Sony’s new best OLED TV ever: how well does the AG9 perform?

Luca Fontana

30.1.2019

Translation: Eva Francis

Video: Dominik Bärlocher

Sony has kicked off the year 2019 with a new OLED television. As its name indicates, the AG9 is the successor to the AF9. This TV doesn't come with any major innovations, but a range of improved details.

Sony has launched a new best OLED television ever. At least, this is how it's described at their product roadshow in Zurich's event location Komplex 457. Among other highlights of 2019, the AG9 – the new best OLED television ever and successor of the AF9 – is presented to the public.

Any major innovations? Not really.

But this doesn’t hurt too much – keep in mind, its successor was one of last year’s best TVs out there. In other words: even if only a few small improvements were made, Sony has kicked off the year with one of the best TVs ever.

Bye-bye kickstand

It looks like 2019 will go down in history as the year in which Sony bid farewell to the kickstand design. At least that's what was communicated on the day. Why? For pragmatic reasons: according to Sony, 42 percent of the OLED TVs they sell are mounted onto a wall. The kickstand – although it could be folded down – just wasn't ideal for this set-up.

Therefore, the panel including housing for the processor and other hardware is no more than about three to four fingers wide. The wall mounting kit makes it possible to install the TV flat against the wall or to pull it out a few centimetres and tilt it towards the viewer.

If you're a fan of the kickstand design, you'll either have to go with the predecessor AF9 or settle for a conventional stand. However, the latter is extremely thin and makes the TV look like it's sitting on top of your TV cabinet without any support. Quite elegant.

Acoustics from a vibrating screen

The housing is often the weakness when it comes to the acoustics of OLED televisions. Because OLEDs, unlike an LCD TVs, don't require backlighting, they can be built to have an extremely thin housing, leaving hardly enough room for loudspeakers to produce room-filling sound.

To solve this problem, Sony came up with «Acoustic Surface Audio» about two years ago. This technology relies on driver-like activators that produce vibrations on the screen and create a voluminous audio experience, as last year's AF9 model proved.

Whereas the predecessor model was equipped with three activators that produced sound from the left, right and centre, the AG9 has only two. This doesn't mean the sound quality has decreased; it means Sony's technicians have improved the technology. They’ve turned less into more and now promise even better sound. Plus, Sony's technology now supports Dolby Atmos.

Same processor, same operating system

Everything else has remained the same: the X1 Ultimate processor performs tasks such as upscaling Full HD content, suppressing image noise and enhancing colours. It's the same processor that was used for the predecessor – check out my review and you'll see I was rather impressed.

The operating system has also remained the same: Android Oreo 8.0. Good. Sony has often been accused of equipping its best TVs with an incomprehensibly slow and annoying operating system. This was due to the often poorly programmed Android Smart TV versions.

Last year, Sony fixed this flaw. When it comes to speed and response time, Android Oreo 8.0 can compete with Samsung's Tizen. On top of this, Sony's OS allows access to the wide range of apps from Google's Play Store. And: this TV comes with Google Assistant voice control. At least in High German or French – not in Swiss German or Romansh. But these are details. The AG9 is easily integrated into Google Smart Home Systems.

The new best ever Sony TV: my first impression

Will the AG9 find its buyers? Absolutely. Especially because the image quality is as good as it was previously. What's even more interesting is the improved Acoustic Surface Audio technology, which now supports Dolby Atmos. I can't wait to test this new TV – and I will in late March or early April when the AG9 goes on sale.

Apart from this, there aren't many innovations: the panel no longer leans against a kickstand but stands upright and the AG9 is thinner than its predecessor, making it easier to mount it onto a wall.

Hold on a sec – there is one thing:

Remote controls. To be continued...

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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