Gaming & Streaming up to £900

[averagedarren]

Hi,

I'm on the lookout for a new TV for my living room. i currently have a 43" (3D!?) LG TV which has served us well for 8 years but is beginning to show its age now. I sit roughly 3-6 metres away from the TV depending which sofa I'm on and pretty much face straight on when watching. I use the TV mostly for PS4 Pro, Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer and All4 and very very rarely watch terrestrial SD content. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction of a TV under £900. After a bit of online research I am considering these two TVs at the moment:

Sony Bravia KD49XH9505
Samsung QE55Q70T

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on these two or any other TVs that fall into my price range. The Sony seems to get great reviews but would 49" do the picture quality justice?

Thanks

 

[LCDseeker]

Hi,

I'm on the lookout for a new TV for my living room. i currently have a 43" (3D!?) LG TV which has served us well for 8 years but is beginning to show its age now. I sit roughly 3-6 metres away from the TV depending which sofa I'm on and pretty much face straight on when watching. I use the TV mostly for PS4 Pro, Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer and All4 and very very rarely watch terrestrial SD content. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction of a TV under £900. After a bit of online research I am considering these two TVs at the moment:

Sony Bravia KD49XH9505
Samsung QE55Q70T

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on these two or any other TVs that fall into my price range. The Sony seems to get great reviews but would 49" do the picture quality justice?

Thanks

There is no comparison as the XH9505 is much the better television. But for your viewing distance you ought to be looking at 55" minimum. With that in mind, I would hold for the 55 XH9505 to drop in price, as that is in itself better than the 49" xh9505. Alternatively you could go for the XH9005 which is a great television but only delivers an average HDR performance. I would still go for the XH9005 over the Q70.

 

[Dodgexander]

Samsung models are currently overpriced you need at least the Q85T, probably the Q90T/Q95T to match the Sony with picture quality.

The Q70T is a trash TV really, edge lit, dim, no decent local dimming. Last years Q70R was a lot better.

But sales are around the corner, prices change. What you see today can be different to tomorrow, and especially in the upcoming sales.

 

[averagedarren]

Thanks for the swift replies. Most of my budget for the TV is from my parents as a Christmas gift. Do you think the XH9505 or the XH9005 will drop before Christmas? If not would the 49" XH9505 still be my best bet for my budget or are there any LG or other brands worth considering?

Thanks again.

 

[pastrybloke19]

Black Friday is when prices tend to drop to the “good value” range: spring is when the tend to be at their lowest. I would really recommend selecting the XH9505 at 55”: it will/might be a bit more, but it is a lot better and over time I think you will be very impressed.

XH9505 55” is £1.2k at JL with free headphones (v good ones btw), so I would guess it might drop to around £900-£1k. If budget is key then the XH9005 is a decent Tv and is already at £1k (so £900 or less is pos), but as mentioned above it is only average at HDR.

You can set alerts on websites that will track prices: hotukdeals is a good website (again can set alerts): and then just a waiting game. Naturally the longer you wait the lower the prices will get (roughly though: some places put their prices back up and then drop them to make it seem like a fab deal) - and on the flip side sooner you get it, sooner you can enjoy it.

And strongly recommend buying from a good retailer: Richer Sounds or John Lewis. 5/6 year warranty is well worth it for peace of mind.

 

[averagedarren]

Hi,

I was quite doubtful that the XH9505 would drop before Christmas being the newer model, so like you say it's a bit of a waiting game. To be honest my gaming time is becoming less and less and i have no urge to purchase next gen whatsoever. I understand a newer TV will probably be more next gen proof but I might see if anything happens with the XH9005 before Christmas. I have noticed that most other brands like Samsung and LG seem to be regressing bar their flagship TVs.

The Hisense 55U8QFTUK has some not so bad reviews also, but I just can't seem to pull away from the Sony sets as they seem the best under £900 atm.

Thanks again.

 

[Dodgexander]

The XH9005 is not a TV to consider buying if you are using HDR, its very dim, and will be too dark in some titles.

The Hisense U8Q on the other hand is a HDR behemoth, compared to the Sony XH9005 it has much much better HDR performance. Some people seem to get along better with the motion on the Hisense more than others, and if you watch a lot of broadcast TV I'd avoid it.

Otherwise with HDR, the Hisense smashes the competition out of the water frankly. It performs more like the Sony XH9505 or Samsung Q90T with HDR.

 

[averagedarren]

I very rarely watch broadcast TV it's nearly always catch-up via iPlayer, All4 etc. I think I've narrowed to to the forementioned 49" Sony XH9509 or the 55" Hisense 55U8QFTUK. The Sony seems better reviewed but the 55" Hisense seems better for screen size and HDR as you mentioned and is £100 cheaper. Just need to settle this and pull the trigger.

