Tag Archives: Ultra-HD

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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Xiaomi Smart TV X Series (X50) 50-inch Ultra-HD LED TV Review: Well-Priced 4K TV

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Xiaomi has, in a short time, made big strides in the television business in India. Among the leading brands in the smart TV space and a popular option for buyers looking for affordable, value-for-money big-screen TVs, Xiaomi’s televisions are usually on the radar of many buyers in India. While it does offer some high-end options including OLED and QLED TVs, the brand is best known for its affordable products, making the new Xiaomi Smart TV X Series particularly relevant in its growing product portfolio.

Priced at Rs. 34,999 in India for the 50-inch variant (L50M7-A2IN) on review here, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is similar to the Mi TV 5X that was launched in 2021, but with a more spartan approach that sees fewer features and frills in favour of more competitive pricing. Xiaomi has, however, retained some key specifications, including the Ultra-HD screen, support for Dolby Vision HDR, and Android TV with the PatchWall and stock Android TV UIs. Is this the best affordable Ultra-HD TV you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Xiaomi TV X Series is a bit more affordable than the Mi TV 5X which was launched in 2021

 

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 design and specifications

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is available in three size options, ranging from 43 inches to 55 inches. The 43-inch variant is priced at Rs. 28,999, the 50-inch variant retails for Rs. 34,999, and the 55-inch variant is priced at Rs. 39,999, as per the company’s launch pricing. At the time of this review, I spotted the 50-inch X50 variant on the company’s official online store for Rs. 31,999. All variants have the same specifications and Ultra-HD resolution, so the only significant difference between the three is the size of the display.

As mentioned, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series skips a few features in favour of better pricing, including some elements of the design of the television. The back of the TV is quite plain to look at, and the included stands are made of plastic (unlike the metal stands included with the Mi TV 5X). However, you won’t notice any significant differences at the front of the TV, with a fairly straightforward look that has slim bezels and a fairly high screen-to-body ratio.

At the bottom is the Xiaomi logo, just above the module for the indicator light. Unlike on the Mi TV 5X, there is no hands-free Google Assistant on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and therefore no microphone on the TV itself or a sliding switch to mute it. The back of the TV has the ports facing the left and the bottom, with plenty of space around them to allow convenient connections, even if you have the TV wall-mounted.

Additionally, Xiaomi hasn’t skimped with the ports, and the options remain unchanged from the Mi TV 5X. There are three HDMI 2.1 ports (one supports ARC/eARC), two USB Type-A ports, a 3.5mm socket for wired headphone or speaker connectivity, and Digital Optical (Toslink), Ethernet, AV Input, and Antenna connectivity.

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series runs on Android TV 10, with the stock Android TV and PatchWall UIs on top

 

I had the TV wall-mounted for my review, and it didn’t sit too close to the wall even with a low-profile wall-mount kit, so there was enough room to access the ports as needed. The wall-mount kit isn’t included in the sales package; the Xiaomi technician can provide one at the time of installation.

The Xiaomi Smart TV X50 has a 50-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED screen with a refresh rate of 60Hz, with support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats. Audio output from the TV’s down-firing speaker system is rated at 30W, with support for the Dolby Audio, DTS-HD, and DTS Virtual X formats. For connectivity, there is dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5, and the TV has a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage for apps and app data, lower than the 16GB storage on the Mi TV 5X.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 remote and features

Xiaomi’s minimalistic remote returns on the X50 TV, albeit with minor changes. There are two new hotkeys for Disney+ Hotstar and apps in addition to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and the ‘Mi’ logo has been replaced by the PatchWall logo for the button that quickly switches to Xiaomi’s custom UI for its TVs. Apart from these, it’s the same familiar remote, although it does seem slightly larger than previous remotes.

The remote is powered by two AAA batteries, which are fortunately included in the sales package. Some of the software-based tweaks for the remote, introduced to cover for the lack of hardware buttons, are still in place. These include pressing the volume down key twice quickly to mute, and long-pressing the PatchWall button to access the quick settings menu.

