The Orion OTV-65UHDSMV is a surprisingly capable 65in 4K TV that delivers reasonably solid performance at an even more solid price -- R7,000. Sure, it cuts some corners with a basic LED panel and limited gaming capabilities with its 60Hz refresh rate. But it more than makes up for it with clear visuals and an extremely simple setup. It's not what we'd call a premium experience, but for the budget-conscious out there, Orion's 65in TV displays serious value.
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Value
Next on Stuff’s journey of becoming familiar with South Africa’s latest budget brand, Orion, comes the OTV-65UHDSMV — a 65in 4K TV that lives up to the Orion modus operandi with an exceptionally palatable R7,000 price tag.
Interestingly, Orion doesn’t opt for the Google OS that’s typical for cheaper TVs these days, instead making friends with Vidaa OS, which makes us think this is simply a rebranded Hisense or Toshiba TV. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Orion’s lack of brand awareness might actually help consumers in this case, price-wise.
4 screws later…
Budget isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially when dealing with a 65in monster that could probably take you in a fight should the robot uprising not go quite your way. Keep a lighter nearby, and you’ll be just fine. That’s due to the all-plastic build here, which made set-up not only possible with one person, but a breeze.
Seriously, all you need is a soft spot to rest your new purchase (R7,000 is R7,000, after all) while you get to work installing the four screws that fit the two plastic legs on. This might sound obvious to anyone purchasing a 65in TV, but you’ll want to ensure it has somewhere comfortable to sit. With the legs sticking out of the TV’s ends rather than a middle set-up, that might be a touch more difficult to pull off.
All that’s left to do is locate the three HDMI ports on the back, plug your gadgets in, and voila. There are even two USB-A ports that’ll make watching your personal content that much easier, assuming your storage format is compliant with the Vidaa OS. Our exFAT hard drive wasn’t, unfortunately. Just something to keep in mind.
Hit ’em where it Hertz
A sub-R10k 4K TV from a newcomer in the space was never going to inspire real confidence in anyone, but we’re glad to report that Orion’s efforts surpassed our expectations. It’s rocking a relatively simple 4K LED panel (3,840 x 2,160), but one that’s mostly bright enough to get by after 6 PM. For daytime watchers keeping up with Judge Judy or settling down to watch Anaconda, you might want to keep those curtains drawn.
The visuals you do get here are crisp, clear, and colourful — though we’d be lying if we said we didn’t wish for a little more colour to play around with. Some content can appear slightly muted, but this was only ever an issue when dealing with already-dark content in the middle of the day. There’s no deep blacks for you to get lost in, but you already knew that when you saw the R7,000 price tag, yeah?
Where the OTV-65UHDSMV TV struggled hardest was keeping up with our games. Current-gen consoles rely on 120Hz panels to get the most out of them — especially in the competitive scenes — and we’re sorry to say that Orion supplies watchers with half that. It’s not a deal-breaker by any means, and it helps keep the price a couple of grand under the R10,000 mark for the dads just looking for somewhere to watch the rugby.
Give it the right stuff, however, and Orion’s efforts shine. For example, when hooked up to our Nintendo Switch 2 and running a upgraded Tears of the Kingdom (which won’t pass that 60fps threshold, anyway) the Kingdom of Hyrule looked absolutely stunning, with a generous framerate to match. In other words, keep those expectations in check, especially if you’re an ambitious gamer with a PS5 at hand, and Orion won’t disappoint.
Compared to the enthusiastic visuals, we were slightly let down by Orion’s sound performance. It got the job done, and even got pretty loud at the 100 mark, but all the detail you might expect from someone like Chris Nolan or Denis Villeneuve is lost among all the noise. It’s about what we’d expect from something in the sub-R10k range — freeing up enough funds to get a basic soundbar. Trust us, it’ll help.
Viral Vidaa
Furthering our belief that this is nothing but a Hisense TV in disguise is Orion’s controller, which almost exactly mimics the shape and size we’ve experienced elsewhere — albeit with far more flexibility. We’re not Deezer or Plex users, but almost immediate access (you’ll see what we mean) to Netflix and Prime Video was appreciated. Otherwise, it’s a controller like any other good one. Sufficiently clicky and comfortable, in other words.
There’s no telling exactly which processor Orion, or more accurately, Hisense, has thrown in here — partly because Orion hasn’t said as much, but, well, it’s not a very good one. Don’t get us wrong. Orion’s efforts aren’t any worse than the competition. At most, you can expect a slight delay when your fingers get a little too excited.
It’s all made a little better thanks to the simplistic Vidaa OS layout, which helps keep those little fingies in check more often than not when rocketing around the place. It’s not nearly as feature-packed as you’d find with something from LG or Samsung (or anything Google, really), but Orion’s efforts are better for it. It has more than enough to keep you entertained (we found what we needed, anyway), even if it’s a little slow.
Orion OTV-65UHDSMV TV verdict
Nobody picking up Orion’s OTV-65UHDSMV TV will feel a sudden urge to sing its praises, but they’re not walking away from the experience disappointed, either. A 65in TV under R10,000 is nothing to scoff at, especially one that sports 4K imagery like this one does, even if it comes across as a little dim. Could the audio be a little better? Sure. But just think about the sort of soundbar you could get with the savings here, huh?
