Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L: 55-inch OLED 4K HDR BRAVIA TV Sony - Review 🏆

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L is a 55-inch OLED 4K HDR smart TV that offers top-notch picture quality, impressive sound, and great gaming features. Part of Sony's 2022 BRAVIA XR line, this TV utilizes the latest display technology to deliver an immersive viewing experience. With Sony's proprietary Cognitive Processor XR, the A80L analyses and enhances every scene for a lifelike picture. The OLED panel provides pure blacks, vibrant colors, and wide viewing angles. As an Google TV, the A80L gives you access to all your favorite apps and content. For gamers, HDMI 2.1 ports allow 4K 120Hz gameplay and variable refresh rate. The minimalist one slate design blends into any living room. With advanced features and Sony's reliable quality, the XR-55A80L is a stellar option for a premium 4K home theater.

Picture Quality

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L features an impressive picture quality thanks to its OLED display panel. OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode, and it allows for superior image quality compared to standard LED displays.

With OLED, each pixel produces its own light. This means perfect black levels, vibrant colors, wide viewing angles, and an exceptional contrast ratio. The XR-55A80L has over 8 million self-illuminating pixels that can turn on and off individually. This precision lighting control enables the TV to produce deep blacks right next to bright highlights.

In terms of resolution, the XR-55A80L supports full 4K Ultra HD at 3840 x 2160 pixels. This four times the resolution of Full HD, allowing you to see all your content in stunning detail with extra clarity and realism. The 4K resolution gives you over 8 million pixels for lifelike images.

For high dynamic range support, the TV is compatible with HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision. This expands the color palette and contrast range significantly compared to standard dynamic range. With HDR, you'll see sparkling highlights, detailed shadows, and vivid colors that look closer to real life. It unlocks the full potential of 4K content.

Another excellent option for incredible picture quality is the Sony KD-55X85L: 55-inch Full Array 4K HDR LED Smart TV. This TV features a Full Array LED display, providing brilliant brightness, deeper contrast, and realistic colors. It also supports 4K Ultra HD resolution for sharp and clear images. With its X1 4K HDR Processor, this model ensures accurate detail and color reproduction, bringing your favorite movies and shows to life. The KD-55X85L also includes advanced smart features, making it easy to access your favorite streaming services.

Sound Quality

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L comes with impressive sound quality thanks to Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology. This uses actuators behind the OLED panel to vibrate and create sound. The result is audio that seems to come directly from the screen.

There are two actuators and two subwoofers built into the TV, providing a total of 50W of sound power. This creates a rich, clear audio experience with good bass response. Even without a separate sound system, the A80L can fill a room with immersive sound.

The TV supports Dolby Atmos for surround sound audio that places effects in a 3D space. Dolby Atmos content helps bring movies to life with audio coming from all directions. For music listening, the set supports Hi-Res Audio playback as well as Sony's 360 Reality Audio format that provides an immersive experience. Overall, the A80L delivers impressive audio performance out of the box.

In addition to the A80L, the Sony BRAVIA KD-55X80K: 55-inch 4K Ultra HD LCD TV offers a high-quality viewing experience with its 4K Ultra HD resolution. This model features Sony's TRILUMINOS PRO technology, which enhances color accuracy and ensures vivid and lifelike images. The KD-55X80K also supports HDR10 and HLG formats, making it an excellent choice for movie enthusiasts. With its sleek design and advanced connectivity options, this TV is a great addition to any home entertainment setup.

Smart TV Features

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L is equipped with the latest Google TV platform, giving you access to a wide selection of apps, streaming services, and smart home controls. Google TV provides personalized recommendations based on your viewing history and subscriptions. Popular apps like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, and YouTube are pre-installed.

Google Assistant is built-in to the TV, allowing for hands-free voice control. You can search for content, get answers, control smart home devices, and more using just your voice. Voice commands work quickly and accurately thanks to far-field microphones.

Chromecast is also built-in, making it easy to cast movies, shows, photos, music, and more directly from your mobile device to the big screen. Screen mirroring allows you to mirror your Android or iOS device's screen onto the TV.

Overall, the smart TV capabilities and Google TV platform make accessing all your favorite content quick and convenient. Intuitive voice control and Chromecast integration provide a seamless smart TV experience.

Gaming Features

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L is an excellent TV for gaming, with features tailored for the ideal gaming experience.

Inputs

The TV has multiple HDMI 2.1 ports, ensuring full compatibility with the latest gaming consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X. HDMI 2.1 enables features like 4K resolution at 120Hz, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM).

