LG BX OLED Specs
Value: $1,399.99
Mannequin quantity: OLED55BXPUA
Display screen measurement: 55 inches
Decision: 3840 x 2160
HDR: Dolby Imaginative and prescient IQ, HDR10, and HLG
Refresh charge: 120 Hz
Ports: 4 HDMI 2.1; 2 USB; 1 composite w. adapter; Ethernet; RF; digital audio
Audio: 40 watts (20-watt woofer)
Good TV software program: webOS 5
Dimension: 48.3 x 27.8 x 1.8 inches [w/o stand]
Weight: 41.7 kilos [w/o stand]; 43.9 kilos [w. stand]
Regardless of being in the marketplace since 2012, massive display screen OLED TVs have continued to impress. The 55-inch LG BX OLED TV entry mannequin is an indication of how the units have matured over time whereas sustaining a market-leading image.
With a price ticket of roughly $1,400, this LG BX 4K TV helps all the most recent excessive dynamic vary requirements (Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HDR10 and HLG for streaming and broadcasts) and boasts handy options, similar to help for Amazon and Google’s voice assistants. Its OLED or natural light-emitting diode show, in contrast to LCDs and quantum dot units, doesn’t want a separate again mild to create an image. The natural parts emit their very own mild, which signifies that every pixel could be fully turned on or off individually so there’s nearly no light-leaking halos or grayish solid to the image.
So with such a scintillating picture, the key problem for many buyers searching for one of the best image at an affordable worth will likely be deciding between this BX mannequin and LG’s personal CX OLED model. A mere $100 separates the 2 55-inch TVs. The foremost distinction is that the BX units use the earlier era A7 LG video processor, versus the A9 within the CX units. Nonetheless, as our LG BX OLED TV evaluation clearly exhibits, most viewers will likely be laborious pressed to inform the distinction between the 2 photos.
Editor’s Be aware: We’ve up to date the pricing and availability part of this evaluation to replicate present info. The ranking and general suggestions of our evaluation stay unchanged from when it ran in January of 2021.
LG BX OLED evaluation: Value and Availability
The BX fashions are LG’s entry-level OLED units. Three sizes are supplied. Each the 55-inch mannequin reviewed right here and the 65-inch model could be simply discovered via main retailers like Greatest Purchase and Amazon. The third BX is a copious 77-incher, which could be troublesome to search out, however could be discovered via some retailers for just a little over $3,000.
Confusingly, LG additionally has a CX line with an identical design and have set that’s priced so intently to the BX line that consumers might find yourself selecting between the 2 strains primarily based merely on availability. For instance, the 55-inch CX, a very talked-about set, is simply $100 greater than the BX 55-incher. The 65-inch CX has a bigger worth distinction, however the similarities proceed. Nonetheless, the extra premium LG CX OLED does use the extra highly effective Alpha 9 Gen 3 AI processor, which accounts for the efficiency variations famous in our testing and analysis under.
One vital word: as a result of all three BX OLED fashions are based on the identical OLED know-how and panel designs, they ship the identical sharp image throughout the road, permitting us to suggest not solely the 55-inch we examined but in addition the bigger 65-inch and 77-inch variations.
LG BX OLED evaluation: Design
Along with the crisp image, OLEDs provide the thinnest TV designs potential. The LG BX OLED is about 0.25-inches thick, for instance. Nonetheless, the official depth specification for the 55-inch LG BX is 1.8 inches to replicate the truth that the decrease third of the again of the set has an connected module that homes audio system in addition to the electronics and ports for hooking up video sources.
The bezel across the display screen can also be svelte at lower than a quarter-inch thick, making it a really perfect design for wall mounting. Do you have to wish to achieve this, the LG BX makes use of a normal VESA 300mm x 200mm bracket.
Alternatively, for a table-top setup, the BX features a heart, wedge-like pedestal that is also used to perch it on a big sound base or field (though many homeowners might discover that pointless, see “Audio” under).
LG BX OLED evaluation: Ports
The LG BX helps Wi-Fi 802.11ac to make an Web connection. There’s additionally Bluetooth 5.0 help so you possibly can pair up wi-fi headphones for late-night listening or join a set of wi-fi audio system. To spice up wi-fi audio high quality, LG helps the aptX commonplace, as properly, and consists of Apple Airplay 2 and Apple Homekit compatibility.
