The Philips The Xtra 55PML9308 with its Bowers & Wilkins soundbar and rotating stand.
The Philips PML9308 and PML9008 televisions, both called The Xtra, differ on the stand and the audio part, but we will come back to this later. Both share the same image quality by integrating a 120 Hz VA panel associated with a Mini-Led backlighting system with 80 zones on the 55 inch, and 144 zones on the 65 and 75 inch. This number of zones is quite far from the 288 zones of the TCL 65C835 and especially very far from the 1088 zones of the TCL 65C935. However, Philips announces a peak brightness of around 1000 cd/m². We could not see if the blooming – this halo effect around light objects on a dark background – was present on these models, the presentation having been made in broad daylight.
The central stand and the Bowers audio system.
Positioned between the Philips The One television, a 60 or 120 Hz Direct Led VA LCD television depending on the version, and the Oled models, The Xtra televisions use the seventh generation Philips P5 processor, which adopts a new updating engine. the Super Resolution scale improving the sharpness of contours and textures. It obviously takes over the features of the previous versions, in particular the excellent motion compensation engine which greatly improves the sharpness of moving objects.
Ambilight, but no Android TV
The Smart TV system by TP Vision replaces Android TV on The Xtra televisions.
Both The Xtra models obviously have the Ambilight lighting system on three sides, but this is not the latest version already present on the Philips 55OLED907 that we tested and which displays more shades of color.
If the Ambilight is still present, Philips is swapping the Android TV system for a Smart TV by TP Vision home system which does not yet have a definitive name. Philips already shipped Saphi on some entry-level televisions and on the OLED700 series, and if we suspect that the Saphi team is behind this new system, the relationship is not displayed .
Philips seems to want to break away from Google. It must be said that with Google TV, the American company clearly makes the use of an account essential in order to be able to use its television correctly. It is also said that Google would take the bulk of the revenue without necessarily sharing with the manufacturers. Like Hisense or Panasonic, Philips may have a card to play by offering a light, fluid, clear and ad-free system.
One slab, two models
The Philips 55PML9008 without rotating stand and with a more classic audio system.
The Philips The Xtra PML9308 — the higher-end model of the two — features a 64 W 2.1 audio system from Bowers & Wilkins and a central rotating stand that allows the television to be rotated around twenty degrees to the left or to the right
The Philips The Xtra PML9008 is content with a 40 W 2.0 audio system designed by Philips and thin feet on each side of the television, with two positions to manage the height in order to place a sound bar there for example. . On this model, rotation is not possible.
An unknown price
The Philips The Xtra PML9308 will be available in 55 and 65 inch versions while the Philips The Xtra PML9008 will be available in 55, 65 and 75 inches. These models will be available in the third quarter of 2023 at prices that are still unknown. It is this criterion that should make the difference against the Mini-Led models from Samsung and especially TCL, which is very aggressive in this segment with its C9835 and C935 and soon the new C845 and C945.