Tag Archives: Google TV

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV Review: High Performer

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Although good large-screen televisions are considerably more affordable now than they were a few years ago, many might still want a more compact size such as a 43-inch television for a smaller room in their home. There are plenty of options available in this screen size ranging from full-HD to Ultra-HD resolution, but a lot of these are from smaller television brands such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Realme. The performance of such TVs are also usually in line with the budget pricing, so those with a higher budget might be inclined to look at more established brands, such as Sony.

Among the company’s first major releases in 2022 in the TV segment is the Sony X75K series, with sizes ranging from 43 inches to 65 inches. Today, I’m reviewing the 43-inch variant in this series, the Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD LED Smart TV, which is priced at Rs. 53,190 on Sony’s own online store. This puts it at a considerably higher cost compared to most other 43-inch 4K TVs from brands such as Xiaomi and Realme that are usually priced under Rs. 30,000.

However, Sony’s new TV comes with the promise of better performance to match its price, and is positioned as a premium option for buyers who want to look beyond the budget variety. Is the Sony KD-43X75K worth the premium? Find out in this review.

The Google TV UI on the Sony KD-43X75K adopts a more content and recommendation-focused approach

 

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV design and specifications

The Sony X75K series is the most affordable in the company’s range of Ultra-HD TVs, and is also one of the handful of series that has a 43-inch screen size available. That said, the 43X75K isn’t really ‘affordable’, so to speak. At Rs. 53,190, it’s considerably more expensive than options from many competing brands, and prices go up steeply to over Rs. 1,00,000 for the 65-inch option. All televisions in the X75K range, including the 43-inch one on review here, have an Ultra-HD (3840×2160 pixel) LED-LCD display with high dynamic range support of up to HLG and HDR10 formats.

When it comes to design, the Sony KD-43X75K television is just a hint nicer to look at than the typical 43-inch television. This is mainly thanks to a pleasing finish around the fairly narrow borders of the screen, and the simple and discreet Sony logo on the front. The TV is about as thick as you would expect from an LED TV of this size. The bottom of the TV is interestingly slanted a bit, giving the bottom-firing speaker system a bit of visibility and directionality.

It’s possible to table mount or wall mount the television, although the sales package includes only the stands for table mounting. You can use any VESA-compatible wall-mount of your own, and Sony also offers free professional installation where the technician will provide a suitable wall-mounting kit, if you choose to have it put on a wall.

One set of ports and sockets on the Sony KD-43X75K television faces the back of the TV, while the second faces the left of the screen. The back-facing ports include one HDMI-in port (with ARC), Video-in sockets, Ethernet port for wired Internet connectivity, Digital Audio-out (Toslink) port, and the power socket.

All of these are quite hard to access if you have the TV wall-mounted with a low-profile bracket, and this might even cause some of the cables and plugs to bend and twist dangerously to the point of getting damaged. You’ll also want to ensure all of these connections are in place before you hook the TV onto the wall bracket.

There is high dynamic range support for the HLG and HDR10 formats on the Sony KD-43X75K TV

 

The side-facing connectivity options include two HDMI ports (version unspecified), two USB Type-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an antenna socket. These are considerably easier to access, but I was disappointed that neither of the side-facing HDMI ports support Audio Return Channel (ARC). However, all the HDMI ports do support the latest HDCP 2.3 standard.

Other key specifications of the Sony KD-43X75K TV include a native refresh rate of 50Hz, Sony’s Motionflow XR 200 interpolation algorithm, and 16GB of in-built storage for apps and app data. The television has a 20W bottom-firing, open baffle speaker system with support for Dolby Audio. Wireless connectivity includes Bluetooth 5 and dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity, apart from wired Ethernet connectivity.

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV remote and features

Sony still ships a big, full-function remote with the KD-43X75K TV. The remote has an infrared emitter and Bluetooth connectivity, and once paired with the TV using Bluetooth, the infrared emitter is only used to turn the TV on or off. The rest of the functionality, including issuing voice commands via the microphone on the remote, uses Bluetooth connectivity, and therefore doesn’t need you to point the remote at the TV in order to work.

The remote has a number pad, direction pad, back, and home buttons for navigation, playback controls, and hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube Music. There is also a dedicated button to invoke Google Assistant, buttons to change the source or pull up the TV settings from anywhere within the interface, and a useful information button which displays the resolution of streaming content, connection speed, and more. It looks good, works well, and gets the job done properly.

The Sony KD-43X75K TV has a large, fully-equipped remote with buttons to control practically every function on the TV

 

The Sony KD-43X75K also has Google Chromecast built in, the Sony X1 4K processor, support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, AirPlay 2, and HDMI CEC for controlling connected devices using a single remote. You can also use the TV’s Bluetooth connectivity with wireless headphones and speakers.

All of these features worked as expected, but it’s important to note that you’ll need a separate app to mirror your Apple devices wirelessly onto the TV; I used AirScreen ,which is available on the Google Play store for Android TV and it did the job well.

