Verdict
The Sony XR-55A95 K does n’t change the OLED game but it displace it onward a distance , and that will do us for now
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
For every television instauration that ’s essay itself ( like OLED engineering science or 4 K resolution ) , there ’s a technology that ’s been roundly ignored ( like 3D engineering science or curved screen ) . Place your bets now onQD - OLED , ladies and gentleman .
QD - OLED is a Samsung innovation . You know , the same Samsung that until very latterly could n’t even bring itself to utter the word ‘ OLED ’ . By combining component ofOLEDwith its ownQLED quantum dot technology , Samsung bet it can retain everything that ’s great about OLED and call its one obvious impuissance : brightness ( or the lack thence ) .
Samsung is the only piazza to purchase a QD - OLED panel , but patently it ’s more than well-chosen to sell them . So it ’s Sony that ’s first to give us a taste sensation of ( what might be ) the brave new man of TV technical school – the XR-55A95K.
The Sony XR-55A95 K is on sales event now , and in the United Kingdom it costs around £ 2699 . That cook it $ 2999 or so in the United States and AU$4799 or thereabouts in Australia .
As a mainstream telecasting and one that goes without any variety of outside third - company fancy - pants speech sound system of rules , it ’s undeniably pricey . There ’s a Samsung screen of the same sizing that shares the same jury due at any moment that costs hundreds of pounds less , for example , and LG ’s G2 , acknowledged as one of the good OLED telly around , thanks in large part to its bright ‘ x ’ board , is more affordable too .
Is it bonnie to say the Sony will have to be a plot - auto-changer if it ’s to rationalise the asking terms ?
Design
Sony hit on a mild - yet - undeniably - item-by-item design vocabulary for its premium video a fiddling while back , and it ’s not about to give up on it now .
So the A95 K is , from dead - ahead , almost entirely screen . Its left over , veracious and top bezel are a hefty 7 mm while the one along the bottom is just a little lumpy – it ’s home to mics , IR receiver for the remote ascendency , and some very minimum branding .
take in in profile , there ’s very lilliputian of that OLED slightness that was a big part of the technology ’s temptingness when it first hit the mainstream . At 43 millimetre deep ( except for a little section at the top of the screen ) it look workaday . The grid pattern that underwrite the rear jury is pleasant , though , and it reserve Sony to hide the ‘ pop up on / pop off ’ panels that cover the screen ’s selection of inputs ( and the cables that attach to them ) more pronto than some alternate purpose .
The A95 K can be wall - mounted , of course ( it ’s a touch over 21 kg without its rack , mind you , so carry that in mind ) , but if you prefer to put it on a surface there are a brace of stand - mounting choice . The stand itself is quite chunky , but if you position it behind the projection screen it wo n’t be visible at all – and the screen itself leans back just a little in the manner Sony set up with theA1 OLEDback in the twenty-four hour period ( 2017 ) . Alternatively , attach it to the front of the cover and it can be pushed back close to a wall – the screenland stands upright when it ’s coiffure this way .
Features
The newspaper headline feature here , of course , is the A95 K ’s QD - OLED panel . design by Samsung , QD - OLED intends to address the one perceive shortcoming of OLED TV technology : luminousness .
And although Samsung is currently the only brand producing QD - OLED panels , have with regular OLED ( panels of which are almost entirely produced by LG ) has learn us that the panel is just the start . It ’s the processing on which an OLED television receiver stands or falls , and it seems unlikely QD - OLED will be any dissimilar .
Sony has fitted the A95 K with the full - on no - via media ‘ Cognitive Processor XR ’ . It was first introduced last year , but for this effectuation it has undergo some tweaks – especially to its ‘ Flexible Colour Contrast Control ’ , in an campaign to work the increase luminousness usable from this new panel .
Control is available via either of the two remote control condition handsets the A95 K ships with . As is the manner these days , one is a small , nicely finished controller that covers most major functions – and it include hot - keys for Netflix , Disney+ , Amazon Prime Video and Sony ’s ownBravia Corestreaming service . The other is a minor , ordinarily finished alternative with too many buttons and not enough space between them .
Whichever you decide to use , it assign you in control of aGoogle TVsmart interface . It ’s a seemly interface too , what ’s more , one that ’s not too bleak when it come to making recommendations and that ’s nicely legible . It ’s Google - centric , naturally enough , but theApple TVand Netflix apps are not too far off – and with the elision of Disney+ ( which go withoutDolby Atmossupport ) the streaming and catch - up TV services useable here are the honest versions of themselves .
To exploit all this gamy - quality content , the Sony ’s 4 K control board is compatible with HLG , HDR10 andDolby Vision HDRstandards . It can deal with Dolby Atmos sound , too – although its two subwoofer and two actuators ( which wrick the sieve itself into a speaker , which has been a Sony party - piece for a while ) do n’t pretend to deliver an Atmos effect .
As far as connectivity is concerned , the A95 K should have even the most demanding user covered . There ’s Ethernet ( or dual - circle wi - fi , if you prefer ) , fourHDMIsockets ( two of which are at 2.1 48Gbps measure ) , a couple of USB inputs , two tie up posts for satellite tuners and an RF equivalent . There are talker binding post in suit you want your TV to service as the centre channel in a environment - phone system of rules ( another Sony specialty ) and a hybrid 3.5 mm socket for composite video or center - speaker stimulus . Wireless connectivity beyond wi - fi runs to Bluetooth 4.2,Apple AirPlayand Chromecast .
