Verdict
While the Sony 65A80L might not be anything like the brightest OLED TV in township and costs more than most of its closest rivals , its centre for the ok things in flick quality life history create it a likely dwelling house cinema dream come true for serious home cinema lover who do n’t bear in mind dimming the lights on movie night .
Pros
Cons
Introduction
Sony ’s philosophy of embrace every type of TV technology to extend something for everyone feel the veritable OLED part of its range represent by the A80L.
By regular OLED I mean an OLED panel that takes the traditional WRGB glide path rather than theQuantum Dot OLEDsystem used in Sony’sA95L TV . The A80L does n’t use the brightness - boostingMicro Lens Arraytechnology sported by a few agiotage WOLED TVs , either – which makes sentiency , as it allows the A80L to be set as a more affordable selection for serious base cinema fans .
With so much new competition vie for your tending , does the A80L still pack enough of a clout tostand out from the crew ?
Availability
The 65A80L is wide available – with one or two store exclusive design variations – in every major territory around the world . It costs £ 1,999 from major UK retailers at the time of writing , while in the US and Australia it ’s going for $ 1,999.99 and A$ 3,795 respectively .
While the 65A80L is Sony ’s affordable OLED option , these prices mean it costs considerably more than some key challenger right on now . LG’sOLED65C3and Philips ’ 65OLED808 both cost just £ 1,599 .
Design
While the 65A80L is n’t the most glamorous television receiver , there ’s an unpretentious elegance to its slim physique and trim ( at least at the edges ) rump . Its build quality is outstanding too ; a gash above most other mid - range organic light-emitting diode models .
The concealment and its frame sit behind a front sheet of paper that have them seem to be on the same plane , further heighten the minimalist feel , and it ’s possible to attach the two provided extremist - svelte metal foot tight under the screen ’s corner , so they look like annexe of the screen environs rather than separate items .
I say it ’s possible to attach the feet that way because handily there are other options . you could lay them closer together if you need to put the TV on a narrow man of furniture , and there are two different stature configurations so you could lift the screen a little if you want to tuck a soundbar underneath it .
One reason the 65A80L can look so minimalistic is that it does n’t have to suit even speakers like most premium tv set do . alternatively its Acoustic Surface Pro technology means the cover functions as its Speaker .
While the 65A80L looks impressively slim from the front and slight slant , anyone thinking of rampart hanging should be cognizant that a few inches in from the edges , the rear protrusion out substantially further than the rears ofmost OLED telly .
Two outback control options are allow with the 65A80L. One ‘ smart ’ one with a built - in Google Assistant mic and button for a bit of the most democratic cyclosis services , and a small one with the usual number button but no mic or verbatim app buttons . Not surprisingly the smart remote get much more use during my testing .
Features
The Sony XR-65A80L bring forth a peak light output of 800 nits on a 10 % bloodless HDR windowpane – a human body which , while enough to show that the 65A80L is using a mid - cooking stove rather than basic panel , is still around 10 % lower than the figure I ’ve rip from primal mid - range rivals like the Philips 808 and LG C3 OLED models .
Hopefully providing recompense for this slightly low measurable brightness is Sony ’s Cognitive XR processor . This has get gorgeously refined , natural and lifelike pictures across a encompassing range of mountains of models for years now , and it ’s bolster for the A80L with a new XR Clear Image feature that focalise on better upscaling of high and received definition to the concealment ’s native 4 K declaration .
The Cognitive XR CPU also carries the latest version of the XR Triluminos Pro system for accurate people of colour map , XR OLED Motion for advanced move processing , and an XR OLED Contrast Pro organisation which has evidence capable before of optimise the contrast capabilities of OLED ’s self - emissive approach to producing delineation . This has the potency to forestall – at least perceptually – the 65A80L ’s somewhat low measured luminousness .
As always with Sony ’s mid - range and premium TVs , the A80L supports theDolby Vision , HDR10 and HLG HDR formats , but ignores the HDR10 + data format . This is a ignominy given that rivals such as Panasonic and Philips support all four main HDR systems , butHDR10+content is at least relatively rare compared with the other data format .
