- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Differences
- Compared To Others
- Video
- Test Results
- Retailers
- Deals
- Discussions
The Sony A80J OLED is a high-end OLED TV. It sits below the Sony A90J OLED in Sony's 2021 lineup, and although there are a few drawbacks compared to the higher-end model, like worse HDR peak brightness, it still delivers stunning picture quality, especially in dark rooms. OLEDs can turn off individual pixels, resulting in a near-infinite contrast ratio with no blooming around bright objects. Sadly, the main downside to owning an OLED is the risk of permanent burn-in if exposed to static elements over a long period. It comes with the new Google TV as its smart platform, which is pretty much a redesigned version of Android TV and has a ton of apps you can download. It has HDMI 2.1 inputs for high-frame-rate 4k gaming, and it has variable refresh rate (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing, but it doesn't support FreeSync.
Our Verdict
The Sony A80J is excellent overall. It's fantastic for watching movies in dark rooms because it has a near-infinite contrast ratio that produces deep blacks, and there's no blooming around bright objects. HDR content looks amazing because of its deep blacks, and it displays a wide color gamut, but its HDR brightness is just okay. It's also excellent for watching sports due to its near-instantaneous response time, and it's fantastic for gaming as it has HDMI 2.1 inputs. It's impressive to use as a PC monitor, but you risk damaging the screen with burn-in after exposure to static elements.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio.
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Image stays accurate at wide viewing angles.
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Near-instantaneous response time for smooth motion.
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OLEDs are prone to permanent burn-in.
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Doesn't get bright enough to fight intense glare.
The Sony A80J is a fantastic TV for watching movies in a dark room. It can display perfect blacks with no blooming thanks to its near-infinite contrast ratio, ideal for watching movies in a dark room. It also has no problems upscaling lower resolution content, and it removes 24p judder from any source. Due to its fast response time, however, low frame rate content appears to stutter.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio.
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Removes 24p judder from any source.
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No issues upscaling lower resolution content.
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Low frame rate content appears to stutter.
The Sony A80J is great for watching TV shows in a bright room. It upscales lower resolution content well, and it has wide viewing angles, so the image stays accurate from the sides. It also has a semi-gloss finish with incredible reflection handling, meaning glare won't be an issue in a room with a few lights around, but it's not bright enough to fight intense glare, like if you place the TV opposite a window with direct sunlight.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio.
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Image stays accurate at wide viewing angles.
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Incredible reflection handling.
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No issues upscaling lower resolution content.
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OLEDs are prone to permanent burn-in.
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Doesn't get bright enough to fight intense glare.
The Sony A80J is excellent for watching sports. It has a near-instantaneous response time, so fast-moving sports look exceptionally clear. It also has wide viewing angles, which is great for watching with a group, and there's almost no dirty screen effect in the center. Unfortunately, its brightness is just okay, so it struggles with very intense light sources, but it still has fantastic reflection handling if you have some lights in the room.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio.
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Image stays accurate at wide viewing angles.
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Near-instantaneous response time for smooth motion.
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Incredible reflection handling.
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OLEDs are prone to permanent burn-in.
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Doesn't get bright enough to fight intense glare.
The Sony A80J is fantastic for playing video games. It has a near-instantaneous response time for smooth motion, and its input lag is objectively low, but not as low as some other TVs. It has two HDMI 2.1 ports for 4k @ 120Hz gaming, and it also has VRR support after a firmware update to reduce screen tearing. Also, its near-infinite contrast ratio can produce deep inky blacks, which is great for dark room gaming.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio.
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Near-instantaneous response time for smooth motion.
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Low input lag.
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Two HDMI 2.1 ports.
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VRR and ALLM support after firmware update.
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OLEDs are prone to permanent burn-in.
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No FreeSync support.
The Sony A80J is excellent for watching movies in HDR. While its HDR brightness is only okay, it still delivers an impressive HDR experience thanks to its near-infinite contrast ratio and wide color gamut. It can produce perfect blacks with no visible blooming, and it has no issues upscaling lower resolution content. Unfortunately, low frame rate content appears to stutter due to the TV's fast response time.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio.
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Wide color gamut.
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No issues upscaling lower resolution content.
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Low frame rate content appears to stutter.
