Review: LG C9-Series 65-Inch 4K OLED AI ThinQ Smart TV (Model OLED65C9PUA)

When it comes to looking for the best TV that money can buy, OLED is absolutely at the top of the list. Up there at the top, you have LG’s C9 Series 65″ 4K OLED TV (along with other size options).

We absolutely love this TV. It has been, by far, one of our favorites for nearly a year now, providing one of the best quality images we have seen (at least available to the consumer). It is a TV with a superb image that just about anyone would want, but with a price tag that might not be for everyone (while not being nearly as bad as it used to be for a top of the line OLED).

The panel is incredibly thin (around 0.25″), until you get towards the bottom and then it sticks out a little more than an inch and a half (where it runs down and connects to the base). The screen is brought down close to the base so that the base isn’t that noticeable at the bottom from the front, and everything seems to flow together quite well (design-wise). The thicker section towards the bottom features the necessary VESA compatibility that allows you the option of mounting the TV to the wall as well if you prefer to not use the stand.

The image is one of the best images (as I said) that we have seen for what’s currently out there. TVs will get better with 8K as the higher resolution begins to roll out there, but for 4K, this model is absolutely a dominating player. The blacks are perfect and the color is so incredibly accurate and pleasing. It supports Dolby Vision and HDR10.

It isn’t the brightest TV out there since OLED usually loses a little in brightness. However, it gains everywhere else enough for you to forget that it was even a variable to consider. Also, you don’t get that exhaustion that you normally get with a bright TV. This feels a lot more natural to the eyes.

Upscaling is also terrific with sources coming from cable/satellite TV or online via sources like YouTube. As for the smart side of things (ie, YouTube, Netflix, HULU, etc), the menu system is quick and it is easy to bounce around between tasks. So you can go from TV to YouTube in no time within its familiar WebOS interface. 4K content within your favorite streaming apps looks amazing, and the 1080p content (as mentions) upscales very nicely.

You can see the TV from just anywhere in the room as it has excellent wide viewing angles. You won’t have to worry about any loss of image as you walk around.

It also makes for an excellent screen to get your game on with. With HDMI 2.1 support, you are ready for the latest attached equipment and the best support for video bandwidth (4K up to 120fps) and features like auto game mode, VRR (variable refresh rate), and NVIDIA G-SYNC, which is huge when it comes to using your TV as basically a gaming monitor. Although, if you are looking for a TV to replace a gaming monitor, we’d wait for the C10 if you have the patience. We interviewed LG at CES 2020 and got to play with the C10 and it truly delivers in this area. The only catch as it won’t be out until later this year. Regardless, this TV has still earned its place as a wonderful gaming solution compared to most any other TV we have used for gaming (second to the upcoming C10).

With amazing as everything has appeared for us over the last year, it is important to point out that we have not once used a calibration tool (typically a Blu-Ray calibration disc we use for a lot of models) to achieve any of this experience. Sure we jumped into the menu and tweaked a few things to our liking, but it was all by eye and very little tweaking was needed. This comes down to user-preference in terms of what you’d adjust, but it is important to acknowledge that the TV comes almost perfectly calibrated for the best image.

You get plenty of inputs across the back of the TV for however you’d need to use it for. There are 4 HDMI inputs, and all of them support HDMI 2.1 and HDCP 2.2. There was no holding back on the quality of parts with this model. There are 3 USB ports for attaching things like thumb drives and other external drives where you can access the media files directly from the TV. These might also be used as USB power for certain external devices (ie, small HDMI Stick PCs). You have a composite AV input using an adapter, a coaxial input for cable/sat TV (or antenna), an ethernet port for wired internet (it also supports Wi-Fi of course), and an RS-232 port (this is for LG to service the TV if ever needed).

The outputs include both a 3.5mm analog audio out, as well as an optical (digital) audio out. The TV also supports WiSA if you have wireless speakers that support the same (fewer cables running all over). This allows you to run speakers (up to 5.1) around the room without the need of a cable coming from the TV or a receiver connected in the mix. Although, we still prefer using a receiver with a wired connection running to the TV for video. This way you get a lot more power for audio, However, if you are looking to keep your footprint small, the WiSA has proven to be an excellent answer. The only catch is that it does require some kind of a dongle that is sold separately.

For the remote, there isn’t anything different if you’ve used the remote of the last series, but there was nothing wrong with it, to begin with. So it doesn’t really need anything new (at least not yet). It features the motion control ability, which can really be helpful in navigation when it comes to the various apps and menus, and has a built-in microphone for Alexa or Google Assistant (which can also control all of your other Alexa/Assistant supported devices on the network).

Finally, you also have two other size options for this TV, including the 55-inch and the much larger 77-inch beast. Both of them look equally amazing to this (65-inch) model. We have seen the larger 77-inch a number of times. Enough to say that it is breath-taking. However, it’s the 65-inch we have had our hands-on all this time, therefore it was the model to focus on this round.

OLED and Burn-In

There is always the fear of burn-in with OLED screens, although LG seems to have come a long way with trying to improve their screens to prevent this as much as possible. The chance is absolutely still there, but we haven’t seen any burn-in just yet. Given, we haven’t pulled up a static image and purposely walked away for a long period of time. However, we haven’t exactly been avoiding static images in general either (within the content we have watched). So I’d say they have done a killer job at minimizing the risk as much as possible. The issue will always be there though, so you do want to avoid leaving static images on the screen for too long. You can never be too safe when it comes to taking care of your amazing investment.

Our Conclusion

If you are looking for a TV that appears as though it just walked off the CES floor, this is a winner. A prize to hang on the wall with pride (and show off to all of your friends to make them jealous). The image quality is one of the best out there currently and it is only going to get better as the C10 rolls out later this year (along with some of the 8K models that we will start seeing this year). This TV is amazing for gaming as much as it is for everything else, and the variable refresh rate is wonderful when attaching a console or PC. LG really came through with this model.

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

Related Videos:

Interview on the upcoming C10-Series model releasing later in 2020

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