Buying advice for a 50/55" under £750

[remoteboy]

Hi,

Apologies in advance for yet another 50-55" thread. I recently purchased a Philips 50PUS7805 to replace an old Panasonic plasma TV and ended up returning it. I get that it's low tier but, no matter how much I calibrated, I just couldn't get a decent picture out of it. Everything looked faded and washed out. There was other stuff too - the Saphi OS was very limited and the Alexa integration clapped out after 24 hours. So I now have credit with Richer Sounds and am trying to decide on my next move.

Here's what I will use the TV for -
It's a secondary TV for the attic so primarily watching sports and playing previous gen consoles (Xbox One / Switch). That's not to say that a next gen isn't on the horizon, just not for the foreseeable future.
General TV viewing. I have satellite and antenna cables in the attic, but I don't have a dedicated Freesat box.
I'll also occasionally use it for Netflix / HBO Max / Prime Video.
Have a sound bar so audio not that important.

In terms of the environment -
The room is bright during the day because of the Velux windows and reasonably dark in the evenings. I mostly use it during the evenings.
I sit around 8 feet away from the TV. There's a two seater sofa and no other viewing positions.
The space will take a 55" unit but 65" would be too big.

I have an OLED downstairs (a Panny FZ802) which I adore. To be honest it's spoiled me. I can't afford to go OLED so I reckon I'm looking for a VA panel - narrow viewing angle and deeper blacks sounds like the best fit for me.

If I wanted to stay on budget the Hisense U7Q at £550 sounds like a decent replacement with better colour and brightness but it seems to have serious motion issues which would be a deal breaker. The U8 isn't an option because they don't stock it.

They also have a Panasonic TX50HX800B in their clearance section for £580. I'm generally a big fan of Panasonic and it seems like a good price. It gets decent reviews but seems to have brightness issues.

Other options are the Samsung QE50Q60T for £630 which seems like a nice TV but only 60Hz panel.

If I blow my budget I can start looking at the Sonys. I could definitely stretch to £750 for the Sony KD49XH8505BU. I like the basic specs - Twin Tuners, Android TV (I own a Shield so well used to the interface), 100Hz panel - but I'm struggling to find any reviews on it. Is it £120 better than the Samsung?

The XH9505 at £900 sounds amazing but it's a lot of wedge.

So, bit of a ramble there but would welcome any advice, opinions or experience of any of the above TVs.

Thanks for reading.

 

[vickster]

Get a Sony XH 9005 or 9505 for £600-700 from the Sony refurb store in the morning?

Sony Centre UK - Refurbished Sony BRAVIA TV

Sony Centre UK Refurbished, Sony, Sony BRAVIA, OLED, LCD, TV, Television, HDTV, flat screen, clearance, Sony Outlet

centresdirect.co.uk

Feedback on the various models here

My best value TVs, 2020-2021 Edition

My best value TVs, 2020-2021 Edition Please read this post before posting and asking for advice. Include all the information we need to recommend you the right TV! Before choosing an LCD TV you must understand which panel type you want from a TV, all have their pros and cons here. If you...

www.avforums.com

 

[remoteboy]

Thanks for the reply vickster. Unfortunately I have £500 credit with Richer Sounds so really need to buy from them.

 

[Dodgexander]

All the TVs you mention apart from the Sony really aren't an improvement over the Philips you returned with picture quality. Try to aim for a mid range model instead with a 120hz panel like Sony's 49" XH85/XH91 series. Beware though the same TV at 55" uses an IPS panel and will have its own set of drawbacks (IPS is usually a step backwards in picture quality unless you need better viewing angles).. Its certainly a lot better than the Samsung Q60T which is just a low spec TV in the guise of their QLED marketing.