Xiaomi’s compact and lightweight remote sees a few changes with the X50 TV, including new hotkeys

 

Other features on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 include auto low-latency mode (ALLM) for gaming, Dolby Atmos passthrough when using HDMI ARC with compatible speaker systems, and access to Google Assistant using the remote. There is also built-in Google Chromecast and Miracast for casting from compatible devices.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 software and interface

Xiaomi’s familiar dual-UI approach based on the Android TV 10 operating system remains in place on the Smart TV X50. If you prefer the PatchWall UI, the company’s custom user interface continues to improve by way of performance, curation, recommendations from over 30 integrated streaming services, and more. There is also access to the Mi Home app directly on the TV, which is useful if you have any Xiaomi IoT products.

If you prefer the familiarity of the Android TV user interface, that’s present as well. Soon after setting up the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, the stock Android TV UI was updated to the fresher, Google TV-inspired look. Regardless of which UI you prefer, the apps are the same, including access to over 7,000 apps on the Google Play store for Android TV, to download any additional apps and games that you might want.

I did experience some issues with the UI on the Android TV interface, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 feeling a bit sluggish to navigate around. There were also occasions where apps would not load properly, and subtitle timing on apps such as Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar was off by a second or two. However, the fix for this was easy; a full reboot would have the TV working fine for the most part, until a few days later when the issues would reappear.

An interesting new addition to the software suite is the Xiaomi TV+ app. This allows access to linear, programmed ‘channels’ similar to what you’d find on a DTH set-top box-based service, with the obvious difference being that the content is streamed using an Internet connection.

I did find it to be a bit slow and it took quite a while to load even on my otherwise fast Internet connection, but this will hopefully improve over time. The channel selection had a fair amount of variety and content, and was a useful distraction for times when I couldn’t think of what I wanted to watch, or just wanted to watch something for a few minutes.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 performance

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is positioned below the Mi TV 5X in the company’s order of pricing, but this has more to do with small differences in the feature set and design of the TV. When it comes to performance, the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 is fairly adept and up to the mark for a television in its price segment, thanks to its Ultra-HD screen with support for Dolby Vision HDR, general good picture quality across different resolutions, and decent sound quality.

I watched a variety of content across resolutions and dynamic ranges, from Ultra-HD with Dolby Vision or HDR10 support, to standard definition video clips and shows on YouTube and Hotstar. While the differences in the top-quality content naturally showed, the 50-inch size of the X50 variant seemed to help hide some of the drawbacks of lower-resolution content at typical viewing distances for a living room.

Black levels weren’t very good on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and this showed in dark scenes on House of the Dragon

 

Watching episodes of Home on Apple TV+ in Ultra-HD Dolby Vision was expectedly good as compared to all other content, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 doing a decent job with the high dynamic range format. This didn’t seem to translate into as significant a bump in brightness as could be expected from a high-end LED or quantum-dot LED TV, but the colours and tones seemed to be better off.

The beautiful, often colourful homes and surrounding nature on Home looked about as good as can be expected on an entry-level Ultra-HD HDR TV. The naturally bright and vibrant picture of Chef’s Table: Pizza on Netflix looked particularly attractive in terms of colours and sharpness, and the gentle motion in these two shows was generally handled well by the TV.

Shows such as Andor and House of the Dragon provided a somewhat different viewing experience, which had to do with the black levels. The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is an entry-level LED TV, and this meant that there was always a slight grey tinge across the screen.

With bright, colourful content, this didn’t matter or show too prominently, but with the aforementioned two shows relying heavily on dark, night-time scenes, this made the picture appear a bit dull and often difficult to watch unless the room was completely dark. Andor seemed to benefit from its Ultra-HD resolution and Dolby Vision support to look somewhat watchable, while the full-HD resolution of House of the Dragon looked rather strange in dark scenes, with a lot of artefacts, and colours appearing washed out.

Full-HD content on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 looked decent, although Ultra-HD content expectedly brought out the best in the television

 

With HDR10 content, the TV seemed nearly as capable as with the high-quality Dolby Vision content on Apple TV+ and Netflix. The latest episode of The Grand Tour was sharp and fun to watch thanks to its primarily bright snowscapes, but the technically inferior HDR format seemed to show in the colours being slightly less impactful.

That said, the content itself will make or break the experience, and the high-quality content and footage of The Grand Tour arguably looked better than the dull Dolby Vision stream of Andor on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50. Full-HD content such as House of the Dragon and Welcome to Wrexham, despite the obvious differences in sharpness, looked decent thanks to the 50-inch screen size of the X50 variant.