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Can't hit the brightest highlights in HDR.
The Sony A80J is amazing for HDR gaming. It delivers a smooth and responsive gaming experience thanks to its near-instantaneous response time and relatively low input lag. It also has a near-infinite contrast ratio for deep, uniform blacks. Although it only has okay HDR brightness, HDR content still looks amazing due to its near-infinite contrast and wide color gamut.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio.
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Near-instantaneous response time for smooth motion.
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Wide color gamut.
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Low input lag.
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Two HDMI 2.1 ports.
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VRR and ALLM support after firmware update.
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OLEDs are prone to permanent burn-in.
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No FreeSync support.
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Can't hit the brightest highlights in HDR.
The Sony A80J is a great TV to use as a PC monitor. It can display proper chroma 4:4:4, which is important for text clarity. Unfortunately, we had some issues displaying 1440p signals. Also, it's susceptible to permanent burn-in with static elements like a desktop interface, but we don't expect it to be an issue for those who watch varied content. It has wide viewing angles, meaning the image remains accurate no matter where you sit.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio.
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Near-instantaneous response time for smooth motion.
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Low input lag.
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Displays proper chroma 4:4:4.
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VRR and ALLM support after firmware update.
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OLEDs are prone to permanent burn-in.
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No FreeSync support.
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Issues displaying a 1440p resolution.
- 8.8 Mixed Usage
- 9.4 Movies
- 8.1 TV Shows
- 8.5 Sports
- 9.2 Video Games
- 8.9 HDR Movies
- 9.0 HDR Gaming
- 8.6 PC Monitor
- Updated Nov 17, 2022: We uploaded the initial brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Aug 30, 2022: Retested 1080p VRR range to see if there were still the same issues with latest firmware.
- Updated Aug 05, 2022: We updated the local dimming text to be more technically accurate and removed mention of the backlight, as OLED panels are self-emissive and don't have a backlight.
- Updated Aug 04, 2022: Updated to Test Bench 1.8, adding a new box for PQ EOTF tracking and updating our Color Volume and Color Gamut tests to better reflect real world usage. You can see our full changelog here.
- Updated Jul 14, 2022: Updated to Test Bench 1.7 with an updated HDR Brightness test that better reflects real world usage. We've also split the console compatibility boxes into separate PS5 Compatibility and Xbox Series X|S Compatibility tests. You can see our full changelog here.
- Updated May 06, 2022: We changed the subtype from WRGB to WOLED as it's more accurate and more consistent with other TVs.
- Updated Mar 04, 2022: Checked for VRR support after latest firmware update.
- Updated Nov 19, 2021: Updated review for accuracy and clarity.
- Updated May 19, 2021: Review published.
- Updated May 14, 2021: Early access published.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55 inch Sony A80J (XR55A80J), which is also available in 65 inch (XR65A80J) and 77 inch (XR77A80J) sizes. For the most part, we expect our results to be valid for those models as well. That said, we've seen some reports that the 77 inch screen has a glossy finish, more typical of other OLEDs, instead of the semi-gloss coating seen on our 55 inch model. Additionally, the A80J is sold as the A80CJ at Costco, but only the 65 and 77 inch models.
| Size | Panel | Model | Costco | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55" | OLED | XR-55A80J | - | Semi-gloss finish |
| 65" | OLED | XR-65A80J | XR65A80CJ | Semi-gloss finish |
| 77" | OLED | XR-77A80J | XR77A80CJ | Glossy finish |
If you come across a different type of panel or your Sony A80J doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we’ll update it. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
Our unit was manufactured in April 2021, and you can see the label here.
Compared To Other TVs
The Sony A80J is an excellent all-around TV with many features and stunning picture quality, thanks to its OLED panel. It performs very similarly to the Sony A90J OLED, except it lacks the XR OLED Contrast Pro heatsink that allows the A90J to hit very high peaks of brightness in HDR, and it's available in a 77 inch size as opposed to an 83 inch.
For more options, see our recommendations for the best OLED TVs, the best movie TVs, and the best TVs on the market.
The Sony A80K OLED and the Sony A80J OLED are extremely similar TVs with the same features. The A80K downgrades in a few areas, like the brightness, and the built-in speakers are worse. However, the A80K also has a wider 1080p VRR range. Overall, deciding between these two TVs comes down to which you can find for cheaper because they're so similar.
