Question Price expectations?

soulvision

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Hey,

I'm planning to purchase a good, 55" 4k hdr tv within the next several months, most likely during the black friday sales and after. I was wondering, what should my price expectations be? Can I expect something like the xg9505 to be reduced to around £750 brand new?
 
The XG9505 is a 2019 model and is end of life now. Black Friday 2019 bought it down beneath £1000. The XH9505 should follow a similar price trend this year, it may be a little cheaper but finding one for as little as £750 may be hard, and you may have to wait longer for clearance deals as the 2021 TVs enter shops before you see it that low, or possibly refurb deals.

Have you seen this thread?
If you can find an XG9505 or XG9005 from here it would be a good deal, they come and go fast though!

Likewise come spring 2021 they will probably start selling the new XH9505 on there.
 
So I've quickly had a look through the link you've provided. Your post says someone was able to get the XG9505 refurbished for £629, but the website says £749. Was that a temporary deal, or can we expect it to go down again?

To put things into perspective, are both the current brand new and refurbished prices for the XG9505 on the sony website worth it? Or are they overpriced? If the XH9505 does indeed go down to £1000 or less, would it be logical to expect a further price reduction on the XG9505, assuming both will be stocked, brand new or refurbished.

I'm open to other brands as well, it's just that Sony's hdr capable lcd tvs seem to be relatively cheaper than other brands, produce the most accurate natural colours and have the best motion for movies. Although, I will be gaming on my console from time to time as well.
 
Was that a temporary deal, or can we expect it to go down again?
The prices fluctuate, not only in general, but also depending on the grade of the product. It might be that the cheaper model was a lower grade, or it might be they know they don't have much stock so have put the price up a little.

You can call them to ask about the deals, and if you also buy an extended warranty they may do you a deal. Likewise a lot of people have better luck calling their local centre to see what they have in stock.

You are likely going to get the best deal making a call that just buying online or using live chat.
To put things into perspective, are both the current brand new and refurbished prices for the XG9505 on the sony website worth it? Or are they overpriced? If the XH9505 does indeed go down to £1000 or less, would it be logical to expect a further price reduction on the XG9505, assuming both will be stocked, brand new or refurbished.
I don't think the XG9505 is going to be stocked come Black Friday, by then its likely they will have stock of newer TVs, but they will still be on the expensive side since they aren't end of life. The best discounts from these refurb stores tend to happen around spring time each year as they try to clear them out in time for space for newly released models.
I'm open to other brands as well, it's just that Sony's hdr capable lcd tvs seem to be relatively cheaper than other brands, produce the most accurate natural colours and have the best motion for movies. Although, I will be gaming on my console from time to time as well.
The only real competition to Sony with LCD TVs is from Samsung. There TVs have good accuracy in SDR mode, but differ from accurate pictures more in HDR mode. If you want the best all round picture accuracy Sony is certainly the way to go. Any TV you buy now is more than good enough for gaming, but if you want to future proof most for next gen gaming you need to consider buying at a later time and looking only at models that include HDMI 2.1. Strictly talking LCD TVs right now that would mean waiting for the Samsung Q80T and above to come down in price, and taking a hit in picture accuracy by going with Samsung for that HDMI 2.1 port that the Sony XH9505 lacks for gaming features like Auto Low Latency Mode and Variable Refresh Rate support.

Hisense may have some competition in the new U8Q, but again its a 2020 model so best not considered now. It also doesn't have HDMI 2.1 hardware like Sony.

Probably won't be until 2021 TVs are released that we see HDMI 2.1 being more common..possibly later.
 
To be honest, I'm not sure if I'd want the xh9505 over the xg9505. There seems to be a compromise on contrast ratio due to the wide angle technology and the peak brightness is less. What are your thoughts on that?
 
I think they made some adjustments coming from the XG9505 and reducing its brightness was part of that in an attempt to control screen uniformity a bit better.

The XG9505 biggest weakness was blooming due to limited zones behind the TV, there's only a few things that can be done to aleviate that, reduce brightness, use more zones, or make algorhythms for dimming more agressive.

More zones just costs more money, meaning there would be little sense in Sony having an XH9505 at all when it would be so closely priced to their OLEDs. More aggressive dimming is what Samsung models do instead to better their screen uniformity, but it costs picture accuracy as a result and makes the dimming more noticeable.

So Sony believe the right balance is to keep with limited zones and therefore keep cost low, to lower the brightness a little to improve uniformity and to also make it so local dimming is more natural and less intrusive.

Of course lowering the brightness isn't ideal, and if you intend to use the TV with bias lighting or with a light on, then you aren't going to notice poorer screen uniformity so much, in that sense going for the XG9505 makes more sense.

Overall though if you want to buy now the XG9505 makes much more sense anyway since its a lot cheaper. The XH9505 is not worth waiting for in my opinion unless you have a specific need for better viewing angles. The gains they make year to year are so small that typically each TV in the same 'range' is just a side grade and any specifics you read, or we talk about are very small in actual real world usage.
 
