XR-65A80L test: what is Sony’s most affordable OLED TV worth?
Presented at CES 2023, the Sony A80L has been entrusted with a most complex mission: to embody Sony’s entry-level OLED range and attempt to exist while awaiting the arrival of this year’s top-of-the-range A95L, due to go on sale at the end of the summer. Indeed, as last year, the Japanese manufacturer has made a strong choice: between Samsung and LG, it is the former’s technology that it has chosen to embody the flagship of its TVs. As an immediate consequence, LG’s White OLED has been relegated to second place, as the entry ticket to OLED in the catalog.
The A80L is not equipped with LG Display’s latest generation of OLED panels, the famous Meta. Instead, it’s equipped with a “banal” OLED EX Ultra, already seen last year. But should it be discarded? What if the combination of advanced screen technology and a first-rate processor were enough to make this unloved device this year’s pleasant surprise? That’s what we wanted to find out, by putting the A80L through its paces in our test bench.
The classic school strikes again
We won’t dwell on the design of Sony’s new OLED. Its elegant, monolithic appearance highlights the slimness of its edges. Above all, it follows in the footsteps of what the Japanese company has been doing with its OLED models for two years now, by incorporating what is for us a major asset: the three-position adjustable feet. Not all stand configurations are equal in terms of style, but they do have the merit of being suitable for a large number of TV sets… and of leaving the choice to the consumer. As for the rest, Sony remains true to its classic design.
Slight improvements in image quality
Compared to last year’s range, this A80L replaces the famous A83K, using a more recent version of LG Display’s OLED panel. The promise of this evolution can be summed up in one word: brightness. Indeed, the switch to the EX Ultra panel is intended to improve peak luminosity and thus deliver better performance when decoding HDR content. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in our tests of TVs with this generation of panels, the promised gains in brightness don’t materialize. The TVs are certainly brighter, but not to the extent promised by LG. On this A80L, it’s exactly the same. As a result, picture quality has improved, but too slightly to be significant.
If we go into the details of image analysis, it’s worth starting with a simple observation: factory calibration is virtually perfect. Sony’s OLED offers faithful colors (Delta E of 2.02 in DCI-P3). As for color temperature, it’s balanced and slightly above the reference 6,500 K. The A80L’s only weak points are its viewing angles, where we noted a loss of brightness, and… its peak brightness. The latter is certainly an improvement on last year’s performance, but it also lags behind that of the latest-generation LG Display panels, as well as the QD-OLED competition. Despite this, the rendering is very pleasing, even on complex HDR content. So it’s fair to wonder how the manufacturer managed to achieve such a result despite having more limited arguments than some top-of-the-range TVs.
Of course, Sony didn’t just use LG Display’s White OLED slab in an in-house chassis. It has filled the A80L with its in-house image technologies and chosen to power it with the best it has to offer in terms of chipsets: the XR Cognitive Processor 2023. As a result, the Japanese TV benefits from the new XR Clear Image function (which adjusts the image according to luminance and saturation). Finally, as usual, Sony’s motion compensation engine is simply stunning. Overall, compared to last year’s model, details and textures in the foreground of the image are a little more polished, adding a little depth to the image. The gain is discreet and might go unnoticed by the average user, but it’s worth noting.
Finally, when it comes to content scaling, Sony is an excellent pupil, as it is every year, thanks to its gentle handling of lower-quality content. The XR Clarity function manages to take care of low-definition images all the way up to Full HD, and 4K rendering is relatively clean, without excessive artifacting.
All in all, the A80L’s progress pales in comparison with its predecessor’s achievements. However, this must be qualified by the fact that Sony’s level of performance over the last few years has been particularly high. If the latest OLED has not progressed that much, it’s also because its predecessor was particularly high-performance.
Google stays true to its word
Sony’s interface is classic. As usual, the Japanese company has opted for Google TV, the evolution of Android TV. For the past two years, this new version of the OS has prioritized content over applications, and even if it takes a few hours to get used to it, the result is quite relevant. But whether or not you like the way Google TV is organized and displayed, you have to admit that this is not its main quality.
