Sony - 65" Class BRAVIA XR A80J Series OLED 4K UHD Smart Google TV

So I bought this tv a while back and I'm only now doing a review just because I was so busy just watching and enjoying content on the tv that I couldn't work up the will to interrupt my experience to make this. It truly is that impressive. First, I'm going to start with the smart features. Google tv with Sony is truly a match made in heaven. As we all know, previous android tv versions haven't been the most responsive and fluid experience so I was really shocked and impressed by just how nicely it runs on this set. In all the months I've had it, I've not once experienced an app or OS crash and only once did I ever experience something taking an extra second to respond to a click. Truly a leap forward in this experience and kudos to Sony for optimizing as well as they have with the chosen chipset. Moving into the meat of the review, the picture quality, this is definitely one of Sony's best showings I've ever seen. They've really gone all out in ensuring this is the next viewing experience you're ever going to have. The pictures I've attached don't do any justice to the real life experience of watching content. It really is one of the most immersive experiences I've had. The ability of the display to show all of the detail in the source is really remarkable it's something that you really need to experience. The scaling is so good that when I'm watching YouTube videos I don't even check the resolution anymore because it always looks so good. I don't know how many times I've been watching a video thinking that's it's 4k only to look and see it's actually streaming in 480p (darn YouTube auto setting). The color is also outstanding on this set, you don't get any of the forced saturation or not quite right hues that you can get from other tvs but that doesn't mean it doesn't pop out and make itself known when it needs to, it's just uses a balanced approach that ensures everything looks good and you don't get any artifacts or banding in the image. The same goes for the brightness of the set. If you really push it this thing is a light cannon (just switch anything to vivid mode) if you want it to be but it's brightness is best served in the controlled method that is usually Sony's preference. Rather than just having it always be "ON" it makes much more effective use of saving it where it will make the most impact and provide the most detail in the image. Motion is the last picture quality element that I wanted to touch on. I've felt with the X1 ultimate chipset that motion had taken a step back in some regards compared to the X1 and X1 extreme especially with the removal of the cinemotion high and low toggle with it just being an off or auto control and I was never able to reach a happy medium. I'm very happy to report this is no longer the case. The finetuned algorithm with the XR chip is very impressive and much more realistic to me especially with the restoration of the cinemotiin settings to really allow you to find what settings make you the most happy. I personally generally leave the smoothness and clearness motionflow settings at min and cinemotion on high so the cinemotion does all of the conversions and frame interpolation/blending but I've also enjoyed having smoothness at 1 and clearness at 1 to take advantage of X motion clarity so feel free to experiment and see what you like. Taken all together, one can't help but to marvel at how natural and pristine the image really is. They've really taken the holistic approach and revisited all of the pillars that make a Sony one of the best in the business. Watching shows, movies, videos on YouTube or playing games on one of the next gen consoles is always just super enjoyable. Regarding sound, it as always on the OLED models is really good especially with the new room calibration feature they've added for this year. If you don't have a soundbar or some external sound system, you don't generally need to rush out and get one (especially for those that want clear dialogue this tv excels at it) but for those really wanting to experience Atmos or DTS:X in all it's glory you will want to consider adding at least a soundbar on. Speaking of which, I had mentioned this before in one of my previous reviews as something that they should consider for the future but Sony has finally provided a way to allow the TV's to act as the center channel in a home theater system. When using one of the new Sony sound systems for this year (HT-A5000, HT-A7000, or HT-A9) you can connect it to the S Center Speaker input and have them work together as some other brands do with their TV's and soundbar. I'm really glad that Sony was thinking along the same lines I was and worked on making this feature because it does add that much more value to the package. Input lag when gaming is excellent. It's very fluid and there's no hint of any perceivable delay which is great. Really the only negative I have regarding the tv is that only 2 of the 4 HDMI Inputs are HDMI 2.1 compatible. I thought after the original hurdle that HDMI 2.0 provided we would've been past this but for HDMI 2.1 it's the same split experience. It's 2021 and this isn't the first year that HDMI 2.1 has been out nor is it the first time that a revision has happened in recent history so imo there is no excuse to only have 2 compatible ports ESPECIALLY when one of those ports is the eARC port so if you happen to have a sound system as well as a PC or more than one next gen console, you're going to have to make a compromise somewhere. All in all, I'm very impressed with the performance on offer here and truly do think it's one of the next experiences you can get. I can't declare it the definitive best because the A90J does have the heatsink for allowing higher peak brightness (although the A80J gets you about 90-95% of the way for 1k less in price in general) and as I reside in the states I can't speak on top-tier OLEDs from other brands (especially Panasonic who is also legendary in the industry) but taking all of the above performance for the price on offer I believe the A80J occupies the sweet spot that makes it the overall best pick and it should definitely be a top contender for anyone's purchase list.