All four of the Sony ’s HDMI sockets supportVariable Refresh RateandAuto Low - Latency Mode , and the brace of 2.1 - standard input also cover eARC , 4 G @ 120Hz and Auto Tone Mapping . This is obviously good news for next - gen console table owner .
The only other noteworthy feature is the detachable Bravia Cam that magnetically snaps into a lilliputian recess at the top of the rear of the screenland and then peer over the top . One of these days , say Sony , it ’ll be used for gesture control condition , reflexive optimisation of picture configurations relative to ambiance , and all sorting of other sorcerous thing . For now , it ’s good for chatting via Google Duo .
Picture Quality
Two things occur to me in very prompt succession at the first of this test . The first is that the supposedly superior brightness of QD - OLED does n’t seem that much brighter at all . The 2d is that the brightness this QD - OLED panel bring forth is superscript , in color fidelity and particular degree especially , to even the brightest non - QD OLED screen currently available .
A Netflix - derived flow of The Man from Toronto(available with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos sound ) confirms it . Even the brightest scenes ( and area of scenes ) reuse to ‘ white out ’ and rather keep telling measure of detail and nicely balanced color .
And predictably , this sort of color faithfulness and prodigious levels of detail are retained throughout brightness levels , all the room down to ‘ benighted ’ ( which , in the time - honoured OLED tradition , mean ‘ pitch inglorious ’ ) . The Sony controls black tones as well as it does the bright 1 , giving perceptiveness and telling variation in even the murkiest scenes . The man from Toronto may coif in smuggled and drive a disastrous Dodge Charger R / T , but the A95 K describes both his habiliment and his elevator car with genuine expertise .
The overall colour balance is pleasantly naturalistic , with cutis - tones and -textures in fussy enjoying proper variation within the confines of believability . deepness of field is convincing too , with the widely - open blastoff of the Utah desert almost three - dimensional . Edges are properly defined and shimmer - free , while even the most complicated or intricate patterns are static .
switch to some 4 K HLG coverage of Wimbledon on the BBC exhibit the Sony ’s absolute ascendancy of motion . Like most sports , tennis is an highly sturdy ask of any TV – all that speedy , small - object motion that ’s usually in opposition to the campaign of the camera , all chance on a self-aggrandizing swathe of uniform colour , is unmanageable to keep on top of . But the A95 K line the activity with downright certainty , hold the edges of the ball as it whiz from the bottom of the screen to the top and back again with dominance .
As an upscaler of lower - resolution mental object , the Sony is adept – but only up to a level . HD subject is handle confidently , the A95 K fulfil its pixel - count without detail levels dangle off too ill or the overall trope getting peculiarly coarse . Step down from there , though , and the Sony ca n’t mask how grueling it ’s have to process – images are diffused and overstrung at the same sentence , with detail retrieval apparently more by chance event than by pattern .
As far as gaming is touch , the A95 K gets on splendidly with aPlaystation 5 . image are stable , bright , elaborated and all that other good stuff – and while the Sony is n’t as lightning - fast in its reply as , say , an equivalent LG screen , at around 20 m/s its input stave will be unperceivable to most user .
Sound Quality
Sony ’s a devotee of actuators ( or ‘ exciters ’ ) to the point its Acoustic Surface Audio+ is a feature of all itsOLED television . Put simply , the screen itself is vibrate to the point that it roleplay as an audio speaker , and here Sony ’s finessed the system for this specific QD - OLED dialog box . Two actuator are combined with two posterior - facing subwoofers .
And by the standards of TVs that do n’t charge a large premium because of their integrated Bowers & Wilkins or Technics audio systems , the A95 K sounds more than acceptable . It wangle to give right weight and profundity to low frequencies , without sounding constrained or stressed in any way . It produces a big , well - defined strait that seems a little bigger than the screen from which it comes . Control is good , detail storey are good … and it ’s up to of getting almost uncomfortably loud before its calm deserts it .
commonly , even the most expensive and accomplished TVs can have their standard audio system ameliorate by spending just a few hundred pound on a proper soundbar . In the case of the Sony XR-55A95 K , though , you ’ll be looking to spend a fairish bit more than that if you want to take your audio experience to the next level .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
huffy for hack - edge technology ? Here ’s a bit
. There are limit point to the Sony ’s upscaling ability
Final Thoughts
Ultimately the Sony XR-55A95 K is not a game - modifier . But it ’s a game - advancer , no doubt about it , and for that alone it ’s well worth retainer . That ’s not to evoke it has the field decipherable , of form ; you’re able to buy a goggle box for a worthwhile clod less than this and still be charmed with your purchase . The Sony is the good 55 - inch television set currently available , of that I ’m certain . Whether or not it ’s deserving its little premium is a slightly dissimilar question .
Trusted Score
How we test
We quiz every goggle box we review soundly over an extended point of time . We use industry stock trial to equate features by rights . We ’ll always tell you what we notice . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
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FAQs
QD - OLED is a mixture of Quantum Dot colour filter and OLED screen that allows for a wider range of colours to be read and higher level of brightness to be reach .
Test Data
Full Specs
