OLED Remastered

The XBR-65A8H rests on legs positioned 40 inches apart for a tabletop setup, allowing it to sit securely on any solid piece of furniture you might reasonably choose for a 65-inch diagonal (57-inch wide) television.

- Thomas J. Norton

WE PREVIOUSLY reviewed Sony’s XBR-65A9G OLED, a member of the company’s Master Series Ultra HDTV family, in our October/ November 2019 issue (also available at soundandvision.com). While that set is still available and remains a first-class option, the only advantages it appears to offer over the new XBR-65A8H OLED reviewed here are slightly more sophisticated sound features plus an ability to serve as a center channel in an outboard multichannel audio setup.

The XBR-65A8H, meanwhile, is priced considerably lower than its Master Series predecessor at $2,800.

FEATURES AND SETUP

The XBR-65A8H rests on legs positioned 40 inches apart for a tabletop setup, allowing it to sit securely on any solid piece of furniture you might reasonably choose for a 65-inch diagonal (57-inch wide) television.

Sony uses Google’s Android TV as its smart TV platform. Chromecast built-in lets the set play files streamed over your home network, mirror programs displayed on a portable device or computer screen and respond to limited vocal commands using Google Assistant. The XBR-65A8H is also compatible with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.

Sony’s Acoustic Surface technology in the XBR-65A8H uses left and right audio actuators attached to the back of the OLED panel that vibrate the screen itself to produce sound. There’s also a separate woofer radiating from the back of the set. I heard no deep bass to speak of, but the overall sound was well-balanced and listenable, and better than what you get with most flat-panel TVs. Sony claims that the XBR-65A8H supports Dolby Atmos, though none of the speakers contained within the set itself fire upward to create steered sound from overhead—the whole point of Atmos.