On the A80L, the Mountain View giant’s system is fluid and easy to use. The first load after switching on the TV may seem long, but it’s the only time Sony’s TV will be idling. Whether it’s exiting standby or switching from one menu to another, the transition is almost immediate. Of course, it’s not all down to Google: the OS wouldn’t be as powerful without a processor to power it.
In terms of useful Google TV features, there’s of course an integrated Chromecast function and Google Assistant, which works thanks to the microphone housed in the remote control. Finally, on the certification side, the Sony OLED is also compatible with AirPlay 2, Alexa and Homekit.
The final advantage of Google’s operating system for TVs is the system’s ability to update itself quickly and offer applications for every service. So, unlike some competing OSes, Google TV has the latest versions of Molotov, Disney+ Netflix and Canal+. As for its catalog of over 6,500 applications, this too is unrivalled on the TV market.
Audio: a little extra for Sony fans
Sony’s OLED audio system is based on a well-known in-house recipe: Acoustic Surface Audio+. This process, which the manufacturer has been proposing for years, consists in basing the acoustic part on the vibration of the panel. It works thanks to three “exciters”, called ” actuators “, placed behind the slab and each rated at 10W. It’s their vibration and their interaction with the two integrated 10 W subwoofers that enable the TV to produce a sound that’s as impressive as ever. Even if it’s nothing like a proper audio system or sound bar, Acoustic Surface Audio+ is one of the few satisfying technologies when it comes to TV-integrated audio.
However, Sony has decided to take it a step further. No noticeable changes for the average user, but an additional option for those who wish to equip themselves exclusively with the Japanese manufacturer. The new Acoustic Sync function lets you take advantage of the power of the XR Cognitive Processor 2023 chip to expand the soundstage even further. This option only works with a Sony soundbar or a compatible Sony speaker pack. As we had neither at the time of our test, we were unable to judge the relevance of this new feature.
Bravia touch: an additional argument
As with all its top-of-the-range TVs for the past three years, Sony offers access to Bravia services. In the case of this OLED, it’s two features in particular: Bravia Core and Bravia Cam.
The first is a premium streaming service. Exclusive to Sony-compatible TV sets, it gives access to Sony Pictures films in rare quality, since some of them are available in Imax Enhanced, i.e. with a bit rate of up to 80 Mbps, if your Internet connection can keep up. Sony is offering coupons (5 or 10, depending on the price of the TV set) to help you discover and subscribe to this service. In this test, we won’t go into detail about the offer or quality of this umpteenth VOD service, as we studied the service in detail in our test of the A95K last year. In terms of quality, the offer is more or less identical to what we noted last year, but the catalog has been enriched in the meantime with some of the studio’s must-have titles, such as Spiderman No Way Home and Uncharted.
As for the camera, it’s an option that appeared with the 2022 collection. Integrated with the top-of-the-range models in the catalog, it is available as an option on the A80L. Unfortunately, we were unable to test it on this model, but its functionalities have not changed since it was introduced last year. This webcam, which is embedded in the top of the TV, activates the TV’s gesture control and enables enhanced quality on Visio applications such as Google Meet. Last but not least, it also brings new functionalities to the TV by becoming a presence or proximity sensor. In concrete terms, when a viewer – a child, for example – gets too close to the screen, it displays an alert message. Similarly, when the camera detects that no one is watching TV, it lowers the screen brightness to reduce power consumption. Of course, Sony points out that no data captured by its accessory is stored on the TV set, and that the camera can be deactivated by manual control.
A game mode at last
Sony’s gaming revolution came last year, when it (finally) took gamers and their demands seriously. Here again, to get an idea of the gaming capabilities of Sony TVs, we invite you to re-read our test of last year’s A95K. There you’ll find a lot in common with what the A80L offers this year. But there is one significant new feature. All functions now appear in a Game Menu.
This gives quick access to various parameters, such as VRR, Motion Blur (to reduce motion blur) and the Black Equalizer, which softens dark areas of the image to flush out snipers intent on killing you. Finally, among the available but useless functions, let’s salute the arrival of the Screen Size option which, as its name suggests, reduces the size of the image. Your 65-inch screen can now look like a 15-inch screen. It’s great… or not.