The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is a good overall budget TV. It's very similar to the Vizio M8 Series Quantum 2020, but it doesn't get as bright and has fewer local dimming zones. It sports a VA panel that can produce deep blacks, great for viewing movies or gaming in the dark. Its fast response time results in only a short blur trail behind fast-moving objects, and it has an optional Black Frame Insertion feature to improve clarity further. Its input lag is low enough to satisfy most gamers, and it supports variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing. However, it has narrow viewing angles, and it might not be able to fight intense glare in brightly-lit rooms. Also, while it has an outstanding color gamut with full coverage of the commonly-used DCI P3 color space, it doesn't get bright enough to make highlights pop in HDR content. Finally, its local dimming is mediocre and can be a bit distracting, as it raises the overall black level and is slow to transition between zones.
Our Verdict
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is a good TV for most uses. It has low input lag, a fast response time, and it supports variable refresh rate technology, making it a great option for gaming. It's decent for watching TV shows and sports, as it has good reflection handling but might not be able to overcome intense glare. Its excellent contrast ratio makes it a good choice for watching movies; however, its local dimming is mediocre, and it doesn't get bright enough to deliver a convincing HDR experience.
- Excellent contrast ratio.
- Good reflection handling.
- Decent SDR peak brightness.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Dirty screen effect.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is good for watching movies. It has an excellent contrast ratio and decent black uniformity to deliver a great dark room viewing experience. It can remove judder from 24p sources and native apps, and it doesn't stutter much in lower frame rate content. Unfortunately, its local dimming is mediocre, and there's a fair amount of dirty screen effect, although the latter can vary between units.
- Excellent contrast ratio.
- Can remove 24p judder.
- Decent black uniformity.
- Mediocre local dimming.
- Dirty screen effect.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is decent for watching TV shows. It handles reflections well but doesn't get very bright, so it might struggle to overcome intense glare. It has a VA panel with narrow viewing angles, which isn't ideal if you like to walk around while watching TV. On the upside, it's immune to permanent burn-in, so you don't have to worry about watching the same content or channel all day.
- Good reflection handling.
- Decent SDR peak brightness.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Dirty screen effect.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is decent for watching sports. It has a fast response time and a Black Frame Insertion feature to deliver fast-moving scenes with minimal blur. It handles reflections well, but it might not be able to overcome intense glare. Also, its VA panel's narrow viewing angles make images look inaccurate when viewed from the side, which isn't ideal for wide seating areas.
- Good reflection handling.
- Fast response time.
- Decent SDR peak brightness.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Dirty screen effect.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is great for gaming. It has remarkably low input lag to provide a responsive gaming experience and a fast response time to minimize motion blur in fast-moving scenes. Also, it supports variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing. It's well-suited for dark room viewing due to its high contrast ratio, but the local dimming can be a bit distracting as it raises the overall black level.
- Excellent contrast ratio.
- Fast response time.
- VRR support.
- Low input lag.
- Mediocre local dimming.
- Dirty screen effect.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is good for watching movies in HDR. It has a high contrast ratio and an outstanding HDR color gamut to produce a wide range of colors. However, it doesn't really get bright enough to make highlights pop, and the local dimming is mediocre.
- Excellent contrast ratio.
- Outstanding HDR color gamut.
- Can remove 24p judder.
- Decent black uniformity.
- Doesn't get bright enough for HDR.
- Mediocre local dimming.
- Dirty screen effect.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is great for gaming in HDR. It has a fast response time and low input lag, and it supports variable refresh rate technology to help reduce screen tearing. It has an outstanding color gamut to produce a wide range of colors, but its HDR peak brightness is disappointing, so highlights don't stand out the way they should.
- Excellent contrast ratio.
- Fast response time.
- VRR support.
- Low input lag.
- Doesn't get bright enough for HDR.
- Mediocre local dimming.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is a good TV for use as a PC monitor. It supports most common resolutions and can display proper chroma 4:4:4. It has a fast response time and low input lag, and its VA panel is immune to permanent burn-in. The downside is that it has narrow viewing angles, so images can look inaccurate at the sides if you sit too close.
- Good reflection handling.
- Fast response time.
- Low input lag.
- Narrow viewing angles.
Changelog
- Updated Jul 27, 2021: Remeasured the contrast and uploaded the real content local dimming videos.
- Updated Mar 01, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.6.
- Updated Dec 22, 2020: We've retested the supported resolutions and inputs with the latest firmware (version 1.10.15.1-2).
- Updated Oct 26, 2020: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 65" Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 (M65Q7-H1), and we expect our results to be valid for the 50" (M50Q7-H1) and the 55" (M55Q7-H1) models. It's a variant of the Vizio M8 Series Quantum 2020, which we've also tested. They're very similar overall, but there are some differences, such as the number of local dimming zones and their overall peak brightness. There's a Black Friday variant that's only available at a 70" size, which has slightly reduced features, such as three HDMI ports instead of four. It likely has a different local dimming zone count, though we haven't been able to confirm it. If you come across this model, please let us know in the discussions.
| Size | Model | Black Friday Model | Local Dimming Zones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50" | M50Q7-H1 | 30 | |
| 55" | M55Q7-H1 | 30 | |
| 65" | M65Q7-H1 | 30 | |
| 70" | M706x-H3 | Unknown |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Vizio M7 Quantum doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, such as gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
You can see our unit's label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Vizio M7 Series is a good TV overall, one of the best in its price range. It performs very similarly to its sibling, the Vizio M8 Series Quantum 2020, but it doesn't get as bright in SDR or HDR, and it has a lower number of local dimming zones. For more options, check out our recommendations for the best TVs under $500, the best TVs, and the best 4k TVs.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 and the Vizio M8 Series Quantum 2020 are very similar TVs, as they're variants of the same model. The M7 has a faster response time and better reflection handling. However, the M8 gets brighter in both SDR and HDR, has more local dimming zones, and it doesn't stutter as much in lower frame rate content due to its slower response time.
The Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 and the TCL S535 score similarly overall, but there are a few notable differences between them. The Vizio has higher peak brightness, better reflection handling, and supports variable refresh rate technology. The TCL has a higher contrast ratio, better local dimming, and can remove judder from all sources.
The Hisense H8G is marginally better than the Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020. The Hisense has a better local dimming feature, it gets brighter, and its Android TV platform runs smoother and has more apps. On the other hand, the Vizio has a much better HDR color gamut, and it supports variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing when gaming.
Overall, the Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020 is significantly better than the Samsung TU8000. The Vizio has a much better color gamut, better gradient handling, a faster response time, and a full-array local dimming feature. It also has better reflection handling and gets brighter. However, the Samsung has a higher contrast ratio, and it doesn't stutter as much in lower frame rate content.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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