Lower-resolution content such as episodes of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai on Disney+ Hotstar were similarly handled fairly well by the TV, with decent upscaling and the size of the screen itself hiding some of the weaknesses in the picture from typical living room viewing distances.

Sound quality on the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series was rather impressive given the price and size of the TV. The TV is loud, with the sound tuned well to enhance dialogue and background scores. While the sound wasn’t as impactful in the lows and background effects, it largely suited much of what I wanted to watch. At this price level, this is a particularly useful point, since users won’t need to invest in a soundbar or speaker system along with the TV.

Verdict

Xiaomi’s televisions in India have always pushed the value-for-money proposition much further than the competition, and the X Series manages to fine-tune the concept even further. It’s not very different from the more expensive Mi TV 5X range in terms of core specifications, but does cut back on some features that could be considered unnecessary frills.

The result is a capable budget Ultra-HD TV that largely does the job its meant to do, and at Rs. 34,999 for the 50-inch variant (going as low as Rs. 31,999 depending on seasonal pricing), offers excellent value for money. Picture quality is decent save for some small drawbacks, sound quality is good, and the software and UI performance are acceptable on the whole. This is a sensible pick for the price, if you’re looking to upgrade to a big screen and want to explore the ever-increasing list of Ultra-HD and HDR content on offer right now.

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Xiaomi Smart TV X Series (X50) 50-inch Ultra-HD LED TV Review: Well-Priced 4K TV

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Xiaomi has, in a short time, made big strides in the television business in India. Among the leading brands in the smart TV space and a popular option for buyers looking for affordable, value-for-money big-screen TVs, Xiaomi’s televisions are usually on the radar of many buyers in India. While it does offer some high-end options including OLED and QLED TVs, the brand is best known for its affordable products, making the new Xiaomi Smart TV X Series particularly relevant in its growing product portfolio.

Priced at Rs. 34,999 in India for the 50-inch variant (L50M7-A2IN) on review here, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is similar to the Mi TV 5X that was launched in 2021, but with a more spartan approach that sees fewer features and frills in favour of more competitive pricing. Xiaomi has, however, retained some key specifications, including the Ultra-HD screen, support for Dolby Vision HDR, and Android TV with the PatchWall and stock Android TV UIs. Is this the best affordable Ultra-HD TV you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Xiaomi TV X Series is a bit more affordable than the Mi TV 5X which was launched in 2021

 

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 design and specifications

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is available in three size options, ranging from 43 inches to 55 inches. The 43-inch variant is priced at Rs. 28,999, the 50-inch variant retails for Rs. 34,999, and the 55-inch variant is priced at Rs. 39,999, as per the company’s launch pricing. At the time of this review, I spotted the 50-inch X50 variant on the company’s official online store for Rs. 31,999. All variants have the same specifications and Ultra-HD resolution, so the only significant difference between the three is the size of the display.

As mentioned, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series skips a few features in favour of better pricing, including some elements of the design of the television. The back of the TV is quite plain to look at, and the included stands are made of plastic (unlike the metal stands included with the Mi TV 5X). However, you won’t notice any significant differences at the front of the TV, with a fairly straightforward look that has slim bezels and a fairly high screen-to-body ratio.

At the bottom is the Xiaomi logo, just above the module for the indicator light. Unlike on the Mi TV 5X, there is no hands-free Google Assistant on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and therefore no microphone on the TV itself or a sliding switch to mute it. The back of the TV has the ports facing the left and the bottom, with plenty of space around them to allow convenient connections, even if you have the TV wall-mounted.

Additionally, Xiaomi hasn’t skimped with the ports, and the options remain unchanged from the Mi TV 5X. There are three HDMI 2.1 ports (one supports ARC/eARC), two USB Type-A ports, a 3.5mm socket for wired headphone or speaker connectivity, and Digital Optical (Toslink), Ethernet, AV Input, and Antenna connectivity.

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series runs on Android TV 10, with the stock Android TV and PatchWall UIs on top

 

I had the TV wall-mounted for my review, and it didn’t sit too close to the wall even with a low-profile wall-mount kit, so there was enough room to access the ports as needed. The wall-mount kit isn’t included in the sales package; the Xiaomi technician can provide one at the time of installation.

