Philips OLED808 evaluate: A surprising mid-range OLED

The 55-inch OLED808 is a part of Philips’ 2023 8-Collection household, which additionally includes 48-, 65- and 77-inch fashions. It might not be the flagship mannequin for this yr, however there are two large causes to concentrate to this specific Ambilight TV.

Firstly, it employs the most recent P5 image engine, the seventh Gen P5 AI, which options improved Ambient Intelligence and a slew of recent image enhancing wizardry. Secondly, it makes use of OLED EX panel expertise, which pre-MLA (Micro Lens Array, expertise used within the a lot pricier LG G3), was about nearly as good as OLED obtained.

There are or course, many different points of interest onboard – plus the inevitable caveat or two contemplating the value. I’ve had it on my testing bench for the previous week or so, and here is how I’ve obtained on.

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Philips OLED808

Editor’s alternative

It might not be Philips’ flagship TV, however this superior 8 Collection 4K mannequin will not go away you wanting. It seems to be beautiful, presents elegant picture high quality and has enhanced Ambilight, which seems to be as beautiful as ever.

Professionals

• Dynamic HDR image efficiency
• Very good design
• Google TV OS works nicely

Cons

• Solely two HDMI inputs help 4K/120HZ
• No Freeview Play
• Lacking mainstream catch-up TV gamers

Specs, pricing and availability

Out there now, the Philips 55OLED808 sells for £1,799 (though savvy deal hunters ought to be capable of discover it for much less) within the UK, and €1,590. Owing to the complexities of name licensing, this mannequin, which is made by TP Imaginative and prescient, will not be accessible within the US, Canada or Australia.

Design

All the time a powerful level of Philips TVs, the design of the OLED808 warrants admiring glances. Gloriously skinny, the razor skinny, zero bezel panel is introduced in a darkish steel body, and sits on a central, rectangular steel satin chrome stand, with a beneficiant quantity of swivel.

The protruding again panel is house to audio {hardware} and common connectivity. It is also the place you may discover a three-sided iteration of Ambilight, right here in next-gen guise with improved colour-matching accuracy, because of a brand new RGB sensor, and an prolonged menu of visible types. It seems to be nearly as good as ever, and stays an enormous promoting level for Philips TVs.

Connectivity includes 4 HDMI inputs. Inputs 1 and a couple of are 4K/120Hz appropriate, with HDMI 2 forming the ARC/eARC connection.

There’s additionally a digital optical audio output, a trio of USB ports, a headphone mini jack, and a CI bay for people who want one. The panel has each terrestrial and single satellite tv for pc tuners, which I am going to contact on extra shortly.

The OLED808 ships with a slim, black Bluetooth distant management. Along with a pleasant hairline end, there are devoted buttons for Ambilight, Prime Video, YouTube, Netflix and Rakuten TV.

Options

The sensible platform of alternative for Philips this season is Google TV, the content-centric sibling of the extra widespread Android TV OS. Full display screen, it is a simple sufficient interface to dwell with.

Because the set runs Google TV, there is not any provision for Freeview Play on the time of testing. Additionally lacking are BBC iPlayer, ITV X and Channel 4 catch up apps. These could nicely flip up in the end, however the hopefully you may be utilizing an exterior TV field, like Sky Q, or streaming system like a Fire TV Stick 4K Max, that may have them, so whereas disappointing, it is in all probability not a complete catastrophe.

Philips has ramped up help for players on the OLED808. There’s not solely a devoted gaming UI (accessed through an extended press on the Menu button), but additionally provision for Dolby Vision 4K/120Hz playback, VRR support for 4K at a full fats bandwidth of 48Gbps, in addition to FreeSync Premium and G-SYNC compatibility. There’s additionally Auto Recreation and Auto-Low-Latency modes as commonplace.

Latency is sweet in Recreation mode. I measured enter lag at simply 12ms (1080/60), which is not market main however does the job. Enjoying Overwatch in 4K/120Hz is buttery clean, with excellent definition and color vibrancy.

Usability is ok too. Philips has carried out a lot to simplify its menu navigation system over the previous few years, to the purpose now the place you may rightly describe it as intuitive.

There is a Fast Menu, which presents uncluttered entry to a TV information, linked sources, and Aurora, a calming viewing mode that performs animated scenes and JPEGs. Should you’ve ever felt the necessity to unwind with undulating jellyfish, it’s going to be proper up your wellness avenue.

