Outdoor TVs like the Sealoc Coastal Silver are designed to take on the elements without batting an eye and provide a great viewing experience in nearly any environment you can throw their way. In this review, I share my experience with Sealoc’s outdoor TV after spending more than 40 hours testing it over the course of two months throughout the ever-changing conditions of Michigan’s springtime.
Design: Slim and sleek
Unlike other outdoor TV manufacturers, Sealoc doesn’t simply form a box around a standard TV, seal a few areas and call it a day. No, instead they opt to strip down the TV as it is and quite literally waterproof it from the inside out, resulting in an ultra-thin outdoor TV that you’d barely recognize was weather-sealed. The front of the television remains largely unchanged from the LG frame the TV is a modified version of. The bezels are thin and aside from protective seam tape around all sides of the television and a slim bead of clear sealant around the edge of the bezel to further protect it from the elements, it doesn’t look much different from the TV you probably have in your family room. Even on the back, there are only a few things that set it apart from your standard indoor TV. Most notably, the I/O ports on the rear of the TV are covered by a water-resistant fabric that’s sealed at the top and secures to the back of the television on the three remaining sides via hook-and-loop tape that’s secured with additional screws. Sealoc has also modified the VESA mount on the rear of the TV, adding roughly two-inch lugs, which are sealed on the back of the television and help to provide extra distance from the wall the TV is mounted to. Other smaller details you might notice include additional sealant on the upper vent of the television and a few extra strips of the seam tape around the various parts of the TV that could be entrance points for moisture. Compared to other outdoor TVs on the market, the SkyVue Sealoc Coastal Silver is slim and sleek, which not only creates a beautiful profile more akin to your average TV, but also makes for a much lighter piece of equipment.
Durability: It can handle it all
The 55-inch Coastal Silver TV is part of Sealoc’s full exposure weatherproof series, which means it’s designed to take on nearly anything you can throw at it. As mentioned above, Sealoc doesn’t just slap a weatherproof case around the TV inside and call it a day. Instead, Sealoc strips down the TV and waterproofs even the internal electronic components using a proprietary “nano-coating” that helps to shed moisture away in the event it somehow manages to make it past the other sealing elements. Around the entire perimeter of the TV Sealoc uses a heavy-duty seam tape that blends in perfectly with the frame of the television and anywhere the seam tape can’t be used, Sealoc uses a clear sealant, with the aforementioned protective flap used to keep the various ports and connections safe from water. In the roughly two months I tested this TV, our home in Michigan saw snow, rain, and even dime-sized hail at one point. Through it all, the 55-inch Coastal Silver TV stayed put, mounted to an external wall on our fully-exposed patio. And through it all, not a single scratch or blemish was found on the television. To really put it to the test, I also sprayed it with the hose on various settings for minutes at a time, and even on the Jet setting, the TV kept kicking with no signs of internal moisture anywhere. Overall, unless you’re exposing this unit to salty seawater day in, day out, in the harshest environments, I have a hard time seeing how this TV won’t hold up for years to come.
Setup Process: Not much to it
Getting started with the 55-inch Coastal Silver TV is more or less plug and play. Since it doesn’t come with a stand, you will need some sort of wall mount (this particular model uses 400x400mm VESA mounting points). I suggest getting a great outdoor-specific mount to prevent unwanted rust, but if you’re planning on keeping it in a more covered area, you might be able to get away with a standard wall mount.
Image and Audio Quality: Fantastic, rain or shine
While this particular TV is branded as a full-sun Sealoc unit, underneath the branding and weather-sealing it’s an LG 6-series 4K HDR TV that’s been custom calibrated by Sealoc to offer specialized adjustments for optimized viewing in bright or direct-sun environments. I tried to throw every scenario Mother Nature offered at the TV to see just how well the image held up and even in the brightest high-noon sun, the picture was great for watching TV shows or live sporting events. Dark and low-contrast scenes did prove the most affected by direct sunlight, but so long as you aren’t anticipating theater-quality dynamic range and color accuracy, the specially-calibrated picture modes proved great for getting a visible image that really makes the 4K resolution of the TV shine. Despite being entirely weather-sealed, the TV offers great sound quality. The mid-tones are clearly pushed up in the audio, but for most applications, particularly those where voices and commentary are more prominent, this didn’t prove to be an issue. Now, if you’re hoping to hear every nuance of a movie’s soundtrack you might be disappointed, but if your environment is anything like mine, the stray humming of a lawnmower or leaf blower somewhere in the neighborhood will likely negate any high-quality analysis anyway.
Price: You get what you pay for
I’ll get straight to the point—this TV isn’t cheap. At $3,000, you could go through at least four of the standard LG 6-series units this model is based on. But not a single one of those would last through more than a single downpour. This TV is priced at a premium because of the amount of work that’s gone into making it weatherproof and short of a tornado ripping the wall upon which it’s mounted to, this TV can handle it all. So, whether it’s mounted poolside for summer fun or on the viewing platform of your million-dollar yacht, you can count on getting fantastic image and audio quality in the most unlikely of environments. Is it worth the premium? That’s up to you and your wallet, but there’s nothing else out there that can replicate the use case and quality this TV has to offer.
55-inch Sealoc Coastal vs. SunBrite 55-inch Pro Series
However, the SunBrite 55-inch Pro Series TV comes in at $5,745, nearly double the cost of the Sealoc TV and doesn’t even feature 4K resolution, let alone HDR compatibility or the webOS smart TV interface. While SunBrite has been an established brand, it’s clear Sealoc wins in both the value and specification department. The 55-inch Sealoc Coastal Silver Outdoor TV is a niche product with a price to match. If you can spare the change, you won’t find a better option out there, as the TV offers a sleek design, fantastic visual/audio quality, and a fantastic operating system to top it all off.
