Why sony is the best

Its lowlight performance is jaw-dropping, it can grab greater dynamic range than many pro-grade cameras, and Sony has finally adopted an articulating screen.

It lacks scale, has consistently lost money over the five years, and has in many cases been behind the curve on the latest innovations. But what major consumer electronics company can't afford to to be part of a market that sells 1.

And the Xperia line provides a testbed for other parts of Sony's business such as camera modules. While with most mobile UIs, bloatware is, frankly speaking, gross, on the Xperia 1 II and 5 II these branded elements actually add credibility and functionality. Of course, there have been some duffs. Each of these top TV brands also has at least one TV that we can point to as a favorite, with models showing up on our lists of the best TVs and getting better-than-average ratings in our reviews.

LG's brand is well known, well respected and has earned a place on our list of the best TVs year after year for one reason above all others: OLED.

LG's webOS smart TV software is also easy to use, offers most of the apps and features anyone could ask for, and combines with the motion-controlled LG Magic Remote to provide one of the most intuitive navigation experiences you'll find on a premium smart TV. If there's a brand that gives you the most for your money, it's TCL. Thanks to a tight partnership between TCL and Roku, you will get the best version of Roku TV, from the intuitive interface to advanced voice interaction.

With Roku TV providing an easy-to-use interface with all of your favorite apps, it's also got Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, delivering quality that matches more premium competitors for a killer price.

Samsung is the elephant in the room when it comes to TVs, with a huge selection of 4K and 8K Smart TVs, and is the long-established leader in quantum dot technology, even as it faces more competition on the QLED front. Samsung TVs use the proprietary Tizen Smart TV platform, which offers a great ecosystem of apps, along with some of the richest smart features you'll find: you get unique offerings for everything from smart home control to fitness-oriented features, plus support for video chat and productivity that other TVs simply can't match.

Samsung is also dedicated to reimagining what the TV looks like and how it fits into our lives. The Google app ecosystem is enormous, and the Android platform offers deeper smart home integration and better voice interaction than any other Smart TV software.

Pretty much the only problem we have with Sony's superb TVs is the price, which consistently runs more premium than the competition.

Combining a gorgeous 4K picture and impeccable color with advanced smart capabilities thanks to Google TV and Sony's exclusive Bravia Core streaming service, it's one of the best TVs you can buy. A company once best known for making appliances like air conditioners has become a pretty great TV maker, and one of the best affordable TV brands on the market. We've been routinely impressed by the quality Hisense TVs offer, and definitely recommend giving them a look. Depending on the model, Hisense offers both Roku and Android TV options, giving you the choice of two of the best smart TV platforms available.

Hisense has also embraced technologies like QLED to pack more of a punch and provide better color and brightness than you would normally expect from TVs in this price range. Another so-called budget TV brand that's making waves is Vizio. Vizio's first forays into the smart TV market were hampered by missing features sacrificed in the name of affordability, and a limited smart TV experience. But the most recent Vizio TVs have raised the bar considerably, offering great features and expanded smart TV capabilities.

Sadly, OLEDs have the risk of permanent burn-in, and this one is no exception. Although we don't expect this to be an issue for those who watch varied content, it can be problematic if you leave it on the news all day or use it as a PC monitor. That said, Sony has included a few settings to help reduce this issue, like 'Pixel Shift' and 'Panel Refresh' options. This TV also lacks any gaming features like variable refresh rate VRR support, but that's supposed to come in a future firmware update.

Still, it has low input lag and a near-instantaneous response time for gaming. Overall, this is one of the best Sony TVs we've tested. LED TVs have an advantage over OLEDs because they appear to be immune to the risk of permanent burn-in, so you can leave it on your favorite news channel all day and not have to worry about damaging the screen.

Another advantage is that it gets much brighter, and combined with its excellent reflection handling, visibility shouldn't be an issue in even the brightest of environments. This TV is great for watching movies in dark rooms because it has a VA panel with good contrast and an excellent local dimming feature that improves the picture quality in dark scenes.

Unfortunately, its native contrast ratio is lower than most VA panel TVs because it has Sony's 'X-Wide Angle' technology that aims to improve the viewing angles at the cost of the contrast. Blacks look gray without the local dimming, so it's best to enable it for the best movie experience.

HDR content also looks great because it has amazing peak brightness in HDR, and even though it doesn't display a wide color gamut according to our testing standards, it's still good. It has two HDMI 2. It's a premium TV that can get costly, so if you prefer something cheaper with better value, the Sony X90J is also a good choice. It's their entry-level model in the lineup, and although it's too expensive to be considered a budget model, it still offers great performance as a PC monitor.

Its IPS-like panel provides wide viewing angles, so the image remains accurate no matter where you sit. It displays proper chroma with 4k and p signals at 60Hz, which is important for reading clear text, but it can't do it with p signals. It also has low input lag for a responsive desktop experience. Unfortunately, it might be best to avoid using it in a well-lit room because its reflection handling and SDR peak brightness are just decent, meaning glare might be an issue in really bright rooms.

Despite displaying a wide color gamut, it's not a good choice for watching HDR content either because it has low HDR brightness, a low contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray, and it lacks a local dimming feature.

However, this shouldn't be an issue if you're using it as a PC monitor, and the gray uniformity is good. It's available in many sizes, including a small 43 inch model, but keep in mind the 50 inch variant has a VA panel, so it performs differently than the 55 inch model we tested.

Samsung TVs have a picture quality comparable to Sony TVs, and in general, they're pretty competitive with each other.

A big difference is that Samsung has better gaming features, but if you don't need that, either brand should be a good choice. However, Sony's LED models are far better than LG because they get brighter, have better uniformity, and usually have better contrast. As a rule of thumb, it's pretty hard to go wrong when buying a Sony TV, especially if you don't need it for competitive gaming.

Their more entry-level offerings aren't great, but any of the Bravia branded models are a pretty safe bet. Their Google TV smart platform offers a ton of apps to download. You might pay a slight premium over competing models, but you'll usually end up with a good TV. Sony's lineup of TVs isn't the widest. Their focus is mainly on mid-range and high-end models. They do offer some budget TVs, but they haven't been very good compared to the competition.

Their product naming is also easy to understand. Next comes the model number, and the higher the number, the better. Lastly, the suffix letter indicates the year. Sony has traditionally used Android TV as its smart operating system, and as of , they've started to use Google TV instead. It's pretty much the same as Android, with a redesigned look and a few extra features. Those who already have Google or Android-based devices should already know how to navigate the interface, while there might be a small learning curve for others.

The great thing about Sony TVs is that they have Google Chromecast built-in, so you don't have to buy an external device to cast compatible content from your phone or tablet.

If you already have other Google devices, like Google Nest speakers, they'll easily connect with the TV, and you'll be able to ask your speaker to play content directly on the TV. The interface is clean and pretty simple to navigate. It's divided into multiple rows, and each row presents content from different apps. These rows can be customized to your liking or even disabled completely. The interface isn't very fancy, which makes it much easier to navigate.

While Android TV occasionally didn't have any ads and there was a way to disable them, Google TV pushes ads, and there's no way to disable them.