Xiaomi TV F 65 Review: Big Screen, No Fuss

When it comes to televisions, I have always been of the mind that if you are going to spend your money, you might as well get something that actually fills the room. This Xiaomi 65-inch model certainly does that. It arrives in a box that feels like it could house a small shed, but once you get it out and onto its stand, it really does make a statement. It is the kind of screen that makes you want to sit down with a cup of tea and actually watch a film properly instead of squinting at your phone.

Now, I have seen my fair share of gadgets that claim to be the next big thing, only to end up as expensive dust collectors. Xiaomi has kept things refreshingly simple here. You get a 4K panel that is bright enough for a standard living room, and the colors are perfectly adequate for your evening news or a bit of weekend streaming. It does not try to reinvent the wheel, which is exactly why I find it tolerable. It is a television, not a space shuttle, and it behaves like one.

One thing that buyers keep mentioning is how easy it is to get up and running. If you are not the type to spend three hours fiddling with menus just to get the brightness right, you will appreciate this. The setup is straightforward, and the Fire OS interface is snappy enough that you won't be sitting there waiting for your menus to load while your popcorn goes cold. That kind of efficiency is worth its weight in gold in my book.

However, do not go expecting a miracle of engineering. This is a budget-friendly piece of kit, and you can tell in the build quality. It is light, which is great for hanging on a wall, but it does not have that reassuring heft of the heavy metal units from ten years ago. It is purely plastic and electronics, meant to do a job and do it well, not to be a family heirloom passed down to your grandchildren.

I have read some grumbles about the initial setup requiring an internet connection to get to the picture settings. That is a bit of a nuisance if you prefer to keep your appliances offline, but in this day and age, it seems to be the price we pay for these 'smart' features. Just keep your Wi-Fi password handy, set it up, and you can get back to your life without much more fuss.

The technical bits are fairly standard for a modern television at this price point. You get your 4K resolution with HDR10 support, which keeps the picture sharp and the contrast decent enough that you aren't straining to see what is happening in the dark scenes of a thriller. It uses a 60Hz refresh rate, which is perfectly fine for movies and standard television programs. If you are a serious gamer looking for ultra-high frame rates, you might want to look elsewhere, but for the rest of us, it is more than enough.

The sound situation is exactly what you would expect from a thin panel. You get two 10-watt speakers that handle dialogue clearly enough, but if you want that true cinema experience with deep, rumbling bass, you are going to need a soundbar. It is not that the sound is broken, it is just that physics is physics. You cannot fit a concert hall into a half-inch thick slab of plastic. Thankfully, the connectivity options are plentiful, so adding an external sound system is a simple affair.

What I do like is the inclusion of the Fire TV ecosystem. It is a known quantity, it is stable, and it supports all the usual suspects like Netflix and Prime Video right out of the gate. Having that built-in means one less box cluttering up your sideboard and one less remote to lose down the side of the sofa. Plus, with Alexa integrated, you can just tell the telly what to do, which is handy when you have your hands full of laundry or a plate of sandwiches.

If you want a large, capable television that does not cost a month's wages and you don't mind a few minor quirks, this Xiaomi 65-inch is a solid choice for your home. It is best suited for families or anyone wanting to upgrade their living room without the technical headache of high-end equipment. However, if you are a professional videophile who demands perfect color accuracy or a gamer needing top-tier refresh rates, you should skip this and look at something with a heavier price tag and more advanced processing.