NEW DELHI: The smartphone market might just be an exception but there's no hiding from the fact that Sony remains a brand to reckon with in other segments such as cameras, audio systems and other home electronics. One such category where Sony stands out from the competition is televisions. Time and again, Sony delivers TV sets that are not only sleek but provide crisp images and great video quality.
To up the ante, the company has introduced a 'one of a kind' television, the Sony Slate. The device, as the name suggests looks a lot like a slate that has a flat screen and nothing else at the front. Not even the stand or the speakers are visible.
The Sony A1 TV is priced at Rs 3,64,900 for the 55-inch and Rs 4,64,900 for the 65-inch in India, which is quite a princely sum for an average consumer. But has it got enough to offer given the hefty price tag? We reviewed the 55-inch model for a couple of weeks and this is what we can make of it.
Design
This isn't the first time Sony has made a sleek TV set with thin screen bezels. Its Bravia TV series have been minimalistic in design, giving very small footprint in your living room. If you were already impressed with that, the Sony Slate could leave you awestruck. The large screen device, to say in simple words, is just a big flat screen standing vertically without any support if you look from the front. However, if you move to the sides, you'll see the near bezel-less screen supported by a single slab at the back.
Though Sony Slate's biggest highlight is just not its slim display but the audio output mechanism. Standing in front of the TV and viewing videos will keep you wondering where the speakers are. Sony has made it look like the sound is coming directly from the screen itself. Although it is partly true, that's not the full story. We'll dig into the details later.
According to Sony, its new 'One Slate' concept is an approach to stuff everything into a single slate-like form factor. The firm, with Slate, has tried to move away from the conventional stand-and-bezel framework and seems to have been successful in doing so. The firm has removed the substrate and terminals, which are generally seen at the sides of a television, under the rear support slab in order to achieve a slimmer design profile.
In addition to the ports and terminals, the supporting slab also includes speakers on the inner side at the centre. The setup also consists of a sub-woofer. Users won't find cables messing at the back of the TV as the supporting slab's upper cover comes off and the cables can hide inside.
The Sony A1 TV performs well when it comes to the display. The device comes in two variants based on 55-inch and 65-inch screen size. The unit we reviewed was the 55-inch model. The TV set has an OLED panel that stuffs 3840x2160 pixel resolution inside. It also supports High Dynamic Range content and it's own powerful processing chip, the 4K HDR processor X1 Xtreme. It also makes use of 4K X-Reality PRODual database processing for enhanced clarity. The colour reproduction and the video frame rate is taken care by the Live Colour Technology/Triluminos display tech and the Motionflow XR.
Sony, like we've seen in its previous smart TVs as well, gives several Picture modes. Some of the modes included are Vivid, Standard, Custom, Cinema Pro, Cinema Home and more.
Sony, undoubtedly, has one of the best displays when it comes to TVs. The colours in HDR mode were impressive as they popped out with wider colour range and saturation. The green, blue and red were shown accurately and we had no complaints from the display of the Sony A1.
Performance
While the Sony A1 fares very well in terms of display, the performance however, is not just limited to the screen. The new TV has a lot going in the background to deliver an optimised sound+picture combination along with all the 'smart' features that come inside an Android smart TV. There's isn't much of a difference in the user interface of the Sony A1. It is familiar for those who already own a Sony Bravia smart TV. The menu has options to show the images (albums), videos and gives access to Android apps from the Google Play Store.
Users also get access to other audio/video content services such as Google Play Movies, YouTube, Google Play Music and Google Play Games. To access Google Play services and Netflix, Sony has given a dedicated button on the A1's remote controller. Some additional services also that come as a part of the Sony A1 interface are Serial AbTak, Opera browser, TV camera (requires an additional camera), Screen Mirroring and more. Viewers have the option to customise how they want to look at the content on the TV by navigating to the Settings Menu and tweaking the brightness, hue and colours. They can also take care of the aspect ratio. Setting the screen-saver, hours of inactivity, and sleep time is also possible. Besides streaming, the TV comes with 16GB onboard storage, all of which won't be available for users
With the A1, Sony has touched a new benchmark when it comes to audio. Like we mentioned above, there are no speakers visible when you look at the TV from the front or from an angle, something that keeps you wondering from where the sound is coming from. For this Sony has used its home-brewed Acoustic Surface technology. Using this technology, the speakers at the back of the TV and the subwoofer present on the supporting plate throw audio in such a way that it seems like the sound is coming directly from the screen.
While the subwoofer gives the desired bass, a couple of actuators behind the TV vibrate the screen to resonate the audio. The processor X1 Xtreme handles the heavy 4K or 4K HDR videos without any lags. The scenes are sharp and clear and there is no stuttering seen while loading the heavy videos and pushing it out on the display. Sony has made sure that despite boasting a complicated audio system, it goes in sync with the video playing on the screen, something we appreciate.
Verdict
In our tests, we didn't find many negative aspects in the Sony A1. It has a new design, something that is not present in abundance in the market from other brands. With a minimal footprint, both while using the support or mounted on the wall, the TV delivers an impressive audio performance. The display technologies used under the hood, all club together to bring a crisp content with good viewing angles. The videos are saturated and blacks provided by the OLED panel is also worth appreciating.
Although the 55-inch model costs Rs 3,64,900, which directly makes it limited to a niche segment of users, it does prove to be a good entertainment device that supports 4K HDR content with ease, while providing all the smart TV features such as browsing the web, playing games or streaming videos using different services.
