Vizio V5 Series 2021 TV Review

The Vizio V Series 2021 is an entry-level 4k TV that replaces the Vizio V Series 2020. Although Vizio labels it as a 2022 model, it was released in 2021. It sits above the Vizio D Series, which has 1080p and 720p models, and it sits alongside the Vizio V6 Series. It competes with other entry-level models like the Hisense U6G, Samsung AU8000, and the LG UP7000.

The Vizio V655 is a basic entry-level TV made entirely out of plastic. It looks like the Vizio V Series 2020 from the front, but the back looks different. It has thicker bezels than most modern TVs, but they're still not too distracting.

The TV comes with the same V-shaped feet as other Vizio TVs. They're wide-set and cannot be placed in an alternate position. There's enough space in front that you can place a soundbar without blocking the screen.

Footprint of the 65" TV: 47.6" x 12" x 3.25"

The back panel is smooth plastic and the bottom part where the inputs are sticks out more. Sadly, there's no cable management.

The Vizio V655 is a basic entry-level TV with okay build quality. It's plastic throughout and feels solid, but it's nothing special. There's some flex on the back, especially near the logo in the center. The TV wobbles a bit on the stand, but it's not too bad considering its size.

The Vizio V655 has a fantastic native contrast ratio, typical of VA-type panels. Even without a local dimming feature, it displays deep blacks. Keep in mind that the contrast can vary between units.

Note: The picture above looks different than the contrast ratio photo in the Vizio V Series 2020 because our unit of the V655 has a warmer color tone, and it looks more like the Vizio V Series 2019.

The Vizio V655 has disappointing SDR brightness. It doesn't get bright enough to combat glare in a well-lit room. On the plus side, brightness doesn't vary between content.

We tested the SDR brightness after calibration in the 'Calibrated Dark' Picture Mode with Gamma set to '2.2' and Color Temperature set to 'Warm'. If you want a slightly brighter image, we reached 269 cd/m² in the 'Sports' Picture Mode with Color Temperature set to 'Normal'. However this comes at the cost of losing image accuracy.

The Vizio V655 doesn't have a local dimming feature. The videos above are for reference only. Blacks look closer to gray with the test pattern because the video is shot at an angle, and due to the TV's narrow viewing angles, the black levels appear raised.

Once again, there's no local dimming feature. The videos are provided for reference only, and blacks look gray with the test pattern video due to the narrow viewing angles.

The HDR brightness is poor. It doesn't get brighter than in SDR and it's not enough to make highlights stand out. The EOTF follows the target perfectly until the roll off at the peak brightness, so scenes are displayed at their correct brightness.

We tested the HDR brightness in the 'Calibrated Dark' Picture Mode with Gamma set to '2.2' and Color Temperature set to 'Warm'.

Setting the Gamma to '1.8' and Color Temperature to 'Normal' results in a brighter image, as you can see in this EOTF.

The HDR brightness in Game Mode is exactly the same as outside of it because you can enable Game Low Latency to achieve low input lag and use any Picture Mode.

The gray uniformity is okay. The edges of the screen are darker, and there's noticeable dirty screen effect in the center. It could get distracting when watching sports. Uniformity is better in near-dark scenes, but there's some backlight bleed along the bottom edge. Note that uniformity can vary between units.

The black uniformity is fantastic. There isn't any backlight bleed, but there's clouding that results in a blueish screen rather than black. Sadly, there's no local dimming feature to improve it. Keep in mind that uniformity can vary between units.

The Vizio V655 has narrow viewing angles. It's expected from a VA-type panel, but it's even worse than other TVs and you really notice the loss in image accuracy when viewing from the side. Blues in particular really start to look different at an angle.

This TV has an optional Enhanced Viewing Angle setting to try to improve the viewing angles. The results are with the setting off, but we also tested it with it enabled. Using this feature doesn't really change the viewing angles, and you can see the graphs below:

• Chroma Graph
• Hue Graph
• Lightness Graph

It has good reflection handling. Even though it has a semi-gloss finish, it absorbs light well, and glare shouldn't be an issue unless you place it opposite strong light sources. There are more direct mirror-like reflections than the Vizio V Series 2020, but less light is scattered across the screen.

Our unit of the Vizio V655 has excellent out-of-the-box accuracy, but this can vary between units. Only saturated blues and reds are slightly inaccurate, and the white balance is just a bit off. Color temperature is just a bit on the cold side, but it's fantastic regardless. Sadly, gamma doesn't follow the target 2.2 very well, so bright scenes are over-brightened.

The accuracy after calibration is remarkable. Any remaining inaccuracies are nearly impossible to spot, but dark red is still a bit off. Both the color temperature and gamma are nearly spot-on with our targets.

You can see our recommended settings here.

The Vizio V655 does a decent job at upscaling lower-resolution content like from DVDs. It's not as good as other TVs, which is typical behavior of Vizios.

This TV displays 720p content fairly well, but there are more artifacts than other 4k options.