On the again of the set is a whole set of wired connections: There are 4 HDMI – two HDMI 2.0 ports and two of the newer HDMI 2.1 connections, which provide increased bandwidth for options like eARC, auto low latency mode and variable refresh charges with help for 120Hz PlayStation 5 and Xbox Collection X homeowners.
Additionally listed below are three USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, an RF coaxial connector for an antenna, and optical digital audio output and a mini jack for headphones. For those who’ve obtained some historical video gear you possibly can’t half with, there’s a particular plug that makes use of a provided composite video adapter for making the connection.
LG BX OLED evaluation: Efficiency
Total, the 55-inch LG BX delivers a formidable 4K image with wonderful HDR help and stable upscaling capabilities (for these conditions while you’re watching a normal HD program). Like its different OLED brethren, the bars round letterbox films are inky black and pinpoints of sunshine, like star fields, seem sharp and crystal clear on the LG BX. Furthermore, OLEDs ship one of the best viewing angles of any TV know-how in order that even while you’re relegated to the top of the sofa or nook of the lounge, colours will stay vibrant and correct out of your standpoint.
What’s completely different right here is that the LG BX lacks some extra superior video processing that’s supplied within the firm’s dearer fashions. These units use LG’s Alpha 9 processor and apply extra ranges of image noise discount, for instance, and might extra exactly isolate picture objects (like faces) to use extra processing. Nonetheless, many of those “enhancements” can annoy purists, and truthfully we didn’t miss the extra software program tweaks.
LG already affords a wide selection of preset modes to please most viewers. There are Vivid, Normal, Cinema, and Sports activities modes, for instance. An HDR impact makes an attempt to accentuate highlights in photos, however we discovered it tended to blow out particulars and overemphasize brilliant spots.
There may be additionally a Filmmaker Mode, which produces photos as near the unique image as potential by disabling video processing results like movement smoothing and reinstating the unique film’s side ratio, colours and body charges. Like Cinema mode, it may possibly appear extra muted than different presets however we are likely to favor it for testing at any time when it’s supported. In any other case, our viewing judgments are primarily based on Cinema mode.
With full-on 4K materials, the LG BX delivered a crisp, even image. Particulars come alive and even background objects, just like the high-velocity speeder that momentarily pops into view in a scene from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, look real looking and sharp. And when extra refined strikes have been referred to as for, the set dealt with darkish shadowy scenes similar to Rey scaling a wrecked starship with an even-handedness that was missing within the early days of OLED.
The LG BX additionally dealt with colour transitions with out noticeable banding. In As soon as Upon a Time in Hollywood, the 4K HDR disc revealed unblemished sunny California skies. And particulars similar to motes of mud floating within the air at Charlie’s ranch regarded eerily real looking.
Streaming Dolby Imaginative and prescient materials additionally regarded good. Can’t get sufficient of Grogu? The Mandalorian appears equally spectacular, whether or not it is coping with fast hand-to-hand fight or a gradual pan of a jail junkyard.
To see how the LG BX upscaled lesser decision applications, we examined the set’s over-the-air tuning skills. Scanning for native stations with a Mohu antenna, we managed to search out 63 channels with an automatic scan in our space. Many of the stations regarded good and when there was dependable reception, the set did a greater than respectable job upscaling HD video to 4K dimensions.
LG BX OLED evaluation: Take a look at Outcomes
Utilizing our regular check package deal—an X-Ceremony i1 Professional spectrophotometer and SpectraCal CalMAN Final calibration software program—we discovered that when in comparison with the marginally dearer LG CX, the BX mannequin delivered simply as vibrant and colourful an image. It yielded 133.7 p.c of the Rec 709 official specification whereas the LG CX did solely infinitesimally higher with 134.6 p.c.
The LG CX with the extra superior processing did look like extra trustworthy in rendering colours, nevertheless, than the BX mannequin reviewed right here. The BX set had a Delta E results of 2.9, however a decrease quantity is best on this regard and LG’s CX was more true with a Delta E of 1.9.
However, the entry degree LG BX did very properly in comparison with the OLED competitors from different corporations. The Vizio OLED TV (OLED55-H1) was not as correct when it comes to colour copy with a Delta E of 4.3, whereas the Sony Bravia A8H OLED was higher on this regard, with a Delta E of 1.5, however at a major worth premium over the LG BX of a number of hundred {dollars}. Furthermore, the LG BX was capable of reproduce extra colours within the Rec 709 spectrum than both of these units. The LG BX did 133.7 p.c of the colour gamut with the aforementioned Vizio and Sony units doing worse (130 and 108.9 p.c, respectively).