The LG C2 OLED is a bit better than the Sony A80J for most users. The LG is a bit brighter, especially when displaying small, bright highlights in dark scenes. The LG also has better reflection handling, with a glossy finish that reduces the intensity of bright lights. On the other hand, the Sony has much better processing, with better gradient handling and better tone mapping, so it's a better choice if you're a movie buff and care about an accurate picture, especially in HDR.
The Sony A80J OLED and the LG C1 OLED are amazing TVs capable of turning pixels off individually to produce deep inky blacks with a near-infinite contrast ratio. You can't go wrong with either, but they do have some differences. The LG offers a bit more for gamers, with two more HDMI 2.1 ports than the Sony and it has lower input lag. The Sony, however, has better out-of-the-box accuracy, although this can vary from unit to unit.
The Sony A80J OLED and the Sony A90J OLED are very similar TVs overall, and both offer stunning picture quality in a premium, well-built package. That said, the A90J uses Sony's new heatsink technology, which allows it to get brighter in HDR, although the difference is relatively small. The A90J also has a better remote with motion-activated backlighting. The other big difference is that the A90J is available in 55, 65, and 83 inch sizes, while the A80J is available in 55, 65, and 77 inch sizes. If none of these are dealbreakers, the A80J is still an excellent choice that performs about the same as its more expensive sibling.
The Sony A80J OLED replaces the Sony A8H OLED in 2021, and while the two perform similarly, the A80J has a few upgrades that give it a slight edge. The biggest is the addition of two HDMI 2.1 ports, which is great for PS5 or Xbox Series X owners, and the A80J also has VRR support. If you want a bigger screen, the A80J is also available in a larger 77 inch size. That said, they both offer stunning picture quality, and the A8H gets a bit brighter overall in both SDR and HDR.
The Sony A80J OLED is better overall than the Sony X90J, mostly because it uses an OLED panel and can produce perfect blacks with no visible blooming. It also has a faster response time and wider viewing angles, making it a better option for video games and sports. However, if you're worried about permanent burn-in, the X90J is a great all-around TV with a fantastic contrast ratio, and it gets significantly brighter.
The Samsung QN90A QLED and the Sony A80J OLED use different panel types, but both offer amazing performance. The Sony is an OLED with a near-infinite contrast ratio, while the Samsung has a VA panel, so its native contrast is more limited. The Samsung uses Mini LED backlighting, and its local dimming feature allows it to produce exceptionally deep blacks. You may, however, notice a bit of blooming, especially when viewing off-angle, whereas the Sony has no visible blooming. The biggest advantage the Samsung has over the Sony is that it gets exceptionally bright, so it's better for bright rooms and can bring out more highlights in HDR.
The LG G1 OLED and the Sony A80J OLED are both excellent TVs with a few differences. The LG has more gaming features like lower input lag. The LG has the new evo panel, allowing it to get brighter in HDR, but the Sony still gets a bit brighter in SDR. They're built differently as the LG is meant to sit flush against a wall and comes with a dedicated wall mount, while the Sony is a more typical TV that comes with a stand.
The Sony A80J OLED and the Sony X95J use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses. The A80J uses an OLED panel, which delivers true inky blacks with perfect black uniformity, whereas the X95J uses an LED backlight. The X95J is a lot brighter, but the A80J has better dark room performance, better uniformity, and better viewing angles. The A80J also has a nearly instantaneous response time, so it's a better choice for gamers.
The LG CX OLED and the Sony A80J OLED are top-of-the-class OLED TVs with near-infinite contrast ratios and premium features. That said, the LG is a better choice for gamers since it has lower input lag. The LG also gets a bit brighter overall.
The LG B1 OLED and the Sony A80J OLED are both excellent TVs with a few differences. The LG is better for gaming because it has lower input lag. On the other hand, the Sony is slightly better for watching HDR content because it gets brighter and has better color accuracy, but this can vary between units. Overall, the differences between them are minor as most OLEDs deliver the same exceptional picture quality.