This TV displays 1080p content nearly as good as native 4k content.

There aren't any issues displaying native 4k content on this TV.

This is a 4k TV that can't display an 8k signal.

The Vizio V655 seems to have a type of VA panel that's technically different, but it performs the same. The BGR sub-pixel format can affect text clarity when using it as a PC, which you can read about here.

The Vizio V655 has an okay color gamut for HDR content, but it's not considered a wide color gamut. It has very good coverage of the commonly-used DCI P3 color space, but its coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 is limited, and tone mapping is off.

Due to the lack of a wide color gamut, the color volume is disappointing. It displays dark colors well thanks to the high contrast but struggles with brighter colors.

The Vizio V655 has excellent gradient handling. There's only a bit of banding in the darker shades, especially green and red, but it's minimal. Using the Contour Smoothing in the 'Reduce Noise' settings page helps smooth out banding, and setting it to 'High' helps best with real content, but this comes at the cost of losing fine details.

There are no signs of temporary image retention after displaying a high-contrast static image, but this can vary between units.

We don't expect VA panels to experience permanent image retention, as the VA panel in our long-term test appears immune.

The Vizio V655 has a decent response time. The 100% response time is quicker than the Vizio V Series 2020, but there's still noticeable motion smear due to the slow response time in darker transitions. This can be especially distracting with darker objects. You may also notice image duplication due to the backlight's flicker frequency.

This TV has a flicker-free backlight if you set the Backlight setting to anything above '45' in the 'Calibrated Dark' and 'Calibrated' Picture Modes, and anything above 40 in the other modes. However, the TV uses Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to dim the backlight below those settings, and it flickers at 480Hz. It always flickers at 480Hz in 'Game' mode.

There's no optional black frame insertion. It always flickers at 480Hz in 'Game' Picture Mode on this TV. If you don't like that, you can enable the Game Low Latency setting and use another Picture Mode.

The TV doesn't have a motion interpolation feature.

Since the response time isn't the quickest, there isn't too much stutter with lower-frame rate content.

This TV removes 24p judder from apps and native sources, but not from 60p/i sources. You need to enable Film Mode and disable the Full Color 4:4:4 setting for it to do so.

The Vizio V5 Series isn't advertised to have any VRR support, but the V6 Series does have it. We confirmed there's no VRR on the V655 as there isn't a specific setting for it, and there's screen tearing with our pendulum test video.

The Vizio V655 has low input lag as long as Game Low Latency is enabled. It's low enough for non-reaction-based games even with the setting disabled. If you're going to use it as a PC monitor, make sure you enable the Full Color 4:4:4 setting, and you're in Game Mode for it to have low input lag.

This TV supports any common resolution up to 60Hz. It displays chroma 4:4:4 at any supported resolution as long as Full Color 4:4:4 is enabled. However, you can't achieve 4k @60Hz with 4:4:4 and a 10-bit signal because it doesn't support that much bandwidth. For full-bandwidth signals, set the HDMI Mode to '2.1'.

Since the Vizio V655 doesn't support anything above 60Hz, it doesn't support any 120Hz signals from the PS5 or Xbox Series X. It has an Auto Low Latency Mode that automatically switches the TV into Game Mode when a game from a compatible device is launched. For it to work, set Game Low Latency to 'Auto'.

Even though it's advertised to have HDMI 2.1 inputs, they don't support a 4k @ 60Hz 10-bit signal with chroma 4:4:4, meaning they don't support HDMI 2.1 bandwidth.

There's eARC support on HDMI 1, allowing you to pass high-quality, uncompressed audio to a compatible receiver through a single HDMI connection. For it to work, enable eARC and set Digital Audio Out to 'Digital' for DTS:X via eARC and any ARC signal, and to 'Auto' for Atmos via eARC or any optical signal.

The Vizio V655 has an okay frequency response. It gets fairly loud and has a well-balanced sound profile, so it's good for listening to dialogue. Sadly, it doesn't produce much bass, if at all.

The distortion performance isn't bad. There isn't too much at moderate listening levels, but there's more at its max volume. However, this depends on the content, and not everyone may hear it.

The Vizio SmartCast system is decent and easy to use. It can feel laggy at times, so menu navigation isn't the smoothest. However, you can move your apps around on the home page, making them easier to access.

Update 08/26/2021: We corrected a mistake in our test results. There's no opt-out from ads because there are no ads.

There's suggested content on the home screen, but we didn't see any ads. Let us know if you see any.

Unfortunately, you can't download any extra apps besides the ones that come pre-installed. On the plus side, you can cast anything you want from your phone.

It comes with a new Vizio remote that lacks a numpad and has a mic for voice control, which past models didn't have. You can ask the voice control to change inputs, open apps, and ask the weather, but you can't search for specific content in apps or change settings.

There are three buttons on the back right side to change the volume, inputs, and power the TV On/Off.

• Remote (with 2x AAA batteries)
• User guides