Sony A80J Series
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Brought this TV in Feb 2023 for over $2000, thought it would be quality product. Tv only had 1 year warranty. 2 1/2 years later we get a finger size dot appear on screen. Then 6 months later screen goes blank and now only comes up with 4 blinks of the status light. This light means there is a fault with 1 of the 3 board in tv. Contacted Sony, they… Read more
won't do anything, because it's out of warranty. I don't care what they say, it's sad that major manufactures are selling high end products with limited warranty. This leaves customers with no course of action. This TV has cost $700 dollars per year. Now on going to buy lower end product and if it breaks will buy another. Was told Sony make good products
Problems with snow/crackle – I bought this television on 4/3/2023 and I needed to return it within a week. The screen had snow and a crackle which seemed to me to be power supply problems. Harvey Norman was excellent with replacing it. I provided them with videos of the snow/crackle. The television worked fine again until about one week later when same thing happened. We were… Read more
waiting for the replacement. In between this week it also had a funny problem. Each day the television would turn the volume to maximum (painful) forcing a hasty search for the remotes. Harvey Norman replaced it today with a different Sony model. Now being electronics qualified I thought to check the power supply board (Arlec surge protected -looked good) and the cables. I haven't replaced the HDMI cables as there were no past problems. I also thought that the crackle was more power supply than cables. I have stepped back from OLED to the previous technology but stayed with Sony. The reason is their reputation for quality. I can see the difference in the technology but when the television starts to crackle you worry about what would result if this happens when the television is unattended. So, great customer service from Harvey Norman but watch this particular model.
- +3
Beautiful image, smooth interface, elegant design – Used as a monitor during the day (WFH) and occasionally as a TV at night when the missus is hogging the other TV outside. Design looks good as most OLEDs do, a slight trench just enough to squeeze a Philips Hue Lightstrip for some backlighting without resorting to the unreliable 3M strips. Image is beautiful, so typical OLED, blacks, bright,… Read more
sharp, excellent contrast.
Used in a dark room, artificial light overhead even during the day so it’s bright enough for my use.
The Google TV interface is nice, smooth and responsive, does occasionally come up with that HDMI error in Prime Video or Disney+, requiring a quick restart of the TV.
Audio is good for internal speakers, clear and wide, if you don’t need rumbling movie bass or don’t want to wake the household they are very much sufficient.
Remote is a bit of a let down, it’s the mushy TX520 unit, I replaced it with a TX900, fully compatible much nicer.
Mine is wall mounted so the stands have been stashed away can’t remember them, no comment.
Haven’t hooked up my console to it so nothing to share on that either.
Great TV, was around $1400 on eBay at one point, excellent buy at that price, I paid about $1700 three month earlier still a good buy.
Highly recommended!
SONY 55 A80J XR OLED SMART – Bought as a spare television. The television has had minimal use no more than a dozen times to watch a sport game or movie. 8 months later, this week it first upon switching on would turn off right away. Did this multiple times, ONLY for the television to then 'Completely cease to work'. Television is 'dead' doesn't turn on doesn't do… Read more
anything. This sounds like a 'major problem'. You don't expect to buy a reputable brand television from a reputable company such as Sony and spend $2,500 on a television for it to completely stop working within 8 months. Certainly has left a bitter taste purchasing Sony product ever again, especially as we have always purchased Sony. :)- Very disappointing coming from a Sony product. Sony would love to hear from you!
Gutted! – I was really excited to be in a position to buy an A80J in April this year, I'd wanted a Sony for a very long time. When it was installed I was over the moon, it was fantastic and having all my streaming services in one place was wonderful. Imagine my dismay when at exactly 10 weeks old the tv turned off 10 minutes after I turned it on. It took me… Read more
2 hours to restart and it had an error message on the top of the screen. I convinced myself it was a Google problem. Over the next two months the problem happened periodically until it wouldn't stay on and I approached Sony tech support. After all the troubleshooting steps I was passed over to the repair folk. Two weeks now since I was last able to watch TV and a week since I was told they'd ordered a new screen, 2 or 3 days to arrive. Unfortunately I'm a one TV household so watching TV on my phone is growing pretty old.