The Sony A80J OLED and the Hisense U8G use different panel technologies, each with advantages and disadvantages. The Sony uses an OLED panel, which delivers a much better dark room experience, with perfect blacks and no blooming. The Sony also has much better viewing angles. Unfortunately, though, the Sony comes with a risk of permanent burn-in when exposed to static content. On the other hand, the Hisense is much brighter, and it supports the latest gaming features, including two HDMI 2.1 ports and support for a variable refresh rate.
The Sony A80J OLED and the Sony A9G OLED are excellent TVs capable of completely turning off individual pixels to produce perfect blacks. That said, the A80J is a newer model with improved features and performance, particularly when it comes to peak brightness, as well as having a different processor. The A80J also has two HDMI 2.1 ports, less input lag, and has VRR support.
The Sony A80J OLED is better overall than the Sony X950H, but they use different panel types. The X950H has a VA panel, and while its contrast ratio is excellent, it doesn't compare with the near-infinite contrast of the A80J. The A80J also has wider viewing angles and a nearly instantaneous response time for smoother motion. To top it off, it's a better option for gamers since it comes with two HDMI 2.1 ports and has VRR support after a firmware update.
The Sony A80J OLED and the LG B2 OLED are similar TVs. If you only watch movies and shows in dark rooms, the Sony delivers better overall picture quality as it has better gradient handling and gets brighter in HDR. However, if you want something to use in a bright room, the LG is the better choice, and it also has better overall gaming performance if you're a gamer.
The LG G2 OLED and the Sony A80J OLED deliver very similar picture quality overall, but the LG is a bit better for most users. The LG is a bit brighter in SDR and a lot brighter in HDR, so bright highlights stand out a bit better. On the other hand, the Sony TV has better processing, with better tone mapping and smoother gradients, so it's a bit better for cinephiles. There's also a big design difference between them, as the Sony comes with a stand, whereas the LG is designed to be wall-mounted and doesn't include one.
The Sony A80J OLED is better than the Sony X900H, mostly thanks to its OLED panel and near-infinite contrast ratio. The X900H is still a great TV, with a high contrast ratio and higher brightness than the A80J. It's a good option if you're worried about permanent burn-in with OLEDs. That said, the A80J has a faster response time, wider viewing angles, wider color gamut, and generally outperforms the X900H.
The Sony A80J OLED and the LG GX OLED are excellent TVs with OLED panels that can individually turn off pixels and produce perfect blacks. They especially differ in design, as the LG has a unique 'gallery' design with an exceptionally thin profile intended to be wall-mounted. The LG gets a bit brighter in HDR and has a bit less input lag for gaming or PC use, but the Sony has better out-of-the-box accuracy.
Video
Test Results
The design is similar to the Sony A90J OLED, except for the back panel, which features a grid-like pattern. It's a sleek TV that should stand out in any living room.
The stand has three different setup positions. The standard position lets the TV sit closer to the table. There's a narrow position for smaller tables, and finally, a soundbar position that raises the TV to give you space for a soundbar in front.
Footprint of the 55 inch stand:
- Standard position: 41" (W) x 13" (D)
- Soundbar position: 41" (W) x 13" (D) x 2.71" (H)
- Narrow position: 27.3" (W) x 13" (D)
The panel and feet are made of metal, while the rest of the back is textured plastic with diagonal grooves in a grid pattern. It looks good, but aside from the cable tie included in the box, which we didn't use, there's no cable management. Unlike the Sony A8H OLED, the power cable is detachable.
The actual border is the same thickness as the border on the Sony A90J OLED, but it looks bigger on the Sony A80J because it has thicker physical bezels.
The Sony A80J is thin and should look great mounted on a wall, although not all inputs are side-facing and may be harder to reach when wall-mounted.
When it comes to build quality, the Sony A80CJ feels superb. The materials feel premium, and it's very sturdy with no wobble. There's a bit of flex to the plastic back, mostly on the sides, but overall it feels very solidly put together.
Thanks to its self-lit pixels, the Sony A80J has a near-infinite contrast ratio with perfect black levels. It's ideal for watching movies in dark rooms.
The SDR brightness is okay and is on par with other OLEDs. It even measured a little higher in real scenes than the Sony A90J OLED; however, the difference between the two is small. It has an aggressive Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL), which causes large areas to be less dim, and this could be distracting while watching sports like hockey. Overall, it performs well in moderate lighting conditions but isn't bright enough to fight glare in really bright rooms.
