The Philips OLED809 is our pick for a large, immersive living room. At 65 inches for £1,599 it gives you flagship-sized screen for mid-range money, and Philips three-sided Ambilight projects coloured light onto the wall to make the picture feel even bigger. Only two HDMI 2.1 ports hold it back for heavy gaming.
Philips does one thing no other TV maker does: Ambilight. LEDs along the back edges of the set cast coloured light onto the wall behind it, matched in real time to the on-screen image. On the OLED809 (the 65-inch is the 65OLED809) it is three-sided, and it turns out to be far more than a gimmick. Pair that with a bright 950 nit OLED EX panel and a generous 65-inch size for £1,599, and you have the most atmospheric big-screen OLED of our six.
| Model | Price | Panel type | Resolution | Peak brightness (10% window) | Rating | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ★ Top pick Philips OLED809 65-inch (65OLED809) | £1,599.00 | OLED EX (W-OLED, 65-inch) | 4K (3840 x 2160) | 950 nits | ★ 4.3 | View → |
£1,599.00
OLED EX (W-OLED, 65-inch) · 4K (3840 x 2160) · 950 nits
The verdict from Idris Bello, home cinema and TV tester
The pick for a large room. The Philips OLED809 brings a 65-inch panel and the brand signature three-sided Ambilight, which projects coloured light onto the wall behind the set and genuinely enlarges the picture in a dark room. It only has two HDMI 2.1 ports, so multi-console gamers should look elsewhere, but at £1,599 for 65 inches it is excellent value for a big, immersive living-room screen.
A large, enveloping picture made to feel even bigger by the Ambilight glow spilling onto the wall.
Below is the measured spec sheet for the 65-inch 65OLED809 we tested. Figures come from our own bench data or Philips confirmed specifications.
| Panel type | OLED EX (W-OLED, 65-inch) |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 4K (3840 x 2160) |
| Peak brightness (10% window) | 950 nits |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz |
| Input lag (1080p/120Hz) | 13.5 ms |
| HDMI 2.1 ports | 2 (48 Gbps) |
| Colour gamut (DCI-P3) | 98.0% |
| Ambilight | 3-sided |
| Our rating | 4.3 / 5 |
| Typical UK price | £1,599.00 |
The OLED809 is the right TV if you want a large, immersive screen for a living room and you value atmosphere over the last word in gaming connectivity. At 65 inches for £1,599 it costs about the same as a 55-inch flagship, so if you sit far enough back, around 2.2 to 2.6 m, you get a noticeably bigger, more cinematic picture for the money. The three-sided Ambilight makes a dark-room film feel genuinely enveloping and reduces eye strain by softening the jump from a bright screen to a dark wall. For a film-and-TV living room, it is a delight.
It is less suited to a multi-console gaming household. With only two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which doubles as eARC, it runs short of inputs fast, so a gamer with a PS5, an Xbox and a PC should look at the four-port LG C4 instead. The OLED809 is built for immersion, not for connectivity, and judged on that brief it excels.
The OLED809 uses an OLED EX panel and reached 950 nits on a 10% window, a strong figure that puts it ahead of the Sony BRAVIA 8 835 nits and just behind the LG C4 and Samsung S90D. Colour covered 98.0 percent of DCI-P3, and blacks are the usual perfect OLED zero. The picture is punchy and well-saturated, and it supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+, so almost any HDR source displays in its intended format. Out-of-the-box accuracy is good rather than reference, with a Delta E around 3, so a quick calibration tidies it up nicely.
Ambilight is the OLED809 signature, and it works. The three-sided LEDs read the edges of the picture and cast matching colour onto the wall, extending the image beyond the bezel. In a dark room it makes a 65-inch screen feel like 75, and it genuinely cuts the eye fatigue of staring at a bright panel in the dark. You can tune its intensity or turn it off, but most owners leave it on and find they cannot go back.
The OLED809 is capable but input-limited. We measured 13.5 ms of input lag at 1080p/120Hz, low enough for any console, and it supports 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM. The catch is just two HDMI 2.1 ports, so it suits a one or two-console setup rather than a full gaming rack. For a single PS5 plus immersive film and TV, it is excellent; for four sources, it is not the right tool.
It runs Titan OS, a newer, lighter platform that is functional but less polished and less app-rich than webOS or Google TV. The built-in speaker system is decent for the class, and the set supports Dolby Atmos, but a soundbar remains the upgrade for a big-room film setup.
The OLED809 two real limitations are its two HDMI 2.1 ports and the Titan OS software. The port count restricts a gaming-heavy household, and Titan OS, while improving, is the least mature smart platform here. Neither dents the core appeal, a big, bright, Ambilight-immersed OLED for sensible money, but both are worth weighing if you have a busy setup.
The OLED809 is best for the buyer who wants a large, atmospheric 65-inch OLED for a film-and-TV living room and loves the idea of Ambilight, without needing more than two gaming inputs. If you game across several consoles, the four-port LG C4 is the better fit, and for the most film-accurate picture the Sony BRAVIA 8 leads.
Ambilight is Philips signature feature: LEDs around the back edges of the TV project coloured light onto the wall, matched in real time to the on-screen image. On the OLED809 it is three-sided (top, left and right). In a dark room it genuinely makes the picture feel larger and reduces eye strain by softening the contrast between a bright screen and a dark wall. It is a gimmick that turns out to be properly useful, and many owners find they cannot go back.
It is capable but limited by its inputs. It has only two HDMI 2.1 ports, a 120 Hz refresh rate, VRR and 13.5 ms input lag, which is fine for one or two consoles. If you have several consoles and a PC, the four HDMI 2.1 ports on the LG C4 or B4 make more sense. For a single console plus immersive film and TV, the OLED809 is excellent.
Size and value. At £1,599 the 65-inch OLED809 costs about the same as a 55-inch flagship, so if you sit far enough back (around 2.2 to 2.6 m) you get a noticeably bigger, more cinematic picture for your money, plus the Ambilight immersion. It is our pick for a large living room where screen size and atmosphere matter more than the last word in gaming inputs.
The OLED809 is our best big-screen pick because it delivers a bright 950 nit, 65-inch OLED with three-sided Ambilight for £1,599, roughly the price of a 55-inch flagship. The Ambilight immersion is genuinely worthwhile, the picture is punchy and supports every HDR format, and the size makes a real difference in a larger living room. Its limitations, two HDMI 2.1 ports and the less-polished Titan OS, only matter to heavy gamers and power users. For an immersive film-and-TV living room, it is the most atmospheric set here. If you need more gaming inputs or a smaller screen, see the LG C4, and read our buying guide to size the screen to your room.