Sharp 55FQ5EG : High quality TV with sound from Harman Kardon

Sharp is dedicated to reclaiming its prominent status in the television industry. Recent innovations showcased at the CES exhibition indicate that the company is making strides in this direction. The Sharp 55FQ5EG mid-range TV, featuring quantum dot technology and the Google TV system, is now on the market, as confirmed by the brand’s distributor.

Design

The appearance of the Sharp 55FQ5EG TV is very similar to one of the company’s previous models – the 55EQ3EA TV. In any case, its appearance is characteristic, although it cannot be called truly unique. The display is framed on three sides by a thin frame that is invisible when turned off. At the bottom there is a grille, behind which there are speakers facing the audience.

The screen, which can also be wall-mounted thanks to a standard VESA mount, rests on a thin, curved stand. The stand provides good stability for the TV. It doesn’t slide or wobble, but it doesn’t allow you to rotate or tilt the screen, which isn’t surprising. Indeed, these days, most televisions are designed this way.

Equipment

Sharp has long been a supporter of the intelligent platform developed by Google. To be precise, this device has an Android 11 TV version . The system is quite stable, no freezes or automatic restarts are usually observed. The graphical user interface is impressive with large, colorful icons.

However, it is not very user-friendly in the sense that you have to scroll for a long time to access certain features, apps or content. Like the manufacturer’s previous TVs, the Sharp 55FQ5EG model comes with two remote controls. The larger one is a complete product.

Thanks to its many buttons, most important functions or services are available from it, with the exception of voice control, since this remote control does not have a microphone. The microphone can be found on the smaller remote. On the downside, the smaller remote doesn’t have many buttons. It’s also worth noting that voice search is theoretically possible thanks to Google Assistant support.

The mobile device can also be used as a remote control via a free downloadable app. This TV can also work with a mouse and keyboard connected via USB or Bluetooth. This can be useful when running various Internet applications.

With over ten thousand software services to choose from, the selection is quite comprehensive, including applications related to news, sports, entertainment, culture, history, education and more, including games. The TV also has a browser installed and factory-installed media player software called Media Player.

55FQ5EG

With a particularly old-fashioned graphical user interface that’s also not very user-friendly, this app only offers basic functionality. But there is an option to easily download more advanced similar services from the app store. When viewing images, the TV plays files such as BMP, PNG, GIF and JPG.

You can also run a slide show. The program provides processing and display of so-called EXIF ​​data containing detailed information about photographs. From audio, in addition to MP3, you can play WAV, FLAC and WMA standards. The disadvantages of the video player include the fact that it cannot cope with DivX and XviD codecs.

Sound quality

The TV is equipped with a built-in sound system designed and manufactured by Harman Kardon. Two 15-watt speakers are built under the display and facing the audience. Thanks to this, the sound becomes an order of magnitude more powerful and clearer than what we can hear today in most inexpensive TVs. The volume is quite high, although bass, like other TVs without a subwoofer, is clearly lacking. The sound system also has pre-programmed sound modes and an equalizer.

Image quality

The image quality is provided by a VA panel with Direct-LED backlighting , quantum dots, a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, as well as its own AQUOS AI UltraClear image processor. QLED technology provides extremely accurate and clear tonal reproduction without degradation over time.

Another advantage of this technology is that it theoretically provides higher brightness and more realistic color reproduction. On paper, QLED does not produce perfect blacks at 0 cd/m². Consequently, the TV does not have infinite contrast of its own.

On the other hand, its maximum real contrast is around 5000:1. This is a pretty good result even for VA matrices. With the right settings, colors are natural, but not as detailed or powerful as OLED models. Viewing angles are not wide enough, as in TVs with IPS matrices.

When viewing at an angle of approximately 155 degrees or more, a slight attenuation of tones is felt. The maximum brightness is slightly higher than 500 cd/m², which is considered average among modern TVs. The HDR effect is definitely noticeable, but not as perfect as models with higher brightness.

The background light uniformity provided by the LEDs arranged in a grid pattern is not perfect. Slight haze may be noticeable in some scenes. When watching low-quality TV or streaming online content with low bitrates, you may experience stuttering. The maximum refresh rate is 144 Hz.

This parameter somewhat elevates the Sharp FQ5EG TV above most of its current competitors. The model supports the use of AMD FreeSync Premium Pro technology. The input lag is just over 12 ms. This result suggests that, in general, the TV is suitable for games.

Connections

The 55FQ5EG TV has two HDMI 2.1, two HDMI 2.0, two USB 2.0, an Ethernet connector, a composite, analog and optical digital audio connector. There are also antenna inputs and a CI+ slot, necessary for decoding digital pay TV. Wireless connections include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Conclusion

The Sharp 55FQ5EG  is a fairly high-quality TV in its price category. The Google TV smart system is stable and has good speed. The choice of applications is quite large. The factory media player is not the best for basic tasks. If someone needs something more, they can simply download better software.

The sound quality is better than most modern TVs in the same category. Moreover, the Sharpe FQ5EG TV can compete even with many more expensive devices in this area. The image quality is quite average compared to modern expensive QLED models and color rendition is great.

Specifications