We decided save a few $$$ and got this instead of the A90J. So we were pleasantly surprised that the TV did not turn out to be "too dim" as we have initially anticipated in our moderately bright living room. We didn't have to proceed with plans to install extra blinds. It has a sufficiently loud audio for an internal speaker or "acoustic surface" but obviously still not as good as a decent soundbar and a sub-woofer. Even at this lower price (compared to the A90J), the remote should have been backlit. C'mon Sony!

It an amazing tv , love the pictures and sound . Also looks like a wall art . Completely recommend that with my 5 stars. It worth the price. Graphic is amazing, it works great for my ps4 and others game . I’m so happy for my tv

Fantastic picture, crisp colors and easily customizable to the settings you prefer. Plenty of HDMI ports for todays add on devices. Wi-fi connection works well for streaming TV.

Love this tv. This is my first time buying an OLED TV and I realized now why there is such an big hoopla about picture quality of OLED vs LCD tvs. I have next level of admiration for 4K content through this TV now and colors along with intensity of black on screen is mind blowing. After buying this TV I am not sure I will ever go back to an any LCD tv, and yeah not even to those Samsung neo qleds. This TV is way ahead of the competition.

the picture is just perfect, even with extreme lighting, no shadowy edges on picture

I have been waiting for this TV since the announcement of CES. What is very apparent in the cinema as well dolby vision modes is the natural image quality and the overall color balance out of the box. What I noticed immediately out of the box is a semi matte screen coating which certainly cuts down on glare. Which is a better approach in my opinion than used on competing devices. For instance the LG CX. Although I have found some bugs in the interface, particularly as it relates to audio switching sources. The interface is very easy to use and getting in the swing of things was pretty easy. The detail of 4k quality content appears beyond what I have seen from my previous CX LG. The Brava app is a great resource and looking forward to seeing content offerings expanded on the service. What I have seen is very impressive thus far. Speaking of audio earlier, the built in full speaker for audio is a really fun experience. Although I have a 5.1 in ceiling system I often switch between the builtin and my home system. Mostly because I have a 4 year old that we don't need to encourage lack of sleep. In any event the audio from the TV itself is clear and noticeably an improvement to what I have experienced with other sets. I have 10 ft ceilings with lots of opportunities for echoes. Having the ability to direct sound in this manner is very welcome This TV is a great investment and happy to say one that I plan on holding onto for years to come. Note that the standard Sony power plug type is not used on this TV. So if you are like me and doing a wall mount be sure to be aware you will likely need to hunt down a replacement 90 degree plug. A small detail but it would be nice if the set included a low profile power cord.

This TV is truly amazing, the true blacks and whites really make 4k scenes pop in HDR.... its UNBELIEVEABLE. The refresh rate also allows for smooth framerates during gaming sessions, and you really can't do better in my opinion. Granted, LG would be the only true opposition to this new classic, but Sony knows what they are doing, and they've been doing it exceptionally well for ages. Highly recommended.