Sony A8F

Sony’s second-gen 4K OLED telly is an HDR thriller with bags of style and epic sound

 

The Sony A8F is a 4K OLED flatscreen that oozes class, and sports a picture that will have you instantly hankering to upgrade.

Good vibrations

Available in 55-inch and 65-inch screen sizes, the A8F sports a classic design aesthetic, unlike the lean-back Sony A1 model. It’s also slimmer, with a smaller physical footprint. This more conventional appearance makes it much easier to accommodate on typical AV furniture.

Sony describes the overall design as ‘soft minimalism’. Everything is underplayed, including the Sony branding, which is subtle to the point of invisibility (hint, it’s bottom left).

Here Sony is again using Acoustic Surface technology to deliver audio. That means there are no traditional stereo speakers on board. Instead, the panel itself invisibly vibrates to deliver forward-facing audio. Stereo transducers are affied to the rear of the panel, augmented by twin woofers that fill out the mid-range.

The result is a superb sonic performance. Stereo imaging is effective and direct, with clear panning around the image. The rear woofers work in tandem with the transducers and effectively act as one. Astonishingly, the A8F can drop down to 31.5Hz – that’s serious subwoofer territory – but it’s at its most melodious in the mid-range.

The Acoustic Surface technology also frees up Sony designers to do something different with the panel itself, which sits on a substantial central foot. The screen, which is edge-to-edge glass, sits virtually flush to its pedestal, with barely an air gap between picture and stand.