VIZIO E0i-A1 Series Review: Cheap Local Dimming, Excellent Value

The good: The Vizio E0i-A1 shows deep black levels, a uniform screen, and commendable bright-room performance, making it a solid midlevel LCD TV. The Smart content selection is excellent. With its thin bezel, the set has a more compact, sleeker look than many competitors.

The bottom line: The Vizio E series offers picture quality nearing the more expensive M series and is a very good choice if you value its Smarts and styling.

When Vizio told us many sizes in its mainstream E series would get the benefits of local dimming, I was intrigued. That feature, designed to dim the backlight in discrete sections to enhance black levels and contrast, is rare on today's LCD TVs and positively unheard of at the E series' price level.

It didn't work as promised when we first reviewed it, but the most recent firmware has finally realized the television's potential. The Vizio E0i-A1 is a entry-level LED-dimming TV that performs like a much more expensive model. Its picture quality now rivals the pricier M series, and while that TV does have a touch more refinement in its local-dimming system for a bit better picture, they're now close enough to earn the same picture quality rating from us.

The Vizio E0i-A1 competes well against, or surpasses, the picture quality of other LCD TVs in its price class, while delivering plenty of Smart TV content and sleek minimalist style. Like the 60- and 70-inch E1i-A3 and the E320i-A0, the sizes of "E" reviewed here are among the least expensive Smart TVs available, making them exceedingly good values.

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