For now, Samsung seems to be the closest rival of Sony when it comes to TV sets, it's focus however, seems to be on the curved screen in the given price segment. It has some decent alternatives in place like its QLED series, but then you will be missing out on the flat 'Slate' like viewing experience.
To up the ante, the company has introduced a 'one of a kind' television, the Sony Slate. The device, as the name suggests looks a lot like a slate that has a flat screen and nothing else at the front. Not even the stand or the speakers are visible.
The Sony A1 TV is priced at Rs 3,64,900 for the 55-inch and Rs 4,64,900 for the 65-inch in India, which is quite a princely sum for an average consumer. But has it got enough to offer given the hefty price tag? We reviewed the 55-inch model for a couple of weeks and this is what we can make of it.
Design
This isn't the first time Sony has made a sleek TV set with thin screen bezels. Its Bravia TV series have been minimalistic in design, giving very small footprint in your living room. If you were already impressed with that, the Sony Slate could leave you awestruck. The large screen device, to say in simple words, is just a big flat screen standing vertically without any support if you look from the front. However, if you move to the sides, you'll see the near bezel-less screen supported by a single slab at the back.
Though Sony Slate's biggest highlight is just not its slim display but the audio output mechanism. Standing in front of the TV and viewing videos will keep you wondering where the speakers are. Sony has made it look like the sound is coming directly from the screen itself. Although it is partly true, that's not the full story. We'll dig into the details later.
According to Sony, its new 'One Slate' concept is an approach to stuff everything into a single slate-like form factor. The firm, with Slate, has tried to move away from the conventional stand-and-bezel framework and seems to have been successful in doing so. The firm has removed the substrate and terminals, which are generally seen at the sides of a television, under the rear support slab in order to achieve a slimmer design profile.
In addition to the ports and terminals, the supporting slab also includes speakers on the inner side at the centre. The setup also consists of a sub-woofer. Users won't find cables messing at the back of the TV as the supporting slab's upper cover comes off and the cables can hide inside.
The Sony A1 TV performs well when it comes to the display. The device comes in two variants based on 55-inch and 65-inch screen size. The unit we reviewed was the 55-inch model. The TV set has an OLED panel that stuffs 3840x2160 pixel resolution inside. It also supports High Dynamic Range content and it's own powerful processing chip, the 4K HDR processor X1 Xtreme. It also makes use of 4K X-Reality PRODual database processing for enhanced clarity. The colour reproduction and the video frame rate is taken care by the Live Colour Technology/Triluminos display tech and the Motionflow XR.
Sony, like we've seen in its previous smart TVs as well, gives several Picture modes. Some of the modes included are Vivid, Standard, Custom, Cinema Pro, Cinema Home and more.
Sony, undoubtedly, has one of the best displays when it comes to TVs. The colours in HDR mode were impressive as they popped out with wider colour range and saturation. The green, blue and red were shown accurately and we had no complaints from the display of the Sony A1.
Performance
While the Sony A1 fares very well in terms of display, the performance however, is not just limited to the screen. The new TV has a lot going in the background to deliver an optimised sound+picture combination along with all the 'smart' features that come inside an Android smart TV. There's isn't much of a difference in the user interface of the Sony A1. It is familiar for those who already own a Sony Bravia smart TV. The menu has options to show the images (albums), videos and gives access to Android apps from the Google Play Store.
Users also get access to other audio/video content services such as Google Play Movies, YouTube, Google Play Music and Google Play Games. To access Google Play services and Netflix, Sony has given a dedicated button on the A1's remote controller. Some additional services also that come as a part of the Sony A1 interface are Serial AbTak, Opera browser, TV camera (requires an additional camera), Screen Mirroring and more. Viewers have the option to customise how they want to look at the content on the TV by navigating to the Settings Menu and tweaking the brightness, hue and colours. They can also take care of the aspect ratio. Setting the screen-saver, hours of inactivity, and sleep time is also possible. Besides streaming, the TV comes with 16GB onboard storage, all of which won't be available for users
With the A1, Sony has touched a new benchmark when it comes to audio. Like we mentioned above, there are no speakers visible when you look at the TV from the front or from an angle, something that keeps you wondering from where the sound is coming from. For this Sony has used its home-brewed Acoustic Surface technology. Using this technology, the speakers at the back of the TV and the subwoofer present on the supporting plate throw audio in such a way that it seems like the sound is coming directly from the screen.
While the subwoofer gives the desired bass, a couple of actuators behind the TV vibrate the screen to resonate the audio. The processor X1 Xtreme handles the heavy 4K or 4K HDR videos without any lags. The scenes are sharp and clear and there is no stuttering seen while loading the heavy videos and pushing it out on the display. Sony has made sure that despite boasting a complicated audio system, it goes in sync with the video playing on the screen, something we appreciate.
Verdict
In our tests, we didn't find many negative aspects in the Sony A1. It has a new design, something that is not present in abundance in the market from other brands. With a minimal footprint, both while using the support or mounted on the wall, the TV delivers an impressive audio performance. The display technologies used under the hood, all club together to bring a crisp content with good viewing angles. The videos are saturated and blacks provided by the OLED panel is also worth appreciating.
Although the 55-inch model costs Rs 3,64,900, which directly makes it limited to a niche segment of users, it does prove to be a good entertainment device that supports 4K HDR content with ease, while providing all the smart TV features such as browsing the web, playing games or streaming videos using different services.
For now, Samsung seems to be the closest rival of Sony when it comes to TV sets, it's focus however, seems to be on the curved screen in the given price segment. It has some decent alternatives in place like its QLED series, but then you will be missing out on the flat 'Slate' like viewing experience.
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