To analyze the Sony A9G, I will provide detailed information about its design, display, and picture quality features. I will also discuss its sound, ports/connectivity features as well as the smart features of the TV. Moreover, test results will be provided to support the analysis carried out on the Sony A9G. Likewise, at the close of every section, I will rate the television on a scale of one to ten. These ratings will be based on my opinion about the TV’s performance. So, I recommend you to read on as I unveil the features that the Sony A9G possesses.
My Initial Thoughts
In 2019, the Sony master series A9G OLED TV simply called SONY A9G graced the market as the brand’s flagship of the year. Since its release, there has been a lot of competition from the likes of Samsung’s QLED TVs, and LG OLED TVs. The SONY A9G made a groundbreaking success such that it earned the rating as one of the best TV in 2019 according to pcworld.com. As members of the Sony master series A9G OLED TV, there is the 65-inch model – SONY KD-65A9G which I will be reviewing here. There is also the 77-inch model of this TV – the SONY XBR 77A9G. For a TV that made great achievements like this, I am sure you cannot wait to see what the SONY A9G offers. Therefore, without wasting any more time, let us find out.
Sony A9G Design, Dimension, and Weight Review
The Sony A9G OLED TV comes with a very satisfying and gorgeous design. This TV is unarguably sleek, giving it a premium profile to match its caliber of OLED TVs. Diving into more details about its design, the Sony A9G features very slim bezels that wrap around its OLED display. The bezels have a plain clean surface without any brand inscription on it as commonly seen on other brands’ TV models. Also, the bezels are made of plastic and they have a glossy-black finish. Furthermore, unlike other televisions that come with the conventional pair of V-shaped legs, the Sony A9G comes with a flat curvy-edged rectangular pedestal. This pedestal is made of solid plastic and it holds the Sony A9G at the center. Therefore, it does not necessarily require a large entertainment table to place it on. Also, the pedestal supports the TV well although it might wobble a bit if it is bumped. Sadly, the pedestal is not adjustable like that of the Sony A8G. As a result of that, placing a soundbar in front of the TV will block the lower part of the display. Going around to the TV’s back, you will see a plain backplate with a checkerboard design pattern. The part that is engraved with the checkerboard layout bulges out a bit while housing the port panel and the motherboard of the TV. Speaking of the port panel, it houses all the ports on this TV with most of them facing the right side. In addition to the ports, you will also find some vents at the TV’s back which serve as a cooling system. Another notable feature you will find at the back of this TV is a cable management system that routes the cables to one exit point at the bottom of the TV. Hence, the cables will be well organized. For users who do not fancy placing their TV on a table but, but prefer to hang it on the wall, they are in luck. This is because, at the back of the TV, there are compatible 300 x 300 VESA holes for achieving that. Impressively, this TV fits perfectly on the wall and does not bulge out thanks to its slim form factor. Speaking of which, the Sony A9G is only 40 mm thick. Overall, it has a dimension of 1447 x 40 x 834 mm (W x D x H). This TV also has a weight of 21,200 g. Compared to other 65-inch TVs such as the VIZIO M658-G1 and the Samsung 65UK6500AUA, the Sony A9G is relatively lighter. Specifically, the VIZIO M658-G1 weighs 24,200 g while the Samsung 65UK6500AUA weighs 25,990.8 g. In summary, the Sony A9G boasts a sophisticated sleek design with provision for proper cable management. Thus, this TV deserves a rating of nine out of ten in this section of the review.