The 65A80L has a couple of other relatively rare endorsements to its name , though : IMAX EnhancedandNetflix Calibratedcertifications . The former mean the video has been designated as up to of unlocking the electric potential of the IMAX Enhanced master arrangement with its stress on clarity and detail , while the latter intend it can emulate the mental picture conditions Netflix uses when master the feel of its home - grow show .
impudent features on the 65A80L are delivered by theGoogle TVplatform , and Sony has have the best Google ’s unsighted spot with certain UK charm up apps by onboarding them on an individual basis . So the BBC iPlayer , ITVX , Channel 4 thespian and My5 streaming are all present and right , alongside , Netflix , Prime Video , Disney+ , Youtube , Apple television and so on .
Connectivity is good rather than great for a mid - range of mountains TV . Which means that while there are four HDMI ports , only two have the bandwidth to hold the latest gaming feature of 4K/120Hz , varying refresh rates and motorcar low latency mode switching . Frustratingly , it ’s not possible to savour both Dolby Vision and 120Hz refresh rate on the 65A80L simultaneously . You have to go into a special HDMI menu and choose between Dolby Vision and 120Hz depend on which feature matters most for the content you ’re about to observe .
Other secret plan - favorable features include a upstanding ( though not world - beating ) stimulant lag in the 65A80L ’s Game mode of just over 16ms , and a Game Menu that gives you rapid access to a series of gaming aids . These let in a virtual crosshair , special gaming - base motion blur diminution , and a Black Equaliser choice that elevate the brightness of sour picture field to give you an sharpness at spotting hiding bad guys .
If you ’re a PS5 owner , you may also take vantage of Sony ’s Perfect for PlayStation 5 features . These include an Auto Genre Select choice that ’s pretty much the same as theALLMfeature , and a more useful Auto HDR Tone Mapping feature film where the console table can enjoin that it ’s connected to the 65A80L and optimise its HDR output consequently .
The 65A80L ’s rendering of Sony ’s unparalleled Acoustic Surface engineering find actuator vibrating the silver screen to produce the TV ’s sound . A sci - fi sound approach that both saves the TV from having to fit lots of separate speakers into its bodywork , and ensures that rarified of audio things in the TV world : Sound that in reality pushes directly towards you .
Picture Quality
In a TV Earth where we now have ultra - smart flagship OLED manikin out there such as theLG OLED65G3andSamsung S95D , it ’s cleared right on away that the 65A80L is far from the bright kid on the OLED stop . In fact , you could subjectively distinguish without any measure gear that its pictures are n’t even as bright as most of its mid - range contender .
While this perhaps makes the 65A80L not the estimable option for a brilliant living elbow room set , it does n’t by any agency make it a poor TV . On the contrary , to the right sort of AV fan , the 65A80L ’s pictures are pretty much a mid - range masterclass .
The tonality to its success lies in its making love of the lowly thing in picture caliber life . For instance , in the darkest areas of the picture you’re able to see salient measure of detail and subtleties of blending that I ’m not sure any other OLED out there at the here and now can compete with . This is one arena that even Samsung ’s otherwise mighty S95D OLED sometimes struggles with .
The unusually skilful treatment of near - pitch-dark pic information is achieved against a backdrop of exactly the gorgeously rich , inscrutable , greyness - free dim levels for which premium OLED is rightly beloved .
Colours might not enjoy the prodigious in - your - fount bulk associated with the latest and brighter OLED models , but the subtlety with which they ’re painted by the 65A80L ’s Cognitive Processor XR really is keen . The resulting combination of light culture in dark scenes and colour finesse brings out the 65A80L ’s aboriginal 4 K firmness of purpose without the Seth postulate to fall back to any obvious bite processing tricks , as well as introducing an almost preternatural signified of three - dimensionality to the picture .
This common sense of depth seems to owe a big debt to the sieve ’s power to detect different object and layers in the image and slightly tweak instruct one individually to give it more or less prominence in the presentation . In event , the 65A80L tries to interpret the picture in the same way your eyes represent the real world , enhancing your horse sense of engrossment in whatever TV show or movie you ’re watch out .
