Sony A95k Review

Now that Samsung has joined the OLED TV market with its S95B model, the market is getting more crowded, but that hasn’t stopped Sony. The Sony Bravia XR A95K ($3,999.99 for the 65-inch model we tested) is the company’s latest top-of-the-line OLED TV. It has a quantum dot layer that gives it a wide range of colours, a Google TV interface that supports Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast, and hands-free Google Assistant, and actuators behind the screen that give it powerful, clear sound.

It has the same problem with ambient light sensitivity as the S95B and doesn’t have the same colour accuracy and sharpness as the S95B, but the A95K’s interface has more features and is easier to use than Samsung’s smart TV platform. The LG C2, on the other hand, has great contrast, perfect black levels, and almost perfect colour for a lot less money than the A95K ($2,499.99 for the 65-inch C2), which is why it is still our Editors’ Choice winner.

Sony A95k Tv Specs

Design

The first thing that stands out about this Sony is how big it is. At the top of the screen, there is a short part that is thin like an OLED, but the 43 mm depth makes it look more like an LED screen with standard backlighting. It’s much better to look at it straight on because it’s almost all screen and has very thin frames around it. If you put its big stand on the back of the TV, the stand itself is almost impossible to see. It’s like looking at a TV on the wall, except that this one is standing up.

The stand can also be set up in front of the screen, which makes it possible to put the Sony almost against the wall. If you look at the A95K’s specs, it looks just as good on paper as it does in person. Sony’s top-of-the-line “Cognitive Processor XR,” which came out in the middle of last year but has been tweaked for this purpose, is in charge of the picture quality. This was mostly done to take advantage of the extra brightness that the QD-OLED can produce.

Screen of sound

The A95K works with HLG, HDR10, and Dolby Vision HDR standards, and it can also handle Dolby Atmos audio. It doesn’t try to give the idea of spatial audio, but its audio setup of two rear-firing subwoofers supporting a pair of actuators that turn the screen itself into a speaker is certainly promising. Sony has been “exciting” the screens of its OLED TVs for a few years now, and it has already shown that this is a very effective way to send sound from a single point, just like it does with pictures.

Sony is so happy with the A95K’s sound system that it put speaker binding posts on the TV in case you want to use it as the centre channel of your surround-sound system. When it comes to adding information, there are quite a few ways to do it. The A95K has two TV tuners, a couple of USB ports, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and support for both Apple AirPlay and Chromecast. Most importantly, the Sony has four HDMI ports, two of which are designed for games thanks to their 2.1-standard specifications, which cover 4.8 Gbps, 4K at 120 Hz, auto tone mapping, and eARC. All HDMI ports have an automatic low-latency mode and can be set to a different frame rate.

Most bright OLED

Before you get too excited about what Sony can do, you’ll have to get over the fact that this “brighter than the brightest OLED TV” technology isn’t really that much brighter. The best thing about it, though, is how much detail, variety, and intelligence it can show in the brightest scenes. Seeing the midnight sky is a great way to make a point.

It’s a confusing movie, but the Dolby Vision HDR picture and Dolby Atmos sound are perfect for showing off the A95K’s many significant benefits. Since most of the movie takes place in space, there are a lot of black tones, and they are shiny, deep, and different in the way that OLED has always done it. When bright light comes in, the Sony doesn’t bleach out the details and makes everything look the same. Instead, it keeps the details and offers very nice gradations of brightness.

Ready to play

The A95K is fun for all kinds of gamers, but it works best with Sony’s PlayStation 5, which is no surprise. This TV can take advantage of all of the best features of the next-generation console. The input lag of about 21 milliseconds is nothing special, but only the most demanding players will notice it. (And most of the time, they have their own computers to do their work on.)

The rest of us can enjoy the A95K’s excellent picture quality, a wide range of colours, and how it handles lighting effects. Some TV makers have teamed up with audio companies to improve the sound quality of their screens. I think of Bowers & Wilkins’ work with Philips on some of its high-end OLED TVs. Sony is a well-known audio business on its own, and even though the A95K doesn’t look like it has any kind of audio system, it has a very impressive sound.