Sony A9G Display Features and Picture Quality Review
In this section, we will discuss the display properties of this TV. For a start, the Sony A9G has a screen size of 65-inch which makes it large enough to enjoy your movies and other TV programs. Its display has an OLED panel which not only produces an excellent picture quality but, also helps in power management. For the display resolution, this Sony TV has a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) resolution. 4K resolution is currently the best resolution you can get on a display. Therefore, you can be sure that the display content on this display will be sharp, crisp, and vibrant. In addition to its good deeds so far, the display of this TV still has a lot to offer. You will get an outstanding infinite contrast ratio from the display of this TV. However, that is not strange as OLED displays are famous for their good contrast ratios. Thanks to its excellent infinite contrast, the display will produce true blacks rather than some shade of gray. The advantages of the OLED display of this TV do not end with its contrast ratio, it also regulates picture pixels by, cutting the need for backlighting. This function works like local dimming and its aim is to improve the darkness of dark movies scenes for a more enjoyable experience. Another benefit of the OLED display of this TV is its decent display brightness. To retain picture accuracy and quality, the display can produce a peak brightness of up to 593 nits. However, if you are not concerned about picture accuracy, the TV display can attain a peak brightness of 794 nits. Thankfully, the excellent display brightness is ideal when watching the TV in well-lit rooms. In addition to all I have said, the Sony A9G also offers incredible viewing angles which are quite effective if you have a wide living room. Therefore, you won’t have to sit directly in front of the TV to get the best view. With good viewing angles like that of the Sony A9G, every seat in the room is good for achieving a clear view of the TV. The Sony A9G further impresses me with its support for HDR (High Dynamic Range) formats. Specifically, the HDR formats it supports include Dolby Vision, HDR 10, and HLG. These HDR formats collectively boost picture brightness, improve image accuracy, and deliver realistic images. Besides that, these formats also make it more seamless to watch HDR content which you can find on platforms like Netflix, Disney+. Other than that, the Sony A9G also has a rich collection of technologies that improve its picture quality. For instance, the TV features the Picture Processor X1 Ultimate and 4K X-Reality Pro. To begin with, the Picture Processor X1 Ultimate processes image data by expanding the color spectrum to produce more colors than a typical television. Also, it makes the display color look more precise and natural thereby, delivering lifelike pictures. Furthermore, in combination with the OLED panel, the Processor X1 is capable of processing video and pictures excellently. Next up is the 4K X-Reality Pro which is responsible for upscaling picture pixels from standard definitions to ultra-high definitions. Therefore, because of its upscaling ability, you can enjoy content in 4K resolution even when you play HD resolution content on the Sony A9G. At this point, let us proceed to talk about how this TV handles motion. In case you don’t know the benefit of good motion handling, it makes the TV an excellent choice for sports fans, action movie lovers, and gamers. That is because good motion handling implies that picture frames will transition smoothly and fast. That said, let us now discuss some factors that influence the motion performance of the TV’s display. To begin with, the Sony A9G records a very fast response time. It takes about 1.9 milliseconds for the display pixel to shift from one color to another. This means the Sony A9G will not only display accurate colors but there also won’t be any image blur irrespective of the fast speed of your display content. In addition to its satisfactory response time, the Sony A9G also has a decent input lag. However, gamers might not be too impressed. That is because it takes 27.2 milliseconds for the TV to register input signals. An example of input signals in this instance is signals from gamepads. Nonetheless, the TV will be good enough for casual gaming and it will work well if used as a PC monitor. Overall, the Sony A9G offers an amazing display performance. To this end, the TV merits a rating of nine out of ten in this section of the review.
Sony A9G Sound Feature Review
The Sony A9G has down-firing speakers which Sony has equipped with acoustic surface technology. This technology pumps vibrations to the display from two actuators (a device that converts signals to motion). These actuators are located at the back of the display panel which vibrates and produces the sound from the display itself. Therefore, it is safe to say that the Sony A9G produces an on-screen sound that synchronizes with the image displayed. Furthermore, the on-screen sound itself can’t deliver much bass. However, Sony integrated two 20W and two 10W subwoofers at the back of the TV to enhance its bass production. As a result of that, the Sony A9G produces relatively loud sounds with adequate rumbles under much load. Therefore, you most likely will not be needing a soundbar for this TV. Another good feat of this TV’s speakers is that it produces clear dialogue. For instance, when you watch talk shows involving two characters, you will clearly distinguish sounds from each character. Meanwhile, one area where the Sony A9G did not impress me is its distortion performance. To evaluate its sound distortion, we will use a total harmonic distortion test where a value below 1 is ideal. In the test, the TV measured 0.101 THD at 80 % volume which is considerably good. However, because the TV can get very loud, the distortion rose to 6.760 THD at maximum volume. Therefore, at maximum volume, there will be a lot of distortion in the sound produced. In conclusion, the Sony A9G offers an outstanding sound performance to the satisfaction of any user. However, its sound distortion is pretty much distracting at maximum volume. Therefore, I will rate Sony A9G an eight out of ten in this section of the review.
