Sony’s new range of premium smart TVs, which the Bravia X80K (55-inch 4K Smart TV) is a part of, was recently launched in India. And the company took a decision to use an LED panel on the Sony Bravia X80K instead of an OLED or even a QLED panel that most other companies are using for their offerings at this price point.
Priced at Rs 94,990, the Sony Bravia X80K is not cheap, but Sony’s OLED models are priced much higher, so perhaps in that comparison one can call this one “entry-level”, of sorts. However, given that Sony is known to offer excellent picture quality irrespective of what panel is being used, the Sony Bravia X80K has hope, and it delivers.
Featuring a bezel-less design, the Sony Bravia X80K comes with VESA wall mount holes on the back and we recommend you wall-mount the TV. This 55-inches of screen is no small space so to get the best angles, put it up. All the ports on the Sony Bravia X80K are on one side of the TV, on the back, so they are easy to access, and the TV also comes with clips on the back for better cable management.
The Sony Bravia X80K has a plastic build and it is a bit thick, but overall, it is a sturdy TV that will do fine on the table too if that’s how you want it placed.
The remote on the Sony Bravia X80K is a clean, minimalistic one with dedicated buttons for Google Assistant, Netflix, YouTube, YouTube Music, Prime Video, etc. You can also pair your set-top box with the TV and use this remote to control it instead of using the separate remote meant for the set-top box.
The Sony Bravia X80K is delightfully easy to set up. And when you set the TV up, the device performs the audio test for acoustics to best optimise the sound on it based on where the TV is placed.
For connectivity, the Sony Bravia X80K has two USB Type-A 3.1 ports and four HDMI ports (HDMI 2.0). There is also an HDMI 3 port that supports eARC along with an Ethernet port, an RS-232C port, an IR port, etc. The TV features built-in WiFi and Bluetooth v4.2 instead of the standard Bluetooth 5.0.
Now let’s get to the things that really matter, how is the picture quality on the Sony Bravia X80K?
The 4K LED panel on the Sony Bravia X80K features a 60Hz refresh rate. Sony has used its X1 4K HDR processor on the device and the Tv supports HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG formats. The company’s X1 processor supports something called Object-based HDR remaster and Dynamic Contrast Enhancer. The former allows the Sony Bravia X80K to automatically analyse and adjust the colours of individual objects on the screen. This can also remaster objects to produce greater depth and textures, resulting in more realistic images.
On the other hand, the Dynamic Contrast Enhancer can automatically adjust contrast settings as per the environment. Additionally, this TV can also adjust the screen brightness based on the ambient light in the room.
Sony has paired the X1 processor on the Sony Bravia X80K with its X-Reality Pro and Triluminos Pro tech to offer you better picture quality. This Triluminos Pro technology on the TV uses the device’s wide colour gamut to detect colour from hue, saturation, and brightness to reproduce natural colours. The company’s X-Reality Pro helps upscale footage that you are seeing on screen to give you better, more enhanced results.
So what does this mean for you?
The Sony Bravia X80K delivers great picture quality. We’ve never been disappointed by any of Sony’s TVs, and the same happened this time. The screen was bright and the colours were rich and deep. However, with this LED panel, as compared to Sony’s other offerings, the results will feel muted and slightly compromised – basically not “as bright”. The TV also supports Dolby Vision Bright and Dolby Vision Dark tech that helps balance the viewing modes on the Sony Bravia X80K.
This also means that you can toggle between the two to get the kind of brightness you want. There are also some preset picture modes on the Sony Bravia X80K allowing you to choose between sports, gaming, entertainment, etc. The images are crisp and sharp and the TV has excellent viewing angles as well. Thanks to the upscaling, you will mostly not realise that you are watching content on an LED panel. It’s unfair to compare the performance of an LED panel with a QLED or an OLED, but given that we are expected to pay almost a lakh for this TV, it does make you wonder what Sony’s thinking.
You can also hook the Sony Bravia X80K for gaming, it comes with an Auto Low-Latency Mode along with MEMC tech that deals with motion blur to allow smooth gameplay. We didn’t test this panel with games, but given the support, basic games should work just fine on this 60Hz panel.
On the sound front, the Sony Bravia X80K has standard 2.0 channels speaker system with a 20W power output and Dolby Atmos support. Sony has used a special driver for optical sound and the TV calibrates the audio based on your room’s layout when it is being set up.
In lay terms – the Sony Bravia X80K is plenty loud and delivers fine for most content. If you are big on sound, you might want to pair the TV up with some soundbars or external speakers.
The Sony Bravia X80K runs Google TV and supports both Chromecast and AirPlay along with Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s HomeKit. You can also cast content directly on it from your smartphone, including music.
So, should you buy it?
The Sony Bravia X80K sports an LED panel, but it is anything but basic. The picture quality is great, the sound delivers, and then there’s the Google TV experience. In all, Rs 94,990 is a lot to pay for an LED panel, there are cheaper options for LED panels if you are looking for that from other companies. You cannot compare it to Sony’s own, more premium offerings, surely.
But if you are doing it, you won’t be disappointed. As we’ve said before, Sony never disappoints.
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