Much appreciated.

 

[averagedarren]

Apologies for posting again,

I email both John Lewis and Richer Sounds regarding Black Friday deals or even completing a deal earlier than the sales begin. They said they could do me a deal at my budget on:

LG OLED55BX6LB

After looking at reviews it seems to be up there with the XF9095 and is 55" which is another bonus over the Sony. Think I might go with this while the offer is still on the table. Just need to sit the wife down and explain to her about burn in as the loves leaving iPlayer on pause while she nips the shops for hours.

 

[Dodgexander]

You should test it to be sure, but the iPlayer app should trigger the screen saver on the TV when paused. Only using the built in smart TV though, not from external sources.

 

[averagedarren]

Thanks for the info about the screen saver, it would have been desperately needed. I'm afraid the Richer Sounds deal didn't happen, they were offering me a deal on an interior model. My definite and final contenders are now:

Samsung 55" Q80T

Sony 49" XH9505

Sony 55" XH9005

Hisense 55" U8Q

So unless something pops up in the next few weeks those are my choices. Being honest with myself, I've not turned on my PS4 Pro for around 3 weeks (bar the odd NOWTV film). They've all roughly dropped £50-80 the last 2 days with Currys of which John Lewis and Richer Sounds have price matched.

 

[vickster]

I dont know if the XH9005 is an older model, just a lesser one than the 55XH9505, think they’re both 2020 releases. The latter is now just £999 following a BF reduction at JL and RS, just £100 more than the 9005 if you can stretch

 

[averagedarren]

I think the XH9005 has HDMI 2.1 via a recent update whilst the XH9505 does not but has slightly better picture quality and motion. I have been in touch with RS and they would be happy to sell me the 55" Q80T for £850, which seems a good deal atm. Reviews are good for that set but I generally don't trust many review sites due to sponsorship and general bias.

Thanks for the info vickster.

 

[vickster]

I think the XH9005 has HDMI 2.1 via a recent update whilst the XH9505 does not but has slightly better picture quality and motion. I have been in touch with RS and they would be happy to sell me the 55" Q80T for £850, which seems a good deal atm. Reviews are good for that set but I generally don't trust many review sites due to sponsorship and general bias.

Thanks for the info vickster.

Have you read the AV forums reviews and owner threads, not sponsored

 

[averagedarren]

Have you read the AV forums reviews and owner threads, not sponsored

I couldn't find a review of the Q80T within the AV Forums reviews but have read the Rtings review. I understand the set in the US is different from the one here in the UK but the review is pretty impressive. It's just either go for the 55" Q80T or the smaller (and less featured than its larger models) 49" XH9505. I can get the latter for around £820 whilst the Q80T around £850.

 

[vickster]

I couldn't find a review of the Q80T within the AV Forums reviews but have read the Rtings review. I understand the set in the US is different from the one here in the UK but the review is pretty impressive. It's just either go for the 55" Q80T or the smaller (and less featured than its larger models) 49" XH9505. I can get the latter for around £820 whilst the Q80T around £850.

No owner thread?

 

[Dodgexander]

If you can't afford the 55" XH9505 now, have you considered waiting until you can? Or waiting for a potential price drop? I don't think its worth really contemplating the smaller version (especially when it lacks the wide viewing angle filter of the larger TVs) when its so close in price. I also don't think its worth contemplating TVs that are quite a bit worse with HDR like the Sony XH9005 or Samsung Q80T.

Since you don't watch much terrestrial content the Hisense U8Q is a good option otherwise. Some people do notice motion problems with terrestrial content, and it does have some motion hiccups in certain films compared to other TVs, but its still by far the best way to get good HDR performance for as little money as possible.

 

[averagedarren]

If you can't afford the 55" XH9505 now, have you considered waiting until you can? Or waiting for a potential price drop? I don't think its worth really contemplating the smaller version (especially when it lacks the wide viewing angle filter of the larger TVs) when its so close in price. I also don't think its worth contemplating TVs that are quite a bit worse with HDR like the Sony XH9005 or Samsung Q80T.

Since you don't watch much terrestrial content the Hisense U8Q is a good option otherwise. Some people do notice motion problems with terrestrial content, and it does have some motion hiccups in certain films compared to other TVs, but its still by far the best way to get good HDR performance for as little money as possible.

I think saving for the XH9505 seems the best bet at the moment. I've had a good read of the Digital Foundry comparison of Xbox Series X and PS5 game performance and they said that the HDMI 2.1 performance was quite bad with terrible frame rate and stutters. I understand this might improve but personally I think it will take a long time on consoles. Thanks for the info again.