Sharp N5000 Review

LC-55N5300U, LC-50N5000U, LC-60N5100U, LC-65N5200U, LC-43N5000U

1080p LCD-LED TV with Wifi

by , Senior Editor

Hisense-Sharp Takeover

Hisense, a large Chinese manufacturer licensed the Sharp name in June of 2015. Hisense is not a well known brand in the U.S., but it is in China, where the company has the number 1 market share in units sold. It's also reportedly #3 globally in units sold with over 16 million TVs produced. Hisense is focusing on low priced models as well as high quality featured TVs all the way up to THX certification in its bid to gain U.S. Market share. Hisense purchased the Sharp brand and the Mexico assembly facility in a $23M deal. The Sharp models will purportedly still use the Sharp LCD panels in their production.

Picture Quality

The N5000 series has decent picture quality with a good front and center viewing black levels and color saturation. Colors and black levels do degrade at side angles starting at 15 degrees off center. Brightness levels are fine. There is some perceived lack of depth in on-screen images. With HD signals the picture is much more robust as the upscaling video boards are not as high end in this TV as some of the higher priced models.

Sharp LC-55N5300U
Sharp's N5000 series shows vibrant color.

Technology

The 60” and 65” inch sizes of this model are edge lit, while the 40”, 50”, and 55” models are backlit. Does that make the smaller sizes better? Not necessarily, a good edge lit backlit TV is better than a poor direct backlit TV. It also allows the edge lit displays to be slimmer. It all depends on the number of zones and quality of the LED lighting. Both the larger and smaller sizes of the N5000 are of average quality. They get the job done but are not going to blow you away with brightness levels.

Features

Obviously, the N5000 series is a price oriented TV (any TV with lower than 4K resolution is), but it still packs some surprising features. It has a built in streaming Apps selection including the usual suspects that you use most like Netflix, Amazon on Demand, and You Tube. Built in Wifi. An Apps store and web browser. And a media player/receiver. It also has the Sharp “Aquomotion” designation which manipulates the backlight in order to show a perceived smoother picture (increased Hz rate designation).

Price/Value

The N5000 series is a high value focused model. For example, at around $999 the 65N5200U will be one of the best value large screen models in the market in 2016. You still get the quality Sharp panel and though it's not the best panel in the market, it's hard to argue with the price. At the small end of the spectrum the 43” model sells for an incredible $350.00.

(A note about our reviews. Our professional reviewers begin our reviews with our initial impressions about quality of picture and features inclusion, then we add specifications, then value and pricing information, and finally, ratings. When our reviews contain an overall rating, they are complete. Thank you for reading!)



Robert Wiley Having reviewed and written about Television Technology for over 10 years, Wiley never tires of researching the newest qualitative trends related to the technology. Most people do not get excited about possibilities behind the latest video engine... Wiley does. Read more about Robert