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV software and interface

The Google TV user interface launched with the Chromecast with Google TV in 2020, but uptake for the platform has been slow with many TV manufacturers choosing to stick with the tried-and-tested stock Android TV interface. Sony is an early adopter of the new user interface, and the KD-43X75K runs Android TV 11 with the Google TV UI on top.

Google TV is, of course, just a different interface or skin on top of Android TV, which still runs the core operation of the smart functionality on the Sony KD-43X75K TV. This includes the Google Play store for Android TV with its 5,000+ apps designed and optimised for use on televisions, easy access to Google Assistant and Chromecast, and more.

However, the Google TV UI is considerably nicer to look at than stock Android TV, and has some useful features as well. For one, Google Play Movies is no longer an app, but is integrated into the user interface. This means that you can search for movies and TV shows to rent or buy, and perform purchases directly from the UI itself. Usefully, the search tab provides you with various ways to watch the title you searched for, prioritising any streaming services which you’re already subscribed and signed-in to for ease of access.

The Google Play store for Android TV provides access to over 5,000 apps that are optimised for use on TVs

 

The search and recommendations tabs also have Rotten Tomatoes approval ratings baked in for many titles, and the system is able to recommend movies and TV shows from various streaming services, including Disney+ Hotstar, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, and Voot, among others. While the search tab can scan through all apps on the TV, including Netflix, the recommendations engine oddly does not support Netflix yet.

On the whole, the Google TV UI is a refreshing and much needed change to Android TV, and Sony’s quick adoption of it gives the TV a decent advantage over the competition, particularly if you’re heavily invested in the content streaming ecosystem. Everything worked well for me, and I had no software issues during my time with the Sony KD-43X75K TV.

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV performance

Given that there are plenty of 43-inch Ultra-HD TVs from reputed brands available for less than Rs. 30,000 in India, the Sony KD-43X75K needs to offer a lot more than just the basics to justify its price of Rs. 53,190. A lot of that comes by way of good design, useful and premium features, and an excellent software experience that is a step above what most brands are currently offering. However, the most important parameter is always performance, and the Sony does deliver a better experience than every other 43-inch 4K TV I’ve reviewed thus far.

Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support on affordable televisions isn’t uncommon, so the Sony KD-43X75K’s support for just HLG and HDR10 formats does seem a bit disappointing. However, this Sony television does a great job even with the limited HDR format support compared to what many affordable televisions do even with the superior Dolby Vision format. This is largely thanks to better picture calibration and superior HDR implementation by Sony.

The brightness bump with HDR content on the Sony KD-43X75K TV is subtle, but the format benefits colours considerably more, making for stronger, more vibrant colours across content. Shows such as Our Great National Parks and Bullsh*t The Game Show on Netflix looked great in a dark or dimly lit room, and even bright ambient lighting didn’t take too much away from the TV’s ability to perform well.

The colours of nature, as well as the bright lights of the game show set, all looked good on the TV. Skin tones in particular looked very good, as did the varying shades of green and blue visible in forests and water bodies on the nature documentary that came through with a strong sense of accuracy.

Even full-HD content such as Formula 1 races, looked good because of the smaller size of the TV

 

The Sony KD-43X75K also delivered a sharp picture, aided by good colours and clean motion. Although the extra detail in Ultra-HD picture was arguably less visible on the smaller 43-inch size, the Sony KD-43X75K did seem to produce a picture that was visibly sharper and more detailed than similarly-specced, lower-priced options of this size.

This was particularly visible during the dark and busy scenes of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, but also showed in the facial expressions and details of the contestants in Bullsh*t The Game Show. Motion was also excellent thanks to very good motion interpolation on the TV. Action scenes in the Venom sequel played through smoothly, with intuitive motion blur where needed and very few visible artefacts.

Bright daylight didn’t really cause any significant issues with glare on the screen, but the Sony KD-43X75K simply isn’t bright enough on its own to counter the effects of direct sunlight in a room. Black levels were decent for an LED television, and this also led to decent contrast levels that properly set apart bright and dark scenes and allowed good colours and detail to come through, as it should for a TV of this size.

The 43-inch size of the TV is best suited for short viewing distances, but the smaller size also has a unique advantage of making lower-resolution content appear nearly as sharp and detailed as 4K content. The Sony KD-43X75K’s unique combination of sharpness, clean motion, and good colour levels translated well for full-HD content, with Kim’s Convenience and scenes from Pacific Rim looking impressive despite the obviously lower resolution.

Sound quality on the Sony KD-43X75K TV is acceptable in terms of quality, but it doesn’t get very loud

 

Sound quality on the Sony KD-43X75K television was ordinary, but entirely usable even if you don’t intend to add a soundbar or speaker system into the mix. Sound was decent at high volumes, with clear dialogue and reasonable performance with background scores, but even at high volume levels, it didn’t get very loud. That said, volume variation and spikes weren’t really an issue for me, and the sound levels were appropriate for late-night, bedroom TV watching.