We measured SDR brightness after calibration, using the ‘Custom’ Picture Mode, with the ‘Expert 1’ Color Temperature, Peak Luminance set to ‘High’, and Brightness at its max.
We also tested the brightness with Peak Luminance turned off and measured the following:
- Peak 2% Window: 126 cd/m²
- Peak 10% Window: 132 cd/m²
- Peak 25% Window: 132 cd/m²
- Peak 50% Window: 132 cd/m²
- Peak 100% Window: 131 cd/m²
- Sustained 2% Window: 124 cd/m²
- Sustained 10% Window: 129 cd/m²
- Sustained 25% Window: 129 cd/m²
- Sustained 50% Window: 129 cd/m²
- Sustained 100% Window: 129 cd/m²
As you can see, it's a lot dimmer, so we recommend leaving Peak Luminance enabled. However, if the ABL bothers you, it would be best to disable Peak Luminance because brightness doesn't vary between different scenes.
To get the brightest possible image at the expense of accuracy, set the Picture Mode to ‘Vivid’, then set Advanced Contrast Enhancer to 'High', Peak Luminance to ‘High’, Brightness and Contrast at their max, Color Temperature to 'Cool', and Live Color to 'High'. We were able to hit 726 nits in the 2% window using these settings.
The Sony A80J doesn't have a backlight, but thanks to its near-infinite contrast ratio, it's equivalent to a perfect local dimming feature. There's no blooming around bright objects in dark scenes, and bright white pixels are displayed perfectly even if they're surrounded by black pixels. We still film these videos on the TV, so you can see how it performs and compare it with a TV that has local dimming.
There's no difference in dark scene behavior between the calibrated picture modes and 'Game' mode.
The Sony A80J OLED has okay HDR brightness, but it's still good for an OLED. The EOTF follows the target well until it rolls off at higher brightness levels. As with SDR, there's a lot of variation in brightness across different scenes, in part due to the aggressive ABL. Scenes with small highlights get very bright, but dim more with larger areas of brightness. HDR content should still pop, but it may not be able to bring out the brightest highlights.
We measured HDR brightness before calibration in the 'Custom' Picture Mode, with Brightness set to max, Contrast at '90', Color Temperature set to 'Expert 1', and HDR Tone Mapping set to 'Gradation Preferred'.
We also took measurements using the Brightness Preferred setting enabled, and another measurement with Peak Luminance disabled, and got the following:
| Test Window | Brightness Preferred On | Peak Luminance Off |
| Peak 2% | 874 cd/m² | 144 cd/m² |
| Peak 10% | 733 cd/m² | 147 cd/m² |
| Peak 25% | 494 cd/m² | 146 cd/m² |
| Peak 50% | 295 cd/m² | 146 cd/m² |
| Peak 100% | 157 cd/m² | 145 cd/m² |
| Sustained 2% | 757 cd/m² | 143 cd/m² |
| Sustained10% | 672 cd/m² | 146 cd/m² |
| Sustained 25% | 479 cd/m² | 145 cd/m² |
| Sustained 50% | 293 cd/m² | 144 cd/m² |
| Sustained 100% | 153 cd/m² | 144 cd/m² |
| EOTF | Chart | Chart |
The Brightness Preferred setting helps increase the EOTF, but it doesn't change the peak luminance. Just like in SDR, turning Peak Luminance off dims the image significantly, so we recommend keeping it on.
The brightest image we achieved was 962 nits in the 2% window, using 'Vivid' mode, with Brightness and Contrast at max, Advanced Contrast Enhancer set to 'High',Peak Luminance at ‘High’, Color Temperature set to 'Cool', and Live Color set to 'High'.
In Game Mode, the HDR brightness is about the same as outside of Game Mode. For the most part, the difference is hardly noticeable, although real scenes appear slightly dimmer.
We measured this using the same settings, only in the 'Game' Picture Mode.
Gradients look fantastic on the Sony A80J, with very little visible banding aside from a bit in the grays and greens. If you notice banding, enabling Smooth Gradation can help even out gradients, although you may lose some fine details.
