- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Design
- Picture Quality
- Motion
- Inputs
- Sound Quality
- Smart Features
- Sizes and Variants
- Compared
- Conclusion
- Discussions
Sony A8F OLED
TV REVIEW
The Sony A8F is a 2018 4k OLED TV with excellent performance for a variety of different usages. It has excellent picture quality, with perfectly deep blacks that looks impressive in a dark room. Motion handling is excellent due to the instantaneous response time, but this lack of blur can make low frame rate content appear choppy. Like the Sony A1E and other OLED TVs, it isn't perfect as the brightness changes depending on screen content and there may be risk of burn-in with static content.
- Excellent dark room performance
- Instantaneous response time
- Accurate image even when viewed at an angle
- May be a risk of permanent burn-in (see here)
- 1080p input lag is mediocre
| Design | 9.5 |
| Picture Quality | 8.7 |
| Motion | 8.8 |
| Inputs | 8.1 |
| Sound Quality | 7.4 |
| Smart Features | 8.0 |
Update 6/12/2018: It turns out 1080p @ 120 Hz is possible, when the Xbox's connection type is changed from Auto-detect (Recommended) to HDMI, but unfortunately in this mode 4k and HDR aren't supported.
Update 6/11/2018: Dolby Vision support has been added as of firmware (PKG6.5603.0175NAA); the scores have been updated. Also a note for Xbox One X and Xbox One S owners: 120 Hz from the Xbox will not work with this TV (and all 2018/2017 Sony's we've tested), because the TV requires a forced resolution for 120 Hz to be displayed.
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Design
The Sony A8F OLED TV is extremely well designed. The stand has a very small footprint and fits well in any decor. The TV is well built and there are no obvious gaps or loose panels. The TV has a very small frame and delivers an immersive viewing experience, especially when wall mounted.
The stand has a very small footprint and will fit on most tables. The stand adds very little height to the TV. There are two small rubber spacers (not shown) that add stability, but don't necessarily need to be on the table.
The design of the stand is significantly changed from the A1E. It takes up less space and the TV does not tilt as much.
Footprint of the 55" TV stand: 15.4" x 10.0"
The back of the TV is very clean. There are plastic panels that cover all of the bolts and connections and provide cable management.
The Sony A8F is thin but slightly thicker than the LG C8. The electronics are more spread out over the back of the TV and it is more uniform. The screen seems to be better supported by the frame than on the C8.
Picture Quality
The Sony A8F OLED TV produces excellent picture quality. It is able to produce true blacks and infinite contrast ratio, which combined with the perfect black uniformity, makes for excellent dark room performance. Can produce bright highlights and although the whole screen can't get that bright, it should be good enough to combat glare in most rooms. Color accuracy is good out of the box, and most people won't need to calibrate their set. It also has an excellent wide color gamut. It is prone to temporary image retention and could experience permanent burn-in, although we don't expect most people to experience this.
Good peak brightness with SDR content. Screen brightness varies depending on the content on screen due to the TV's ABL. The LG C8 is slightly brighter in most scenes due to the less aggressive ABL. The A8F is a little bit brighter than the A1E, but it is not a significant difference.
ABL on the A8 can be disabled by setting 'Peak Brightness' to Off, in which case the TV's brightness is constant at ~110 cd/m² regardless of content. This could be useful if watching TV in a dark room and you don't want the screen brightness to fluctuate or for PC use.
Update 02/27/2018: Retested the brightness using a PC as the source, so we can automate testing; previously we were using a Samsung K8500 Blu-ray player as the source, but we found that it was sending a brighter signal than a PC (perhaps by sending 'brighter than white' stimuli). The A8F was retested with the PC as the source, and treated this signal differently, causing its measured brightness to be ~50 cd/m² less; however, we consider this to be more accurate to most sources. The test scores have been updated.
Good peak brightness with HDR content. While far from the 1000-4000 cd/m² HDR is mastered for, it is bright enough to enjoy HDR content in most rooms. The brightness does change depending on the content due to the TVs 'Automatic Brightness Limiter' (ABL).