Make sure you aren't expecting too much from a cheaper TV. Understanding how HDR can be dark and washed out in particular is useful, since no cheaper TV will display it without some picture quality issues...the worse thing about it perhaps being unable to disable HDR from built in apps. If you returned the Philips because you weren't happy with it with HDR material, I fear you won't be happy with any TV unless you can step up to a high tier model like the Sony XH9505.

All about HDR (High Dynamic Range)

One of the major decisions to make when purchase a TV, especially an LCD TV is based on HDR. So what is HDR, how will you use it and do you need it on your TV? Major points to understand HDR HDR (High Dynamic Range) in the TV tech world is a means to add data to a video source which contains...

www.avforums.com

Last thing to mention is viewing angles. Make sure you only view a TV with a VA panel such as the Philips you returned, or the Sony XH85/XH91 you are interested in head on, and not at an angle. At an angle the TV picture will look washed out.

 

[vickster]

Thanks for the reply vickster. Unfortunately I have £500 credit with Richer Sounds so really need to buy from them.

Ah missed that! Happy shopping!

 

[remoteboy]

Thanks for the detailed reply Dodge - really helpful. If I can unlock the funds I reckon I'll be going for the 9505. Otherwise it'll be the 8505.

 

[kamy100]

I have ordered the 55 inch XH90 today, got it for £790 from Richer Sounds who price matched TPS UK. It is borderline acceptable HDR but not as good as the XH9505. I will be gaming on it and wanted it for the 2.1 HDMI ports (although the VRR firmware hasn’t yet been released) and that price was my sweet point. I would have dearly liked to get an OLED but couldn’t get over the burn in worries as I do play a lot of games with static images.

 

[remoteboy]

I have ordered the 55 inch XH90 today, got it for £790 from Richer Sounds who price matched TPS UK. It is borderline acceptable HDR but not as good as the XH9505. I will be gaming on it and wanted it for the 2.1 HDMI ports (although the VRR firmware hasn’t yet been released) and that price was my sweet point. I would have dearly liked to get an OLED but couldn’t get over the burn in worries as I do play a lot of games with static images.

Cool. Let me know how it works out for you. I do like the idea of HDMI 2.1 support, even just for future proofing. Have you had a chance to see the HDR performance in person, or are you just judging by reviews / fact sheets?

 

[brokenamp]

Crampton & Moore have the LG BX OLED for £949 with free FN4 earbuds. Might be worth seeing if RS could go a bit lower/give you money off instead of the earbuds? Will still blow your £750 budget (so ignore me if that's just a bad idea) but getting closer...

 

[kamy100]

Cool. Let me know how it works out for you. I do like the idea of HDMI 2.1 support, even just for future proofing. Have you had a chance to see the HDR performance in person, or are you just judging by reviews / fact sheets?

I am just going of reviews and seeing some comparison videos on youtube. I am not expecting it to be brilliant but hopefully it is acceptable.

 

[faidtoblack]

If you can hang out for a few months it may well be worth waiting as the Sony 55XH9505 will drop in price. It may not drop as low as £750 but at some point it will go close to that if you can wait a bit. The 49XH9505 is currently £750 in store at Costco so you could talk to RS about that and see if they can do anything (if you live near a Costco then they will beat that price I am sure). The other option is to try and add a bit to the budget and play the waiting game on the OLEDs. The 55BX can be had for £935 from RS at the moment with a free pair of earbuds. I know that breaks the budget but it is a decent deal.

 

[bydandie]

The 49XH8505 is a good telly with a picture that has surprised me. I’ve tried a range of HDR content with it and there is some clipping at high brightness but I really have to look for it. I’ve even tried using SDR content forced via the Apple TV 4K but actually prefer the Dolby vision to my untrained eye. There is a review here that I’ve found.

However, the better 49XH9505 is on sale at Sevenoaks for £899 with £25 off so maybe RS will price match?

 

[remoteboy]

Thanks for all the help folks. I ended up getting an open box 55" XH9505 for a little under 850 from Richer Sounds. It's an amazing TV. Really happy with it.