The Xiaomi Smart TV X50 has a 50-inch Ultra-HD (3840×2160-pixel) LED screen with a refresh rate of 60Hz, with support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats. Audio output from the TV’s down-firing speaker system is rated at 30W, with support for the Dolby Audio, DTS-HD, and DTS Virtual X formats. For connectivity, there is dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5, and the TV has a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage for apps and app data, lower than the 16GB storage on the Mi TV 5X.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 remote and features

Xiaomi’s minimalistic remote returns on the X50 TV, albeit with minor changes. There are two new hotkeys for Disney+ Hotstar and apps in addition to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and the ‘Mi’ logo has been replaced by the PatchWall logo for the button that quickly switches to Xiaomi’s custom UI for its TVs. Apart from these, it’s the same familiar remote, although it does seem slightly larger than previous remotes.

The remote is powered by two AAA batteries, which are fortunately included in the sales package. Some of the software-based tweaks for the remote, introduced to cover for the lack of hardware buttons, are still in place. These include pressing the volume down key twice quickly to mute, and long-pressing the PatchWall button to access the quick settings menu.

Xiaomi’s compact and lightweight remote sees a few changes with the X50 TV, including new hotkeys

 

Other features on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 include auto low-latency mode (ALLM) for gaming, Dolby Atmos passthrough when using HDMI ARC with compatible speaker systems, and access to Google Assistant using the remote. There is also built-in Google Chromecast and Miracast for casting from compatible devices.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 software and interface

Xiaomi’s familiar dual-UI approach based on the Android TV 10 operating system remains in place on the Smart TV X50. If you prefer the PatchWall UI, the company’s custom user interface continues to improve by way of performance, curation, recommendations from over 30 integrated streaming services, and more. There is also access to the Mi Home app directly on the TV, which is useful if you have any Xiaomi IoT products.

If you prefer the familiarity of the Android TV user interface, that’s present as well. Soon after setting up the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, the stock Android TV UI was updated to the fresher, Google TV-inspired look. Regardless of which UI you prefer, the apps are the same, including access to over 7,000 apps on the Google Play store for Android TV, to download any additional apps and games that you might want.

I did experience some issues with the UI on the Android TV interface, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 feeling a bit sluggish to navigate around. There were also occasions where apps would not load properly, and subtitle timing on apps such as Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar was off by a second or two. However, the fix for this was easy; a full reboot would have the TV working fine for the most part, until a few days later when the issues would reappear.

An interesting new addition to the software suite is the Xiaomi TV+ app. This allows access to linear, programmed ‘channels’ similar to what you’d find on a DTH set-top box-based service, with the obvious difference being that the content is streamed using an Internet connection.

I did find it to be a bit slow and it took quite a while to load even on my otherwise fast Internet connection, but this will hopefully improve over time. The channel selection had a fair amount of variety and content, and was a useful distraction for times when I couldn’t think of what I wanted to watch, or just wanted to watch something for a few minutes.

Xiaomi Smart TV X Series X50 performance

The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is positioned below the Mi TV 5X in the company’s order of pricing, but this has more to do with small differences in the feature set and design of the TV. When it comes to performance, the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 is fairly adept and up to the mark for a television in its price segment, thanks to its Ultra-HD screen with support for Dolby Vision HDR, general good picture quality across different resolutions, and decent sound quality.

I watched a variety of content across resolutions and dynamic ranges, from Ultra-HD with Dolby Vision or HDR10 support, to standard definition video clips and shows on YouTube and Hotstar. While the differences in the top-quality content naturally showed, the 50-inch size of the X50 variant seemed to help hide some of the drawbacks of lower-resolution content at typical viewing distances for a living room.

Black levels weren’t very good on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50, and this showed in dark scenes on House of the Dragon

 

Watching episodes of Home on Apple TV+ in Ultra-HD Dolby Vision was expectedly good as compared to all other content, with the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 doing a decent job with the high dynamic range format. This didn’t seem to translate into as significant a bump in brightness as could be expected from a high-end LED or quantum-dot LED TV, but the colours and tones seemed to be better off.

The beautiful, often colourful homes and surrounding nature on Home looked about as good as can be expected on an entry-level Ultra-HD HDR TV. The naturally bright and vibrant picture of Chef’s Table: Pizza on Netflix looked particularly attractive in terms of colours and sharpness, and the gentle motion in these two shows was generally handled well by the TV.

Shows such as Andor and House of the Dragon provided a somewhat different viewing experience, which had to do with the black levels. The Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is an entry-level LED TV, and this meant that there was always a slight grey tinge across the screen.

