Loewe Bild i.55 4K TV overview

Verdict

One other gorgeously designed OLED TV from Loewe that conjures up a formidable audio and film efficiency, although the dearth of some superior gaming options, greater peak brightness and costly value means this can be a TV for particular viewers. A category act nonetheless.

Introduction

After what Gwyneth Paltrow may politely name a ‘acutely aware uncoupling’ from the UK market again in 2019, a restructured, reinvigorated Loewe model is now nicely and actually again on the UK AV scene.

And proper on the entrance line of Loewe’s renewed UK cost is its Bild i vary of TVs: fashions that search to mix all the conventional Loewe points of interest of excellent, bespoke design with a new-found nimbleness with regards to delivering the kind of efficiency requirements and options that in the present day’s fast-moving TV market calls for.

The Loewe Bild i.55 is accessible now within the UK and EU, in addition to Australia. Within the UK it prices £2,999, within the EU it prices €2,999.00, and in Australia it prices AU$4,999. If you’d like one thing greater, the 65-inch Bild i.65 prices £3,899 / €3,899 / AU$6,499. Loewe doesn’t at present distribute its TVs in North America.

It must be pressured that these are beginning costs as one of many Bild i vary’s star points of interest is its means to be fitted to totally different stand/mount choices and be partnered with extra highly effective built-in sound choices.

The mounting choices embrace a desktop stand, a floor-standing pole-style stand, wall hanging brackets, and even an extremely trendy pole that runs the complete top of your room, from ground to ceiling.

Probably the most elegant speaker improve is the marvellously named Klang Bar i, which prices £299 further and has been specifically designed to connect seamlessly to the Bild i TVs’ backside edge because it goes about including extra energy, extra audio system and a extra direct really feel to the TV’s built-in audio system.

You too can connect Loewe’s a lot greater, standalone Klang Bar 5mr soundbar if you want, although this sits on a shelf attachment for one of many pole mounts fairly than being a totally built-in, specialist answer just like the Bar i. I’ll really be wanting on the Bar i as a part of this overview.

Design

• Premium construct and end
• Improve speaker and stand choices
• In depth cable administration

The very first thing die-hard followers of Loewe TVs of previous will likely be blissful to listen to is the brand new 55-inch Bild i.55 retains two traditional Loewe design traits: the designer clothing-like Loewe model tag on its proper hand aspect, and Loewe’s distinctive massive chrome-edged round IR receptor and LED show hanging off its backside edge.

It’s additionally nice to see that Loewe has misplaced none of its urge for food for actually premium construct high quality. Each mannequin remains to be inbuilt Loewe’s manufacturing unit in Kronach, Germany, and combines an ultra-thin bezel with intensive use of metallic and an uncommon however very welcome splash of top of the range cloth masking the TV’s comparatively chunky central part (which homes connections, processing and built-in audio system).

In addition to wanting pretty in its personal proper, it additionally completely matches the material end of the elective Klang Bar i, that means the soundbar blends in completely if you connect its wrap-around kind to the TV’s backside edge.

The heavy obligation primary desktop plate stand is as imperiously constructed because the TV, whereas the pole-style floorstand and full room top pole mount choices add critical drama to the Bild i.55’s in any other case impeccably minimalistic presence.

As you’d anticipate with a TV that trades on its look as a lot because the Bild i.55, all of its numerous mounting choices go to nice lengths to supply channelling for all of your cables.

Options

• 4K WRGB OLED panel
• Audio improve choices
• Dolby Atmos sound

The very first thing to ascertain concerning the Loewe Bild i.55 is that it doesn’t use one of many new Micro Lens Array OLED panels present in LG’s new flagship G3 OLED TV, or the Quantum Dot OLED know-how in Samsung’s S95C and S90C OLED TVs. It’s a straight WRGB panel of the type that’s had relative small year-on-year enhancements for years earlier than the brand new brightness boosting applied sciences sauntered into city.

It might need been good if Loewe had gone for an OLED panel with a built-in warmth sink to assist it deal with a bit extra brightness than the 736 nits I measured utilizing a white HDR check window that coated 10% of the TV’s display screen. That’s 100 to 150 nits or so beneath what I’ve seen from the present WRGB OLEDs from the likes of Sony and LG, and solely round half the brightness achieved by the G3 and S95C.

I’ve been reviewing TVs for lengthy sufficient to know that there’s far more to good image high quality than easy brightness.

