PHILIPS 55OLED856/12 55inch 4K UHD OLED SMART TV WiFi Dolby Atmos Ambilight

Product Information

There are various panel technologies. Each has its own specific features - viewing angles, color reproduction, response time, brightness/contrast, production cost, etc. The image quality depends directly on the type of the display panel used. What marks out Philips TVs from the rest? The most eye-catching feature would certainly be Philips Ambilight: a projection technology that throws onscreen colors onto the wall behind your television, upping the ambience (hence the name) and making for a light-show you won’t get with Sony or Samsung TVs. Three-sided Ambilight, that projects from the left, right, and upper sides of the television, is the most common, though Philips has standardised four-sided Ambilight for its new OLED and MiniL ED TVs this year. The longest time for my TV I’ve seen is 522 minutes before the OFFRS above and 254 hours before the JB, so that’s around 8 hours before needing the 10 minute refresh - does that fit with your on time?

Philips has for a long time used the Android TV platform for its TVs, so it's little surprise that its 2021 models get the most recent 10 version. What is a little surprising, is that there's so far been no mention of Google TV integration. This new UI launched with the latest version of the Google Chromecast and is already confirmed to be coming to Sony's 2021 TVs, so we had expected Philips to announce the same.

55OLED856/12

We’d speculate that some of the 800 series OLED features, such as the Fast Motion Clarity, may not make it to this model. No release date or price has been revealed yet. The LG B2 OLED is a fantastic buy; it has most of the LG C3 OLED's features and is almost as bright, although it has only two HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports and worse processing than its bigger sibling. Unfortunately, it's now very hard to find.

In layman’s terms, strips of LED lights match the onscreen video and illuminate the wall behind the TV in a kaleidoscope of colour – or not, if you prefer. There’s plenty of customisation on offer, so owners can set the Ambilight to change colours to match the TV’s video or audio output, or just gently light the rear wall with a static warm white. For everyday viewing, the latter is definitely our preference. The maximum number of colors, which the display is able to reproduce, depends on the type of the panel in use and color enhancing technologies like FRC. As we’ve come to expect from the OLED+ range, the OLED+908 includes an integrated 3.1-channel soundbar from Bowers & Wilkins that runs alongside the bottom of the TV. This promises 80W of sound from six front-mounted drivers and a rear-mounted subwoofer, and comes covered in Kvadrat Audiomix woollen fabric. Philips’ video processing tech has also improved and looks cleaner and crisper than on any previous Philips OLED. Upscaling quality for 720p and 1080p content is decent so long as the sharpness controls aren’t dialled up too high – doing so can result in unwanted ringing and visual noise. Note that pixel shifting, an automatic function that reduces the risk of OLED burn-in, still can’t be disabled on the Philips 805. However, the horizontal leeway (the distance that the video frame moves) has been halved so it likely won’t be an issue for most users.

Key specs

The Mini LED Xtra Series is the middle ground in the line up, positioned just below the OLED ranges. This is the highest specified of the two models in it, and it comes in a choice of 55 and 65 inches only. And it doesn’t take long to establish the OLED806 has plenty. It’s talented where virtually every aspect of picture-making is concerned - and even by the standards of Philips (a TV brand that’s been on something of a roll these past few years), it needs remarkably few excuses made for it. Your Philips TV boasts the HDMI connectivity and automatically switches to an ultra-low-latency setting when you start playing a game on your console. VRR and Freesync are supported for smooth fast-action gameplay. Ambilight's gaming mode brings the thrill right into the room. The percentage of the approximate area, taken by the active part of the screen, to the total front area. What’s even more impressive is how three-dimensionally the anti-hero is rendered compared to the same scene on the other sets. The harsh spotlighting in the dingy Sister Margaret's dive bar can look clumsy and blunt but Philips’ picture processing is able to recognise the scene for what it is and shade Wilson’s face accordingly.

