Question A9G v A8G v A8H - price v performance - 65 inch

Which TV would you choose?

  • 65AG8 - £1600-£1800 - 1 year warranty

  • 65A8H - £1800-£2000 - 5 year warranty

  • 65AG9 - £2000 - £2300 - 5 year warranty

  • Other


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titanman

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So I'm looking to upgrade to an OLED. I do want Sony, although would consider others. It's just I trust Sony more than the other brands in picture quality.

Also Android TV is very important to me. This is because of Kodi (USB video playback), Express VPN etc. Without this, I would need to purchase an Nvidia Shield Pro for £199 and even then, I would prefer Android TV to handle this and not another box.

So prices I have seen:

65AG8 - £1600-£1800 - 1 year warranty
65A8H - £1800-£2000 - 5 year warranty
65AG9 - £2000 - £2300 - 5 year warranty

The AG8 and AG9 seem to have very similar picture quality, but apparently motion handling is better on the AG8 v the AG9 as the processor is 'too much' for the TV? This is from Quantum TV on YouTube, although he does sound like a brat sometimes lol.

Motion handling is important to me for watching sports. Also when watching football on an Amazon screen, I would like to see the ball move smoothly. On my current Sony x930c, motion handling is great, but for this particular scenario, I find it's not great. Although not sure if that's inherent to all TVs as it's a stream.

Sound - would be nice to have the best sound available and like the sound of the sound from the AG9 screen. Not too important however.

Operating UI - I can make do with sluggish UI, coming from my Sony, but have heard the AG9 and A8H have a much smoother version of Android TV. This true?

I do have a PS5 but couldn't care any less about HDMI 2.1.

Obviously the AG8 is the cheapest, but can't get it with 5 year warranty (Is it possible to add extra warranty direct from Sony?).

The others are pricier but have 5 years. And have heard the A8H is not as good as the AG8. So confused. Help?

What would you choose if it were your TV?
 
Quantum is well known for really not knowing what he's talking about. Go for the AH8 unless you want the better built in sound of the AG9. Paying £200 alone for an extended warranty and a newer model (AH8 vs AG8) is probably better value for money. The outgoing 2019 AG8 should be selling for less, it won't even be long until we see more AH8's on the store either.

You can even pay for an extended warranty on top if you like. Deals come and go.

I wouldn't worry about the difference in picture quality or processing, its very, very slight, and probably not noticeable at all when you have the TVs side by side, let alone when you don't.

With the smart TV speed, the AH8 and AG9 use a more modern, powerful chipset so can run Android faster. The processing of video is dedicated though, and has nothing to do with the integrated chipset of each TV.
 
Thank you. It's where my head was going too. I should wait just a little longer but I am so impatient when I want something... haha.

I think the AH8 will go to 1599/1699 at some point in the next few months somewhere. It's just whether I can be bothered waiting.
 
Thank you. It's where my head was going too. I should wait just a little longer but I am so impatient when I want something... haha.

I think the AH8 will go to 1599/1699 at some point in the next few months somewhere. It's just whether I can be bothered waiting.
Exactly the price point I am looking for on the AH8
 
The 65A8H was £1700 already in late November early December for around 3 weeks total.Several people on the A8 owners thread for it their or price matched with RS.
 
Nice thanks. Hopefully that can be translated to online prices too.

I think the £1700 was only in store at costco in December. Don't remember seeing it online at that price.
 
Nice thanks. Hopefully that can be translated to online prices too.

I think the £1700 was only in store at costco in December. Don't remember seeing it online at that price.
Cant see them online at all? I have to say I was pretty blown away by the demo they had playing on the a8 in store. I had been looking to see if they had the XH95 as the a8 was way above my budget but the demo certainly got me thinking
 
Yes the December price for the A8 was In store only they had 65” 55” A8.That was Glasgow branch.
 
Cant see them online at all? I have to say I was pretty blown away by the demo they had playing on the a8 in store. I had been looking to see if they had the XH95 as the a8 was way above my budget but the demo certainly got me thinking

Never seen the XH95 their they had XH90 in 55-85 running on demo.
 
They seem to randomly get stock in as the other week they had some A8G stock in.
 
That last piccy shows the vc-1 codec in use, as a very old codec, will it actually support HDR?

Quantum is well known for really not knowing what he's talking about. Go for the AH8 unless you want the better built in sound of the AG9. Paying £200 alone for an extended warranty and a newer model (AH8 vs AG8) is probably better value for money. The outgoing 2019 AG8 should be selling for less, it won't even be long until we see more AH8's on the store either.

You can even pay for an extended warranty on top if you like. Deals come and go.

I wouldn't worry about the difference in picture quality or processing, its very, very slight, and probably not noticeable at all when you have the TVs side by side, let alone when you don't.

With the smart TV speed, the AH8 and AG9 use a more modern, powerful chipset so can run Android faster. The processing of video is dedicated though, and has nothing to do with the integrated chipset of each TV.

Costco Instore today had a deal on 65” a85 £1799 with 5 year warranty. I was tempted

Quantum is well known for really not knowing what he's talking about. Go for the AH8 unless you want the better built in sound of the AG9. Paying £200 alone for an extended warranty and a newer model (AH8 vs AG8) is probably better value for money. The outgoing 2019 AG8 should be selling for less, it won't even be long until we see more AH8's on the store either.

