The 48-inch Sony A9 OLED is available to preorder – but is it cheap enough?
The Sony A9 OLED gets a new 48-inch size
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If you want anOLED TVon the smaller side,Sonymay have the TV for you. TheTV brandhas announced pricing and availability for the 48-inch size of its excellentA9G OLED(2019), which launched last year and has featured in many of ourbest TVbuying guides since.
The 48-inch Sony A9OLEDTV, is currently available to pre-order in the UK and Ireland for £1,799. There’s no pricing for the 48-inch model on Sony’s US website yet – where it sports a slightly different A9S branding – that pricing suggests it will retail for $1,799 or thereabouts. It’s currently unknown whether this unit will be made available in Australia.
Given the 55-inch model – previously the smallest available size – retails at $2,299 / £2,299 / AU$5,199, it’s a considerable price drop, and will make the 48-inch model the best way to get a high-end Sony OLED into your home for less. Our main issue with the A9G previously was (aside from the lack ofHDR10+) simply its high price point, so a smaller, cheaper model definitely doesn’t go amiss.
As a4KHDRtelevision, you’re getting state-of-the-art streaming resolution and an expanded dynamic range for enhanced color and contrast. You’ll get Sony’s X-Motion Clarity feature for smooth, judder-free movement, as well as Acoustic Surface Audio to literally vibrate audio out of the OLED panel itself.GoogleAssistant and Alexa are naturally both here, and you’ll be using an Androidsmart TV platformthat largely improves on its past iterations.
Sizing up the competition
There are less expensiveSony TVsout there, of course. The newSony A8H OLEDstarts at just $1,899 / £1,799, putting it in a similar ballpark, and may be the way to go if you want a 55-inch set rather than a 48-inch one.
Sony was also beat to the punch byLG, which released a 48-inch CX OLED earlier this year – and which retails for a decent amount less at just $1,499 / £1,499. Part of the price disparity may be that LG manufactures its ownOLEDpanels, and sells them on to other TV brands, giving LG both a headstart at using the new technology and a price advantage at implementing them.
Either way, both models received five-star reviews on TechRadar, making either of them a smart choice for your home – but the Sony A9 will cost you a little bit more of your cash.
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Henry is a freelance technology journalist, and former News & Features Editor for TechRadar, where he specialized in home entertainment gadgets such as TVs, projectors, soundbars, and smart speakers. Other bylines include Edge, T3, iMore, GamesRadar, NBC News, Healthline, and The Times.
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