It does no injury to the immersive timbre of the 65A80L ’s pictures either that Sony ’s class - leading motion processing is uncommitted to do a superb job of slimly de - emphasising judder with 24p sources without cause undesirable processing glitches or making the picture look too smooth for comfort . specially in the motion processing ’s True Cinema mode .
I realise there may be some home cinema purist wincing at this talk of elusive processing - based picture manipulation . If that ’s you , residual assured the 65A80L does carry a couple of presets that give pictures ( almost ) untouched if that ’s what you desire – and even in this blank state , they still look superb .
For me , though , Sony ’s sweetening are go for with so much care and understanding that it ’s hard not to lie with them .
The only outlandish exclusion to this is the 65A80L ’s Vivid mood . While this does on the dot what it says on the atomic number 50 , letting the colours rip to the most extreme levels the OLED panel is subject of , it also jettisons far too much of that care and understanding so copiously evident elsewhere . So more often than you ’ll feel comfortable with , some of the bold people of color take on a sorely over - wrought and unrealistic appearance , sometimes succumb to noise as they do so and losing the immaculate balance that ’s otherwise the 65A80L ’s word picture trademark .
you may avoid the Vivid modes excesses plainly by not pick out it . And in all the other numerous presets , despite offering spate of variety for different tastes and sources , you ’ll regain moderately much nothing but mouthwatering picture goodness . So long as you accept that this is build on finesse , ducking and residual rather than anything in the least bit extreme .
Sound Quality
No other TVs make sound in the same path Sony ’s OLEDs do – and as a result , few speech sound as good .
Using actuators to excite the screen into producing the TV ’s sound is a masterstroke , turn on the 65A80L to produce a sound stage that radiates forward towards you with much more directness and immersive chroma than most television speaker systems do .
The screen as speaker approach also enables effects in complex ( even Dolby Atmos ) mixes to be placed on the screen with startling positional truth . you could even clearly hear noisy moving target track across or around the screen in keep with their on - screen placement .
There ’s a endearing warm , open tone to the 65A80L ’s audio too , that ’s both generally easy on the ear and does a nifty job of disguising the fact that , despite the presence of subwoofers on the 65A80L ’s rear , bass point are actually a petty special .
Dialogue is fair and , again , accurately placed amid the action , and I was pleasantly surprise by how cheap the TV could get give way how its sound is produce . And in vitrine you were wonder , even at maximum intensity I take care no sign of the pictures in the sound - producing concealment vibrating or shaking !
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Should you buy it?
Arguably no other TV out there today can render the sort of light source and coloring subtleties the Sony 65A80L can .
If you have a very bright room to fulfill or just like a mess of luminousness in your HDR pic , the Sony 65A80L is n’t as bright as most of its OLED peers .
Final Thoughts
The Sony XR-65A80L is n’t the showiest , most obvious mid - range telecasting around today . There ’s still a bounty of gem to be had if you look a little deep , as Sony ’s processing and panel mastery eke out subtleties of colour , contrast , detail , balance and depth that more fast-growing show - offs do n’t always take the bother to get hold .
The 65A80L sounds great , too , thanks to its forward-looking concealment - as - loudspeaker solution . The only real problem I have with it is its price . Costing £ 400 more than other mid - range OLED rivals sense a stretch – though at the same time , if you ’re the sort of person who respect the variety of niceness that the 65A80L arguably uniquely promotes , what ’s a few one C of pounds between friends ?
Trusted Score
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We test every television we review thoroughly over an extended full stop of clock time . We use industry standard tests to compare features decent . We ’ll always secern you what we notice . We never , ever , accept money to review a ware .
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FAQs
The 65A80L use a mid - range WRGB OLED panel without the late micro lens array engineering .
An single Sony organization that uses actuators to turn an OLED TV ’s screen into front firing speakers .
Two HDMIs support 4K/120Hz , varying refresh rates , auto HDR feel mapping with a PlayStation 5 , auto musical genre style switch