Probably the most uncommon characteristic of the Bild i.55 past the stand/mount and audio improve choices I’ve talked about needs to be its DR+ built-in video recording system. This allows you to file losslessly as much as 1TB of video from the built-in tuners. This characteristic is much less prone to have vast enchantment in streaming-obsessed occasions, nevertheless it works nicely sufficient and I’m positive there are some who will make the most of it.

Intriguingly, Loewe has moved away from its personal proprietary good TV engine on the Bild i.55, turning to Hisense’s VIDAA platform as a substitute. This is sensible given the difficulties a comparatively small model like Loewe is certain to face with securing native app assist from all of the streaming companies – particularly as VIDAA has now progressed from its second-tier standing into a sensible platform that runs slickly and stably, and covers many of the key apps in the present day’s TV patrons demand.

The one main exception I noticed was Apple TV+ – although Loewe claims this will likely be added at an unconfirmed future date.

The Bild i.55 helps three flavours of excessive dynamic vary via its HDMI ports: Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HDR10 and HLG. There’s no HDR10+ assist, which is a slight disgrace given Panasonic and Philips cater for all 4 HDR codecs. Many different manufacturers additionally solely assist Dolby Imaginative and prescient on the expense of HDR10+ too, although – and HDR10+ content material at present stays a lot rarer than Dolby Imaginative and prescient content material.

The Bild i.55’s Dolby connection extends to Dolby Atmos playback, which it might additionally move on losslessly through HDMI eARC to suitable soundbars and AV receivers.

Not every thing concerning the Bild i.55’s 4 HDMI ports is kind of as much as the specification I’d hope for on a premium TV, as they’re solely able to dealing with 18Gbps of information. This implies no assist for the 4K/120Hz indicators players can output from the PS5, Xbox Sequence X and high-end PC graphics playing cards.

That’s to not say the Bild i.55 is a complete bust for gaming; it does nonetheless assist variable refresh charges in a restricted 48 – 60Hz vary, auto low latency mode (ALLM) switching as your console or PC switches between video and recreation sources; and Dolby Imaginative and prescient gaming as much as 60Hz.

There may be one additional little bit of unhealthy information for players within the form of a 43.5ms lag in rendering picture information when utilizing the TV’s Sport mode. That’s greater than 4 occasions longer than the newest TVs from some rivals take, and will likely be sufficient to value you a number of deaths in Name Of Responsibility or make recreation worlds really feel a contact unresponsive.

Delving into the the Bild i.55’s image options reveals an affordable quantity of the same old arrange suspects, together with numerous movement processing choices, noise discount and so forth. One hanging factor about the way in which the arrange menus are organised is how related they seem to these used on Hisense’s most up-to-date high-end TVs, suggesting a deeper collaboration than merely the usage of Hisense’s VIDAA good platform.

Image High quality

• Gorgeously deep, pure black ranges
• Spectacular sharpness and detailing
• Not as brilliant as the newest OLED panels

The brightness measurements I reported earlier didn’t lie: it’s clear to the bare eye the Loewe Bild i.55 isn’t as brilliant as the newest superior OLED TVs I’ve seen from Samsung and LG – not even shut. However that is true additionally of any new mid-range OLED TV from LG, Samsung, Sony, Hisense, Philips et al that doesn’t use both MLA know-how or Samsung’s second-gen QD-OLED know-how.

It’s completely not the case that the Bild i.55 is a few kind of old skool outlier. And within the context of all these different conventional WRGB OLED TVs nonetheless round this 12 months, the Bild i.55 is a really pleasurable watch.

For starters, its black ranges are as impeccably deep, wealthy and pure in tone as any you’ll discover anyplace within the OLED world. What’s extra, with most of its presets this black degree prowess is married to glorious finesse and subtlety with regards to reproducing refined color and greyscale element in even the darkest image corners.

The one exception to this shadow element prowess happens if you’re watching Dolby Imaginative and prescient sources (particularly utilizing essentially the most correct ‘Darkish’ Dolby Imaginative and prescient preset), with which you turn into conscious of fairly noticeable crushing out of refined particulars in darkish areas. The Bild i.55 isn’t the one TV I’ve seen in latest occasions that’s suffered with this Dolby Imaginative and prescient situation, so it’s maybe extra one thing Dolby must be investigating fairly than a fault particular to Loewe’s TV.