With bright, colourful content, this didn’t matter or show too prominently, but with the aforementioned two shows relying heavily on dark, night-time scenes, this made the picture appear a bit dull and often difficult to watch unless the room was completely dark. Andor seemed to benefit from its Ultra-HD resolution and Dolby Vision support to look somewhat watchable, while the full-HD resolution of House of the Dragon looked rather strange in dark scenes, with a lot of artefacts, and colours appearing washed out.

Full-HD content on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50 looked decent, although Ultra-HD content expectedly brought out the best in the television

 

With HDR10 content, the TV seemed nearly as capable as with the high-quality Dolby Vision content on Apple TV+ and Netflix. The latest episode of The Grand Tour was sharp and fun to watch thanks to its primarily bright snowscapes, but the technically inferior HDR format seemed to show in the colours being slightly less impactful.

That said, the content itself will make or break the experience, and the high-quality content and footage of The Grand Tour arguably looked better than the dull Dolby Vision stream of Andor on the Xiaomi Smart TV X50. Full-HD content such as House of the Dragon and Welcome to Wrexham, despite the obvious differences in sharpness, looked decent thanks to the 50-inch screen size of the X50 variant.

Lower-resolution content such as episodes of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai on Disney+ Hotstar were similarly handled fairly well by the TV, with decent upscaling and the size of the screen itself hiding some of the weaknesses in the picture from typical living room viewing distances.

Sound quality on the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series was rather impressive given the price and size of the TV. The TV is loud, with the sound tuned well to enhance dialogue and background scores. While the sound wasn’t as impactful in the lows and background effects, it largely suited much of what I wanted to watch. At this price level, this is a particularly useful point, since users won’t need to invest in a soundbar or speaker system along with the TV.

Verdict

Xiaomi’s televisions in India have always pushed the value-for-money proposition much further than the competition, and the X Series manages to fine-tune the concept even further. It’s not very different from the more expensive Mi TV 5X range in terms of core specifications, but does cut back on some features that could be considered unnecessary frills.

The result is a capable budget Ultra-HD TV that largely does the job its meant to do, and at Rs. 34,999 for the 50-inch variant (going as low as Rs. 31,999 depending on seasonal pricing), offers excellent value for money. Picture quality is decent save for some small drawbacks, sound quality is good, and the software and UI performance are acceptable on the whole. This is a sensible pick for the price, if you’re looking to upgrade to a big screen and want to explore the ever-increasing list of Ultra-HD and HDR content on offer right now.

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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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Philips Ambilight 7900 Series 55-inch Ultra-HD LED Android TV (55PUT7906/94) Review: Quite the Show

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Televisions tend to be more about the core functionality and less about the design and other aesthetics but every once in a while, we’ll see something flashy and pleasantly over-the-top. One such concept is Philips’ Ambilight technology, which interestingly and rather astoundingly, adds to the viewing experience particularly in dark rooms where the LED lights at the back of the TV can really shine. Philips’ latest television in India brings back the concept in a big way, and at a much more accessible price than before.

Priced at Rs. 99,990 for the 55-inch 55PUT7906/94 variant, the Philips Ambilight 7900 series is a fairly standard Ultra-HD LED TV, but with the added feature of a three-sided Ambilight LED lighting at the back. There is also support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and Android TV OS for smart functionality, among other useful features. Is this the most unique and interesting 55-inch TV you can buy for around Rs. 1,00,000 in India? Find out in this review.

The Philips Ambilight 7900 series TV runs on Android TV 10, with the improved stock Android TV user interface

 

Philips Ambilight 7900 Series 55-inch Ultra-HD LED Android TV (55PUT7906/94) design and specifications

The Philips Ambilight 7900 Series is available in three sizes — 55 inches, 65 inches, and 75 inches — with prices ranging from Rs. 99,990 to Rs. 1,89,990. All three sizes have similar specifications and features including the three-sided Ambilight LED lighting at the back of the televisions.

At the front and back (for the most part), the Philips Ambilight 7900 Series 55-inch television looks like just about any modern budget or mid-range television. There are slim borders around the screen, a small Philips logo at the bottom, a module for the IR receiver, indicator light, and a multi-function physical button to control the power and volume without the remote.