Was a Good TV – Sony A80J 55 OLED TV only 9 months old developed vertical red line on screen which would require a new panel (major problem). Retailer refused to replace the TV and have escalated it to the manufacturer. Show details
The most frustrating tv ever – I purchased this TV back in February 2022 paid maximum price just under $3000. Setup was easy enough. Channel editing was easy. Now, that where things get sketchy. All the High Definition channels are spectacular, but the minor channels are shocking (575i) 4k YouTube videos and 4k bluray are the best.. So much for upscaling, just doesn't work… Read more
(another Sony claims) I have an Xbox series X on it, its spectacular and works on 120hz with vrr. On the Google TV side, I like that but the tv's internal storage is a joke. I have added a 500gb hdd but I have to unplug it when it restart the TV otherwise it goes on a cycle and reboots 8 or more times, I'm sure that's not good for the TV. Now, the latest thing, I have a Bose sound system connected via optical cable. If I watch catch up TV (Freeview) and go back to TV I have no sound through the Bose. I have to unplug the 500gb hdd hit the restart button replug the hdd and I have sound. When I hit the instant app button on the remote sometimes the apps are there sometimes not. The sound is OK but nothing like Sony claims. When I change channels I have to turn the volume down. I just can't get even volume. So was this TV worth the money... NO! my first and probably last Sony TV. Oh don't get me started on the hdmi and USB plug locations. Samsung had the best idea "the one connect" I have added this paragraph since the first review. This is the 3rd time this has happened. The picture freezes for unknown reasons for maybe 5 seconds and the TV restarts, therefore I have to unplug the hard drive so it doesn't go into the cycle.. Just to add, 28th of June, YouTube app. For unknown reason YouTube signed me out. I go to sign back in click on my Google account next step its back to the TV. Go back into YouTube I'm not signed in. Doesn't matter what I do i just can't sign in. The actual yt app works but I have none of my preferences because I'm can't sign in.. I installed an app YouTube for smart tv and I can sign in, brilliant! And no ads.. Brilliant! BUT maximum resolution is 1080p.. Let's hope this is my last complaint. Another update, I ditched the optical cable and instead using the headphone socket too the Bose. The volume doesn't vary now. I have fixed the login problem as well.
Over priced and unreliable – Got it on wednesday and it failed to open any apps on thursday on Friday it wouldn't even show the TV cleared the cache and the data 3 times even reset it to factory settings and still nothing , rang Sony and they said the fault it has cant be fixed !!! be aware if you want to add a video recorder to it theres no fitting for it anymore aksu… Read more
limited ports if your going to buy this one just get the basic model there was not much difference in the picture quality at all
Great TV very pleased with purchase – Well it was all new to me, my last TV was an early model of smart TV so I did quite a bit of research. The reason I choose this TV was the reviews I read on the sound, it’s an OLED and other reasons. It was fairly easy to set up, looks and sounds great, I’m not using a sound bar as the sound from the TV set is really quite good. Overall I’m very pleased. Show details
Excellent upgrade for home TV viewing experience – Once big reason to go for Sony OLED is that it offers android google TV, unlike LG or Samsung. The user interface is so good with Sony. Bought this TV from the good guys back in December 2021. This is my first OLED tv, and it has really enhanced my TV viewing experience.
Great quality picture but the interface is laggy – The quality of the picture from this TV is very good (although it struggles so much in anything but extremely low light conditions), however, for some reason after about a week or two the whole interface began to be very laggy and no matter what system update nothing has helped. The TV is only a year old now and I'm so surprised to already have this kind of issue....TV wasn't cheap. Show details
Never Ever Again – Disgusting customer service. No support for any product that is not brand new. The only company that I sincerely believe thinks customers are expendable commodities that have no impact on their business. Do not deserve any support at all.
Cannot Fault Picture Quality or Audio, However……… – We decided to go premium and dive into the OLED end of the pool after reading a lot of reviews, comparing lesser brands and walking around a lot of showrooms. First 2 months things were going great, picture quality was outstanding as you would expect from this TV and after some fine tuning with the picture settings we got it to our liking. Audio… Read more
is also great so much so that it actually sounded better than the sound bar we had for our previous TV. This TV uses Google TV which also works well. One thing that annoyed me was the audio cutting off when the wireless headphones were plugged in, so many TVs allow you to have simultaneous audio to the TV speakers and headphones, it’s a pain having to constantly unplug the headphones all the time. The only was around this was to purchase a D/A converter and plug into the optical out to overcome this problem. This is a big oversight by Sony IMO. Had no problems with Wi-Fi connection or other inputs….enough for most situations I would think.
Now for the downside. After almost 90 days of enjoyment, turned the TV on to watch the tennis and much to our horror, a very bright vertical white line appeared about a third of the way across the screen from the LHS. It ran the full height of the screen, tried changing channel and to other inputs but it was still there. Unplugging and resetting the TV did not help, the line persisted.
Time to call Sony support, which to their credit, was answered by a human on a Saturday afternoon. I sent Sony photos of the issue, invoice copy etc and some 5 days later I received an email stating that the local service agent would be making contact with me. 3 days later I got a call from that agent and after some discussion and again sending them the photos, they concluded that it is a faulty panel and will need to order a new panel (I know LG make the panels so could be a delay there).
So here we are almost a month after the fault was first reported and we are still looking at that sometimes bright white, sometimes fading to almost invisible only to suddenly turn bright white again. Some other multicolored lines have also appeared next to the original line although nowhere near as bright but annoying nevertheless.
I understand parts are in short supply and freight is slow at the moment but I am beginning to wonder if we should be perhaps asking for a replacement unit if there is no end in sight and as stated, the TV was less than 90 days old when the fault appeared and cost $3.5K.
So I (we) have mixed feelings about this TV. If it hadn’t faulted then of course I would write a glowing review but now I am wondering if I had spent less on more mature LED technology and had no problems, would we be happy or would we be wondering should we have bought the OLED.
