At this stage, we’re no strangers to Buahn’s low-cost and 4K-ready Ultra HD LCD LED TVs. We’ve reviewed their flagship efforts both this year and last year. We know the brand and we understand why they’ve managed to not just survive in the Australian TV market, but thrive in it. We’re Bauhn-ified experts on the topic and are qualified as you can get when it comes to delivering a verdict on their latest foray into ALDI stores.
Cutting to the chase: Bauhn’s new Black Series Ultra 4K HD LCD LED TV is probably the best they’ve ever brought to the German retailer’s shelves. If you’re deadset on the latest Samsung or OLED, this probably won’t prove to be a suitable substitute. However, if you’re looking to make your home entertainment setup 4K-ready at an affordable price, there really is no other option.
Certified to deliver 4K quality video and packing support for HDMI 2.0, the Bauhn Black Series delivers content at a crisp 60Hz native refresh rate with a 3000:1 contrast ratio. Packing all the best bits of Bauhn TVs past (a built-in HD tuner, speakers and a one-year warranty), it’s got everything that matters.
While it lacks the HDR color depth or ultra-brightness you’ll find in a $10K TV, it comes compellingly close for less than a tenth of the asking price. All told, it’s light on fluffy technical buzzwords that bump the price upwards (with little to show for it) and leans heavy on the reality that 4K content doesn’t need many bells and whistles to look amazing.
It certainly helps that Bauhn have made a number of smart improvements and inclusions that’ll likely help it seal the deal. The packaging is a little nicer this time around and they’ve even thrown in a few little extra bits of tech to sweeten the deal.
In the past, we’d often advise that Bauhn TVs were only a Chromecast or Fetch TV away from delivering stellar home entertainment experiences out of the box. Now, Bauhn have beaten us to the punch by literally including the former as part of the package. Once set up, it allows you to easily beam 4K or HD content from your smartphone or tablet to your TV and when not in use, even adds a touch of class to your living room through a series of colorful standby images.
This savvy inclusion is probably the easiest thing about the Bauhn package to point at and use as an example of how they’re making it easier than ever to take a chance on them over the other major home entertainment incumbents. Where other companies might try to bridge the gap between their products and the content customers watch on them with some overly complex Smart TV OS, Bauhn have sought a much simpler solution: just throw it in the box.
It’s a clever move that lines up nicely with their strategy of investing in and pitching value to the customer above all else – and one that’ll likely move more than a few units. That said, it’s far from the only innovation and improvement that’s been made here.
In fact, on almost all fronts gains have been made. The TVs menu system is a little cleaner and faster. The remote control feels more responsive. Even the product’s design seems a little sharper (though, admittedly, not as sharp as the company’s most recent 65-inch effort). There’s still room for improvement here but the Black Series stands out as Bauhn’s most polished effort yet and one that leaves you feeling like you’ve got your money’s worth.
On multiple levels, the Black Series Ultra TV feels representative of a subtle-but-significant shift in the way Bauhn approach the market. It feels like they aren’t trying to prove themselves anymore. They know they’ve got something good here – all they have to do is refine it and they’ll have something truly great on their hands.
Conclusion
Bauhn have stuck to their strengths with this new 58-inch TV – and it shows. At the asking price, it’s their most compelling product yet for those looking to sharpen up their home entertainment experience and make the jump to 4K. Don’t miss it.
