When comparing Sony X720E 55" (KD55X720E) vs Sony A1E 55" (XBR55A1E), the Slant community recommends Sony A1E 55" (XBR55A1E) for most people. In the question“What are the best TVs?” Sony A1E 55" (XBR55A1E) is ranked 7th while Sony X720E 55" (KD55X720E) is ranked 169th. The most important reason people chose Sony A1E 55" (XBR55A1E) is:
The Sony A1E has exceptional picture quality because of its infinitely high native contrast ratio, decent luminosity, and near-perfect black uniformity. The TV does a fantastic job when it comes to reproducing dark scenes, as the infinitely high native contrast ratio and the near-perfect black uniformity allow it to display thick, rich, and immersive dark scenes. As for bright scenes, the luminosity of 389 nits allows this OLED TV to fight glare and reproduce crisp and vibrant colors in vivid scenes.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Excellent viewing angles
The X720E has excellent viewing angles because of its IPS panel, which gives you greater freedom than VA panels when it comes to finding a good viewing spot. In fact, you will only notice a minor color shift if your viewing angle is greater than 41 degrees.
Pro No problems with image retention
Unlike the majority of OLED panels, this LED TV does not suffer from image retention problems. You can leave the TV on for long periods without having to worry about pixel damage.
Pro Well-rounded inputs
Regarding connectivity, this TV is has everything you'd currently want. It has three HDCP 2.2 compliant HDMI 2.0 ports, digital and analog audio output ports, and an Ethernet port. Additionally, as the TV has a composite input interface, you can enjoy playing your retro consoles, such as the Nintendo and Sega without having to go through the hassle of signal conversion. HDMI, USB, and analog coaxial ports are situated on the side of the TV so you won’t have any problem accessing them even if it’s mounted on a wall.
Pro Ads-free main interface
The main interface of the smart OS does not feature advertisements or sponsored content.
Pro Excellent for upscaling content
This TV does a fantastic job when it comes to upscaling low-resolution content. In a nutshell, it can upscale 480p, 720p, and 1080p content to 4K resolution while preserving details and sharp edges. Great for those with a collection of old DVDs or Blu-ray disks.
Pro Excellent for console gaming
The Sony X720E is a great companion to latest gen consoles, like the Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and Wii U because of its 4K60 support, low input lag, and motion blur candling capabilities.
Furthermore, the TV’s full HDR support allows you to fully experience HDR-enhanced games such as World of Tanks, FIFA 18, etc.
Pro Great for bright rooms
The combination of reasonably high peak brightness and semi-gloss screen finish allows this TV to deal with reflections and glare efficiently. Its 340 nits of brightness are almost double than what its direct competitor, the TCL S405, offers. Furthermore, the X720E diffuses up to 97.6% of ambient light; thus the TV does not suffer from reflections.
Pro Excellent picture quality
The Sony A1E has exceptional picture quality because of its infinitely high native contrast ratio, decent luminosity, and near-perfect black uniformity.
The TV does a fantastic job when it comes to reproducing dark scenes, as the infinitely high native contrast ratio and the near-perfect black uniformity allow it to display thick, rich, and immersive dark scenes.
As for bright scenes, the luminosity of 389 nits allows this OLED TV to fight glare and reproduce crisp and vibrant colors in vivid scenes.
Pro Decent color accuracy
Out of the box, the Sony A1E has excellent color accuracy, so the majority of users will not require doing the color calibration procedure. The A1E has better color accuracy than its competitors, including the LG seven series OLED TVs.
Pro Compatible with current-gen consoles
This 4K120 TV works well with all of the current-generation 4K consoles, including the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, because of the A1E’s adequate input lag (30.7 ms) at 4K resolution. Additionally, the TV is a good choice for HDR gaming, since its input lag does not increase when processing high-bandwidth 4K HDR signal.
Pro Decent viewing angle
The Sony A1E looks good even from an angle since its colors only start to degrade when the angle between the viewer and the panel is greater than 29 degrees.
Pro Good sound quality
The Sony A1E sounds noticeably better than all of its competitors, including the LG Seven series OLED TVs.
Pro Extensive app selection
The Sony A1E runs the Android TV which has the widest app selection among all the smart TV platforms currently available.
Pro Perfect for 24p content
The Sony A1E is an excellent option for those who have a collection of old DVDs or Blu-rays, a cable or satellite box, or an Apple TV since the A1E can detect and eliminate judder from those sources and make 24p content playback nice and smooth.
Pro Can handle reflections
The Sony A1E does an excellent job of managing reflections as its panel is coated with the anti-reflective material; therefore, the TV looks good even when situated right in front of a window.
Pro Ads-free interface
The main interface of this TV is free of advertisements and sponsored content.
Pro Makes low frame rate content look good
The Sony A1E can boost up the frame rate of low FPS content up to a stunning 120 Hz, making such content look more fluid and smooth. This feature is called motion interpolation, or in some sources, the 'soap opera' effect. Some people find the interpolated content very attractive.
Pro Excellent for watching sports
The Sony A1E manages to balance all the features required for a good sports TV. It has well-handled motion blur, excellent color uniformity, and superb picture quality.
Motion blur handling is the most critical aspect of a good sports TV. The A1E has almost negligible motion blur because of its fast full pixel response time of 0.7 ms, which ensures that the pixels of this TV need only 1/1400th of a second to go from one color to another. Therefore, even fast objects don't leave noticeable trails on the screen.
As for the color uniformity, the A1E is currently the best TV money can buy. The overall color uniformity of a TV is essential for sports fans, as it allows a TV to reproduce realistic and good-looking football fields, hockey arenas, golf fields, and other large sports fields.
Cons
Con Dark scenes look shallow
Because of the really low native contrast ratio of 907:1, dark scenes look washed out if the TV is placed in a dark environment.
Con Non-intuitive smart OS
Unlike other Sony TVs, the X720E has a custom, Linux based operating system which runs the Opera TV application store. OS is unintuitive and confusing to use.
Con Not suitable for competitive gaming
While the TV's input lag of 19.7 ms is noticeably smaller than the overwhelming majority of TVs on the market, it still can not compete with rapid TN gaming monitors when it comes to fast and competitive gaming. The input lag of such panels can go all the way down to 3 ms.
Con Built-in speakers don’t sound right
The X720E comes with an integrated 20W 2.0 stereo speaker system. While it can get pretty loud (around 100 dB), the quality of sound is very weak, especially when it comes to bass. The speakers sound unclear and muddy.
Con Not compatible with Dolby Vision
When it comes to HDR content, the X720E cannot display Dolby Vision-compliant content as it is only limited to HDR10 content. Even though HDR10 has more available content, multiple services require Dolby Vision for HDR playback.
Con Can’t unleash full potential of HDR content
Even though this TV does support HDR10 media, the low HDR peak brightness, poor native contrast, lack of local dimming, and lack of wide color gamut severely limit the quality of HDR playback. Even some lower tier TVs will produce higher quality HDR images.
Con Has image retention problems
Just like many other OLED TVs, the Sony A1E does suffer from severe image retention which is caused by a static frame which is displayed for an extended period. However, the burn-in effect fades after 5 minutes.
Con Hard-to-access rare inputs
Once the TV is mounted on a wall, it is very difficult to reach its rear inputs as there is simply not enough space between the TV and a wall.
Con Lacks Dolby Vision
At the moment, the Sony A1E is not compatible with Dolby Vision content which severely limits its HDR capabilities.