Sony A9G Ports and Connectivity Features Review
The Sony A9G features the same input layout as that of the Sony A8G. Thankfully, the Sony A9 TV comes with a sufficient number of port options. Sony has grouped the ports in two sections – the first section of ports faces the side of the TV. Meanwhile, the second section contains ports that face downwards. It might impress you to know that you can easily access these ports even when you mount the TV on the wall. Now, let us talk about these ports which comprise three USB ports – two facing the side of the TV and one facing down. Furthermore, the Sony A9G has four HDMI ports all of which are 4K resolution compatible. One of the HDMI ports faces the side of the TV while the remaining three face down. Also, the third HDMI port supports eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) and ARC (Audio Return Channel). Thus, with the eARC/ARC port, you can connect a soundbar to the TV using a high-speed HDMI cable. Other ports on this TV include an AV minijack (composite in), one headphone jack, a digital audio out, an antenna/cable connector, and an Ethernet port. You can also connect to the internet wirelessly thanks to the in-built 802.11a/b WiFi. In addition to that, the Sony A9G also uses Bluetooth v4.2 for wireless connectivity. Before I round up this section, let me also talk about the remote control of this TV. In that regard, the Sony A9G comes with a voice remote control. The remote is a bit long and bulky. For its build, the remote has a plastic case with a nice brushed metallic finish. In addition to that, the remote control has support for voice command thanks to its in-built microphone. The voice command allows users to interact with the TV’s virtual assistant. Furthermore, the remote consist of well-spaced buttons with easy-to-read labels. Holding the remote at the center will give you access to most buttons within your thumb’s reach. Speaking of the buttons, the Sony A9G remote has a power button, numbers buttons, and some smart buttons to navigate the settings. There is also a back button, an input button, and a live TV button. Additionally, the remote consist of two dedicated buttons that gives direct access to Netflix and Google Play. Also, there is a voice input button, a ring-shaped navigation pad, volume controls, and channel rockers. Overall, the Sony A9G offers vast connectivity and port options. Its remote is also very functional and possesses premium features even though it looks bulky. Thus, the Sony A9G merits a rating of eight out of ten in this section of the review.
Sony A9G Smart Features Review
Since the inception of smart TV platforms, the acceptance of the Android TV platform has been questioned. All this while, Google has been working on how to improve the Android TV OS. This is in a bid to make the Android TV OS up to standards so that it can compete with the likes of Samsung’s Tizen OS. Fortunately, in recent times, the Android TV OS has received advanced improvements to its overall functionality and performance. Precisely, with the advent of Android TV OS version 8.0 (Oreo), there has been a turnaround in the performance status of the OS. Lucky enough, the Sony A9G comes with the Oreo version of the Android TV OS. Thankfully, the OS has a user-friendly interface. Additionally, its interface features simple menu structures such as the quick settings overlay. This menu structure gives you easy access to picture modes, input, and audio. For your convenience, this OS comes with some preinstalled apps. That is not all, the preinstalled apps are just a few compared to the thousands of apps you can access on the Google Play store. So, if you are not satisfied with the preinstalled apps you can get more from the Play store. In summary, the Sony A9G offers outstanding smart features. Its Android TV OS interface is very smooth, it features many apps and has an in-built Chromecast. To complete this section, the Sony A9G scores a nine out of ten in this smart features section of the review.
My Final Thoughts
The Sony A9G is another proof of Sony’s prominence in terms of excellent picture quality, amazing motion performance, and upscaling capability. Sentiments aside, the Sony A9G poses as one of the best OLED televisions yet. Again, aside from its remarkable display performance, the Sony A9G runs on version 8.0 Oreo of the Android TV OS. Thankfully, the OS has been greatly improved, it also has an in-built Chromecast, support for voice control, and plenty of streaming apps. However, the Sony A9G sound distortion is unsatisfying and the remote looks a bit chunky. Nevertheless, the pros of this TV are miles away from its cons. Overall, the TV offers excellent value for its price. Therefore, if you wish to experience OLED on a smart TV, I urge you to consider the Sony A9G. I hope you found this Sony A9G review useful. If you do, then you can share your experience with our community forum at Itechguides Community Forum. If you like to leave a comment, ask a question, or give feedback regarding this topic, kindly do that at Itechguides Community Forum. Our staff and other community members will be delighted to provide a response to your questions or comments. For more Television reviews, visit our Television review page. You may also find our Television Specs page very helpful.
References and Further Reading