The viewing angle is very good. Black levels remain perfect regardless of viewing angle, which is great for use as a PC monitor. There is some shift in colors when viewed off angle, but it is identical to the LG C8.
It didn't take much to calibrate the A8F. With some minor settings changes the color accuracy is excellent. Gamma follows our curve precisely, and color temperature is nearly perfect.
You can see our recommended settings here.
Excellent wide color gamut on the A8F, covering nearly the entire P3 color space, nearly identical to the C8.
The HDR EOTF in 'Expert 1' follows our PQ curve perfectly until it rolls off suddenly at the peak brightness of the TV. The Game and PC also follow our input stimulus perfectly, which is excellent.
Like all OLED TVs, the A8F is not able to produce bright saturated colors. This will be noticeable especially in bright outdoor scenes. The difference between the A8F and C8 are likely due to panel variance.
This is one area where the Samsung Q9FN and Q8FN really excel.
The TV shows some signs of image retention even after 10 minutes of recovery.
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.
Note: There is some variation between panels, even of the same model. Some panels may be more or less prone to temporary image retention.
OLED TVs such as the Sony A8F are at risk to experience permanent burn-in. There is a Pixel Shift option on the A8F that will shift the entire screen by a few pixels (this is not noticeable) to help reduce the risk of burn-in.
You can read more about our investigation into burn-in here.
With WRGB OLED TVs, all 4 subpixels are never on at the same time, so there are two photos.
Alternate pixel picture.
Motion
The motion handling of the Sony A8F is excellent. It has a near-instantaneous response time and is flicker-free, so there is very little motion trail and only slight persistence blur. The perfect response time causes stutter, especially with 24 fps content, but this can be helped with the optional Black Frame Insertion feature or by enabling Motion Interpolation, but it is judder-free. It does not support a variable refresh rate, and there are no plans announced by Sony to add support for this in the future.
Like all OLED TVs, the response time of the A8F is nearly instantaneous, resulting in almost no persistence blur. This is great when watching fast-paced content as there is almost no ghosting/movement trails. There is some very slight overshoot when transitioning from a black frame, but this shouldn't be noticeable.
The blur in the photo is due to persistence, not response time.
Like last year's A1E, the Sony A8F has an optional BFI mode. When enabled, the TV will insert a black frame between each frame to help reduce stutter. With 120 Hz content, it drops every other frame, with 60 Hz content it cuts the frame hold time in two. If motion interpolation is enabled or with 120 Hz content, we do not recommend enabling BFI.
To enable BFI on the Sony A8F, set 'Motionflow' to 'Custom', and set 'Clearness' to 'High'.
The A8F is able to interpolate lower frame rate content up to 120Hz. This feature introduces what is know as the 'Soap Opera Effect', but helps motion appear smoother.
To interpolate 60fps content, set 'Motionflow' to 'Custom', and increase the 'Smoothness' slider. For 30fps content, set 'Cinemotion' to 'Medium' or 'High'.
Since the TV displays the full frame almost instantaneously, low frame rate content like 24fps movies stutters, especially in wide-panning shots. This can be reduced by enabling BFI or motion interpolation.
The Sony A8F displays 24p content without any judder, regardless of source.
To enable judder-free 24p playback from 60p or 60i sources like a cable box, 'Motionflow' has to be set to 'True Cinema', and 'CineMotion' as to be set to 'High'.
The A8F does not support a variable refresh rate.
Inputs
The A8F supports a wide variety of input formats and resolutions. It has low 4k input lag, but not as good as the LG C8. Like all Sony TVs, only HDMI ports 2 & 3 support full bandwidth, but port 3 is also the audio return channel. If you have a receiver which supports ARC and you are planning on connecting more than 1 full bandwidth device, you may wish to consider connecting your receiver using an optical (Toslink) cable.
The Sony A8F has good input lag with a 4k signal. 1080p input lag is a bit high but good enough for all but the most competitive gamers.
