Philips OLED+936 HDR TV review

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Jump to:

• Philips OLED+936 review: summary
• How much is the Philips OLED+936?
• Philips OLED+936 features
• Philips OLED+936 design
• Philips OLED+936 picture quality
• Philips OLED+936 sound quality
• Our verdict
• Where to buy

Philips OLED+936 (65OLED936) review: summary

The OLED+936 is a superb 4K OLED screen that pushes the picture envelope. It reveals detail, nuance and colour richness in all sources, and elevates TV audio to something that sounds convincingly like Hi-Fi. Throw in the Philips Ambilight room lighting system, and you have a spectacular telly package. But all this comes with an appropriately hefty price tag.

Price: You can buy the 65-inch OLED+936 at Currys for £2299.

Key features:

• Four-sided Ambilight
• Bowers & Wilkins Dolby Atmos sound system
• Advanced AI picture processing
• HDMI v2.1 connectivity

Pros:

• Superb 4K picture performance
• Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support
• Dolby Atmos sound

Cons:

• Imposing design
• Not all HDMI inputs support 4K 120fps gaming
• Expensive

What does the Philips OLED+936 do?

• The Philips OLED+936 is a 4K OLED HDR TV with an integrated Bowers & Wilkins sound system
• It uses the Android smart TV platform and has a Freeview Play terrestrial tuner
• In addition to regular HDR10 and HLG, it supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision for the best possible HDR performance
• The screen is compatible with DTS Play-Fi multiroom speakers from different brands
• Two of the four HDMI inputs can display high frame rate games at 4K 120fps from a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X console
• The OLED+936 works with Google and Amazon Alexa smart assistants
• The screen features four-sided Ambilight mood lighting

How much is the 65-inch Philips OLED+936?

The 65-inch OLED+936 sells for £2299. It’s also available in 48- and 55-inch screen sizes (48OLED+936, 55OLED+936), priced around £1499 and £1799, respectively. The OLED+936 can be considered one of the more expensive OLED TVs available right now. The price tag on the 48-inch model is particularly onerous. On test here is the 65-inch model.

You can buy the 65-inch OLED+936 from Currys for £2299

You can buy the 48-inch OLED+936 from Currys for £1499

You can buy the 55-inch OLED+936 from Currys for £1799

Is the Philips 65-inch OLED+936 TV good value for money?

There’s no doubt that you’re paying a price premium for this fancy flagship but break the package down. It’s actually good value: the OLED screen and associated picture technologies are leading-edge, the integrated Bowers & Wilkins Dolby Atmos sound system is equal to many standalone soundbars that cost upwards of £500, and the Ambilight smart lighting system is a unique attraction. So, overall, we reckon this big 65-incher is competitively priced! The 48-inch model is less attractive, not least because the separated audio system makes it difficult to recommend for close quarter viewing.

OLED+936 (65OLED936) features

This screen uses the Android smart platform, here in its v.10 iteration. It packs in a huge array of streaming services, including Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Disney+ and Rakuten TV. There’s also Freeview Play onboard, so that’s all catch-up TV services covered, plus access to hundreds of free-to-view box sets guaranteed.

The OLED+936 is DTS Play-Fi enabled. This means you can use it as part of a wider Play-Fi whole home audio system. Play-Fi may not be as popular as Sonus, but it does much the same thing and works across a variety of compatible brands.

One novel feature that will interest gamers is Philips latest anti-screen burn technology. It uses AI to constantly monitor for static images, then selectively dimming any offending objects to make image burn virtually impossible.

OLED+936 (65OLED936) design and set-up

With its stylish steel frame and micro bezel, the OLED+936 looks on-trend. Its Bowers soundbar is definitely on the right side of swish, with an aluminium micro-mesh grille facing forward and grey Kvadrat cloth rooftop disguising upfiring speaker drivers.

The audio system may look like a soundbar, but it’s very much integrated into the overall design. You can’t separate it from the panel; it’s linked by a dedicated lead.

Rear connections comprise four HDMIs, two of which are able to accept 4K at 120Hz from a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X games console. The screen also offers VRR (Variable Refresh rate) for NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, making it suitable for use as a PC games monitor. HDMI 2 is eARC enabled, but we can’t think why you would want to route audio away from that Bowers and Wilkins speaker system to another sound solution.

Setting the screen off is four-sided Ambilight, which surrounds the screen with LED light. This can be either a static colour or a wash of colours that reflect what’s happening on screen. Ambilight can also be synchronised with a Hue smart lighting system.

Straight from the box, the system holds your hand during set-up, so you’ll soon be up and running.

OLED+936 (65OLED936) picture quality

Long story short: image quality is terrific. The OLED+936 uses the latest (fifth) iteration of Philips well-reviewed P5 picture engine, here in a new AI Intelligent Dual Picture Engine guise, which we’ll assume offers double the goodness.

Ambient Intelligence automatically manages brightness and contrast based on the ambient light in your room, and it’s compatible with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ sources.

Peak HDR brightness is high, making this one of the best HDR performers we’ve seen this year. This Philips also handles colour really well. Images are vivid without looking over-stretched.

If you love movies, watch the screen on its Home Cinema setting; you’ll enjoy cinematic imagery with deep blacks, great shadow detail and lush hues.

Serious gamers should note that this is not one of the best TVs for competitive gaming. We measured input lag at 21.6ms in Game mode (1080/60), which is average at best.

Fast motion handling is above average, courtesy of a new Fast Motion Clarity setting. This makes the set a good option for F1 and footy fans.

OLED+936 (65OLED936) sound quality

We’ve seen a number of Philips/Bowers & Wilkins TV collaborations over the past couple of years, but this is unquestionably the best sounding. Under the hood, there has been all manner of component changes, including the use of new, stiffer speaker cones, which seems to have added greater sonic precision.

The soundbar has both volume (70W) and musicality. Bowers’ familiar Tweeter-on-Top ensures excellent dialogue clarity and helps anchor centre channel action to the screen. The left and right drivers cast the stereo image wide, while those up-firing cones give soundtracks big-screen height. Unusually for a TV, the sound system also has quite profound bass. Good for when you’re watching blockbusters.

Our verdict: should you buy the Philips OLED+936 (65OLED936)?

If you’re hankering for a top-flight OLED TV with a kick-ass sound system, this Philips warrants a very close look. Picture quality is outstanding, particularly with 4k HDR sources, and the Bowers and Wilkins sound system is excellent. The only model that comes close on both fronts is Panasonic’s rival JZ2000 model.

File under ‘Fabulous’.

Our rating:

• Features: 5/5
• Design: 4/5
• Picture quality: 5/5
• Sound quality: 5/5
• Value for money: 5/5
• Overall rating: 5/5

Where to buy the Philips OLED+936

You can buy the 65-inch OLED+936 from Currys for £2299.

For more product guides and reviews, head to our Technology section. Or, read our Samsung QN95A TV review to see how it compares.