This is just our experience, hopefully the majority of ppl who bought this TV will get many years of viewing enjoyment out of their TV but unfortunately our OLED experience is off to a rocky start.
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Just installed it today – got this instead of the recommended LG C1 65" OLED because that was selling like hotcakes for Black Friday, out of stock, and they couldn't guarantee delivery before xmas (4 weeks away) - so the third shop we tried offered us this as a better deal, came down from nearly $3500+delivery to $3000 including delivery, and had one to deliver in two… Read more
days on Monday - supposedly a better TV for $100 more - so OK !
supposedly better sound as speakers behind panel r.t. bottom edge better for wall mount, and comes with Chromecast (not sure if we have to pay for that yet) - otherwise same OLED panel made by LG apparently and picture I'd seen reviewed pretty much as a 'twin'.
so what to say - careful of the thin top panel, we set it on the provided table-top stand (2 pieces) at first so we could safely plug in the cables before fitting the TV onto our existing wall mount in our narrow wall space between cupboards - only to later find we couldn't just pull out the stand legs because they felt 'locked' in - WTH!?!?!?
google ... said insert flat screwdriver into slot and lever out - huh ? Where in the 150mm x 30mm 'slot' exactly ???
And it says you need 3 people - 2 to lift the TV and 1 to poke underneath - hmmm. Great.
So - having only 2 people, we lifted the TV onto a padded chair in the middle - I poked around under the legs/stand and found - yeah the nub sticking out from the stand - just has to be levered out with the screwdriver, then it's free - wow, that was confusingly explained - better would be to say to lever the stand out via the boss on the side of the stand piece. The other scary part of the poor confusing explanation was to tape over the screwdriver so it doesn't damage (Break!?!?!) the screen - WTH !?!?!?
So - more specific explanation needed there.
TV picture quality - after our dead 50" plasma - wow - so many wrinkles ! I didn't know those talking heads presenters were so ugly !
Oh - main problem I had - compared to the sturdy bolts that we used to secure our previous Panasonic 50" plasma to the wall mount, the SONY came with tiny screws that just didn't look sufficient - see https://photos.app.goo.gl/2oYkXMesmWtuM6QC8 - the left big one is from the Panasonic, the middle one is the tiny one that came with the SONY - after washer, wall mount metal, and gap in the TV before the thread started, I counted about 4 threads to hold 25kg of TV - maybe enough but I didn't like it so made 2 special trips to Bunnings to get the one on the right with much more meat on it - FYI this one - https://www.bunnings.com.au/zenith-m6-x-20mm-316-stainless-steel-round-head-bolt-and-nut-6-pack_p2310741 - so if feel the same way, you're welcome.
[update] after investigation of why plugging in headphones to the audio 3.5mm socket turned off the TV speakers, I found this is a 'feature not a bug' - so have now ordered on ebay a 'digital audio out' converter and cable hoping it will enable me to leave the headphone cable plugged in without it disconnecting the main speakers. Reason I want it - a) Bluetooth lag - lips move 1/5 seconds before the sound comes out of my Bluetooth speakers - at 8 words a second, that 1.5 words behind the lip-not-synch - annoying; and b) channel nine 60 minutes audio via Bluetooth was so bass-boomy at even the lowest volume I could hear the speech, that I feared losing my hearing - so I want to try wired rather than wireless headphones to see if the equalisation is better.
No doubt best Tv ever – I finally got the tv that I believe is the best Oled tv in that price range, Firstly I bought an LG nano Cell not a bad tv , but I wasn't impressed with the level of black and contrast , I replaced the LG with the Sony oled A80j , I understand it's a different type of tv , but I'm so glad I did it , the Sony it's a fantastic tv , best picture and… Read more
sound , if I have to find I small difect I would say been an oled sometimes it can be slightly dark , in dark scenes , but nothing to be worry about,
Best TV I've owned – I researched for weeks before settling on the A80J. Glad I did. Black blacks. White whites. Beautiful gradient colours. Very impressed. Yes expensive but you get what you pay for. Show details
Worst tv I've ever owned – Sony tv has had issues from the day we opened the box. Usbs will not play, no matter what format its in, customer support told us to download vlc media player for it, so we did and while it plays the videos on our usb through vlc, every time we do, it forces netflix, youtube and other streaming services to stop working altogether. The tv doesn't… Read more
read external hard drives either, doesn't matter the format. Using a USB is one of the most basic, simple tasks a tv can do and neither one of our 2 sony tvs work with usbs. The only fix to this is if we hard shutdown the tv, let it stand for 10 minutes before opening it again and then streaming works....until we want to watch a video on a USB again.. (the Sony bravia actually exploded when trying to use the usb). It is slow to respond and the remote control decides when the power button will and won't work with absolutely no reasoning for it not to work. I've owned many tvs in my time, including cheap Chinese tvs and each of them have worked exponentially better than both of my Sony tvs ever have, without any of the issues and lasted far more many years longer. I will never purchase another Sony tv in my life and will recommend anyone else to stay far away from them.
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