For 2021, Philips is doubling-down on this exclusive tech by making it available across more of its TV range and adding an Ambilight strip to the bottom edge of more models. This fourth side of Ambilight probably won't make a huge difference if the TV is placed on a stand, but it should look fabulous if you go down the wall-mounted route. Android TV 10 Most will be buying smaller than that, but the important thing is that it fits into your room and will be a comfortable size for viewing. The introduction of Philips TV’s unique anti-burn technology last year, which is designed to specifically protect OLED screens, now sees a version of the technology come to the company’s mid range 806/856 sets. Advanced logo detection monitors a grid of zones to accurately detect static content and gradually reduce the intensity of its local light output to avoid burn-in without compromising the output of other parts of the screen. The 62 x 107 x 28cm dimensions (including the feet) might not mean a huge amount on paper but what it really amounts to is the kind of size and shape that will work in almost any home. The ice-skate feet are simple to fit and require just 78cm of sideboard or shelf to stand on. At the bottom of the range is the 7506. It boasts a better specification than the 7906 in a few respects, evident by the P5 Perfect Engine processor, DTS Play-Fi, as well as HDMI 2.1 support in VRR, eARC and ALLM.This year, Philips has also thrown HDR10+ Adaptive into the mix. It uses the TV’s light sensor to automatically choose the best brightness settings while watching HDR10+ material, according to your ambient light conditions. Oddly, the equivalent tech on the Dolby Vision side, Dolby Vision IQ, is not included, but the set will still adapt Dolby Vision content to ambient lighting conditions using Philips's own tech. The pixel pitch shows the distance from the centers of two neighboring pixels. In displays, which have a native resolution (the TFT ones, for example), the pixel pitch depends on the resolution and the size of the screen.

The 805’s 4K OLED panel has multi-HDR support for HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and uses the latest Philips 4th-Gen P5 picture processor for enhancing images with AI and upscaling lower resolution content to 4K. Adding to the immersion, the TV features Philips’ famous Ambilight ambient lighting and supports Dolby Atmos audio enhancement. Running Android TV OS, the OLED 805 carries most of the major streaming platforms as well as all the Freeview Play catch-up apps. Philips 805 review: Price and competition Despite those quibbles, the Philips 805 OLED is a worthy successor to last year’s 804. The 24p film motion handling and HDR10 tone-mapping are a big boost, and its video processing has also undergone some positive tweaks. Crucially, overall HDR performance is exceptional, and Dolby Vision content really shines. With superb performance at a supremely competitive price, this is the OLED TV bargain of the year. The 806 and 856 models share a thin, zero-bezel design and feature four-sided Ambilight for an immersive viewing experience. The OLED706 doesn’t miss out on this experience either and comes with a 3-sided version of Ambilight. In previous years, Philips has employed rather heavy-handed detail enhancers to create an impressive but slightly artificial feel of sharpness. This time we find we don’t need them at all. Watching Deadpool in 4K HDR, there are some fabulous textures on show without them switched on. As ever, close-up shots of the actors are a particularly good test. Wade Wilson’s short shaved hair and matching stubble look as if you could reach out and strike a match on them. The 43- to 65-inch models get a T-bar stand for support, with the sizes up to 58-inches getting swivel action. The biggest models in the range switch to feet at either side that can adjusted to narrow or wide configurations.As your 856 is new don‘t overly worry if it’s doing this in shorter times than mine above, as I seem to remember the times were quite shorter when mine was new, or perhaps I was just watching it more… Philips’ first Mini LED TV is the 9635. Like the OLED+ series it gets an integrated 3.1.2 B&W Atmos sound system. DTS Play-Fi covers Hi-Res audio support and multi-room capabilities. Google TV is on board as the smart UI, having finally switched over from the less intuitive Android TV, with a simplified menu structure to make it less overwhelming to set up. From the OLED856 to the 9206, 4K/120Hz, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and AMD’s FreeSync Premium Pro will be supported. Philips is finally a TV tuned for gamers. 5th Gen P5 AI picture processor With Philips 4 sided Ambilight, every moment feels closer. Intelligent LEDs around the edge of the TV respond to the on-screen action and emit an immersive glow that's simply captivating. Experience it once and wonder how you enjoyed TV without it.