Can Blaupunkt's mini-LED TVs compete with the best?

Blaupunkt isn’t a household name in the television segment in India. Could that change in 2025 with the launch of its first Google Mini QD TV in the country? These new TVs come in 65- and 75-inch screen sizes, combining ultra-bright visuals with deeper blacks and an immersive, loud sound to elevate the at-home binge-watching experience.

Priced at ₹94,999 for the 65-inch model and ₹1,49,999 for the 75-inch variant, these Blaupunkt TVs aren’t exactly value-for-money offerings. Instead, they plan to be power-packed performers. In a world where a 55-inch LG G5 costs approximately ₹1,50,000 (I personally bought one during the launch offer period), and with players like Sony, Samsung, Xiaomi, and others, can Blaupunkt stand out with these TVs? Let’s find out.

What is a Mini LED TV?

Mini-LED TVs are an evolution of the traditional LED display. But let’s rewind for a moment. LED displays use a backlight to illuminate an LCD panel. Every pixel in an LCD display contains three sub-pixels—red, green and blue (RGB) colour filters—and combines these sub-pixels to create separate colours. Mini-LEDs, however, contain thousands of LED backlights. With a smaller size, more LEDs are packed together, allowing a TV to have greater control over the lighting. It can turn off areas of an image that contain black.

OLEDs are the current king of televisions, as they have deeper black levels and excellent contrast ratios. Meanwhile, Mini-LEDs are ready to take the crown from OLED TVs. They are brighter (will work better in sunny/bright environments) and have almost no chance of image retention (also known as burn-in).

The Blaunpunkt Mini LED TV

The first thing you notice after unboxing the 65-inch Mini LED TV from Blaupunkt is that it’s a premium product through and through. The build is solid, and the sleek bezel-less design with a premium metal base is something you just cannot miss. I have the 65-inch size, and it’s perfect for what it delivers. It can be either wall-mounted or stand on its legs, which you need to attach.

After having it installed just before lunchtime, I was impressed with how well it handled the lighting. My curtains were open, and some sunlight was coming through. Nonetheless, having played a video from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 final, I noticed how the colours were true-to-life and vibrant as the Mini QD 4K display comes with 1.1 billion colours. As I mentioned earlier, Mini LED TVs have a brightness advantage. This TV comes with 1500 nits of peak brightness.

Furthermore, to compete with OLEDs, this TV features a 100,000:1 contrast ratio and local dimming. This brings about deeper blacks and sharper contrasts. Yes, it still cannot compete with OLEDs, but the bridge has been gapped.

With support for Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG, every frame is enhanced with richer details. I turned on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer to see the epic bomb drop scene. Despite having a ‘powerful 108W Dolby Atmos-certified sound system with six speakers, including two subwoofers,’ I didn’t feel like I was actually transported to the scene of the crime. The colours, while vibrant, didn’t quite match the LG G5 TV. And that sound system definitely didn’t provide any reassurance. In fact, at louder volume levels, I could hear a slight crackle. But that can be said for most TVs I’ve tested over the last couple of months. Do yourself a favour and invest in a soundbar, alongside your TV, and your movie viewing experience will be exponentially better.

The Blaupunkt Mini LED TV comes with Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi. This ensures that you won't have any problems streaming content or casting from a laptop or smartphone. Streaming of content can happen via the built-in Chromecast and AirPlay. Since this is a Google TV, you get access to over 1,000 apps, ensuring you never run out of options when you need something to stream. Yes, if you want to game on this TV (though I’d personally recommend an OLED TV), the display features a 120Hz refresh rate and is relatively free from lag and motion blur.

Sports & Movies: A tale of two cities

There are three things I used the TV for the most during my testing period. Sports (Pro Jabaddi League, English Premier League and more), movies (from Oppenheimer to Get Out) and live news broadcasts (think Bloomberg and Al Jazeera).

While watching Pro Kabaddi League, with one light on, I noticed how well the Blaupunkt Mini QD TV handled the reflections and the vibrant colours. It felt electric. The energetic sounds of the commentator came through, and how. I was on a mere 25-volume level, and it felt like I was in the stadium.

Then, when I switched to movies, I was somewhat disappointed. The deep blacks in some of the scenes in Oppenheimer, and the nuances in the sound in There Will Be Blood, when a group of people were having a conversation, was lacking. It just didn’t give me that cinematic feeling.

For news broadcasts, the clarity of the news reporters’ voices was crystal clear, and I noticed no lag in the broadcast.

Some software bugs and an unnecessarily large remote

The best way I can describe the remote is that it is maximalist. A lot of the buttons on it are pretty useless. This TV is designed for the streaming generation, featuring Google TV with access to over 1,000 apps. Therefore, it makes absolutely no sense to have a TV remote with as many buttons. It’s not like it’s an all-in-one remote control. On the upside, the remote is Google Assistant-enabled, and voice control is pretty seamless.

Then there is the software. For the most part, it is good and intuitive, but I had one gripe with it: app crashes. Sometimes I’ve had to open an app three times before I could get to the content I wanted to watch. The same thing happens with casting from the smartphone, although I didn’t experience any issues during the last few days of testing.

Verdict: Is this Mini LED worth it?

While the Blaupunkt is no match for my LG G5, it’s a worthy first attempt in the Mini LED space. For their first ultra-premium Mini LED TV, Blaupunkt is worth considering on your shopping list. At ₹94,999 for the 65-inch TV, this is a value-for-money offering. Just make sure you’re the target audience. As long as you’re not a hardcore movie buff or an avid gamer, this TV will suit you. Especially if you consume a lot of television during the brighter hours of the day.

The Blaupunkt Mini QD TV can get bright, very bright, and handles reflections really well. For fast-moving action, such as live sports, the picture quality is smooth, and colours are true-to-life. Even for binge-watching YouTube and casual activities like reality television, the Mini LED TV handled it well, regardless of the time of day.

There are some areas worth improving for Blaupunkt, and it falls short compared to LG, Sony, and others. That said, at ₹94,999, this 65-inch TV has been priced aggressively, and if there is ever a discount, it’ll be an even better proposition.