Delicate particulars are delivered in darkish scenes with out being accompanied by fizzing or blocking artefacts, too, suggesting good processing competence/panel management with regards to dealing with close to black picture content material. The set’s wealthy, black tones present the right counterpoint, too, for the Bild i.55’s fantastically wealthy, daring color copy.

There’s greater than sufficient tonal subtlety and steadiness on this color efficiency to make sure that photos by no means look compelled, cartoonish or in any other case unnatural in any preset, and I didn’t detect any main points with banding in areas of high-quality HDR mixing.

Colors don’t endure a significant shift or any brightness discount when you watch the Bild i.55 from a extreme angle, both, whereas the picture processing’s precision at selecting the correct shade for the correct pixel contributes to an image that feels pleasingly dense, three-dimensional and detailed.

It’s not fairly as mind-bogglingly sharp with both native 4K sources or upscaled HD as one or two rival OLED photos, most notably these achieved by Philips and Samsung, however its marginally softer photos arguably really look extra pure. Particularly as they don’t remotely really feel wanting texture or 4K high quality.

Whereas the richness and steadiness of the Bild i.55’s photos ensures a stunning viewing expertise with actually any video supply thrown at it, it does must be stated that in addition to being considerably much less brilliant than 2023’s new OLED ‘hero’ TVs, its photos are literally rather less brilliant and punchy than even these of most of in the present day’s conventional WRGB OLED TVs. A limitation that inevitably restricts the color volumes the display screen can hit, and the depth of the HDR expertise you get with each small brilliant highlights and full display screen brilliant HDR photographs.

The set’s subtlety and steadiness actually does present good compensation for its barely restricted brightness, nevertheless it’s a problem that could be notably value making an allowance for when you’re in search of a TV for a really brilliant room.

One different image high quality niggle considerations the bild i.55’s movement dealing with with 24p sources. Judder and a discount in decision when displaying digital camera pans and shifting objects are extra noticeable than I’d like with no movement processing in play, however many of the Bild i.55’s movement processing choices trigger so many undesirable uncomfortable side effects that they find yourself being extra distracting to observe than the native judder and blurring.

Luckily, simply one of many movement choices out there, appropriately referred to as Movie, proves delicate sufficient to save lots of the day, in any other case we’d have needed to knock a full mark off the TV’s total rating.

Sound High quality

• Pretty rounded, highly effective sound
• Wealthy, impactful sound – particularly with the Klang Bar i
• Slight lack of enlargement through the loudest film moments

Loewe has an extended historical past of mixing its uncompromising strategy to design and construct high quality with superior audio efficiency, so it’s nice to seek out that if the Bild i.55 is something to go by, Loewe has misplaced none of its audio contact throughout its temporary time away from the UK TV enterprise.

Beginning with the set’s default 2 x 20W efficiency, the audio system can go loud sufficient to sound cinematic with out succumbing to harshness, drop outs or different distortions. Quite the opposite, the louder you push them, the richer and extra detailed they begin to sound, and the extra you begin to admire how open and expansive their mid-range is.

Voices all the time sound extremely clear with out changing into disconnected from their wider film combine context, and the sound initiatives nicely sufficient out from the TV’s bodywork to create an a minimum of respectable sense of additional area and site detailing when enjoying Dolby Atmos mixes.

Good although the Bild i.55 sounds out of the field, although, I’d say the Klang Bar i is nicely value including when you can afford the £299 further. This not solely provides a whopping 80W of energy to proceedings, however delivers that energy via an array of ahead dealing with drivers that cling behind a sensible felt cowl underneath the TV’s backside edge.

The result’s an instantly far more room-filling, direct sound that makes the world of the movie or TV present you’re watching appear way more alive and immersive. The forward-facing audio system of the Bar i additionally create a a lot bigger soundstage that doesn’t really feel trapped contained in the soundbar’s compact kind. It even manages to create a gentle sense of top when listening to Dolby Atmos soundtracks.

Bass reaches deeper with the Klang Bar i than it does within the primary two-channel inbuilt speaker configuration. Voices can often sound locked contained in the Bar i, in order that they don’t appear to be coming from the photographs on the display screen, and surprisingly the Bar i’s normally resolute quantities of energy and affect can fall away a bit throughout actually loud, dense sound monitor moments. Total, although, the Bild i.55 is a severely good audio performer in each its normal and Klang Bar i configurations.

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