Refresh Rate

With a native 120Hz panel, the A80L can display games smoothly at up to 120 frames per second. This high refresh rate results in extremely fluid motion with no blurring or ghosting effects during fast-paced action.

VRR

The TV supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), which matches the screen's refresh rate to the game console's output in real time. This eliminates screen tearing and stuttering for a buttery smooth gameplay experience.

ALLM

Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) automatically switches the TV into a low latency gaming mode when a compatible console is connected. This minimizes input lag, allowing instant response times for competitive online multiplayer games.

Overall, the A80L checks all the right boxes for next-gen gaming performance. Gamers who want a future-proof 4K 120Hz TV with HDMI 2.1 will be very satisfied.

Design

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L has a premium, stylish design with an impressive metal flush surface. The TV has an incredibly thin bezel that's almost invisible when viewing content, giving it a striking, borderless aesthetic.

The stand has a minimalist look, with two feet positioned on the outer edges to provide stability without drawing attention. It has a small footprint that fits nicely on most TV stands.

In terms of dimensions, the XR-55A80L measures 122.1 x 71 x 5.7 cm with the stand attached. The TV is fairly slim in depth, especially considering it houses OLED display technology inside. Without the stand, it has a maximum depth of just 4.1 cm.

Overall, the design is modern and refined. The thin bezel and metal finish give this 55-inch OLED TV a sleek, high-end appearance that would complement any living room.

Ports & Connectivity

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L has excellent connectivity options. It has 4 HDMI ports, with HDMI 2.1 support on ports 3 and 4. This allows full bandwidth for 4K 120Hz gaming. There are also 2 USB ports, one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0, great for connecting external storage devices or streaming sticks.

For wired connectivity, there is an ethernet port that supports speeds up to 100 Mbps. For wireless, the TV has built-in WiFi supporting the latest standards, including 802.11ac dual band. Connectivity to your home network is quick and reliable.

Bluetooth 4.2 provides wireless connectivity as well, allowing you to pair wireless headphones, speakers, game controllers and more. Overall, this TV has all the ports and wireless options you need for a great smart TV experience.

Remote Control

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L comes with Sony's sleek minimalist remote control that feels premium and easy to hold in your hand. The remote has a metal finish on the back with rubber buttons on the front.

The remote is quite compact yet retains all the necessary buttons for controlling the TV's functions. You have the standard directional buttons, numeric keys, volume controls, channel rocker, and buttons for Home, Apps, Input select, etc. Everything is well laid out and intuitive to use.

For voice control, the remote has a microphone button that you press to speak your commands. The TV remote utilizes Google Assistant so you can launch apps, search for content, control smart home devices, and more with your voice. Voice recognition works quite well.

The remote connects to the TV via Bluetooth so you don't have to point it directly at the TV. It feels very responsive when pressing buttons and navigating the interface. Overall, the remote included with the Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L is very convenient and functional.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Stunning OLED picture quality with perfect blacks and vibrant colors
• Cognitive Processor XR delivers exceptional upscaling and processing
• Acoustic Surface Audio+ provides impressive built-in audio
• Latest Google TV interface is intuitive and feature-rich
• Low input lag and exclusive gaming features optimize gameplay
• Elegant and minimalist design that blends into any space
• Wide viewing angles and anti-reflective screen coating

Cons

• Higher price than LED/LCD models
• Risk of permanent image retention, though Sony has safeguards
• Mediocre off-angle sound quality
• Lacks some advanced gaming features like VRR
• Only 2 HDMI ports

Conclusion

The Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L is an outstanding OLED TV that delivers an exceptional viewing experience. With its Cognitive Processor XR, Sony's most advanced processor yet, it produces incredible contrast and color for remarkably realistic pictures. The self-lit OLED pixels and XR Triluminos Pro produce vibrant, true-to-life colors that make images pop right off the screen.

In addition to stellar picture quality, the XR-55A80L shines when it comes to sound. The Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology produces impressive audio directly from the screen so sound and vision are perfectly aligned. Dialogue is clear, music has depth, and effects are immersive.

For smart features, Google TV provides easy access to content across apps and services. Gaming is also a standout with dedicated features for the PS5 and other consoles. Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture switch modes automatically for optimized visuals.

With a sophisticated flush surface design that complements any space, this TV looks as great as it performs. Between the impressive picture, sound, features, and design, the Sony BRAVIA XR-55A80L is easy to highly recommend. It delivers a first-rate home entertainment experience that's hard to beat. For those seeking a premium 4K OLED TV, the XR-55A80L is an excellent choice.