitable for playing video games. Apart from being suitable for playing video games, this television is also suitable for watching fast-moving content.

This is all thanks to its display’s fast response time of 16.2 milliseconds. As a result, there will be minimal blur trails when watching fast-moving content such as racing sports on the television.

Just so you know, response time is the total time it takes a display to switch from one color to another.

All things considered, I will offer the VIZIO M507-G1 a rating of eight out of ten in this display features review section.

VIZIO M507-G1: Sound Features

Just like the display, sound performance is an important aspect to look out for when purchasing a new television. On that note, the VIZIO M507-G1 comes with two 10-watt speakers – that’s a total sound output of 20 watts.

Hence, the television’s speakers are not loud enough to fill a large room with sound. To make situations more complicated, the VIZIO M507-G1 lacks a built-in subwoofer for adequate bass production.

As a result, you might not get an enjoyable experience when watching bass-heavy movies on the television. Nonetheless, to get a decent bass production, I strongly suggest you purchase a soundbar alongside the television.

Apparently, that would attract an additional cost. On the bright side, the VIZIO M507-G1’s speakers can produce loud and clear dialogue.

In case you’re curious, dialogue is the conversation between multiple individuals in a movie or TV show. In addition to its speakers’ clear dialogue production, this television comes with some amazing sound technologies.

These sound technologies are Dolby Digital Plus, DTS Studio Sound, and DTS TruSurround. In case you are wondering what these sound technologies do, let me briefly explain.

These sound technologies help improve the loudness, surround sound, and overall sound output of the television’s speakers. Thus, thanks to these sound technologies, the VIZIO M507-G1’s speakers will produce an immersive and cinematic sound quality.

That said, the VIZIO M507-G1 offers exceptional performance when it comes to distortion. This was proven by the THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) test result of the television.

For clarity, the THD test is a sound test that measures the level of distortion a sound device can produce. Moreover, according to the settings of the test, a score of 1% or less indicate that the sound device produces little to no distortion.

Meanwhile, any score above 1% indicates that the distortion produced by the sound device will be significant and noticeable. Gladly, the VIZIO M507-G1 delivered a score of 0.3% on the THD test.

Hence, even when set to the max volume level, the distortion that the television’s speakers will produce will be very minimal and might not be noticeable. For your information, distortion is the warping of original sound frequencies, allowing a sound system to produce unwanted noises.

All in all, I will offer the VIZIO M507-G1 a rating of eight out of ten in this sound features review section.

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VIZIO M507-G1: Ports and Connectivity Features

To start with, the VIZIO M507-G1 comes with an ample number of ports. To give more details, some of the television’s ports are facing the right side on its back panel.

Meanwhile, the remaining ports are facing downward on the television’s back panel. Now that we know where to find the ports, let us get to know the kinds of ports the VIZIO M507-G1 has to offer.

Starting with the ports facing downward, they include two HDMI ports with one that supports Audio Return Channel (ARC). Thus, with the help of the HDMI-ARC port, you should be able to easily connect a soundbar to the VIZIO M507-G1.

Apart from the HDMI ports, the television’s downward-facing ports also include an Ethernet port, RF connector, analog audio out, and digital optical audio out. Meanwhile, the right-facing ports include two additional HDMI ports, composite video input, and a USB port.

Honestly, for a television that costs only $375, the VIZIO M507-G1’s port selection is quite outstanding. When it comes to wireless connectivity, the television features an in-built 802.11 ac WIFI and Bluetooth.

Moving further, the VIZIO M507-G1 comes with a basic (XRT136) remote control. This medium-sized remote features a plastic body as well as a smooth matte-black finish.

Furthermore, the remote comes with a square-shaped navigation button and a full number pad. Also, you will find some dedicated buttons for quick access to Crackle, Prime Video, Netflix, Xumo, Vudu, and iHeartRadio on the remote.

However, as a basic remote control, this television’s remote lacks a built-in microphone for voice input.

Therefore, to put this ports and connectivity features review section to a close, I will rate the VIZIO M507-G1 an eight out of ten.

VIZIO M507-G1: Smart Features

As with most VIZIO smart televisions, the VIZIO M507-G1 comes with the SmartCast operating system. The interface of this OS is quite simple and easy to use.

However, the interface lags a lot, and the animation isn’t smooth. On a positive note, this operating system offers lots of popular streaming services like YouTube, Tubi, Hulu, iHeartRadio, and lots more.

However, unlike other operating systems like webOS and Android OS, the SmartCast OS doesn’t come with a built-in app store. However, the VIZIO M507-G1 comes with an in-built Chromecast.

With the help of this Chromecast, you will be able to mirror/cast content from your mobile devices directly to the television.

In conclusion, although the VIZIO M507-G1’s OS offers lots of streaming services, its interface is laggy. Also, the operating system lacks a built-in app store.

As a result, I will rate the VIZIO M507-G1 a seven out of ten in this smart features review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

For a $375 QLED television, the VIZIO M507-G1 offers amazing performance and features. Specifically, this television’s display has good picture quality, supports HDR, and has a low input lag.

Moreover, the television offers a good number of ports and a decent sound performance. However, the VIZIO M507-G1 comes with some disappointing flaws.

Some of these flaws include bad viewing angles, average maximum brightness, and a laggy OS interface. Nevertheless, this QLED television offers an overall performance that is worth more than its price tag.

Hence, if you have been looking for an affordable QLED television with decent performance, you need to consider the VIZIO M507-G1.

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