I did experience some inadequacies with 5GHz Wi-Fi connectivity on the Sony KD-43X75K television during my review. On a couple of occasions, the TV was unable to connect to the 5GHz band of my home router, despite it being just a few metres away. This made stable streaming of high-resolution content a problem on those…

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Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD Android LED TV Review: Focused on Performance

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With OLED and Mini LED display technologies gaining prominence in the premium segment, quantum-dot LED tech has largely settled into a comfortable mid-range position. Buyers looking to spend a bit more for a promise of better performance often look to options from brands such as Sony and Samsung, both of which are well established when it comes to LED and quantum-dot LED TVs. Among the more popular options in the upper mid-range segment is the X90 series from Sony, which has now been updated for 2022 with the X90K range.

Priced at Rs. 1,23,490 for the 55-inch (XR-55X90K) variant on review here, the Sony Bravia X90K series is the company’s most expensive and advanced LED television range in India right now. With this, Sony hopes to strike a balance between performance and price, with Triluminos quantum-dot technology, full-array local dimming, and support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. There’s a lot of promise here, but is the Sony 55X90K the best big-screen television you can buy under Rs. 1,50,000? Find out in this review.

The Sony 55X90K TV runs on Android TV 10 software, with the Google TV user interface on top

 

Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED Android TV design and specifications

The X90 series sits at the top of the pecking order for Sony’s LED TVs, and is available in three sizes: 55 inches priced at Rs. 1,23,490, 65 inches priced at Rs. 1,70,990, and a 75-inch variant which will be launched in the coming weeks from the time of publishing this review. Apart from the size, there are no differences in any of the models, with all having Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) Triluminos (quantum-dot) LED screens, and a refresh rate of 120Hz at up to 4K resolution.

Coming to the design of the TV, the Sony Bravia 55X90K is pretty much what you’d expect from a high-end Sony television. It’s entirely black, with slim bezels around the screen, a discreet Sony logo in the bottom left corner, and little else to take any attention away from the screen itself, which is how televisions should be. The power button and a slider switch for the always-on microphones are at the bottom of the TV, alongside the main speakers.

Unlike many modern high-end televisions, the Sony 55X90K isn’t very slim at any point. However, it isn’t too bulky or thick either as it doesn’t sit too far from the wall even when wall-mounted, and has a similar width as most TVs of its kind. The television weighs about 17.4kg without the stands attached, and supports VESA wall mounting.

The table mount stands are included in the sales package, and are easy to install. The stands attach to the bottom corners of the TV, so a wide table or television unit will be needed if you choose to stand-mount the Sony Bravia 55X90K TV. Interestingly, you can attach the stands to keep the TV at a lower position where the frame is almost resting on the stands. The higher position leaves some space between the bottom of the TV and the table, which should come in handy if you want to place a soundbar there.

Wall mounting can be availed through the free installation which comes with the TV. The installation technician will bring along the wall-mount kit and install it, if you choose. I used a third-party wall-mount kit, which attached easily onto the back of the TV thanks to the VESA standard.

The Sony 55X90K television has support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats

 

All of the ports and sockets on the Sony XR-55X90K television face outwards to the left of the screen, while the power socket for the detachable power cable is on the right. Usefully, access to the ports and sockets is quite easy even when the TV is wall mounted. There are four HDMI ports (two are HDMI 2.1 with 4K 120Hz and Variable Refresh Rate support, one of which additionally has eARC support), two USB Type-A ports, one Optical Audio-out (Toslink) port, an Ethernet port, an antenna socket, and sockets for 3.5mm audio-out and Video In.

The Sony Bravia 55X90K television has support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG formats for high dynamic range content, and Dolby Atmos and DTS Digital Surround audio formats. There is dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, along with 16GB of internal storage for apps and app data. The TV is powered by Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, and has a four-speaker system with 30W of total rated output. As with many of Sony’s high-end televisions, there is full-array local dimming on the 55X90K TV.

Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED Android TV remote and features

Sony has typically included large, full-function remotes with its televisions, including the recently launched X75K series. However, the 55X90K television marks a notable departure from this trend. It has a smaller, more minimalistic remote with fewer buttons. This kind of remote is admittedly much easier to handle and store safely and has buttons for most important functions, so I wasn’t too bothered by the change.

There is no number pad, but a ‘123′ button brings up a virtual number pad in case you need it. The remote has hotkeys for YouTube, YouTube Music, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video, along with a Google Assistant button and a microphone on the remote to listen to voice commands. Other buttons include volume and playback controls, a D-pad for navigation, home and back buttons, and buttons for settings and source selection. The remote is powered by two AAA batteries, which are included in the sales package.

Key features of the Sony Bravia 55X90K TV include auto low-latency mode and variable refresh rate (VRR) for gaming, hands-free Google Assistant support thanks to the always-listening microphones on the TV, Alexa support, and a light sensor to automatically adjust the brightness of the screen according to lighting conditions in the room. Other useful connectivity options include built-in Google Chromecast and Apple AirPlay with HomeKit support.

Sony has gone with a smaller and more minimalistic remote with the X90K series

 

All of this worked as expected, including being able to use AirPlay without the need for a separate app; I could just select AirPlay from the source selection menu and the TV would appear in a list of available displays on my iPhone or MacBook.

Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED Android TV software and interface

The Sony Bravia XR-55X90K television runs on Android TV, similar to others in Sony’s smart TV range over the past few years. However, recent models, including the Sony X75K series have had the newer Google TV user interface on top of the Android TV, unlike the older stock Android TV UI that many manufacturers still work with. That said, the X90K TV runs Android TV 10 with the Google TV UI, unlike the more affordable X75K series which has Android TV 11.

Although a bit old and naturally a bit short on updates and security patches, Android TV 10 delivers largely the same experience as Android TV 11, at least at the UI and feature level. Plus, the hardware in the TV ensures good performance for the user interface. The Google TV user interface on the X90K is the same as on the X75K series with key features including Google Play Movies embedded into the UI rather than as a separate app, and a content-centric approach that highlights and recommends movies and TV shows from various apps.

Interestingly, this TV also gets a ‘Netflix Calibrated Mode’, which is said to optimise picture settings for specific content on Netflix. Other key UI functions, including accessing the settings, can be done from any screen on the interface by pressing the settings button on the remote.

Google Assistant can be used to search and access specific content, or even general information, and the Google Play store for Android TV provides access to over 5,000 apps and games built for use on televisions. It’s a largely familiar experience for anyone used to Android TV, and remains my pick as the best television operating system right now.

Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED Android TV performance

The Sony Bravia XR-55X90K Ultra-HD LED TV uses its resolution, calibration, and Triluminos quantum-dot technology to deliver the kind of performance you would expect for the price. While not quite on par with good OLED TVs in this price range when it comes to black levels, the Sony 55X90K uses its full-array local dimming to good effect, to ensure decent blacks and rich contrast, while delivering impressive brightness and a level of colour accuracy that not too many televisions offer in this segment. Furthermore, I found performance to be consistently good across various types of content and resolutions.

Expectedly, the best experience was with high dynamic range Ultra-HD content, and the Sony 55X90K TV’s support for the Dolby Vision format helped it deliver quality picture performance.

The Sony XR-55X90K television provided a bright, sharp, and clean picture, especially with Ultra-HD HDR content

 

Umbrella Academy Season 3 showed that the Sony 55X90K TV was not only very bright with Dolby Vision content, but also had colours that felt very accurate and on point. The TV also captured the slightly vintage aesthetic very well, while properly portraying the vibrant colours of the lavish sets of the show. There was a sense of warmth and comfort in the colours that made it possible to comfortably binge-watch the show on the Sony TV.

While the Sony Bravia television was quite bright, it didn’t quite get as bright as the Mini LED-powered Samsung QN95B TV. However, it more than made up for this with its warm, soft tones, and its ability to handle motion well. That said, its brightness capabilities didn’t falter even under bright daylight or when switching on all the lights in the room. Usefully, the Sony 55X90K is able to use a sensor to adjust its display brightness based on the light in the room; this worked well, ensuring brightness levels were always gentle on the eyes.

Black levels and contrast quality wasn’t exceptional on the Sony X90K TV out of the box, but I was able to set it up to my liking quite easily. Once calibrated, the blacks were decent thanks to good local dimming, which also delivered excellent zone-based brightness as bright parts of the screen shone through, while darker zones maintained the quality of the black levels. There was some visible blooming from bright zones, but this wasn’t distracting or bothersome in any way.

High dynamic range content did show a visible difference in brightness levels and colour accuracy when compared to standard dynamic range content, but it wasn’t too far behind in quality. Watching select scenes of Spider-Man: No Way Home on Netflix in Ultra-HD resolution (but with standard dynamic range) was good, thanks to the TV’s capable native brightness levels, sharpness, and clean overall approach to picture quality.

Upscaling of lower-resolution content was decent on the Sony XR-55X90K TV

 

Full-HD and standard definition content is usually iffy on high-end TVs, which are usually optimised for high-resolution content. However, the Sony Bravia XR-55X90K TV offered a clean picture, with good upscaling that made most low-resolution content look decent despite the large screen size.

There was occasional judder visible with the motion processing disabled, but turning on some of the motion interpolation and processing features made a visible difference in reducing the judder while keeping artefacts to a minimum even with low-resolution content. The Sony Bravia 55X90K also seemed to be able to adapt well to different types of content, prioritising sharpness or smooth, clean motion as needed.

Sound quality on the Sony Bravia 55X90K television was acceptable across formats and content types, although Dolby Atmos did make a noticeable difference in improving the spaciousness and detail in the sound. While the TV did sound alright even at soft and moderate volumes, it didn’t get too loud, and was audibly held back a bit by its 30W speaker system which didn’t deliver a very impressive performance as I’d have expected from a TV at this price.

Verdict

Changes in technology and pricing in the premium television space means that it’s now possible to buy an OLED or Mini LED television for less than Rs. 1,50,000, which makes the older quantum-dot LED technology feel a bit dated in comparison. However, it also makes it possible to buy a well-equipped, well-calibrated, and feature-rich quantum-dot LED TV such as the Sony Bravia XR-55X90K at a price which, while definitely on the premium side of things, isn’t quite as high as other flagship options.

