Sony Bravia XR A80J OLED TV review: For rich, fine entertainment experience
Sony recently launched Bravia XR A80J OLED TV in India, powered by Cognitive Processor XR for an immersive viewing experience and packed with several other features to enhance user experience. From to Olympics to Copa America, I spent several weeks watching some great content on this TV and it was one of the finest experiences ever to watch it all on a big screen in the comfort of home. Without further ado, I’ll tell you about the overall experience with Bravia XR A80J in this review:
Build and design
Bravia XR A80J has a conventional OLED TV design –it has a big black screen with negligible bezels and a tiny LED indicator at the chin close to which you have Sony branding and that’s that! The rear is where you can find all the ports.
The 65-inch TV is best if you mount it on a wall but in case you want to keep it on the top of a table then you get an aluminium stand to help you do just that.
On the TV’s left edge, there is one Remote IR in, two USB, one HDMI, a 1/8-inch headphone jack, and a mini-jack for Video/Audio RCA signals.
On the rear panel, you get ports for ethernet, optical audio, and USB, etc.
The TV has three HDMI ports at the rear and one in front. Of the four, two are HDMI 2.1, which means they can output 4K video at 120 Hz, one is eARC/ARC and a regular HDMI 2.0.
Features and performance
The Bravia XR A80J is feature-packed so I’ll just keep it short and simple. The TV is powered by Cognitive Processor XR which is the USP of this device. As Sony claims, this TV has “human intelligence” so the TV is designed “to replicate the way our brains think and respond.” From contrast to sound, brightness to colours, the Cognitive Processor XR will ensure a seamless experience.
The Bravia XR A80J has an impressive picture quality, this was my first observation as I played Mad Max on Netflix; from as little as sand grains to big vehicles, everything looks vivid on this TV as it handles the colours properly. Plus, you can also tweak settings to select the picture mode of your choice to make the experience even better.
It supports XR OLED contrast for depth and texture. In Peaky Blinders and Dark, for example, most of the scenes are devoid of colours but it’s the ability of Bravia XR A80J to capture the dark areas so clearly that the experience gets to another level.
It also has XR Triluminos Pro for 3D colour depth with human intelligence for natural colours and XR Motion Clarity to capture moving images. I watched some of the 4k and 8k videos available on YouTube it all looked crystal clear on the screen.
One thing is certain, if you have a TV as capable as this, then you won’t miss going to the theatre much.
Talking about sports, witnessing Tour de France on a screen like this made me change my opinion about expensive TVs; it’s worth every penny. I had a similar experience watching Copa America, Euro 2020, and Tokyo Olympics.
The A80J easily upscaled low-quality videos to make them look better on this screen.
A feature-heavy smart TV needs to have a powerful sound output, and Bravia XR A80J has you covered on this too. The Dolby Atmos technology takes care of the sound, although you can rely on other sound modes as well.
The Bravia XR A80J has XR sound positioning with Acoustic Surface Audio and XR Surround with 3D surround upscaling and on top of it you get Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.
What this means is, you practically won’t need to spend on a soundbar because the TV has a loud sound output, but for those picky about sound, can think of a good soundbar.
Talking about sound, it also has ambient sound besides the ambient light feature, so not just the brightness, it also gauges the room’s environment to adjust the sound.
Besides its name (Bravia XR A80J) what I didn’t like about the package is the remote control which is a bit big with tiny keys so it’s a bit irritating in daily use.
Setting up Google TV will be preferable as it makes life so much easier, plus, you can enjoy a personalised and cleaner screen. The navigation is simple, too. It’s a smart TV with support for Google Assistant, Alexa, Apple AirPlay 2, and HomeKit.
Sony Bravia XR A80J review: Verdict
OLED TVs, by convention, has been on the higher-end when it comes to price point, and Sony Bravia XR A80J is no exception. Priced at Rs 339,900, Bravia XR A80J is for a niche audience. Considering the wholesome experience this OLED TV brings, you will be able to make the most of every penny you pay for Sony Bravia XR A80J.
