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One-minute review With the OLED806, Philips has delivered a good-looking, well-made OLED TV with an absolute stack of functionality, a unique selling point and periodically splendid picture quality. And it’s done all this for a real-world price. Including every HDR standard isn’t unique - Panasonic does it too - but it certainly makes every other rival look a bit petty. A couple of HDMI inputs with full 2.1 specification is no more than next-gen gamers deserve. And the excellent picture quality - balanced and naturalistic, yet vibrant and exciting at the same time - is augmented by four-sided Ambilight for extra immersion and reduced eye-strain.  The Philips even sounds pretty good. All of which means the also-ran Android TV interface and intimidatingly in-depth set-up menus can be safely ignored in favour of everything the OLED806 gets right. If it’s in your price range, you simply have to audition it.     Price and availability The Philips OLED806 is part ...

The Samsung Q950TS is no longer the latest 8K flagship from the world's biggest TV brand – that moniker goes to the new QN900A we saw launched in 2021. But the Q950TS is still a notable 8K TV with impressive specs that might be worth eyeing up in any upcoming Black Friday sales. There's an element to which the Q950TS is overspecified, no matter how much you spend on it. With 8K resolution , this screen will spend most of its processing power upscaling the SD, HD and 4K sources you put into it, given the sheer lack of native 8K content out there. Yes, 8K cameras exist and yes, Netflix has apparently used one to develop some content. And yes, if this summer’s Tokyo Olympics don’t succumb to coronavirus paranoia then Japanese broadcaster NHK plans to broadcast the entire shebang in 8K. But really, 8K content in any meaningful quantity still looks a long way off.  So if it’s going to make any sort of case for itself at all, the Q950TS is going to have to perform miracles wit...

One-minute review Flagship TVs with eye-popping specs are all well and good, but what we really want is an affordable TV at a screen-size that suits us, and that gets on with the basics of Being A Television in a way that’s impressive.  Samsung understands this – which is why the AU7100 range exists. The list of positives is extensive here, and it runs from build quality and design, through ergonomics and smart TV, all the way to 4K picture quality. In every respect, the AU7100 absolutely nails those requirements in a way that makes the asking price seem rather generous. And where it’s less impressive – with sound quality and its ability (or otherwise) to upscale older content, mostly – well, it’s no worse than some alternative designs that cost quite a bit more money. So as long as you know the size of screen you require, and you’ve set a budget that’s modest but not unrealistically so, Samsung will sell you an AU7100 that will keep you satisfied for quite a few years.  ...

One-minute review With the JZ1000, Panasonic has – and not for the first time – attempted to position itself as the choice of discerning grown-ups. Why be slim enough to comfortably hang on the wall, Panasonic asks, when you can stand on a swivelling pedestal? Why be the best upscaler around when you can enjoy such rich, lustrous native 4K images? And why watch Disney Plus when you could, um… not? To be fair, the JZ1000 gets an awful lot right. Picture quality from 4K sources is outstanding: bright, high-contrast, lavishly detailed and with those deep, dark blacks we all associate with OLED technology. It’s ergonomically impeccable, and in My Home Screen 6.0 it’s got Panasonic’s most competitive smart TV interface so far. It accommodates all the best and most techy features of next-gen consoles. And that swivelling central stand is not to be sniffed at, either. At this money, though, we’d ideally like it to sound a bit more animated. And there’s no denying that some alternative tel...