The Sony A80J has excellent gray uniformity, although this can vary between units. The screen looks very uniform with practically no dirty screen effect, and we didn't notice any banding or issues in near-dark scenes, which can sometimes occur on OLEDs with more extensive use over time.
Note: A few owners have reported seeing a grid-like pattern on their TV in uniform scenes. It's usually not noticeable with real content, but this is a manufacturing defect; if you see it on yours, you should exchange it.
Like all OLEDs, the Sony A80J can completely turn off individual pixels to achieve perfect black uniformity, with no visible blooming around bright objects. As OLEDs have perfect black uniformity, there's no variation between individual units.
The Sony A80J has great viewing angles, but they're not quite as good as the LG A1 OLED. The image stays accurate from the sides, which is great for accommodating more people or wide seating arrangements.
The Sony A80J has a slightly matte finish, unlike the Sony A90J OLED. The reflections are duller but more widely diffused than on a typical glossy screen. The reflection handling is still superb overall, meaning glare won't be an issue in most rooms, but placing it directly opposite a window or light source isn't a good idea because it doesn't get bright. Note that we've seen reports that the 77 inch version has a glossy finish, which handles light differently.
The out-of-the-box accuracy is excellent. The white balance and color inaccuracies are minor and are hard to spot with the naked eye. Gamma is great too, but it doesn't follow the 2.2 target well with some bright scenes, so a few scenes are either over-brightened or too dark. Also, its color temperature is on the cold side, giving the image a blue tint. Out-of-the-box accuracy can vary between units, but it's rarely an issue on Sony TVs.
The Sony A80J has fantastic accuracy after calibration. The white balance, gamma, and color temperature are all nearly perfect, and while there are some slight inaccuracies with a few colors, it's not noticeable at all.
You can see our recommended settings here.
1080p content, like Blu-ray movies, looks good with no upscaling artifacts.
The Sony A80J has a WRGB sub-pixel layout, like other OLED TVs. All four are never on at the same time, but you can see some of the blue sub-pixels lit up in this photo.
The Sony A80J has an excellent color gamut, considered wide for HDR content by our testing criteria. It has full coverage of the DCI P3 color space used in most HDR content and decent coverage of the wider Rec. 2020.
The color volume is decent. It has trouble with colors at higher luminance levels due to its limited brightness, but it can display dark saturated colors well.
There's a slight amount of temporary image retention, but only immediately after displaying a high contrast image for ten minutes, and it fades quickly. This test is only indicative of short-term image retention and not the permanent burn-in that may occur with longer exposure to static images. It can also vary between individual units.
Like all OLED TVs, the Sony A80J is susceptible to permanent burn-in, which can happen with constant exposure to static elements like a channel logo or desktop interface. However, we don't expect it to be an issue for most people who watch varied content, and there are built-in features to minimize the risk, including Pixel Shift and Panel Refresh. You can read more about those here.
The Sony A80J has a near-instantaneous response time, like other OLED TVs. Motion looks exceptionally clear with minimal blur trail behind fast-moving objects. However, we noticed that the A80J overshoots and then dips back more quickly in darker transitions than the Sony A90J OLED; however, this isn't noticeable.
The Sony A80J isn't completely flicker-free; the slight dip in brightness you see in the chart every 8ms is due to the TV's 120Hz refresh rate, which isn't noticeable.
The Sony A80CJ has a black frame insertion feature to try to improve the appearance of motion. It can flicker at 60Hz or 120Hz; the photo above is with the 60Hz flicker, and you can see the 120Hz flicker here. The BFI scoring is based on the frequencies at which it flickers and not the actual performance.
The Sony A80J has a motion interpolation feature to interpolate 30 or 60 fps content to a higher frame rate. Like most other TVs, it works well with slow-paced content and smooths out movement, but it struggles to keep up with fast-paced scenes. There are artifacts with fast-moving objects, but there isn't much haloing, which is good.
As the TV has a near-instantaneous response time, lower-frame-rate content appears to stutter because each frame is held on longer. If this bothers you, try enabling the motion interpolation feature.
The Sony A80CJ removes 24p judder from any source, which helps with the appearance of motion in movies. There are different settings needed for native apps and 60p/i sources, which you can learn about here.
