Once the football season ends in February and the weather begins to warm up, many people start counting the days until they can fire up the grill and relax in their backyards. Helping to add another level to those summer nights outdoors is the new manufacturer Sylvox with its Gaming Series of outdoor TVs (which entered into the purview of the CI channel at CES 2024).
This company has aggressively come into the outdoor smart home market with a line of affordable outdoor televisions and companion accessories.
Sending me its a partial sun model for its 55-inch Gaming Series Outdoor TV, I tried the product out in my yard and specifically on my deck. As part of the package, Sylvox sent along its optional mobile stand so I could position the TV as needed (admittedly to help me avoid sitting in the sun and getting sunburnt) while watching my favorite content in the great outdoors.
CE Pro & Cons
Pros:
- Nice picture quality with OTR, gaming and streaming content
- The Sylvox Gaming Series TV offers a plethora of features
- Tremendous value proposition for those wanting an outdoor TV solution
Cons:
- I honestly can’t come up with much to complain about with the Sylvox TV. Maybe the only thing I would point out is the shelf on the mobile stand has a design that allows rainwater to pool up. This may be detrimental to housing sensitive electronics for long-term durations if contemplating using the shelf for storage
Sylvox Gaming Series Features
Offering a diverse product lineup that includes a choice of screen sizes and display technologies, the model I tried was a partial-sun TV with an IP55 outdoor rating, an LED 55-inch screen and a UHD (3840×2160) resolution. Sylvox specifies the outdoor TV to also provide users with an array of high-performance amenities such as Dolby Vision HDR, brightness levels up to 1,000 nits to help reproduce HDR content and to combat sunlight; the TV offers a 120Hz refresh rate, and the TV comes with a waterproof remote control.
Beyond the 120Hz fresh rate, the Sylvox outdoor TV offers an 8ms low-latency gaming mode, FreeSynch Premium Pro, and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), all of which can be used to provide improved gaming experiences.
Other features the 55-inch 2025 model offers include Dolby Atmos audio, an alloy housing to support the IP55 rating, and the ability to combat temperatures ranging from -22 degrees Fahrenheit to 122-degrees Fahrenheit. Moreover, the Sylvox TV provides smart home options such as Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, Miracast, Google Voice Assistant, and a Google TV operating system (OS).
MSRP for the 55-inch model and mobile stand bundle is $1,998.
The Sylvox outdoor television offers a host of connectivity options, including HDMI, USB and antenna. Image/Sylvox
Setup
Shipping in two good size boxes, I started the installation by carrying the Sylvox mobile stand up to my deck. After opening the packaging, I see a lot of parts staring back at me, along with the setup instructions.
Having concerns about shoddy instructions I was at first concerned, but once I got into the assembly, I simply followed the directions which were labeled in numerical steps. Aiding the guided setup, the hardware came in packaging labeled, “A,” “B,” “C,” etc., and these letters corresponded with what hardware was supposed to be used with each of the numerical steps. The prepackaged hardware also came with a companion Allen wrench, wrench, and a small Philips for the remote control’s rear-panel screws. The only tool I needed besides a utility knife to open the packaging was a large Philips screwdriver. The final step required the placement of the stand’s mounting hardware onto the back of the TV (my son helped me carry the TV up to the deck to complete this step).
Once the mounting brackets were secured to the TV, my son helped me hang the TV onto the stand’s horizontal mounting bars. All I needed to do to complete the mounting portion of the setup was to secure the mounting brackets’ locking straps.
The Sylvox’s mobile stand includes all the hardware necessary to safely secure the TVs. Photo/Bob Archer – CE Pro
I estimate the assembly of the stand and the mounting of the Sylvox TV to the stand took approximately 45 minutes.
Having ordered an outdoor IP-rated power strip from Amazon, I plugged the power strip into my deck’s outdoor outlet and ran the power strip to the TV. I plugged the Sylvox’s power cable into the TV’s connections cavity that included an IEC power receptacle, I then connected an HDMI cable, and a small Antennas Direct outdoor antenna to pull OTA (over the air) content.
Diving into the Sylvox Gaming Series 2025 Outdoor TV’s Google TV OS, I downloaded the Google Home app to help expedite the setup process. With the app downloaded I was able to automatically setup a couple of my streaming accounts after placing the TV on my network. For the most part this part of the setup process was easy, but perhaps a bit tedious because I had to either scan bar codes or manually input my account information for each app using the TV’s remote control to navigate the familiar Google TV OS.
Once the apps were setup, I moved onto the TV’s tuner and scanned for analog and digital OTR stations. In my local area (Boston) I was able to scan about 40 channels into the TV.
I will add that I tucked the HDMI cable behind the TV to use with either a Nintendo Switch or a Sony Playstation 4 depending on what game console my kids want to use for their gaming sessions. I’ll also point out the input cavity, which also houses power is located on the rear panel and the connections cavity is protected by a cover that is secured into place using a three thumb screws.
In total, including clean up, I would say it took me about 2.5 hours to perform the entire setup and installation. This entire setup includes assembly of the stand, hanging the TV, scanning the OTR stations, and setting up the streaming services.
Through the Google OS, the Sylvox provides a full array of smart services such as YouTube. Photo/Bob Archer – CE Pro
Performance
Being completely honest, I had never heard of Sylvox before this product review. After the review, the company now has my attention.
Watching content that includes movies from streaming services such as Netflix, as well as YouTube videos, along with OTR content such as a Saturday afternoon UFC card on ABC, and gaming action with a Nintendo Switch I was totally impressed.
Putting aside my critical video eye commentary momentarily and me looking at color fidelity, image processing and other performance attributes, the really nice thing about the Sylvox Gaming Series 2025 Outdoor TV is it brings my entire family to the deck at times to watch TV. Firing up the grill means that we can watch TV together as we eat, which is not an activity we normally do. Typically, we eat in our dining room and our entertainment is conversation and some music.
Getting into the TV’s menu system there are picture and sound adjustments that can be done. I went through these settings and opted for the TV’s “standard” picture mode and “music” audio EQ (equalization) mode. There are some basic calibration measures that someone could perform in the “personal” picture mode, but considering you are outdoors, and conditions are constantly changing, I didn’t feel it was worth the effort. I was satisfied with the Sylvox TV’s basic modes.
I’ll add that as far as gaming, which is what the TV is designed for, I saw no input lag, no image judder, no image compression or any other type of performance drawback with the TV using the Switch console. Serious gamers using other consoles or even PCs may have different opinions, but the TV presented bright, colorful, smooth images regardless of what type of content I threw at it.
Whether it is gaming with titles such as Nintendo’s “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” streaming or OTR content, the Sylvox provides hours of outdoor AV entertainment for homeowners looking for affordable fun. Photo/Bob Archer – CE Pro
Final Thoughts on the Sylvox Gaming Series
Coming into the outdoor home entertainment market hot, this new consumer electronics company is certainly going to disrupt the smart home industry. It’s product line, which includes the 55-inch Sylvox Gaming Series 2025 Outdoor TV should be on anyone’s list of must have outdoor entertainment solutions. The bonus this company brings to the table is consumer-friendly prices that make the product line arguably the one of the best value buys in the smart home industry for 2025.