Players will likely be inspired by the LG BX check outcomes, as properly. In gaming mode, with practically all video processing shut off, the set turned in a lag time of solely 14.5 milliseconds. That’s faster than not solely LCD units however it additionally proved quicker than comparable OLED units from Vizio and Sony. The Vizio OLED TV had a lag time of 21 milliseconds, for instance, whereas the dearer Sony A8H OLED turned in a time of 18 milliseconds.
LG BX OLED evaluation: Audio
Huge screens’ massive vulnerability is often sound high quality. However LG has managed to considerably enhance the audio with the BX a lot in the way in which it does with the practically identically designed CX.
It begins with 40 watts a facet and the expanded bottom of the TV that permits it to ship extra gusto on soundtracks and music movies. There are a number of preset sound modes, together with Normal, Clear Voice, Music, and Cinema modes. Clear Voice enhances and facilities the vocal sound parts, whereas Sports activities mode boosts the excessive finish to annoying (slightly than thrilling) ranges. Going from Normal to Cinema modes is like having mufflers lifted out of your ears; Miles Davis’ horn goes from buried within the combine to floating above the display screen.
Total, we discovered the sound remarkably properly rounded in Music and Cinema modes and at quantity ranges of round 30 p.c there was loads of quantity to make films a really residence theater occasion.
If none of this works for you, the LG BX consists of an AI Acoustic Tuning setting that makes use of the distant management’s microphone to calibrate the sound and tailor the audio to your specific environment. It takes only a few seconds to carry out the calibration, after which you’ll be able to evaluate the earlier than and after audio. In our check setting, the AI outcome sounded higher, delivering a extra open soundstage that put music entrance and heart.
LG BX OLED evaluation: Good TV
LG depends by itself sensible TV software program, dubbed webOS, slightly than a third-party program similar to Roku TV or Android TV. As such, it’s one of many few that evaluate properly to these extra well-known applications. Furthermore, it boasts built-in help not just for Amazon Alexa but in addition for Google Assistant.
The webOS’s versatile and clear, horizontally organized tabs make it simple to study. It additionally helps the key streaming apps, similar to Netflix, Prime, Hulu, Disney+, and Showtime. Admittedly, it does not provide the in depth array of apps that Android TV-based units or Roku fashions cowl. And there are some evident omissions from the LG Content material Retailer (the corporate’s nomenclature for apps): there’s no app for the Criterion Channel, for instance.
However, each sensible voice command programs labored properly on the set. We discovered the help for Alexa was a particular profit. And searching for content material utilizing Google Assistant was fairly simple. Push and maintain the mic button on the distant management and ask for Steely Dan’s Can’t Purchase a Thrill and also you’ll be taken to the total album on YouTube.
LG BX OLED evaluation: Distant
LG’s distant controls are uncommon in that they transfer a cursor across the display screen like a wand. The corporate calls them Magic Remotes. The larger-than-average controllers (over 7-inches lengthy and practically 2 inches broad) are definitely extra comfy to make use of than most fashions. The distant’s curvature and balanced weighting is proof of its superior ergonomics, and it consists of all the required buttons that can assist you get to programming or TV settings rapidly.
There’s a full complement of numeric buttons, for instance, and a scrolling/clickable wheel within the heart for shifting a cursor across the display screen and navigating menus rapidly. Higher nonetheless, the amount and channel buttons have raised symbols so you could find them by really feel in the dead of night.
The LG distant can be used to regulate different video sources, similar to PlayStation or Roku field. All in all, a succesful complement to the TV.
LG BX OLED evaluation: Verdict
Consumers have their work reduce out for them right here. The LG BX 55-inch set is so shut when it comes to expertise and worth to the corporate’s CX mannequin for under $100 extra that it’s troublesome to tell apart between the 2. However, the total complement of handy options coupled with stable image and sound efficiency make the LG BX a more sensible choice than the Vizio OLED TV, which is simply $100 much less, or the high-end Sony Bravia A8H OLED, which is 30 p.c dearer. In the long run, the LG BX could be OLED 4K TV you’ve been searching for all this time.
See the place else the LG BX OLED TV is talked about:
Greatest 4K TVs | Greatest LG TVs | Greatest OLED TVs