Sony XR-55A80J £1499
By offering most of what makes its flagship OLED sibling the A90J great at a much more competitive price, this TV has bagged itself one of our coveted Best Buy Awards, and deservedly so.
The A80J has the same Cognitive Processor XR chip as the A90J, which combines the AI abilities of its X1 predecessor with a system that Sony calls cognitive intelligence. While AI analyses picture and sound signals and uses data based on machine learning, cognitive intelligence aims to add a more human perspective to identify and enhance AV performance and deliver an experience in line with how humans see and hear the world. Which would sound like so much marketing exaggeration were it not for the hugely impressive performance already put in by the A90J. So the big question is, of course, how much of the A90J’S awesome picture performance does the A80J offer? The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is ‘most of it’.
The A80J is a punchy performer, often producing more impactful peaks than the LG C1. What’s more, the A80J’S bright highlights are packed with detail, colour and shading that most TVS miss.
While LG’S 2021 OLEDS generally prioritise inky blackness, the Sony A80J skews slightly more towards shadow detail, digging up extra shades in the darkest parts of the picture. It’s still capable of going perfectly black when required of course; combined with those extra-bright, full-bodied bright highlights, it makes for a thrillingly dynamic viewing experience. For general sharpness and detail, the A80J more or less matches the flagship A90J, and that puts it head and shoulders above most rivals in those regards.
Sony’s OLEDS use Acoustic Surface Audio which involves the use of actuators that vibrate the whole screen rather than traditional speaker drivers, with more typical subwoofers used to fill out the bass. The A80J doesn’t have quite as much depth or weight to its delivery as the A90J, but just because it isn’t as bassy or spacious as its much more expensive sibling doesn’t mean it doesn’t sound very good by TV standards. It does.
The A80J might not be quite as bright and punchy as its flagship sibling, or as sonically weighty, but in many other ways it’s just as capable. And that makes it a remarkably crisp, detailed and dynamic performer for the money.