This…

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Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV Review: Effortlessly Good

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Only a handful of brands sell OLED televisions in India, with Xiaomi, LG, and Sony being notable names in the segment. Widely considered among the best TV display technologies for mainstream televisions, OLED is usually seen on premium, big-screen televisions, often priced at over Rs. 2,00,000 for the popular 55-inch size. The latest television I’m reviewing is not quite from Sony’s flagship lineup for OLED TVs, but is firmly positioned as a premium option as part of the Japanese company’s XR series.

Priced at Rs. 2,49,900 officially (but can be bought from official retailers for around Rs. 1,85,000), the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K is the smallest and least expensive in the company’s 2022 OLED lineup in India. With an Ultra-HD HDR display with support for Dolby Vision HDR, Google TV UI on top of Android TV, and Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR powering it, is this the best TV under Rs. 2,00,000 you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Sony XR-A80K television series is available in three sizes, starting at 55 inches

 

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV design and specifications

The Sony XR-A80K series is available in three sizes in India — 55 inches (on review here) priced at Rs. 2,49,900, 65 inches priced at Rs. 3,49,900, and 77 inches priced at 6,99,900. The 77-inch variant has a rated sound output of 60W as compared to 50W on the 55-inch and 65-inch options, which is the only difference in the variants apart from the screen size.

The Sony Bravia XR-55A80K looks a lot like the Sony XR-55X90K quantum-dot LED TV which I recently reviewed, with thin black borders along the edges of the screen, resulting in an impressive screen-to-body ratio. It’s a straightforward, distraction-free look that ensures your attention is on what’s playing on the screen.

There is a small Sony logo in the bottom-left corner, and a switch on the underside that controls the always-on microphone for voice controls. The microphones themselves are just below the screen facing forward, with a dull indicator light just between them. The television is reasonably slim, but there is a fair bit of space between the edges of the TV and the wall behind, with the middle of the TV being a bit thicker.

The 55-inch A80K TV weighs about 18kg, and comes with the table stands in the box. The stands can be fitted at the corners of the TV, so you’ll need a large table or entertainment unit to place it on. Wall mounting is an option as well, although the kit for this is not included in the box. Sony does provide free installation with the TV, so you can have the technician install a suitable wall mount for this at the time of installation.

There is hands-free voice assistant support on the 55A80K, and you can even turn off the microphone for more privacy

 

All of the ports and sockets on the Sony XR-55A80K TV face to the left of the screen, with only the power socket for the detachable cable near the right side of the screen, at the back. The ports aren’t too difficult to reach even with the TV wall mounted on a low-profile mount kit. Connectivity options include two USB Type-A ports, Digital Audio-Out (Optical Toslink), a 3.5mm headphone jack, a single Video-In socket, an Ethernet port, an antenna socket, and four HDMI ports. Among the HDMI ports, two support 4K at 120Hz, while one supports HDMI ARC and eARC.

As mentioned, the Sony XR-55A80K is a 55-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) OLED television, with support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats. For sound, the television has a five-driver setup with a total output of 50W, and uses Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology which gives the impression of sound coming from the screen itself. Dolby Atmos and DTS Digital Surround are also supported on the TV.

Like the Sony Bravia X90K series, the A80K is powered by Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, and comes with dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. The TV has 16GB of storage for apps and app data.

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV remote and features

The Sony Bravia XR-55A80K, like the X90K, has Sony’s newer and somewhat minimalistic remote. This isn’t to say that it’s barebones; there are plenty of buttons and controls on it, including a D-pad and Android TV navigation keys, source and settings buttons, playback controls, a Google Assistant button, and volume controls. There are also hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube Music.

This kind of remote is a lot easier to handle as it does away with many of the buttons that modern streaming-focused users don’t often need, such as the full number pad. The remote has a microphone for voice commands, and has Bluetooth connectivity for ease of use. It’s powered by two AAA batteries (included in the box), and covers practically everything you’ll need to control on the TV.

Other features on the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K include support for Apple AirPlay and HomeKit, built-in Google Chromecast, and hands-free Google Assistant, apart from remote-based voice commands. When the slider switch below the TV is set to ‘On’ and the TV itself is on, you can invoke the voice assistant with the ‘OK Google’ or ‘Hey Google’ voice command and speak directly to the TV.

The remote of the Sony XR-55A80K TV has hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube Music

 

You can also set up Amazon Alexa on the TV, if you prefer. For gaming, the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K supports 4K at 120Hz through two HDMI ports, auto low-latency mode, and variable refresh rate (VRR).

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV software and interface

Sony is among the few brands that has adopted the Google TV user interface across its product range, and the XR-55A80K is no different. At its base, the television runs Android TV 10, with the Google TV UI on top. This is practically the same user experience as on the Chromecast with Google TV, and is one that I consider to be among the best software and user interface packages for televisions right now.

Some of its key features include the much improved content curation and recommendation system, banner view showing major new releases, multi-app ‘Continue Watching’ row, and the rather quirky themes for the kind of movies and TV shows you can watch.

Google’s own purchases and rentals are integrated into the UI, and a search for any content will show you the best and most affordable available method to watch it, prioritising any streaming services you’re already subscribed to. Netflix is integrated into the search for titles, but unfortunately not into the recommendation engine, unlike on the Chromecast with Google TV. Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot, and Zee5 are among the services that work with the recommendation system.

