Is OLED still BEST in 2020 - Sony A8H 4K Smart TV Review

Is OLED still BEST in 2020 - Sony A8H 4K Smart TV Review

Are OLED TVs still the best displays to buy in 2020? For me, OLED has always been the “better” display technology when compared to LED based smart TVs on the market. But non-OLED displays have really started to narrow the performance gap in recent years, making the question of which smart TV is the “best” a tougher one to answer. Is OLED still BEST in 2020 - Sony A8H 4K Smart TV Review. Let’s find out.

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Sony arguably makes some of the finest flat panel TVs available and their latest crop of OLED TVs for 2020 are no exception. Admittedly, Sony doesn’t “make” their OLED displays themselves, the actually source them from LG, which is why the performance benchmarks achieved on Sony OLED displays are largely obtainable, if not the same, on an LG. Still, the new A8H OLED TV from Sony is a looker both in its design as well as performance. 

My reference OLED display in 2018/2019 was Sony’s own MASTER SERIES OLED TV, the A9F. The A9F was an amazing display (still is) but cost a pretty penny when new due to all of its new technology and amazing picture quality.  Sony’s new A8H however manages to pack most (if not all or more) of the MASTER SERIES’ technology and performance into a far more manageable and affordable package for 2020. 

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Out of the box, the Sony A8H isn’t as accurate as some, which also include past Sony OLED and LED displays. It’s most accurate picture profile is its CUSTOM picture profile followed by CINEMA. Both exhibit a slight blue tint to their white points and grey scales, which is noticeable with the naked eye, but not too distracting or ugly. Color-wise the Custom and Cinema presets are mostly accurate, with only a mild over saturation of the primary colors, which some viewers may prefer. 

One of the drawbacks to OLED however is their light output. Out of the box, the brightest I was able to get the Sony A8H in terms of its light output was approximately 900 Nits. To put that in perspective there are Samsung and Vizio LED Smart TVs measuring 2,000 - 3,000 Nits of absolute brightness as of this review. That said, the Sony A8H is bright enough to enjoy all types of HDR content correctly, including Dolby Vision, it just isn’t going to be AS bright as some other displays on the market. 

Thankfully, the Sony A8H, like all other Sony displays, can be calibrated using professional tools such as CalMAN, and even has CalMAN’s Auto Calibration functionality built-in -provided you download the free App from the Google Play Store. Post calibration the Sony proved as accurate as the costlier MASTER SERIES OLED, which is high-praise considering it (the A8H) is more than $1,000 cheaper. 

CALIBRATING THE SONY A8H SMART TV

Post calibration the image quality found on the A8H is truly reference-grade. It is near as I can tell, perfect. There is just something about viewing content, be it television shows, movies and even video games, through an OLED TV that just feels more life-like compared to LED designs. After calibrating the Sony A8H smart tv, colors appear natural and organic. Skin tones especially looked real and natural. The contrast of the Sony OLED aided in images feeling more three dimensional and detailed throughout compared to most LED TVs on the market right now. Even motion looked smoother, more natural when compared to LED or QLED designs near or at this price point. 

As great as Sony’s A8H is, no display is perfect through and through, and this particular OLED does have a few faults. First, it’s HDMI ARC/eARC functionality is “buggy”. It works, and when it works, it works well; but it doesn’t always make the “connection” resulting in the user having to power cycle or go digging in the menus. 

Second, the glass that make up the Sony OLED screen is highly reflective, and because it is not the brightest display on the market, reflections can be an issue when placing this particular set in a well-lit room, or in a room with a lot of windows. 

Lastly, if you’re wanting a bold, big screen experience for your home theater but don’t want to use a front projector, the Sony A8H only comes in two sizes; 55 and 65 inch models. Most OLED TVs only come in 55 or 65 inch variants. Larger OLEDs, say 75 to 77 inch models, are hard to come by and very expensive compared to LED-based designs where you can currently buy an 85-inch display for under $3,000 USD. 

If you’re not sure whether or not OLED is the right display technology for you, here a few other 4K Smart TVs worth looking into, starting with LG’s 90 Series NanoCell pictured above. The 90 Series NanoCell isn’t an OLED display, but rather an LED backlit one. While not a Quantum Dot design (that term belongs to Samsung and all who license it), it is similar in many ways to Samsung QLED models. In our testing the 90 Series comes dangerously close to matching the performance of OLED in everyday viewing scenarios. Sure, it doesn’t possess the Sony’s absolute black levels, nor does it have perfect panel backlight uniformity like the Sony, but in real world viewing, neither of those omissions detract from the 90 Series overall performance. In fact, Kristi prefers the NanoCell to the Sony due to its slightly higher overall light output.

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If you’re a little more on a budget, a great affordable 4K TV to consider is the Hisense H8G (pictured here). The H8G is a Quantum Dot design so like the NanoCell from LG, it’s aim is to get you closer to OLED like colors and contrast while giving you all the benefits of an LED-based design in terms of brightness and scaleability. The Hisense is a great UltraHD display, and not just for the price. It’s Android TV operating system means that while the Sony may be better in terms of picture quality, the daily use of both the Hisense and Sony are nearly identical. We say nearly in this instance because the Sony’s better processing and internal memory does allow for Android TV to run more smoother when directly compared to the H8G. Still, for a 65 inc, 4K display that routinely sells for less than $700, the H8G from Hisense is a real winner.

But if you put a premium on picture quality above all else, the Sony A8H 4K OLED Smart TV is every bit as good as the costlier MASTER SERIES displays from Sony and worth your consideration if OLED is still the best display technology in your eyes.

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