As has turn out to be commonplace with Philips, HDR help is common. The set is compliant with HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Imaginative and prescient. This provides it an apparent edge over rapid OLED rivals from LG and Samsung, as they don’t play ball with all HDR protocols.

There’s additionally codec help for each Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio streams, the latter hitching a journey on Philips DTS Play Fi compatibility bandwagon.

Play-Fi, if you do not know, is an interoperable audio streaming platform that helps multiroom audio and wi-fi house theatre. Consider it as an alternative choice to Sonos and Denon’s Heos. It is in all probability greater within the US than different territories, which is odd contemplating the place Philips sells its TVs, however does look like gaining some traction over right here too.

Image efficiency

The OLED808’s pictures don’t require a lot TLC to look spectacular. Straight from the field, the display screen wows with deep, large color, inky blacks, vivid highlights and delicate shadow element.

Once you choose to look at HDR10 + Adaptive content material, you are served a alternative of HDR Private, HDR Crystal Clear, HDR Cinema, HDR Filmmaker and HDR IMAX Enhanced image presets. Select Dolby Imaginative and prescient, and also you get a equally themed choice. Dolby Imaginative and prescient Brilliant appears to make the very best use of the panel.

There’s additionally an HDR Recreation mode and devoted Calman calibration setting, for people who wish to get all the way down to the nitty gritty.

Because it occurs, the OLED808 is a wonderful HDR performer. I measured HDR peak brightness at simply over 1000 nits utilizing a 5 per cent measurement patch, when participating the HDR Crystal Clear picture preset.

On a bigger 10 per cent window, the set was measured at simply over 900 nits. That is cannot contact the likes of Mini LED screens just like the TCL C845K, however does nearly beat the likes of its OLED competitors, the LG C3, and the Sony A80L.

Philips is leveraging loads of AI with its present silicon, and getting glorious outcomes. It is nicely price taking a deeper dive into this menu choice to get the very best from it.

Ambient Gentle Degree Optimization, which routinely adjusts the brightness of the show in keeping with room lighting circumstances, and Darkish Element Optimization, which extracts darker element when viewing in vivid ambient lighting circumstances, are highly effective instruments.bThere’s even the choice to optimise color temperature, once more by based mostly on ambient gentle.

Philips

I discovered Darkish Element Optimization to have probably the most pronounced impact when watching dimly lit scenes, equivalent to these which dominate Prime Video’s John Wick spinoff, The Continental.

Many sequences within the present are exceptionally darkly lit and troublesome to view in comparatively excessive ambient gentle. Darkish Element Optimization lifts textures and shapes from their surrounding backgrounds with out overly brightening the image.

As talked about, color vibrancy and replica are each distinctive, and there is a richness to the set’s presentation. Deep reds and nuanced blues particularly are spectacular with animated films.

Sound efficiency

Whereas the OLED808 lacks the refinement of Philips collaborations with Bowers & Wilkins in its flagship units, just like the OLED907+, it is nonetheless a surprisingly satisfying pay attention. The soundstage is generously proportioned and does not endure too closely from the dearth of directionality of its speaker complement.

The OLED808 could solely have a 2.1 speaker configuration, with a downward firing stereo pair, however it truly sounds excellent. For one factor, it performs loud with out overt distortion, because of 70W amplification. The model says it is taken nice pains to clean out the crossover between its stereo audio system and the devoted triple ring, rear-facing bass driver, and total, I would say it has been successful.

After all if you wish to make extra of Dolby Atmos-encoded TV reveals, then benefit from the eARC HDMI output, and bitstream to a appropriate soundbar or house cinema receiver.

Verdict

The Philips OLED808 is a slick and spectacular TV that hardly places a pedestal foot mistaken.

The razor skinny design is a head turner, and the inclusion of Ambilight will win it inside design kudos. The actual star of the present, although, is the mixture of OLED EX panel and AI enhanced image processing, which delivers some prime flight imagery.

The one vital draw back is the limitation of Excessive Body Fee HDMI throughout its 4 inputs. Having simply two 4K/120Hz-capable inputs is annoying sufficient, however shedding one in all these to eARC is a royal ache for largers setups.

Nonetheless, on the subject of the upper-mid vary 4K OLED market, you’ll battle to discover a better-rounded display screen, and it comes extremely really useful.