These results are identical to the A1E, which uses the same processor. The LG OLED TVs have much lower input lag and are a better choice for gamers.
The Sony XBR55A8F supports all common input resolutions without any issues, including the ever more popular 1440p.
There are no issues with chroma 4:4:4 in any of the resolutions tested, including in 4k with HDR, which is great for use as a PC Monitor.
Update 06/11/2018: A note for Xbox One X and Xbox One S owners: 120 Hz from the Xbox will not work with this TV (and all 2018/2017 Sony's we've tested), because the TV requires a forced resolution for 120 Hz to be displayed.
Update 06/12/2018: It turns out 1080p @ 120 Hz is possible, when the Xbox's connection type is changed from Auto-detect (Recommended) to HDMI: (Xbox > Settings > Display & sound > Video fidelity & overscan > Display > Connection > HDMI). Unfortunately in this mode 4k, HDR, 50 Hz and 24 Hz aren't possible, so this mode is only recommended when the higher refresh rate of 120 Hz is more important to you than these other features.
Update 06/18/2018: Correction, 24 Hz and 50 Hz are in fact possible with the Xbox's connection type set to HDMI.
Wide support for most formats, including DTS passthrough which is not available on the 2018 Samsung TVs. Dolby Vision is not currently supported but it will be added later this year.
Update 06/11/2018: Dolby Vision support has been added as of firmware (PKG6.5603.0175NAA); the scores have been updated.
Sound Quality
The Sony A8F has an above-average sound. It gets quite loud and produces a decent amount of bass along with clear dialogs. However, their bass doesn't have any thump or rumble to it, and it doesn't have a room correction system either. For a better sound, a dedicated sound system or soundbars are recommended.
The frequency response is good. Low-frequency extension (LFE) is extended down to 64Hz, which is above-average. This means that this TV can produce a good amount of punch, but won't have any thump or rumble in the bass range. Its response above the LFE is quite well-balanced, but it tapers off a bit around 8KHz. However, since this TV doesn't have a self-calibrating system, it wasn't able to remove the modes of our test room between 200Hz-300Hz. So dialog will sound clear and intelligible, but it may lack a bit of airiness. Also, it gets quite loud, but produces a bit of pumping and compression artifact under maximum load.
The distortion performance is about average. At low and moderate volumes, it produces low distortion and is within good limits. However, at max volume, like most other Sony TVs we have measured, their THD levels jump to very high amounts. However, in real-life situations, this will rarely be an issue.
Smart Features
The Sony A8F runs Sony's customized Android TV interface. The layout is very simple, there are multiple rows used to group similar functions together making it easy to navigate. The TV has performance issues when navigating the menus, as it froze repeatedly and animations were choppy. It is especially slow when accessing the menus from within an app. It has a great voice assistant, although it is not as good as the ThinQ AI found on 2018 LG OLEDs.
The interface is easy to use but slow. Animations are choppy and the interface stutters and freezes frequently. Performance is especially bad when accessing the menus from within an app, for example, if you are trying to change picture settings while watching Netflix.
There are no ads in the main interface, but there is a row of suggested content. Suggestions can be turned off app-by-app.
Note that even though the interface is ad-free, many of the included apps do have ads.
The remote is the same as last year's, with the soft touch buttons. It has a wide array of buttons that provide quick access to most functions. At the top is a microphone button that provides access to the Google Assistant voice search.
The voice controls work well, it can change inputs on the TV, open apps, search within apps, and answer basic questions such as the weather in a certain location.
The available remote app 'Video & TV SideView' is easy to use and quite powerful. It can almost completely replace the included remote, although it cannot be used to enter text within apps. Unlike LG's remote app, it cannot stream multimedia from your device to the TV.
Update 07/11/2018: Sony's Video & TV SideView remote app has been retested on version 5.5.0. The remote app can now stream video files and can only directly launch apps. The data fields have been updated.
Update 10/12/2018: The remote app can directly launch both apps and inputs, even on version 5.5.0; "Apps Only" was a mistake. The value has been corrected to "Both".
