Key Specs
- Evaluation Value: £8990.00
- 55- or 65-inch 4K OLED panel
- HDR assist: HDR10, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HLG
- Constructed-in 120W soundbar
- Tabletop, wall mount and flooring stand choices
- 4x HDMI, 3x USB, micro AV, Ethernet
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth aptX
- 1TB arduous drive
- Freeview HD tuner
Fingers-on with Loewe’s sculptural OLED TV
Apart from their ever-decreasing thickness TVs have been caught in a styling rut for a number of years now. Except you spy the emblem, you could possibly be watching on any fashionable flat-panel – and that’s clearly been bothering Loewe…
The German firm teamed up with London-based designer Bodo Sperlein final yr, with the consequence being the gorgeous bild 9 idea proven off at IFA 2016. The reception it obtained at that annual Berlin techfest has meant the bild 9 has really gone on sale – with its jawdropping styling unchanged.
Associated: Greatest TVs to purchase
What offers the bild 9 its hanging aesthetic is the stand. Or, slightly, stands, as there are three choices, with a wall mount, tabletop stand and the ground stand I obtained to check out in Harrods, the place it’s on the market completely.
Loewe wasn’t taking half measures, both, displaying off the bigger 65-inch panel (£8990) – a 55-inch can be accessible for £6990. The ground stand was additionally in ‘amber gold’ slightly than the much less look-at-me ‘graphite gray’ end. It was Harrods, in spite of everything.
The pictures don’t actually do justice to only how imposing this telly is. A 65-incher isn’t going to be refined, however the angular flooring stand turns it right into a sizeable slice of business sculpture. It’s a mighty 141cm tall and 151cm large, with a front-to-back depth of 65cm. Nonetheless, the triangular base at the very least helps it nestle right into a nook…
Designer Bodo Sperlein took inspiration from the Bauhaus and Artwork Deco actions of the Nineteen Twenties to craft a stand not like every other you’re prone to have seen, however with practicality within the type of a tubular construction meaning the TV’s cables might be routed neatly via it and out of a gap on the backside.
Turning the bild 9 on causes the entire display to rise majestically by a few inches, revealing the built-in 120W soundbar beneath. The soundbar’s fascia is roofed by a gray material grille that, mixed with its relative slimness, makes it surprisingly refined – very like the one on the Loewe bild 7. Beneath that grille are six drivers and 4 passive bass radiators.
Associated: Greatest Soundbars to Purchase
You’ll be able to select to lock the bild 9’s display within the up place should you’re not too bothered about that butter-smooth motorised slide motion, however actually, the place’s the enjoyable in that? Whenever you’ve splurged the price of a brand new Dacia Duster SUV on a telly, you may as properly take pleasure in these premium perks.
You’ll be able to see that mechanism in motion, and the opposite mounting choices, in Loewe’s promo vid:
The OLED panel is, unsurprisingly, made by LG and at its higher edge is simply 7mm skinny. It’s 4K/UHD after all, and helps three flavours of HDR within the type of HDR10, Dolby Imaginative and prescient and HLG.
Across the again is a big, gray material cowl that’s held on by magnets and retains the whole lot trying neat, hiding the socketry. Pop it again and also you’ll discover 4 HDMI ports, three USB sockets, a micro AV port and an Ethernet connection. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with aptX are in-built, as a result of, properly, that is 2017.
The bild 9’s sensible TV interface is Loewe’s personal very tasty Linux-based system. You additionally get a 1TB arduous drive for recording from the TV’s built-in Freeview HD tuner.
I solely obtained to see a restricted loop of demo footage, but it surely seemed to exhibit the kind of traits we’ve come to count on from fashionable OLEDs. Blacks seemed inky, colors popped and the element was simply gorgeous. Hopefully we’ll have a full evaluate unit round June time, so we’ll get to see the way it compares with Sony’s astonishing KD-65A1.
Sadly the non-compulsory matching klang 9 audio system (£4990) weren’t accessible for a glance or hear. Apparently they’re energetic fashions that connect with the bild 9 wirelessly, and include an array of drivers in a D’Appolito configuration.
You’ll be able to simply add a klang 9 pair for stereo music (and three.0-channel TV audio alongside the bild 9’s soundbar), or go all-out with one other two for encompass sound. Hell, why not add one among Loewe’s subwoofers for five.1?
First Impressions
The Loewe bild 9’s styling divides opinion, however personally I adore it. Whether or not that hanging industrial-chic design and the built-in soundbar essentially warrant a price that’s almost £4000 greater than the same-sized Sony A1 mannequin is one other matter. If you happen to’re already contemplating spending £5000 on a telly, although…
Look out for a full evaluate in a few months, once we’ll put the bild 9’s image and sound via its paces (and gawp at that display motoring up and down a number of hundred occasions).
How we check televisions
We check each TV we evaluate totally over an prolonged time frame. We use trade commonplace checks to match options correctly. We’ll at all times let you know what we discover. We by no means, ever, settle for cash to evaluate a product.
Discover out extra about how we check in our ethics coverage.
Used as the principle TV for the evaluate interval
Examined for greater than every week
Examined utilizing trade calibrated instruments, discs and with actual world use
Examined with broadcast content material (HD/SD), video streams and demo discs