The TV is moderately thick but slightly slimmer at the edges, which leaves enough space to access the left-side ports when the television is wall-mounted. The 55-inch variant weighs around 14.2kg without the stands, and is compatible with VESA wall mounts (not included in the box). The table stands are included in the box and fix onto the TV near the corners, so you’ll need a large table or TV unit to place the Philips Ambilight 7900 series TV on.

While the television seems rather ordinary-looking at first glance, the key feature shows itself only when you turn the Philips Ambilight 7900 series TV on. There are LED lights built into the frame of the TV all along the left, top, and right edges, projecting multi-coloured light onto the wall behind the TV. The lights can get quite bright, and are effective regardless of whether you have the TV wall-mounted or on the table stands slightly away from the wall.

The Philips Ambilight 7900 Series 55-inch television has most of its ports in the square cavity at the back and facing downwards, so you’ll have to ensure that you’ve attached most of these connections before wall-mounting the television (if that’s the case for you). The ports at the back include Digital Audio-out (Toslink), one USB Type-A port, RJ45 Ethernet port, antenna socket, and three HDMI ports.

The LED lights at the back project colour onto the wall behind, depending on the colours on the screen

 

The ports on the left side are much easier to access even with the TV wall-mounted. These include one HDMI port (with ARC support), 3.5mm headphone jack, and one USB Type-A port. I’d have ideally liked at least one more HDMI port on the side, as well as the Toslink port. That said, having the ARC-enabled port on the side is a sensible decision by Philips.

The Philips Ambilight 55PUT7906/94 LED TV has an Ultra-HD (3840×2160 pixel) screen, with support for the HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision high dynamic range formats. There are two full-range bottom-firing speakers with a total sound output of 20W, and support for various audio formats up to Dolby Atmos. Bluetooth 5 and dual-band Wi-Fi are supported on the TV, and there is 8GB of internal storage for apps and app data, along with an unspecified quad-core processor to power the software and interface.

Philips Ambilight 7900 Series 55-inch Ultra-HD LED Android TV (55PUT7906/94) remote and features

Philips has typically included a full-size remote with its televisions, and it’s no different with the Ambilight 7900 series LED TV. The remote is arguably a fair bit larger than it needs to be, and has buttons to control navigation on the Android TV UI, playback controls, input selection, and a classic number pad, among others. There are hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, and YouTube, as well as a Google Assistant button and microphone to listen to voice commands.

A couple of useful additions include an ‘info’ button which shows resolution and Internet speed, and the Ambilight button. The latter provides quick access to the Ambilight menu, which can be used to turn on or off the Ambilight effects, or modify the settings including the modes and lounge lighting presets. It’s useful to quickly adjust this, particularly if you’re finding the glare too much or the lights a bit distracting.

The remote initially worked fine, but after a few weeks I found that I had to point it directly at the IR receiver for it to work; this seemed to happen overnight with it working fine the previous day. Changing the batteries and resetting the TV made no difference, and Bluetooth connectivity only worked for Google Assistant and not the rest of the remote’s functions, which continued to rely on IR. Strangely, the remote began working normally a couple of days later, so it’s hard to pinpoint the issue here.

Apart from Ambilight, the Philips 55PUT7906/94 TV is pretty ordinary when it comes to features. There is built-in Chromecast for content casting, and Google Assistant for voice commands, both of which are standard to all televisions running Android TV software.

Philips Ambilight 7900 Series 55-inch Ultra-HD LED Android TV (55PUT7906/94) software and interface

The Philips Ambilight 7900 series 55-inch LED TV runs on the Android TV 10 operating system, with the updated user interface with the refreshed, Google TV-like appearance. Of course, this isn’t the same as the Google TV user interface, but the core experience is the same as what you get on most Android TV-powered televisions. This includes access to the Google Play store, which now claims to have over 7,000 apps and games specifically designed for use on a TV screen.

The remote of the Philips Ambilight TV is a full-sized one and has hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and Google Play

 

Some key apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Youtube are preinstalled on the Philips Ambilight 7900 series television, and the new user interface is able to curate and push certain content recommendations using these and other major streaming services. While it is a step below the much more polished and capable Google TV UI, the stock Android TV user interface is still a pretty good option given that the app experience is the same reliable one that the platform has worked hard to get right.

