Sony OLED 65 inch BRAVIA XR A80K Series 4K Ultra HD TV: Smart Google TV with Dolby Vision HDR and Exclusive Gaming Features for The PlayStation® 5 XR65A80K- 2022 Model

Updated to include the XR77A80K, as well as clarifications on settings. This XR65A80K I purchased was to replace an XR65X950H - the 950H is a very competent TV, and is still in use in a bedroom, but even as good as it is with its local dimming, the idea of zero blooming appealed to me. Fortunately, I have my oldest son's 55" LG C2 for a direct comparison, and while the C2 is slightly brighter and a better choice for next gen gaming, I felt the A80K was a better choice for my viewing habits, as most of my use is for movies, occasional YouTube browsing and every now and then, Nintendo Switch for retro games. After over a month to wring the Sony out on everything from 480 material ranging all the way up to 4K UHD Blu-rays, I can say that, as usual, Sony has done some awesome work here. Firstly, much has been made of OLED's shortcomings in moderately lit rooms - I'll make this point early, this panel is as capable as the Bravia 65X950H it replaced. Yes, specular highlights are brighter (1100+ nits for the 950 vs ~700 nits for the A80K), but those numbers only tell part of the story. With 8 million plus self lighting organic light emitting diodes, the blacks are perfect, and the brightness of those specular highlights are far more clearly defined. Yes, if you have a room flooded with sunlight, OLED isn't going to overcome that, but in a room moderately lit by sun, like mine, it's more than capable. Nighttime viewing is exceptional. The good: *Infinite contrast due to OLED technology. The inky blacks are only part of the story here, the clear distinction of a specular highlight against a far dimmer area create a far more enjoyable movie experience. *Out of the box color accuracy is amazing. First things first, on this and nearly every TV, Power Saving needs to be turned off. Picture Mode should be set to Custom, and in HDR, Gradation Preferred should be enabled for HDR10 and off for Dolby Vision. Only change I made to color itself was to slightly reduce the bias on the green sub pixels and slightly boost overall color saturation, the latter of which is something I've done on nearly every TV I've owned. *Processing. While I generally leave any additional video noise reduction and motion processing off, the few times I've felt the need to use any of them, they've been adjustable enough to add just what I wanted without the source material losing its sharpness or inducing soap opera effect. *Upscaling. As per usual, Sony's processing is second to none, although admittedly, LG has definitely closed the gap with the C2. Still, Sony has a visible edge here. *Sound. Although I use a Dolby Atmos/DTS X soundbar with surround speakers, the sound from the TV itself was surprisingly good. Since the panel is actually a speaker, the soundstage is pretty impressive - impressive enough to likely satisfy many people. *Operating temperature. I'd normally leave this out, but I honestly cannot believe how much cooler this thing runs when compared to an LED backlit LCD panel. I foresee this being a huge bonus this summer. *Lack of "black crushing": This is probably the biggest difference between the A80K and the C2 as far as picture quality. Details in dark scenes are clearly visible on the Sony, whereas they sometimes get lost on the C2. The "it could be better": *Brightness. This is really nit picking (no pun intended), but given that the A80K uses the same panel as the C2, yet is not quite as bright as somewhat of a mystery to me. To be honest, I can't see a definitive difference between the two, but it's worth mentioning. The Bad: *Only two HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which is the same port used for a soundbar or receiver. To be fair, unless you're into next gen (PS5/Xbox X) gaming and have both consoles, this isn't going to be an issue, but a TV of this caliber should have four 2.1 inputs. *Potential for panel burn in. OLED technology has come a long way in the last decade, but the potential is still there for permanent burn in on individual pixels. If you watch a ton of TV (CNN with their bright white/red logo is a perfect example) that has a static logo, OLED probably shouldn't be on your want list, at least not yet. *Sustained bright picture will auto dim to protect the panel. While I've yet to experience this in anything other than intentionally trying to induce it, content with relatively bright areas over the majority of the panel, like ice hockey games, will activate auto dimming. *Dolby Vision. Please Sony, fix this. DV Dark is so out of whack that it's not even funny. While DV Bright can be made to look perfect as a DV Dark alternative, we deserve better. You did it on the A95K and LG's is great on their OLEDs, so we know it's possible. Remote: I get it, this isn't their flagship OLED, but it should come with the backlit remote. Movies and TV shows are this TV's strong points, and is particularly impressive with 4K High Dynamic Range/Dolby Vision content, both with hard copy and the built-in Google TV operating system. If sports (especially hockey) and/or the majority of your content has static logos, I'd probably stick with an LED backlit LCD TV. In closing, I did also consider the Sony A95K, the Samsung S95B and the LG C2 and G2. I passed on the Sony and Samsung because QD OLED is in its infancy, with a lot of long term questions about both burn in and longevity. The G2 lost out mostly because of the extra cost of a table top stand (wall mounting is not an option in my case). The A80K won over the C2 because of slightly better upscaling, the ability to pass DTS audio and the C2 having some problems with black crush. Since I first wrote this review, I've upgraded to the 77" version of the A80K, and everything still applies. I have changed a few things on settings that slipped my mind when I originally submitted the review.