To be honest, I'll be waiting around until Black Friday regardless because of some commitments I currently have to deal with that won't let me enjoy the tv until then.

I don't get the whole blooming issue. I'm coming from a 5 year old 1080p Sony LCD TV with an ips panel. I've watched content during the day, with lights on at night and lights off. I can't complain so I'm not really sure what the big deal is, unless it's a problem with 4k va panels?
 
Blooming is a side product of local dimming, so if you have a TV without local dimming you won't see it.

What you'll get instead is raised blacks all-round, particularly with an IPS panel. Screen uniformity will be a lot worse, with parts of the screen lighter than others and no way to control it.

But as you say, you don't notice a problem, which means you are unlikely to notice blooming with a new TV either. A lot of talk about blooming comes down people being very picky and the vast majority of people don't even notice it.
 
So I watched the avforums video review of the xg9505 and blooming when it appears on black bars looks pretty distracting. I'm assuming it's only an issue with viewing such content in the dark? But some comments some to suggest that not everyone has it due to their panel or software updates?

Further questions -
Will the built in sound for the xg9505 be an adequate replacement for my orbit t9 sound system?

Is there a significant difference between the contrast ratio and colour gamut on the xf9005 and xg9505?

Does Dolby vision bright and dark only matter for 4k content that's on blu ray or streaming too?
 
You can't really judge by watching the TV in the video since its behind a camera, you'd need to have the TV yourself to see. If you have bias lighting or lights on then the blooming isn't going to be as noticeable. Compared to what you're currently using it will be a lot, lot better.

Not sure regarding updates, every TV is different, not one sample is exactly the same as the next. Some will have better uniformity, some worse.

Built in sound on flat panel TVs is crap and won't replace a dedicated unit.

Contrast ratio in SDR on the XF9005 is better than the XG9505, in HDR the XG9505 pulls ahead with higher brightness.

Colour gamut is wider on the newer XG9505.

Dolby Vision is dependent on the content, some UHD Blu-Rays include, Netflix HDR titles include it. The Night and Day picture modes are just used when you play back Dolby Vision HDR content. When you play HDR10 or SDR content, they won't be called Dolby Vision night and dark. Certain picture modes are only available with certain content.
 
Having just got the XH95 I can say that the uniformity is excellent. The letter box bars are inky black and blooming is faint and rare. I don't know how much brighter the XG is but the XH is very bright and HDR looks stunning. Both the XG and XH are quality sets, had I been able to find a 65" XG I'd have got one and saved a few quid but I'm very pleased I got the XH.
 
I think what bothers me with all of these TVs and their reviews is not knowing if their differences would be enough for me to consider one over the other. I'm leaning towards the x950g because of price, higher peak hdr brightness and contrast, but I have no idea if the local dimming, black uniformity and colour reproduction is that much better on the xh9505. The xg9505 is already a step down in contrast compared to the xf9005 and the xh9505 is another step lower.
 
I think what bothers me with all of these TVs and their reviews is not knowing if their differences would be enough for me to consider one over the other. I'm leaning towards the x950g because of price, higher peak hdr brightness and contrast, but I have no idea if the local dimming, black uniformity and colour reproduction is that much better on the xh9505. The xg9505 is already a step down in contrast compared to the xf9005 and the xh9505 is another step lower.
If you are buying right now there's no use considering the new XH9505 unless you are willing to overpay to get a TV that performs more or less the same, for more money.

The differences between all TVs (XF9005, XG9505, XH9505) are small, which is probably why its hard for you to decide. Its easy to get lost deep in the world of TVs but at the end of the day these are all Sony's 9 series TVs and therefore the differences in picture quality between one and the next is small.

So if buying now, just get the TV with the best overall value for money which is likely a XG9505 from the refurb store. Pick up the phone and call around. Not just their central number, but also your local stores. That is how others have been able to get good deals with extended warranties included at minimal cost.

As you can see from @Stein67 recent posts, he managed to get a cracking deal on a 65XG9505 and is more than happy. He paid approximately £700 less than the 65XH9505 costs...so is the new 65XH9505 really twice as good? If you shop at 55" the difference is even greater.

EDIT* correct prices.
 
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I was only considering the xh9505 after black friday at the earliest. Otherwise, getting the xg9505 or xf9005 if it's available would be the better choice. By the way, the xg9505 stand extends to the edge of my table, would it be possible to replace it with this? Amazon product ASIN B077P3SZGT
 
Hey,

I'm planning to purchase a good, 55" 4k hdr tv within the next several months, most likely during the black friday sales and after. I was wondering, what should my price expectations be? Can I expect something like the xg9505 to be reduced to around £750 brand new?

I own a 55 XF9005 and a 65 XH9505. The latter is a better set, much brighter and the picture quality and upscaling is better. The screen uniformity is also much better. I would have got the XG95 had it still been in stock. The prices are already falling on this year's models, so if you can't get the XG95 wait until Black Friday onwards and buy the XH95. I suspect the XG95's will go out of stock before they fall too much further in price especially as there is low stock on the XH95s.
 

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