My issues with the remote aside, I found the UI performance on the Philips 7900 series TV to be a bit sluggish at times. There was often a noticeable delay in the reaction time when navigating the UI, along with visible lag in the picture. Fortunately, this didn’t extend to when actual content was playing, but I did find it a lot easier to switch to the Chromecast with Google TV which was a lot less frustrating to use.

Philips Ambilight 7900 Series 55-inch Ultra-HD LED Android TV (55PUT7906/94) performance

It’s now possible to get a good quantum-dot or OLED television for less than Rs. 1,00,000, so spending that much on an LED television such as the Philips Ambilight 7900 Series 55-inch TV might seem a bit silly. However, the Philips television’s key feature — and indeed its most impressive party trick — is the Ambilight effect which enhances the viewing experience in its own unique way.

Now, it’s possible to set up aftermarket LED lighting for just about any television, with brands such as Govee and Philips offering such solutions. However the undeniable convenience and ease of use of the Philips Ambilight television, as well as the fact that you can switch it off easily with the television remote, makes it a superior option for anyone looking at rear adaptive LED lighting. That said, I’m left wondering whether that alone justifies the considerable premium of the Philips 7900 series TV.

The Philips 55PUT7906/94 television has an Ultra-HD resolution LED screen with support for HDR up to the Dolby Vision format. Performance was decent with high-quality content, and the picture was definitely as sharp as it could be, but there were a few drawbacks that I wouldn’t typically expect to see on a 55-inch television priced at Rs. 1,00,000.

Colourful content such as Into The Spiderverse looked beautiful on the Philips TV, particularly with the Ambilight effect on

 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse seemed like the best movie to start with given the bright colours and trippy comic-book style visuals that I expected to play well with the Ambilight functionality on the Philips TV, and I wasn’t disappointed.

The truly impressive bit here was how the Ambilight worked with with the film, with the bright lights reacting intuitively to the continuously changing colours on screen, giving me the feeling of the television and picture being a bit bigger and more vibrant that it actually was. The Ambilight effect was quick to read colours on the edges of the screen and flowed well, making for a particularly good effect with fast-moving, colourful content.

With gentle motion and muted colours, such as the many monochrome scenes in the final season of Better Call Saul, the Ambilight effect on the Philips 7900 series LED TV often had very little to do or add, and was best switched off. I also found that the effect worked best when the lights projected onto a white wall, since this allowed them and the colours to be seen clearly. Against a textured blue wall for instance, the effects were largely lost, save for blue light itself.

Fortunately, controlling the Ambilight settings on the Philips 7900 series TV is an easy process, thanks to a dedicated Ambilight button on the remote which opens the quick access menu on the Android TV user interface. You can control the intensity through Ambilight presets, or set it to lounge lighting which sets a single colour for the rear lighting.

Although the picture was sharp on the Philips Ambilight 7900 series TV, the black levels weren’t very good

 

The picture was sharp and detailed with the animation of Into The Spider-Verse and even bright, colourful shows such as Masaba Masaba. The colours looked good too, although not anywhere near as punchy and defined as on the more affordable Xiaomi OLED Vision TV. With the dark scenes in shows such as Better Call Saul and Obi Wan Kenobi, the poor black levels of the Philips 7900 series LED TV were quite the setback.

The backlighting of the LED display tended to create a ‘whitewash’ effect during dark scenes, making blacks appear dark grey. This was visible even with bright and colourful content, but the whitewash effect looked particularly prominent and distracting with dark visuals. This is typically something I expect to see on a much more affordable LED TVs, so I was disappointed with this on the Philips 7900 series TV.

The Philips Ambilight 7900 series television is fairly bright thanks to its LED display panel, and as a result is easy to watch even in a relatively bright room. That said, making even a small effort to darken the room, such as drawing the curtains, goes a long way in making the picture look better. Quantum-dot LED TVs such as the Hisense 55U6G are considerably brighter and are priced lower.

Although HDR up to the Dolby Vision format is supported, the Philips Ambilight 7900 series television didn’t benefit significantly from this. While there was a slight bump in brightness and somewhat improved colours with HDR content as compared to SDR content, it wasn’t quite as effective as I’ve seen on a lot of televisions, such as the Sony X75K which did a better job despite being only HDR10-capable.

Where the Philips Ambilight 7900 series TV does perform reasonably well is with upscaling lower-resolution content. HD and full-HD movies and TV shows looked decent on the Philips TV…

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