Do you want maximum immersion in your living room? We don’t do much better than Philips and its Ambilight to get to the heart of the action. We have chosen for you the best TVs from the manufacturer.
The TOP 3 of the best Philips TVs
The reference
- The ambilight still as successful
- One of the best OLED panels on the market
- sound quality
If they do not really differ from their competitors from a technical point of view, Philips TVs have a particularity which has enabled the brand to retain a loyal core of aficionados: Ambilight.
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This lighting technology makes it possible to widen the field of vision without having to buy a larger television. And if it may seem simplistic, we must admit that the technology is devilishly effective.
And if it no longer manufactures its own panels, the brand nevertheless offers many quality models, in particular on OLED and mini LED. We have made for you a small inventory of the best Philips TVs to help you choose well.
For more choices, read our buying guides dedicated to televisions:
The range of QLED OLED TVs
Philips 55OLED936 The reference
- The ambilight still as successful
- One of the best OLED panels on the market
- sound quality
Available at €1,999 on Fnac
The Philips 936 series is the most advanced of the brand, bringing together the latest technologies. It also starts with the one displaying the neatest design and perhaps the most surprising, with its integrated sound bar.
For this 2021 version of its flagship, the manufacturer went once again to provide LG and did not look at the expense. We find the same EVO panel as on the very good LG G1. This therefore brings the brightness up by 20% compared to last year while maintaining the absolute blacks of the OLED. Nothing to say either about the perfectly mastered colorimetry. Often neglected at Philips, gaming has been treated here since the display delay time reaches a very respectable 11 ms as well as FreeSync compatibility.
The sound part rocks thanks to a sound bar signed Bowers & Wilkins, to which it will be possible to add subwoofer and satellites for an effect surround integral. Without reaching the quality of a dedicated home cinema kit, this solution remains very correct.
But it is above all the Ambilight, present on 4 sides here, which once again seduces. And if you are equipped with Philips Hue bulbs, they can even synchronize with the TV.
Unsurprisingly, the bill turns out to be steep, but we have one of the best OLED screens on the market and a serious competitor to the LG G1. While waiting for our full test, you can read our handling of the Philips OLED+986.
Philips 55OLED806 Good value for money
8 /10
- Excellent display quality
- Improved video game functions
- A reasonable price
Available at €1,174 on Ubaldi.com
Your budget is more limited, but you still want to take advantage of the excellent OLED and Ambilight combo (we must admit that we hardly do better for films…)? No problem, Philips offers a “light” version of its OLED836 which represented the brand’s top of the range in 2020.
The main change is aesthetic, the finishes are indeed set back, with much more basic feet. Also forgotten is the excellent sound bar fitted to its big brother, we move on to much more classic internal speakers.
That said, the slab is identical. We are therefore entitled to excellent colorimetry and generally balanced behavior. Among the significant changes, we notice more careful electronics, with the adoption of HDMI 2.1 as well as a lower latency in games.
In short, a very balanced and above all particularly accessible television for Ambilight fans. To find out more, head to our test of the Philips 55OLED806.
The range of MiniLED TVs
Philips MiniLED 65PML9636 Philips launches into the Mini LED
- The excellent contrast
- Good brightness and calibration
- The sound bar
Available at €2,999 on Darty
Until now mainly focused on OLED for the high end, Philips is diversifying with a first TV using a Mini LED panel. Externally, nothing very new, this model is almost identical to that of the OLED936 with its central foot and the bar of its design. However, the general thickness is more important.
Available in 65 and 75 inches, the panel has 1024 backlight zones. The result is excellent contrast, exceeding 11550:1. It’s better than the Samsung QN95A, which has held the category crown for the time being. No miracle, however, in terms of blooming, the latter is always noticed on elements such as subtitles.
Add to that a good calibration and high brightness and you get a very interesting screen for those who plan to watch TV in a very bright room. Unsurprisingly, we are also entitled to support for HDMI 2.1.
Without reaching the absolute blacks of OLED, Philips’ first Mini LED adventure is therefore convincing and offers us a television that is a little less cinema-oriented than OLED cousins while being more practical to use during the day. If you already have a good sound system, a version without a soundbar is also available.
The One range
Philips 50PUS8546 Affordable Ambilight
- Android-TV
- Decent quality…
- … for a contained price
Available at €649 on Fnac
Your budget is tight, but you really like Ambilight. The series The One may interest you. Composed in our region of a single 50-inch model. The concept is simple: simplify the choice as much as possible by offering a balanced television set sold at an attractive price.
In practice, however, The One is not quite the chosen one. The machine is particularly thick and the panel is correct, but pales in comparison to the QLED panels that the competition is starting to offer at this price level. However, we appreciate the presence of Android TV for the software part.
Available on only 3 sides (compared to 4 on the more advanced models), the Ambilight nevertheless remains completely functional and gives an impression of size that is unexpected given the reduced diagonal.
A decent television therefore, but which offers a fairly average quality/price ratio.
Everything you need to know about Philips TVs
Who is Phillips?
Contrary to what one might imagine, the company producing Philips televisions has not been Dutch for quite some time. The parent company sold its television branch to the Chinese giant TPV Technology in 2011.
Contrary to many takeovers of this type, the quality of the products has not collapsed, quite the contrary. Philips remains a major player in the market.
What is Ambilight?
This technology is THE great strength of Philips televisions. The principle of luminous halo is simple and used for a long time in the audiovisual mode. It consists of adding a light source behind the screen to deceive our eye and give it an impression of enhanced contrast.
If originally this was done only with white light, Philips has taken the concept further by using light tubes (now replaced by RGB LEDs) which match the colors displayed on the screen. This helps to improve the immersion effect, without having to buy a larger screen. Depending on the model, the number of sides covered and the “fineness” of the lighting will be more or less important.
If the function is not unanimous, it must be admitted that almost 18 years after its launch it still mobilizes a community of loyal fans behind it.
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