Update 08/30/2022: With firmware version PKG6.5942.0698NAA released in July 2022, there aren't any issues with 1080p signals using VRR below 120 fps. There were some issues with the screen going black before this firmware version, so if you notice anything, just make sure to update the TV to the latest firmware.
Update 03/04/2022: Sony released an update to include VRR support with firmware PKG6.5660.0668NAA.
The Sony A80J has VRR support after a firmware update, and it performs like the VRR support on the Sony A90J OLED. It works without issue on the Xbox Series X for a tear-free gaming experience. However, it doesn't support FreeSync at all, and because the Xbox Series X supports both HDMI Forum VRR and FreeSync, it's confirmed that it supports HDMI Forum VRR natively.
It's also G-SYNC compatible, but there are some issues with it. It's tear-free with 4k @ 120Hz signals from the NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card, but the screen flickered black at times like the A90J. Still, there wasn't any screen tearing in Destiny 2 with a 4k @ 120Hz signal, so it does its job at reducing screen tearing when it works properly. If you want a TV with better VRR implementation, then look into the Sony A80K OLED.
Update 03/04/2022: Sony released an update to include VRR support with firmware PKG6.5660.0668NAA. However, like other TVs, we couldn't get proper VRR input lag readings because the TV kept crashing. We experienced the same issue with the Sony A90J OLED, and we're looking into it.
The Sony A80J has objectively low input lag, but it's not as good as some other gaming TVs like the LG C1 OLED. You won't notice any delay, but it's not ideal for competitive gaming, especially at 60Hz. 1440p @ 60Hz is a bit higher than 1080p or 4k @ 60Hz, but as explained in the Supported Resolutions section, we had to force a 1440p signal, whereas other formats are natively supported, which might explain the slight increase in input lag.
The Sony A80CJ supports most resolutions, including proper 4k @ 120Hz. However, we couldn't get 1440p to work properly. First off, it can't display 1440p @ 120Hz, just like the Sony A90J OLED. Then, when forcing 1440p @ 60Hz, it downscaled from 4k with a black border that couldn't be removed or adjusted because the screen settings were grayed out. We retried it a few days later and could force a proper 1440p signal, although it only allowed for RGB output. Despite that, it still displayed proper chroma 4:4:4. It also displays chroma 4:4:4 with 1080p and 4k signals.
Update 03/04/2022: After a firmware up to version PKG6.5660.0668NAA, the Sony A80J now supports both VRR and ALLM with the Xbox Series X.
The Sony A80J supports most resolutions on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. It can't do 4k @ 120Hz on the Xbox while 'Enhanced Format (Dolby Vision)' is enabled, so you either have to choose between 4k @ 120Hz games without Dolby Vision or 4k @ 60Hz with it.
The Sony A80CJ has two HDMI 2.1 ports, but HDMI 3 is also the eARC port, so if you have both an Xbox Series X and a PS5, you may have to give up one of the HDMI 2.1 ports for audio passthrough.
To enable eARC, set Speakers to 'Audio System', turn on eARC Mode, and then set Digital Audio Out to 'Auto 1' and Passthrough to 'Auto'.
The Sony A80J has good built-in speakers, noticeably better than the Sony A90J OLED, especially concerning bass, which sounds significantly punchier. Overall, the sound profile is well balanced, so dialogue sounds clear.
There's a lot of distortion at the TV's max volume, but it's much better at moderate volume levels. However, distortion depends on the content, and not everyone can hear it.
Like the Sony A90J OLED and other 2021 Sony TVs, the A80J runs on Google TV, which replaces Android TV. It's a little more streamlined than Android, and it runs very smoothly. We didn't experience any bugs while using it, either.
Google TV includes ads on the home page and app store. While you can opt-out of ad personalization, you can't opt-out of getting ads or suggested content.
The app store has a wide range of apps available to download.
The Sony A80J comes with a similar remote to the Sony A90J OLED, but it doesn't have backlighting and comes in a black finish instead of silver. It has shortcut keys, and you can use it as a universal remote, although this feature depends on the device and region. We got it to work with the PS5, but not our Blu-ray player, for instance. It works with the Android TV Remote app, and you can use its voice command feature to change inputs and volume, adjust certain settings, and search within apps.
