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Blaupunkt CyberSound G2 Review: As India immerses into the Diwali season with full enthusiasm, Blaupunkt joined the party with exciting offers on a wide range of TVs. It seems the German brand aims to mimic the success of its audio and car accessories and establish a robust presence in the TV segment with the release of the new 55-inch 4K LED Google TV (55CSGT7023). We have been testing it for a while now and have a lot to share about this value-for-money offering.

From enjoying India's invincible streak in the World Cup 2023 to watching HDR movies, I have been grilling the newly launched Cybersound G2 for about four weeks. For starters, the TV flexes an unbeatable price in this festive season. You can get the device for Rs 24,999 during Flipkart's Big Diwali Sale (at the time of filing). But is the package enticing enough to book one for yourself? Well, I will try to answer this in my full review.

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Before you go ahead, note that Super Plastronics, an India-based OEM major, is the official licensee for manufacturing Blaupunkt TVs in the country. The company has a proven track record of manufacturing TV sets for other brands, including Kodak, Westinghouse, White-Westinghouse and Thomson.

Blaupunkt CyberSound G2 2023: Design and Build

Straight out of the box, this TV offers a frame-less design on three sides with 'Blaupunkt' branding at the bottom plastic bezel in a shimmery finish, which looks pleasing. The narrow rims and the body structure give the TV a premium and solid feel. For seamless installation, you get a wall mount and two stands (that fasten at the extreme ends of the unit) in the box.

Its table-top assembly using the provided stands feels sturdy. But it does have a slight wobble when touched manually. If you plan to wall-mount the TV during the free installation process, the accessibility of I/O ports can be an issue because they sit in the small centre casing behind the TV.

As for the remote, it is made out of plastic and has a triangular pattern textured finish on the back, which offers a good grip. While all buttons work fine, the quality of the 'OK' and navigation button needs refinement in future units. From Google Assistant to OTT hotkeys, it has all the basic buttons you can expect from a smart TV remote in 2023.

Picture Quality

The most crucial bit, the TV has a 4K IPS panel with a resolution of 3840 × 2160. Blaupunkt claims a peak brightness of up to 500nits, a contrast ratio of 5000:1 and Dolby Vision. And I can digest the brand's point. The DLED panel sails through my expectations. While I did not expect QLED or OLED-level accuracy and blacks, the screen lives up to its specs and offers well-rounded output.

Besides custom adjustments, I preferred the "Vivid" preset for viewing. It delivers good brightness levels unless you tune into super bright HDR or Dolby Vision-complaint content. The HD picture upscaling is better than many other offerings I have experienced in the sub-Rs 35,000 price range. Its 10-bit screen offers almost negligent banding in the sky during 4K HDR playback. The output is crisp and colourful. But it does have a few downsides.

(Video On TV: YouTube/Jacob + Katie Schwarz)

I did notice screen flickering in patches of screen involving enormously detailed shots. But it is a 1:10 ratio experience and not a deal breaker. Secondly, details in dark scenes need refinement. It refreshes at 60Hz, which might seem inadequate for gamers. But considering the price, I won't complain.

Software And Performance

The quad-core MediaTek Arm Cortex A53 CPU, coupled with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, ensures the TV boots up in under 30-35 seconds and functions just like you would expect from a TV. You cannot expect it to glide through apps during multitasking. But I can label the performance as good for the price. To ensure it performs like day one, uninstall unnecessary apps and install the latest update whenever available.

Thanks to Google TV OS, you can enjoy all your movies and shows on popular OTT apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and more on this TV. The option to mirror the screen also works well with Android with minimum latency. As for essential ports, you get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, three HDMI (with one supporting ARC) ports, two USB ports, an RJ45 jack and more. While I have no complaints concerning the connectivity, HDMI eARC would have been a welcome addition.

Sound Output

Blaupunkt advertises 60W RMS output from the four speakers combined with CyberSound Gen 2.0 surround sound and Dolby Atmos technology. I had to tweak a few settings (you must play around too) based on my liking to get the desired output. It is loud enough to enjoy movies and music on Prime and watch YouTube content.

While the vocals and treble are crisp, there is room for improvement in the bass. Plus, there is slight distortion at max volume. But you can get good sound output at 75-85 volume level. Also, while there is good stereo separation, do not expect wonders like 5.1 surround tech. In a nutshell, I would call the sound quality decent for the price. With some manual tweaks, you can slot that into the 'good' tier.

Scope of Improvement

Blaupunkt can bundle additional years of warranty (or sell the plan separately) to let the users ensure their next TV is secured against manufacturing defects for the next 2-3 years. Plus, the company can reconsider its out-of-the-box sound output to take full advantage of its powerful 60W speakers. Also, the remote fails to interpret voice commands in some cases (2-3 times out of 10). The accuracy needs improvement, as manual typing is a scary task on TVs.

Conclusion

So, if you have a budget of under Rs 30,000 and are looking for the largest TV that checks all the essential boxes of picture and sound at a pocket-friendly price, this is one of the solid options. It offers good picture quality (considering it is an LED screen), balanced sound, decent connectivity ports, an outstanding build and more for its price. But if you are more into watching HDR content, prefer bass-heavy sound signature or want a TV for gaming, keep your quest on.