The last OLED TV to have arrived in 2023 is also one of the best
TV | £1399| whf.cm/PhilipsOLED808
Over the past few years, Philips has produced some of the very best OLED TVs to grace our test rooms. It was with great sadness, therefore, that we learned back in August that the brand’s first 2023 model, the OLED808, would not only miss our annual Awards deadline but indeed wouldn’t make it into the UK until at least October.
The problem? Some sort of licensing issue between Google TV and Freeview Play was the reason given, with Philips apparently not wanting to launch the TVs in the UK without the full suite of terrestrial channel catch-up services.
Unfortunately, that issue hasn’t been resolved and the OLED808 has to do without the BBC iPlayer, ITV X and Channel 4 apps. Fortunately, though, the TV is now available and, having subjected it to our rigorous, comparative testing process, we can confirm that it’s a corker.
At launch, the 55in OLED808 was priced at £1800. That was a bit of an issue – its main rivals, most obviously the Sony A80L and LG C3, had already been available for some time and so had been discounted to well below the OLED808’s launch price.
Thankfully, this issue has been rapidly addressed and the OLED808 has already dropped to £1399, which means it is roughly on par with those rivals mentioned. In fact, at the specific time of writing, the Philips is £100 cheaper than both the Sony A80L and LG C3. Prices are very volatile at the moment, though, so it’s probably best to think of all three models as coming in at essentially the same price.
The OLED808 is available in a variety of sizes ranging from 42 inches (which is Philips’s first 42in OLED) all the way up to 77 inches; but it is the 55in version that we have tested for this review.
Slimmer and sleeker
The main chassis of the TV looks very similar to that of the OLED807, and that is no bad thing. It combines super-slim panel areas with a plastic enclosure that is slimmer and sleeker than many in this class, and it feels solidly made.
The stand is entirely new, though, with Philips having transitioned from the striking but somewhat awkward T-bar of the OLED807 to a more practical pedestal that has a usefully compact footprint and allows the set to swivel. OLED TVs don’t have the viewing angle issues of their backlit counterparts, but being able to swivel the scr