Also worth mentioning is Sony’s Bravia Core streaming service, which is available on XR series TVs like the 55A80K. Sony states that Bravia Core can stream at up to 80Mbps (considerably higher than other services) to provide better picture quality for Ultra-HD HDR content, tagged as ‘Pure Stream’. The content library isn’t as vast as on other services, but it’s worth exploring for the technically better stream and picture quality on offer.

Sony bundles a one-year complimentary subscription of Bravia Core with the 55A80K, with many titles available to stream for free and without any need to redeem a credit. Apart from those, I had five credits to redeem on ‘premium’ titles, which included much of the ‘Pure Stream’ and IMAX Enhanced catalogues.

As of now, it isn’t clear how much the service will cost after the free trial, but users should be able to continue viewing titles redeemed with credits for some time beyond the subscription period. Picture quality on titles on Bravia Core was indeed better than even Netflix and Apple TV for Ultra-HD content.

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV performance

The premium segment for televisions isn’t quite as diverse and populous as the more affordable price points, and Sony’s reputation does give it a bit of an edge here. However, there is strong competition to the XR-55A80K even at this price, particularly from the excellent LG 55C2 OLED TV and Samsung 55QN95B. While the LG television delivered slightly better contrast and blending, and the Samsung TV was undeniably brighter and more vibrant, the Sony XR-55A80K tended to offer better realism and picture accuracy on the whole.

High-quality Ultra-HD HDR content is sharp, detailed, and great to watch on the Sony XR-55A80K TV

 

The HDR format support for Dolby Vision on the Sony TV tended to favour content on Netflix, Apple TV+, and Disney+ Hotstar a bit more than Amazon Prime Video, although the objective quality of content on the Bravia Core streaming service seemed to outperform just about everything else. What stood out about the Sony XR-55A80K though, was its ability to adapt to the quality of content, fluidly and effortlessly; while good content looked the part, even lower-resolution content was suitably upscaled to look decent on the 55-inch screen.

Additionally, the Sony XR-55A80K was able to use its light sensor very well, to adapt the brightness and impact levels for the content and ambient light settings in the room. As a result, the picture always felt natural and easy on the eyes. It was never too bright, and I also didn’t find myself needing to adjust the brightness to make up for daylight or bright room lights. The Sony TV seemed to do all of this on its own, making for an easy viewing experience that let me focus on what was playing.

Watching Thor: Love and Thunder on Disney+ Hotstar in Ultra-HD Dolby Vision was a treat on the Sony XR-55A80K, with the television adapting well to the numerous bright, colourful scenes of New Asgard, as well as the dark, creepy scenes in the Shadow Realm. The ability to capture detail and add a sense of realism was noteworthy, with the glistening of Thor’s gold chest plate looking absolutely on point, even while Gorr’s lurking in the shadows retained all of the detail and watchability that you’d expect from a high-end OLED TV.

As expected for an OLED television, the Sony XR-55A80K wasn’t exceptionally bright. Unlike the Samsung QN95B which delivers a consistently watchable picture regardless of lighting conditions, the Sony benefited from at least some darkening of the viewing room, even in the form of simply drawing the curtains closed. There was also a fair amount of glare on the screen from slivers of light from the windows or ceiling lights, so you’ll definitely need to set the room up for the TV when watching.

The Sony XR-55A80K is among the best of the premium OLED TVs available in India right now

 

Colourful animation such as Pacific Rim: The Black in Ultra-HD looked sharp and detailed on the Sony XR-55A80K, as did football documentary Welcome To Wrexham in full-HD resolution. The Sony television delivered impressive consistency in the picture, often making it hard to distinguish between Ultra-HD and ftull-HD content.

The black levels were similarly impressive across resolutions and dynamic range, particularly during the dark scenes of Thor: Love and Thunder where faint details were visible clearly and beautifully even during the dark Shadow Realm scenes. Watching dark content at night was a surprisingly good experience, thanks to the sheer detail and naturalness in the picture that the Sony XR-55A80K is capable of.

However, there was a notable difference between good Dolby Vision HDR content and SDR content, with the TV providing impressive colours, a visible bump in brightness, and impressive contrast between bright and dark zones. Dolby Vision content such as Home on Apple TV+ was an impressive showcase of what the TV is capable of, getting the bright cityscapes of Hong Kong, as well as the grey interiors of Gary Chang’s converted home on point quite capably.

Standard definition content naturally looked a bit awkward on the 55-inch screen of the Sony A80K TV, but it didn’t look quite as awkward as I’ve seen on many televisions of this size and resolution. Ideally, you’ll want to stick to full-HD resolution and above to put the TV to good use.

Sound quality was impressive on the TV as well, particularly with Dolby Atmos content. The TV was loud, detailed, and had a rather impressive soundstage thanks to the company’s interesting speaker layout and positioning. With standard audio content, I found the sound entirely acceptable for most purposes, but you might want to consider a good soundbar for a more…

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Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV Review: Effortlessly Good

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Only a handful of brands sell OLED televisions in India, with Xiaomi, LG, and Sony being notable names in the segment. Widely considered among the best TV display technologies for mainstream televisions, OLED is usually seen on premium, big-screen televisions, often priced at over Rs. 2,00,000 for the popular 55-inch size. The latest television I’m reviewing is not quite from Sony’s flagship lineup for OLED TVs, but is firmly positioned as a premium option as part of the Japanese company’s XR series.

