Sony 55A80J Vs 55A90J - Torn between both

bdmc5

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Hi,

What would people thoughts be in the Sony 55A80J (€2000) Vs the 55A90J? Will be mainly for gaming and movies.

I sold my 48' CX last night after 12 months of underwhelming ownership - felt i bought a TV with great future proof features for gaming with VRR,GSYNC , 4 HDMI 2.1 etc but in reality this has come at the expense of brightness and picture quality and the PS5 is not actually using feature like VRR/GYSNC etc - the picture from the CX was too dim for me.

After about 3 weeks of research and store demos i keep coming back to the Sonys OLED 55A80J /55a90j. I had settled on the A80J as the 1000 euro difference is hard to justify but seeing them side my side today i much prefer the glossy screen finish on A90J , the extra brightness (is noticeable) and flush finish, additionally, i really dont like the stand positions of the A80J (i cant mount this tv) The 55AJ90 is very expensive but money aside what peoples thought on A80J/A90J or should i looking at G1 or QN95A?
 
The G1 and A80J are of the same ilk in the sense that they are both using the new brighter EVO panel, but don't have cooling backplates. The cooling backplates allow TVs like the A90J to get even brighter, which seems from what you've written is what you really desire.

The Samsung QN95A is a different beast entirely, an LCD TV offers different pros and cons compared to OLED. It can get a lot brighter, but also doesn't have per-pixel dimming like an OLED does.

Some people prefer LCD TVs, if you are someone who doesn't really use their TV in darkness, then you immediately lose one disadvantage their share compared to OLED which is poorer light control.

This time of year in general TVs are very overpriced. Its a not a good time to buy from a value for money perspective. That is unless you are considering, and can still find 2020 models.
 
The G1 and A80J are of the same ilk in the sense that they are both using the new brighter EVO panel, but don't have cooling backplates. The cooling backplates allow TVs like the A90J to get even brighter, which seems from what you've written is what you really desire.

The Samsung QN95A is a different beast entirely, an LCD TV offers different pros and cons compared to OLED. It can get a lot brighter, but also doesn't have per-pixel dimming like an OLED does.

Some people prefer LCD TVs, if you are someone who doesn't really use their TV in darkness, then you immediately lose one disadvantage their share compared to OLED which is poorer light control.

This time of year in general TVs are very overpriced. Its a not a good time to buy from a value for money perspective. That is unless you are considering, and can still find 2020 models.
Cheers for the reply - I just rid of a 2020 LG CX as found it well spec’ed but at the expense of picture quality and peak brightness so really looking to prioritise picture quality and avoid LG this time around.

Budget aside what would your top 55 inch OLED be ? The A90J is reviewed on many sites as the best 55 inch money can buy for picture quality and comprehensive in store demos definitely seem to back that up to me over last few weeks. As you said it’s extremely expensive so had compromised on the a80j until I saw them side by side today and the a90j is just On another level so trying to justify the 1000e which seems abit mad
 
Its hard to predict what prices will be like on the very top tier models because this is the first year where the top tier ones have a different type of panel from the lower tier models. A general rule though is to assume that prices should follow similar trends to OLED pricing of the past few years.

The problem with this time of year and pricing being so high is down to the release patterns of TVs, and the fact when a TV is released it can cost as much as 40-50% than it will sell for later in its shelf life.

To use an example, you can follow the price history of the 2020 Sony A8 which recently has sold around the £1100-1200 mark. This TV last year was the same price now as the A80J is, so you can expect to pay a premium now for the sake of buying a newly released model so close to its release.

There's no A9 from 2020, only the 2019 A9G. In 2019 the A9G was selling for around £2600 this time of year, not far from what the A90J sells for now. By Black Friday a few deals were cropping up with the TV costing less than £2000.

The bottom line is if you buy a TV now from 2021 ranges, you will have to over-pay for it. Some people are happy with that, after all you're buying something before other people will when the price is lower, so despite paying a few hundred more, you get to enjoy the TV sooner.

From a pure value for money perspective though if you are buying now, and you want a brighter TV than the CX you're probably best trying to pick up an LCD TV like the Sony XH9505 or Samsuing Q90T/Q95T from 2020 ranges, and get a lot more TV for the money.

Due to the current pricing on TVs, I can't recommend buying any 2021-22 model right now, but certainly it looks like the A90J is going to be the TV to beat in 2021-22 ranges.
 
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