You can even pay for an extended warranty on top if you like. Deals come and go.

I wouldn't worry about the difference in picture quality or processing, its very, very slight, and probably not noticeable at all when you have the TVs side by side, let alone when you don't.

With the smart TV speed, the AH8 and AG9 use a more modern, powerful chipset so can run Android faster. The processing of video is dedicated though, and has nothing to do with the integrated chipset of each TV.
The AG9 is £2099 at Richer Sounds today. Well over budget, but would you say long term the picture is superior to A8?
 
The AG9 is £2099 at Richer Sounds today. Well over budget, but would you say long term the picture is superior to A8?
No, not really. The picture on the very cheapest OLED TVs like the LG BX or Panasonic HZ980 are similar to the most expensive.

Differences between each are small, and only with picture processing. Since you compare two TVs from the same brand, the difference is even less.

But if you are interested in built in sound, the AG9 is a lot better.
 
No, not really. The picture on the very cheapest OLED TVs like the LG BX or Panasonic HZ980 are similar to the most expensive.

Differences between each are small, and only with picture processing. Since you compare two TVs from the same brand, the difference is even less.

But if you are interested in built in sound, the AG9 is a lot better.

Thanks v much. Yes I am interested in built in sound, but for £300 - £400 more, not so sure.
 
If you think about it, that extra money could be invested into a dedicated sound solution that would probably beat the AG9's built in sound. But not by much.

The Philips 9 series sound is pretty spectacular, maybe check out those models?

Are you considering a soundbar or a surround sound setup? If the former it may be worth spending a bit of extra on better sound built in to the TV just so you never have to worry about sync or HDMI CEC issues.
 
Theirs a well know calibrator in the US who owned both the AG9 and the A8 and tested side by side and said the A8 has several improvements over the AG9 but obviously the AG9 trumps it on the sound.Having said that the A8 is pretty impressive for a tv soundstage compared to the norm.
 
If you think about it, that extra money could be invested into a dedicated sound solution that would probably beat the AG9's built in sound. But not by much.

The Philips 9 series sound is pretty spectacular, maybe check out those models?

Are you considering a soundbar or a surround sound setup? If the former it may be worth spending a bit of extra on better sound built in to the TV just so you never have to worry about sync or HDMI CEC issues.

I would love to have a dedicated sound solution, but the effort involved, space, issues it can cause, as well as not being able to truly appreciate it without raising volume, makes me not invest.

I have an X930C with it's built in speakers and they are perfect for me as they sound amazing and also don't take up any more room.

If I bought a TV with average sound, the most I would spend is £150 - £200 on a soundbar.

I've considered Philips, but they seem very pricey. I haven't seen the 9 series at a decent price and not many places sell it. I was considering the 805, but not at £1899. Would have to be less than that.

Plus I do have a bit of brand affinity with Sony. Also, as more people have Sony TVs than Philips, it's easier to diagnose faults online etc. So at around the same price, I would have to go Sony.

If the Philips 805 or 935 went to £1600, I think I would go with it. Perhaps....
 
Perhaps consider a refurb, or waiting for further price drops on old stock as the new models are released?

I'm not sure how the X930C sounds, but looking at its front firing speakers I'm not entirely sure if the A8H will cut it in the sound department. You could always try it and upgrade to a soundbar later I guess.
 
Perhaps consider a refurb, or waiting for further price drops on old stock as the new models are released?

I'm not sure how the X930C sounds, but looking at its front firing speakers I'm not entirely sure if the A8H will cut it in the sound department. You could always try it and upgrade to a soundbar later I guess.

Yep have considered refurb and check Centres almost daily lol.

Thing is I do have 5% discount on vouchers from Currys so by then the refurb price is a little stunted.

I'm not too bothered by sound, which is why I would prefer a built in set-up. As long as it sounds ok, I am sure I will be fine and if not, can invest in a soundbar, like you say. Most important thing is the picture.
 
Depending on your location, Sevenoaks have a number of ex display high end models in the clearance section on their site (also with 5 year warranty), may be in store collection only
 
Depending on your location, Sevenoaks have a number of ex display high end models in the clearance section on their site (also with 5 year warranty), may be in store collection only

I saw this the other day and was close with the warranty being 5 years. But the warranty wouldn't cover burn in.

And whilst I am not bothered by burn-in when buying a new TV, I called them to find out what kind of condition the TVs would be in. They said the TVs would have been on for 8/9 hours per day for the last 9/10 months.

That doesn't fill me with confidence, depending on what they had on screen etc.
 
Thanks v much. Yes I am interested in built in sound, but for £300 - £400 more, not so sure.

I have the Sony A89, it has great sound and image, can recommend it.
And don't be so afraid of burn in, Sony has built in all sorts of techniques nowadays to prevent them. Or you must have the same image on it all day long 😉

 
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Can't see the A8h peroce. Dropping too much due to high demand and poor supply. T
Sony only drop their prices to match LG when they do
 
With the way stock is and has been lately I wouldn’t be shocked if they run out of stock before the major spring drops are needed.
 

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