Priced at Rs. 2,49,900 officially (but can be bought from official retailers for around Rs. 1,85,000), the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K is the smallest and least expensive in the company’s 2022 OLED lineup in India. With an Ultra-HD HDR display with support for Dolby Vision HDR, Google TV UI on top of Android TV, and Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR powering it, is this the best TV under Rs. 2,00,000 you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Sony XR-A80K television series is available in three sizes, starting at 55 inches

 

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV design and specifications

The Sony XR-A80K series is available in three sizes in India — 55 inches (on review here) priced at Rs. 2,49,900, 65 inches priced at Rs. 3,49,900, and 77 inches priced at 6,99,900. The 77-inch variant has a rated sound output of 60W as compared to 50W on the 55-inch and 65-inch options, which is the only difference in the variants apart from the screen size.

The Sony Bravia XR-55A80K looks a lot like the Sony XR-55X90K quantum-dot LED TV which I recently reviewed, with thin black borders along the edges of the screen, resulting in an impressive screen-to-body ratio. It’s a straightforward, distraction-free look that ensures your attention is on what’s playing on the screen.

There is a small Sony logo in the bottom-left corner, and a switch on the underside that controls the always-on microphone for voice controls. The microphones themselves are just below the screen facing forward, with a dull indicator light just between them. The television is reasonably slim, but there is a fair bit of space between the edges of the TV and the wall behind, with the middle of the TV being a bit thicker.

The 55-inch A80K TV weighs about 18kg, and comes with the table stands in the box. The stands can be fitted at the corners of the TV, so you’ll need a large table or entertainment unit to place it on. Wall mounting is an option as well, although the kit for this is not included in the box. Sony does provide free installation with the TV, so you can have the technician install a suitable wall mount for this at the time of installation.

There is hands-free voice assistant support on the 55A80K, and you can even turn off the microphone for more privacy

 

All of the ports and sockets on the Sony XR-55A80K TV face to the left of the screen, with only the power socket for the detachable cable near the right side of the screen, at the back. The ports aren’t too difficult to reach even with the TV wall mounted on a low-profile mount kit. Connectivity options include two USB Type-A ports, Digital Audio-Out (Optical Toslink), a 3.5mm headphone jack, a single Video-In socket, an Ethernet port, an antenna socket, and four HDMI ports. Among the HDMI ports, two support 4K at 120Hz, while one supports HDMI ARC and eARC.

As mentioned, the Sony XR-55A80K is a 55-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) OLED television, with support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats. For sound, the television has a five-driver setup with a total output of 50W, and uses Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology which gives the impression of sound coming from the screen itself. Dolby Atmos and DTS Digital Surround are also supported on the TV.

Like the Sony Bravia X90K series, the A80K is powered by Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, and comes with dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. The TV has 16GB of storage for apps and app data.

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV remote and features

The Sony Bravia XR-55A80K, like the X90K, has Sony’s newer and somewhat minimalistic remote. This isn’t to say that it’s barebones; there are plenty of buttons and controls on it, including a D-pad and Android TV navigation keys, source and settings buttons, playback controls, a Google Assistant button, and volume controls. There are also hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube Music.

This kind of remote is a lot easier to handle as it does away with many of the buttons that modern streaming-focused users don’t often need, such as the full number pad. The remote has a microphone for voice commands, and has Bluetooth connectivity for ease of use. It’s powered by two AAA batteries (included in the box), and covers practically everything you’ll need to control on the TV.

Other features on the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K include support for Apple AirPlay and HomeKit, built-in Google Chromecast, and hands-free Google Assistant, apart from remote-based voice commands. When the slider switch below the TV is set to ‘On’ and the TV itself is on, you can invoke the voice assistant with the ‘OK Google’ or ‘Hey Google’ voice command and speak directly to the TV.

The remote of the Sony XR-55A80K TV has hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube Music

 

You can also set up Amazon Alexa on the TV, if you prefer. For gaming, the Sony Bravia XR-55A80K supports 4K at 120Hz through two HDMI ports, auto low-latency mode, and variable refresh rate (VRR).

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV software and interface

Sony is among the few brands that has adopted the Google TV user interface across its product range, and the XR-55A80K is no different. At its base, the television runs Android TV 10, with the Google TV UI on top. This is practically the same user experience as on the Chromecast with Google TV, and is one that I consider to be among the best software and user interface packages for televisions right now.

Some of its key features include the much improved content curation and recommendation system, banner view showing major new releases, multi-app ‘Continue Watching’ row, and the rather quirky themes for the kind of movies and TV shows you can watch.

Google’s own purchases and rentals are integrated into the UI, and a search for any content will show you the best and most affordable available method to watch it, prioritising any streaming services you’re already subscribed to. Netflix is integrated into the search for titles, but unfortunately not into the recommendation engine, unlike on the Chromecast with Google TV. Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot, and Zee5 are among the services that work with the recommendation system.