Differences between Sizes and Variants
We tested the 55" (XBR55A8F). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 65" (XBR65A8F).
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Sony XBR-55A8F doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Size | US Model | Alternative Name | EU Model |
| 55" | XBR55A8F | XBR-55A8F | KD-55AF8 |
| 65" | XBR65A8F | XBR-65A8F | KD-65AF8 |
Compared to other TVs
The Sony A8F is a great OLED TV with excellent performance for a variety of uses, but it comes at a steep price and has a lot of competition from both LED and OLED TVs. See some of our comparisons below for how it compares to other TVs on the market. See our recommendations for the best TVs and the best flatscreen TVs.
The Sony A9F is slightly better than the Sony A8F. Both TVs have excellent dark room performance thanks to the OLED panel which can produce perfectly deep blacks. The A9F has better color volume and displays gradients better. The A9F also has lower input lag, native support for 1080p @ 120Hz, great for Xbox One S/X owners, and all four ports on the A9F support HDMI 2.0 full bandwidth. The A9F also has faster smart features, thanks to a newer version of Android TV OS, and a newer chipset.
Other than the design changes, there is almost no difference between the Sony A8F OLED and Sony A8G. The A8G has slightly worse sound, but most people won't notice this, and it's slightly less bright in HDR than the A8F, but this could vary between units.
The LG C8 is slightly better than the Sony A8F. While the overall picture quality and performance are very similar, the LG C8 has lower input lag, which is great for gamers. The C8 also has a better smart interface that is faster and easier to use.
The overall performance of the Sony A8F and the Sony A1E is very similar. There is no significant difference between the two, beyond the design. The Sony A1E has a larger stand that could cause issues for some people, while the A8F has a more common stand design.
The LG B8 is marginally better than the Sony A8F. The LG B8 has better input lag, which is great if you play video games as it's more responsive. The Sony A8F has better gray uniformity that will please sports fans and supports a 1440p @ 60Hz input signal which will please Xbox One or PC gamers.
The LG C9 and the Sony A8F OLED are both OLED TVs and perform very similarly, but the C9 is slightly better overall. The C9 has lower input lag, great for gamers or for use as a PC monitor. The C9 also supports some newer technologies, including HDMI 2.1 on all four inputs, eARC, and the HDMI 2.1 variable refresh rate technology. Although some of these features don't add much for now, as there are no sources available, it does make the C9 a more future-proof choice.
The Sony A8F is better than the Sony X900F, unless the possibility of burn-in inherit in OLED technology concerns you. The A8F delivers a perfect dark room experience, as the self-emissive technology can turn off or dim individual pixels. The A8F has much wider viewing angles and better reflection handling. The X900F uses a VA panel, which isn't expected to experience burn-in.
The LG E8 is marginally better than the Sony A8F. The LG E8 has slightly lower input lag, which is great for gamers. The LG can get a little brighter in SDR, which becomes important if you watch TV shows in a brighter room. In HDR, the Sony A8F has a less distracting Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) and also a slightly better gray uniformity, which is great for sports.
The Sony A8F is a bit better than the Samsung Q9FN, unless the possibility of burn-in with the OLED panel is a concern for you. The A8F delivers a perfect dark room experience, with an infinite contrast ratio and perfect black uniformity. The A8F has wider viewing angles and a faster response time, good for fast moving objects. The Samsung Q9FN is a bit better for gaming, as it has much less input lag and some new gaming features, such as automatic low latency mode and supports a variable refresh rate. The Q9FN is also much brighter and better able to overcome glare in a bright room.
The Sony A8F is better than the Sony Z9F, unless you consume a lot of static content and are concerned by the possibility of permanent burn-in inherent in OLED panels. The A8F has perfect dark-room performance, thanks to the perfect blacks provided by the OLED panel. The A8F also has better motion handling, with a near instantaneous response time, and much wider viewing angles. The Z9F does not have the risk of burn-in, and is much brighter, better suited for use in a bright room.
Conclusion
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