There are a lot of televisions at CES every year, but only a few of them truly stand out. In Sony’s case, the standout is definitely the upcoming Bravia XBR-A1E OLED, which launched at the show on Wednesday. Everything about this TV is stunning, from its 4K HDR picture to its innovate speaker design — or more accurately, lack thereof — which makes it worthy of being DigitalTrends’ pick for Best of CES 2017 in the Home Video category.
Sony designed the television to look like all but a “work of art” on your wall, as Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo told Digital Trends during a live interview on Friday. The sound actually emanates from the display itself through something called Acoustic Surface, a new technology being debuted in the XBR-A1E.
Those at DigitalTrends who have seen the TV up close say that the sound quality is surprisingly immersive, supplemented by an innovative 4-inch subwoofer placed in the stand behind the TV itself. Picture quality is impressive too, with the darkest blacks and whitest whites stunningly vivid, yet not to the point where they cause discomfort when watching for long periods of time.
“The dynamic range is just unbelievable,” Fasulo said of the television. While no pricing of the television or availability was announced, we do know that the set itself will come in 55-inch, 65-inch, and 75-inch model sizes.
Besides the TV, Fasulo brought with him to the Digital Trends stage several of the more than 25 different new products the company is showing off at this year’s CES. They include Bluetooth-enabled speakers that use NFC to allow you to “tap to play” your music, as well as a pair of innovative noise-canceling headphones that let the user cup an earphone to hear ambient noise without having to take them off.
Finally, Fasulo demoed for one of the first times in public a prototype of completely wireless earbuds that the company is working on. While he declined to share details, it appears as if the earbuds will have battery life comparable to its wireless headphones, which currently last about 20 hours or so.
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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