The Sony A80J may not have every bell and whistle, but it is one of two OLED TVs everyone should consider buying.
I think about OLED TVs all the time; and not just because I am a TV reviewer by trade and tend to spend too much off-time thinking about my job. Frankly, it’s because, just like you, I watch a fair amount of TV at home and, because I don’t yet own an OLED TV myself (a discussion for another time), I spend a lot of that TV-watching time wishing I did own an OLED TV. Yes, I’m an unabashed fan of OLED TVs, and I make zero apologies for that. It’s OLED’s perfect black levels and, more to the point, its superior contrast that catches most folks’ eyes, but what really seals the deal for me is the TV tech’s absence of LED backlights — backlights which, in a dark room, make themselves known all the time thanks to very annoying effects plaguing LCD TVs called “blooming” and “halo.” With Sony, LG, and Vizio all making OLED TVs now, there’s a hearty buffet of options to choose from, but if I were buying an OLED TV this year, the Sony A80J reviewed here would be one of only two I’d consider. Which is the other? I’ll get to that. Let me start by explaining why I think the Sony A80J OLED is one of the best TVs you can buy this year. OLED TV panels are so thin and striking that a five-year-old kid could frame one in PlayDough and it would still look like a work of art. Fortunately, Sony’s approach to OLED TV design is decidedly much higher-class. With razor-thin metallic black bezels and sturdy metal feet, the A80J OLED TV exudes a business-class aesthetic — neither overly flashy nor the least bit drab or dull. The remote included with the TV is standard Sony fare — no backlight, sorry — but it gets the job done. There are two positions in which the metal feet can be oriented. One position slings the TV low toward its supporting media stand or credenza, the other raises the lower border of the TV up a bit to accommodate a soundbar without the screen getting blocked. It’s a smart look, but keep in mind the feet do extend toward the edge of the TV in either configuration, making for a wide stance that requires an equally wide media stand. One of the most remarkable things about the Sony A80J is its out-of-box picture accuracy. Choose the Cinema or Custom preset picture settings options and viewers need to do little else to ensure they are getting the best picture quality possible. Of course, accuracy isn’t necessarily what everyone is looking for. While accuracy stipulates a TV must have a relatively warm color temperature to best represent creator intent, many viewers tend to be partial to a cooler color temperature setting. For that reason, many will find the TV’s slightly brighter and more vibrant Standard picture mode to be preferable. For TV enthusiasts, however, it should be noted that the out-of-box white point and color measurements that I got by using a SpectraCal C6 colorimeter (profiled to an x-rite i1display Pro) along with Calman software were among the most accurate I have seen coming from a TV factory. In fact, many other TVs struggle to achieve the same ultra-low error numbers after a professional calibration that the A80J manages to ace out of the box, no adjustments needed. What makes a Sony OLED TV look like a Sony OLED TV is not its OLED panel — that’s actually made by LG Display — it’s the TV’s processor. And when it comes to picture processing, Sony’s has historically been the best. The A80J carries on that legacy. Though there’s no shortage of the Sony marketing department’s influence involved, the so-called Bravia XR Cognitive Intelligence Processor driving the A80J’s picture powerfully delivers images optimized to look their best without ever perceivably dropping the ball.