Pros: amazing picture UPDATE 3.5 years: ARC audio no longer works at all. Garbage. Cons: 3 weeks in my memory is full and I had to purchase extended memory USB to use more than three streaming apps. 4 weeks in the system crashed to the point where the the TV wouldn't even turn on and I had to factory reset it. This happened seven additional times. One year in: the TV will never hold any settings. It will drop streaming apps for no reason. It's a horrible operating system that can never hold a streaming app in the setting that you put it in. 3 years in whatever the new operating system update was, they probably just wanted you to buy a new TV because now it won't connect to any devices without having to be unplugged and plugged back in after 2 to 3 minutes. It no longer connects to the soundbar and it rarely will connect to my PlayStation 5. all connected to HDMI and HDMI ARC. I HAVE SEVEN TVS IN MY HOUSE AND THIS IS THE ONLY ONE THAT I SPENT MORE THAN $300 ON. IT IS ALSO THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS HAD THIS MANY PROBLEMS. ALL MY OTHER TVS ARE CHEAP AND GENERIC AND GUESS WHAT, THEY HAVE NEVER HAD A SINGLE PROBLEM. Extra resolution is not worth a $1,200 more when the product is garbage.

I've had this TV for 10 days now and am starting to really appreciate how good it is. I was concerned when I bought it that it wouldn't be bright enough (unlike its competitor, the LG C2). But it is very bright in "Vivid" mode - in fact, I had to turn down the brightness a little to get it to what I consider optimal brightness. I think Sony may have shot themselves in the foot because of the fact that the "Cinema" mode is very dark. And if some shop-rooms (e.g., Best Buy) or ratings sites (like rtings.com) are putting the Sony ON "CINEMA" MODE side-by-side with the LG C2, yes the LG will look much brighter. The key to falling in love with this TV is to optimize each of the bazillion settings to where you get the picture you've been dreaming of. I promise you, it can be done. But it is not an easy task, particularly if you are incredibly choosy about what it is you want. And who outside of a TV technician can intuit the difference between, say, "Sharpness" and "Contrast"? Or what "Gamma" means?? Fortunately, you can see the results of adjusting each setting immediately when you do so, so it's not like you have to go back and forth. Also, if you Google "a80k best settings", you can find a bunch of articles with suggestions on where to start, but I can almost guarantee you that you will need to fiddle around for hours until you arrive - PRESTO!!! - like I did - at the settings that will make you swoon at how dazzling the screen looks. Once you tweak all the various settings to get them just how you like them, this TV is to die for. The colors just leap off the screen, and the clarity often feels eerie. In fact, the amazing clarity can sometimes be problematic: movies that were made before the digital era and then sub-optimally remastered into 4K can look grainy. Every little wart will be visible! I should add that the BlueTooth with this TV works marvelously. No lag whatsoever. But setting up the stand was a bit more difficult than I'd expected it would be. Inserting the legs into the bottom of the TV took a lot more force than I anticipated. Finally, I've read more than one Amazon user (and others outside of Amazon) reporting that this TV developed some kind of issue, often just after the 1-year warranty. So I would highly recommend buying an extended warranty for the peace of mind it will bring you.

Excellent picture quality and relatively lightweight OLED TV. Worth the money.

amazing 4K screen

Las peliculas se disfrutan de una manera incomparable, y para los que dicen que para los videojuegos no es tan buena... solo les dire que SI tiene VRR en los puertos HDMI 2.1 en el 3 y 4 . Si le traes ganas a esta pantalla COMPRALA!!!

ممتاز جدا

The TV is amazing. We love the new features and still have lots to learn about it. Everything was perfect from the minute I put in the order to the day it was delivered. Delivery came within two days by experienced individuals from FedEx. Very polite and efficient. All to say, we were very pleased with the whole process. Thank you!