Also worth mentioning is Sony’s Bravia Core streaming service, which is available on XR series TVs like the 55A80K. Sony states that Bravia Core can stream at up to 80Mbps (considerably higher than other services) to provide better picture quality for Ultra-HD HDR content, tagged as ‘Pure Stream’. The content library isn’t as vast as on other services, but it’s worth exploring for the technically better stream and picture quality on offer.

Sony bundles a one-year complimentary subscription of Bravia Core with the 55A80K, with many titles available to stream for free and without any need to redeem a credit. Apart from those, I had five credits to redeem on ‘premium’ titles, which included much of the ‘Pure Stream’ and IMAX Enhanced catalogues.

As of now, it isn’t clear how much the service will cost after the free trial, but users should be able to continue viewing titles redeemed with credits for some time beyond the subscription period. Picture quality on titles on Bravia Core was indeed better than even Netflix and Apple TV for Ultra-HD content.

Sony Bravia XR-55A80K Ultra-HD OLED Android TV performance

The premium segment for televisions isn’t quite as diverse and populous as the more affordable price points, and Sony’s reputation does give it a bit of an edge here. However, there is strong competition to the XR-55A80K even at this price, particularly from the excellent LG 55C2 OLED TV and Samsung 55QN95B. While the LG television delivered slightly better contrast and blending, and the Samsung TV was undeniably brighter and more vibrant, the Sony XR-55A80K tended to offer better realism and picture accuracy on the whole.

High-quality Ultra-HD HDR content is sharp, detailed, and great to watch on the Sony XR-55A80K TV

 

The HDR format support for Dolby Vision on the Sony TV tended to favour content on Netflix, Apple TV+, and Disney+ Hotstar a bit more than Amazon Prime Video, although the objective quality of content on the Bravia Core streaming service seemed to outperform just about everything else. What stood out about the Sony XR-55A80K though, was its ability to adapt to the quality of content, fluidly and effortlessly; while good content looked the part, even lower-resolution content was suitably upscaled to look decent on the 55-inch screen.

Additionally, the Sony XR-55A80K was able to use its light sensor very well, to adapt the brightness and impact levels for the content and ambient light settings in the room. As a result, the picture always felt natural and easy on the eyes. It was never too bright, and I also didn’t find myself needing to adjust the brightness to make up for daylight or bright room lights. The Sony TV seemed to do all of this on its own, making for an easy viewing experience that let me focus on what was playing.

Watching Thor: Love and Thunder on Disney+ Hotstar in Ultra-HD Dolby Vision was a treat on the Sony XR-55A80K, with the television adapting well to the numerous bright, colourful scenes of New Asgard, as well as the dark, creepy scenes in the Shadow Realm. The ability to capture detail and add a sense of realism was noteworthy, with the glistening of Thor’s gold chest plate looking absolutely on point, even while Gorr’s lurking in the shadows retained all of the detail and watchability that you’d expect from a high-end OLED TV.

As expected for an OLED television, the Sony XR-55A80K wasn’t exceptionally bright. Unlike the Samsung QN95B which delivers a consistently watchable picture regardless of lighting conditions, the Sony benefited from at least some darkening of the viewing room, even in the form of simply drawing the curtains closed. There was also a fair amount of glare on the screen from slivers of light from the windows or ceiling lights, so you’ll definitely need to set the room up for the TV when watching.

The Sony XR-55A80K is among the best of the premium OLED TVs available in India right now

 

Colourful animation such as Pacific Rim: The Black in Ultra-HD looked sharp and detailed on the Sony XR-55A80K, as did football documentary Welcome To Wrexham in full-HD resolution. The Sony television delivered impressive consistency in the picture, often making it hard to distinguish between Ultra-HD and ftull-HD content.

The black levels were similarly impressive across resolutions and dynamic range, particularly during the dark scenes of Thor: Love and Thunder where faint details were visible clearly and beautifully even during the dark Shadow Realm scenes. Watching dark content at night was a surprisingly good experience, thanks to the sheer detail and naturalness in the picture that the Sony XR-55A80K is capable of.

However, there was a notable difference between good Dolby Vision HDR content and SDR content, with the TV providing impressive colours, a visible bump in brightness, and impressive contrast between bright and dark zones. Dolby Vision content such as Home on Apple TV+ was an impressive showcase of what the TV is capable of, getting the bright cityscapes of Hong Kong, as well as the grey interiors of Gary Chang’s converted home on point quite capably.

Standard definition content naturally looked a bit awkward on the 55-inch screen of the Sony A80K TV, but it didn’t look quite as awkward as I’ve seen on many televisions of this size and resolution. Ideally, you’ll want to stick to full-HD resolution and above to put the TV to good use.

Sound quality was impressive on the TV as well, particularly with Dolby Atmos content. The TV was loud, detailed, and had a rather impressive soundstage thanks to the company’s interesting speaker layout and positioning. With standard audio content, I found the sound entirely acceptable for most purposes, but you might want to consider a good soundbar for a more…

.