When you’re the best at something, you can charge a premium. Just look at Apple with the iPhone. The same rings true for Sony with its 4K TVs. Take the 70-inch X830F, for example. It retails for $2,000, versus the $1,200 rival LG asks for its competitor. But that’s when it’s not on sale — right now, Walmart has that exact model for $1,100.
Do the math and that’s a $900 discount. What’s more interesting, though, is that it’s now $100 cheaper than the equivalent LG. To understand why that’s significant, we need to take a look at what makes the Sony TV worth the extra scratch — all $800 of it. In a nutshell, it comes down to the overall 4K experience.
Sony invested an awful lot of time and effort into its 4K HDR Processor X1 and 4K X-Reality Pro Engine, which work together to upscale HD and Full HD content into a higher 4K Ultra HD revolution like no other 4K TV on the market, churning out crisp, clear visuals that show no signs of remastering taking place in the background.
Pair them with its in-house Object-Based HDR Remaster, Motionflow XR, and Super Bit Mapping, and you have a television that uses a combination of HDR and 4K wizardry to turn even the plainest environment into one brimming with accurate color and vivid detail — regardless of whether it’s an eerily dark or blindingly light scenes.
And that’s what positions the 70-inch X830F above the competition; LG didn’t dedicate the same amount of blood, sweat, and tears to perfecting the 4K experience, instead opting to bundle a mixed bag of HDR options, including HDR10, on the unit, without a smoothing engine to make sure it all looks crystal clear and dripping with detail.
There’s no shortage of content to watch, either. The 70-inch Sony X830F runs Google’s Android TV OS, which is a one-stop-shop for all the leading streaming services, including Amazon Prime Video, DirecTV, Hulu, Netflix, and Sling TV. It also has Google Assistant baked in, which can be used to track down content — no scrolling required.
What’s more, you also have the option to use Assistant to control various smart-connected appliances, like the Nest Learning Thermostat and a Roomba robot vacuum, right from your television. And that’s without having to hook up a Google Home, as is the case with some lower-end models from other manufacturers, like LG and Vizio.
Let’s face it, though: We don’t all have the space for a 70-inch 4K TV. If you’re in the market for something a little smaller, there are a number of unmissable 4K TV deals available right now, including a 43-inch TCL for $230, a 50-inch Vizio for $300, and a 55-inch TCL for $530. There’s also a 43-inch Samsung QLED available for $650.
Not sure what makes a fantastic TV? Take a look at our buying guide.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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